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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><em><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;">If you love it, share it with all of your friends. - Vitaliy</span></em></div></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" class="ep-mobile-col"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="text-align:left;"><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="ep-mobile-col-table-with-padding"><tr><td valign="top" class="ep-mobile-col-td" style="text-align:center;padding-top:15px;padding-right:15px;padding-bottom:15px;padding-left:15px;color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;"><div><div><div><div style="height:400px;display:block;overflow:hidden;" class="ep-height-auto"><img src="http://content.epsrv1.net/image_gallery/uploaded/273/10513/f1b20f9f-ec50-4204-b682-1e7bc3711001.jpg" alt="" height="400" width="435" style="max-width:435px;padding-bottom:0;display:inline !important;vertical-align:bottom;border:0;height:auto;outline:none;text-decoration:none;-ms-interpolation-mode:bicubic;" class="ep-width-100-img "/></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" class="ep-mobile-col" style="line-height:1.5;"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="text-align:left;"><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="ep-mobile-col-table-with-padding"><tr><td valign="top" class="ep-mobile-col-td" height="1" style="text-align:left;padding-top:15px;padding-right:15px;padding-bottom:15px;padding-left:15px;color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;"><div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;text-align: center;">Painting is by my father, Naum Katsenelson</div></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" class="ep-mobile-col"><tbody><tr><td height="10" valign="top" class="ep-mobile-divider" style="height:10px !important;color:#FFFFFF;font-size:10px;line-height:10px;"><img src="http://content.epsrv1.net/no_rev/assets/1px.gif" width="1" height="1" style="max-width:1px;max-height:1px;display:block;"/></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" class="ep-mobile-col"><tbody><tr><td height="10" valign="top" class="ep-mobile-divider" style="height:10px !important;color:#FFFFFF;font-size:10px;line-height:10px;"><img src="http://content.epsrv1.net/no_rev/assets/1px.gif" width="1" height="1" style="max-width:1px;max-height:1px;display:block;"/></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" class="ep-mobile-col" style="line-height:1.5;"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="text-align:left;"><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="ep-mobile-col-table-with-padding"><tr><td valign="top" class="ep-mobile-col-td" height="1" style="text-align:left;padding-top:15px;padding-right:15px;padding-bottom:15px;padding-left:15px;color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;"><div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:34px;font-weight:bold;word-break:break-word;" id="articleHeader__title"><span style="font-size: 28px;"><a style="color:#2196F3;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-size: 28px;" href="http://clicks.epsrv1.net/click?s=1282|484994386&v=4hjs6oe9rb11xzbtm1r8sw9hwj5y9yyw34cc3e9zu9hy1zbhm79nghtrbx1pzcymtajqpmqwst1yqwr4ntujhw1kq89o9ifi1dug39jap1apmp3rwiewq1rne59srncgehkstn8ssu4fymxdhmxoxkd568u55xqxmyxeaihpz7nr9e1e1w7mr9u4e55p6xbzdiww3rfkky9zhwd5pg9ix6tsfuewqkbipoh1z8w15gdt6f48qmc143jxxg9gqt7wm887bgyqozc5x8yrfiz5rudot1ig8x7rg8gj45fuw7suq6jbnp6o" target="_blank"><span style="color:#2196F3;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-size:28px;">What Not to Buy in Today’s Stock Market</span></a></span></div></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" class="ep-mobile-col" style="line-height:1.5;"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="text-align:left;"><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="ep-mobile-col-table-with-padding"><tr><td valign="top" class="ep-mobile-col-td" height="1" style="text-align:left;padding-top:15px;padding-right:15px;padding-bottom:15px;padding-left:15px;color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;"><div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-family: georgia,times,times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">By Vitaliy Katsenelson</span></span></div>
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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-family: georgia,times,times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">Dear reader, if you are overcome with fear of missing out on the next stock market move; if you feel like you have to own stocks no matter the cost; if you tell yourself, “Stocks are expensive, but I am a long-term investor”; then consider this article a public service announcement written just for you.</span></span></div>
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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-family: georgia,times,times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">Before we jump into the stock discussion, let’s quickly scan the global economic environment. The health of the European Union did not improve in 2016, and Brexit only increased the possibility of other “exits” as the structural issues that render this union dysfunctional went unfixed.</span></span></div>
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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-family: georgia,times,times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">Japan’s population has not gotten any younger since the last time I wrote about it — it is still the oldest in the world. Japan’s debt pile got bigger, and it remains the most indebted developed nation (though, in all fairness, other countries are desperately trying to take that title away from it). Despite the growing debt, Japanese five-year government bonds are “paying” an interest rate of –0.10 percent. Imagine what will happen to its government’s budget when Japan has to start actually paying to borrow money commensurate with its debtor profile.</span></span></div>
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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-family: georgia,times,times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">Regarding China, there is little I can say that I have not said before. The bulk of Chinese growth is coming from debt, which is growing at a much faster pace than the economy. This camel has consumed a tremendous quantity of steroids over the years, which have weakened its back — we just don’t know which straw will break it.</span></span></div>
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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-family: georgia,times,times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">S&P 500 earnings have stagnated since 2013, but this has not stopped analysts from launching their forecasts every year with expectations of 10–20 percent earnings growth . . . before they gradually take them down to near zero as the year progresses. The explanation for the stagnation is surprisingly simple: Corporate profitability overall has been stretched to an extreme and is unlikely to improve much, as profit margins are close to all-time highs (corporations have squeezed about as much juice out of their operations as they can). And interest rates are still low, while corporate and government indebtedness is very high — a recipe for higher interest rates and significant inflation down the road, which will pressure corporate margins even further.</span></span></div>
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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-family: georgia,times,times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">I am acutely aware that all of the above sounds like a broken record. It absolutely does, but that doesn’t make it any less true; it just makes me sound boring and repetitive. We are in one of the last innings (if only I knew more about baseball) of the eight-year-old bull market, which in the past few years has been fueled not by great fundamentals but by a lack of good investment alternatives.</span></span></div>
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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-family: georgia,times,times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">Starved for yield, investors are forced to pick investments by matching current yields with income needs, while ignoring riskiness and overvaluation. Why wouldn’t they? After all, over the past eight years we have observed only steady if unimpressive returns and very little realized risk. However, just as in dating, decisions that are made due to a “lack of alternatives” are rarely good decisions, as new alternatives will eventually emerge — it’s just a matter of time.</span></span></div>
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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-family: georgia,times,times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">The average stock out there (that is, the market) is very, very expensive. At this point it almost doesn’t matter which valuation metric you use: price to ten-year trailing earnings; stock market capitalization (market value of all stocks) as a percentage of GDP (sales of the whole economy); enterprise value (market value of stocks less cash plus debt) to EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) — they all point to this: Stocks were more expensive than they are today only once in the past century, that is, during the dot-com bubble.</span></span></div>
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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-family: georgia,times,times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">In reference to this fact, my friend and brilliant short-seller Jim Chanos said with a chuckle, “I am buying stocks here, because once they went higher . . . for a year.”</span></span></div>
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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-family: georgia,times,times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">Investors who are stampeding into expensive stocks through passive index funds are buying what has worked — and is likely to stop working. But mutual funds are not much better. When I meet new clients, I get a chance to look at their mutual fund holdings. Even value mutual funds, which in theory are supposed to be scraping equities from the bottom of the stock market barrel, are full of pricey companies. Cash (which is another way of saying, “I’m not buying overvalued stocks”) is not a viable option for most equity mutual fund managers. Thus this market has turned professional investors into buyers not of what they like but of what they hate the least (which reminds me of our political climate).</span></span></div>
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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-family: georgia,times,times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">In 2016 less than 10 percent of actively managed funds outperformed their benchmarks (their respective index funds) on a five-year trailing basis. Unfortunately, the last time this happened was 1999, during the dot-com bubble, and we know how that story ended.</span></span></div>
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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-family: georgia,times,times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">To summarize the requirements for investing in an environment where decisions are made not based on fundamentals but due to a lack of alternatives, we are going to paraphrase Mark Twain: “All you need in this life [read: lack-of-alternatives stock market] is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure.” To succeed in the market that lies ahead of us, one will need to have a lot of confidence in his ignorance and exercise caution and prudence, which will often mean taking the path that is far less traveled.</span></span></div>
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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-family: georgia,times,times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">P.S. <strong>How does one invest in this overvalued market? Well, we spelled out our strategy in <a style="color:#2196F3;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-size: 18px;" href="http://clicks.epsrv1.net/click?s=1282|484994386&v=4hjs6oe9rb11xzbtm1r8sw9hwj5y9yyw34cc3e9zu9hy1zbhm79nghtrbx1pzcymtajqpmqwst1yqwr4ntujhw1kq89o9ifi1dug39jap1apmp3rwiewq1rne59srncgehkstn8ssu4fymxdhmxoxkd568u55xqxmyxeaihpz7nr9e1e1w7mr9u4e55p6xbzdiww3rfkky9z743myr9c8cjf1k1fcc5mjsbtqaukp7hrwc85rxueisbn7bpepbaqp68upto1o3b3kgofc758yybho6a43ggonbphdm75nurk5zs65cfn6o8quucdeng41gtsxfnca6rin1qwim53e6bsc77ia71yyimpmhzp53gi9wfdpunzcicddfnmt6agc573stbk64jhbpwzqtgfr9zc1a"><span style="color:#2196F3;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-size:18px;">this fairly lengthy article</span></a>.</strong></span></span></div></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" class="ep-mobile-col" style="line-height:1.5;"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="text-align:left;"><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="ep-mobile-col-table-with-padding"><tr><td valign="top" class="ep-mobile-col-td" height="1" style="text-align:left;padding-top:15px;padding-right:15px;padding-bottom:15px;padding-left:15px;color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;"><div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18px;">I want to mention something that some of you may find of interest. A few months ago I created a new website, <a style="color:#2196F3;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-size: 18px;" href="http://clicks.epsrv1.net/click?s=1282|484994386&v=4hjs6oe9rb11xzbtm1r8sw9hwj5y9yyw34cc3e9zu9hy1zbhm79nghtrbx1pzcymtajqpmqwst1yqwr4ntujhw1kq89o9ifi1dug39jap1apmp3rwiewq1rne59srncgehkstn8ssu4fymxdhmxoxkd568u55xqxmyxeaihpz7nr9e1e1w7mr9u4e55p6xbzdiww3rfkky9z7cuitgmjkegge13of6fz5wj697d8mhqgk45kjqnww3fkw1cdhrb8"><span style="color:#2196F3;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-size:18px;">MyFavoriteClassical.com</span></a>, where I have posted all my classical musical notes that were included with my investment articles over the years.</span><br /> <br /><span style="font-size: 18px;"> I have also created a classical music email list. Every Thursday at 7 pm Denver time I send out a classical music article. You can <a style="color:#2196F3;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-size: 18px;" href="http://clicks.epsrv1.net/click?s=1282|484994386&v=4hjs6oe9rb11xzbtm1r8sw9hwj5y9yyw34cc3e9zu9hy1zbhm79nghtrbx1pzcymtajqpmqwst1yqwr4ntujhw1kq89o9ifi1dug39jap1apmp3rwiewq1rne59srncgehkstn8ssu4fymxdhmxoxkd568u55xqxmyxeaihpz7nr9e1e1w7mr9u4e55p6xbzdiww3rfkky9z7cuitgmjkegge13of6fz5wj6978mazkxxbop85t6ieuxqk4sju8yfmsjbr51cf1okmgtqgwg7nitmw"><span style="color:#2196F3;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;font-size:18px;">sign up for this list here</span></a>. (You can be on both that list and this one, no problem.) </span></div></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" class="ep-mobile-col" style="line-height:1.5;"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="text-align:left;"><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="ep-mobile-col-table-with-padding"><tr><td valign="top" class="ep-mobile-col-td" height="1" style="text-align:left;padding-top:15px;padding-right:15px;padding-bottom:15px;padding-left:15px;color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;"><div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;" align="left"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 30px;"><a style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 30px;" href="http://clicks.epsrv1.net/click?s=1282|484994386&v=4hjs6oe9rb11xzbtm1r8sw9hwj5y9yyw34cc3e9zu9hy1zbhm79nghtrbx1pzcymtajqpmqwst1yqwr4ntujhw1kq89o9ifi1dug39jap1apmp3rwiewq1rne59srncgehkstn8ssu4fymxdhmxoxkd568u55xqxmyxeaihpz7nr9e1e1w7mr9u4e55p6xbzdiww3rfkky9z7cuitgmjkegge13of6fz5wj697n1gjqkyr63p1y8eyzp4nnq5t31cksreptaxpoi49r8yuuaj5ektw" target="_blank"><span style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-family:georgia, palatino;font-size:30px;">T</span></a><a style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 30px;" href="http://clicks.epsrv1.net/click?s=1282|484994386&v=4hjs6oe9rb11xzbtm1r8sw9hwj5y9yyw34cc3e9zu9hy1zbhm79nghtrbx1pzcymtajqpmqwst1yqwr4ntujhw1kq89o9ifi1dug39jap1apmp3rwiewq1rne59srncgehkstn8ssu4fymxdhmxoxkd568u55xqxmyxeaihpz7nr9e1e1w7mr9u4e55p6xbzdiww3rfkky9z7cuitgmjkegge13of6fz5wj697n1gjqkyr63p1y8eyzp4nnq5t31cksreptaxpoi49r8yuuaj5ektw"><span style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-family:georgia, palatino;font-size:30px;">he Two Sides of Chopin</span></a></span></div>
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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: georgia, palatino;">Today I am going to share with you etudes by Frederic Chopin. But I cannot talk about Chopin and not mention Schubert and Liszt.</span></div>
<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: georgia, palatino;">This discussion is a follow-up to previous articles I wrote about two Franzes – <a style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-size: 18px; font-family: georgia, palatino;" href="http://clicks.epsrv1.net/click?s=1282|484994386&v=4hjs6oe9rb11xzbtm1r8sw9hwj5y9yyw34cc3e9zu9hy1zbhm79nghtrbx1pzcymtajqpmqwst1yqwr4ntujhw1kq89o9ifi1dug39jap1apmp3rwiewq1rne59srncgehkstn8ssu4fymxdhmxoxkd568u55xqxmyxeaihpz7nr9e1e1w7mr9u4e55p6xbzdiww3rfkky9z7cuitgmjkegge13of6fz5wj697nc3q1s7qapa696drsg3n454a6qz7x76ipf7t6z6wthd8993uj1qnig8x7rg8gj45fuw7suq6jbnp6o"><span style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia, palatino;">Franz Schubert </span></a>and <a style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-size: 18px; font-family: georgia, palatino;" href="http://clicks.epsrv1.net/click?s=1282|484994386&v=4hjs6oe9rb11xzbtm1r8sw9hwj5y9yyw34cc3e9zu9hy1zbhm79nghtrbx1pzcymtajqpmqwst1yqwr4ntujhw1kq89o9ifi1dug39jap1apmp3rwiewq1rne59srncgehkstn8ssu4fymxdhmxoxkd568u55xqxmyxeaihpz7nr9e1e1w7mr9u4e55p6xbzdiww3rfkky9z7cuitgmjkegge13of6fz5wj697n9acoj73m3uukb3co8m9y5yeghzdefega83ctxb8d7bhnq9euywb5zzz5gfoax9ix9e6m46ywzj7gzc1w5xxghburipyg1u6pg1it8e"><span style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia, palatino;">Franz Liszt</span></a>.</span></div>
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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: georgia, palatino;">Schubert lived a very short life: When he was 25 he contracted syphilis, and at the time syphilis was a treacherous, painful death sentence. He died at the tender age of 32.</span></div>
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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: georgia, palatino;">Just imagine a young man aged 25, his life supposedly lying ahead of him, but instead he is staring death in the face. If that were not enough, imagine living in Vienna in the early 1800s and trying to compose your own music when you have heard the ingenious 7th symphony composed by a fellow (<a style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-size: 18px; font-family: georgia, palatino;" href="http://clicks.epsrv1.net/click?s=1282|484994386&v=4hjs6oe9rb11xzbtm1r8sw9hwj5y9yyw34cc3e9zu9hy1zbhm79nghtrbx1pzcymtajqpmqwst1yqwr4ntujhw1kq89o9ifi1dug39jap1apmp3rwiewq1rne59srncgehkstn8ssu4fymxdhmxoxkd568u55xqxmyxeaihpz7nr9e1e1w7mr9u4e55p6xbzdiww3rfkky9z7cuitgmjkegge13of6fz5wj697nc3q1s7qapa696drsg3n454a6q3k749zfymyq43nf3safqryep4443g4xpzjbdckmi85oawthr83ao"><span style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia, palatino;">Beethoven</span></a>) who lives a few blocks down the road. Any sound that comes to your head will seem to pale in comparison, and anything you put on paper will somehow seem insignificant. That is exactly what Schubert felt. Understandably, Schubert was depressed. You can hear this depression in his music; it is full of melancholy.</span></div>
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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: georgia, palatino;">He was an introvert and not a good pianist – the piano was just another instrument to him, a means to his music. His “<a style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-size: 18px; font-family: georgia, palatino;" href="http://clicks.epsrv1.net/click?s=1282|484994386&v=4hjs6oe9rb11xzbtm1r8sw9hwj5y9yyw34cc3e9zu9hy1zbhm79nghtrbx1pzcymtajqpmqwst1yqwr4ntujhw1kq89o9ifi1dug39jap1apmp3rwiewq1rne59srncgehkstn8ssu4fymxdhmxoxkd568u55xqxmyxeaihpz7nr9e1e1w7mr9u4e55p6xbzdiww3rfkky9z7cuitgmjkegge13of6fz5wj697n9acoj73m3uukb3co8m9y5yegh5q6izrzqkgsqjbjnp78qftkzw9i9gjsh3asdc5upckywezge53no"><span style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia, palatino;">Fantasia in F minor</span></a>” is written for four hands (two pianists). If Liszt had composed the piece, he undoubtably would have arranged it for one pianist. (<a style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-size: 18px; font-family: georgia, palatino;" href="http://clicks.epsrv1.net/click?s=1282|484994386&v=4hjs6oe9rb11xzbtm1r8sw9hwj5y9yyw34cc3e9zu9hy1zbhm79nghtrbx1pzcymtajqpmqwst1yqwr4ntujhw1kq89o9ifi1dug39jap1apmp3rwiewq1rne59srncgehkstn8ssu4fymxdhmxoxkd568u55xqxmyxeaihpz7nr9e1e1w7mr9u4e55p6xbzdiww3rfkky9z7cuitgmjkegge13of6fz5wj697rudr8d655c55g7f5r53ko83hf778irihsgz7naibqaoo9edhurynf789kwphnh9j7497yy8px4ks6y"><span style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia, palatino;">Read more about Schubert here</span></a>.)</span></div>
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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: georgia, palatino;">Liszt is the complete opposite of Schubert. He is the Michael Jackson of his time. He tours all over Europe, giving several performances a day. Women go crazy over him. He is the Paganini of piano, a virtuoso. For Liszt, the piano as instrument is as important as the music he composes. (<a style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-size: 18px; font-family: georgia, palatino;" href="http://clicks.epsrv1.net/click?s=1282|484994386&v=4hjs6oe9rb11xzbtm1r8sw9hwj5y9yyw34cc3e9zu9hy1zbhm79nghtrbx1pzcymtajqpmqwst1yqwr4ntujhw1kq89o9ifi1dug39jap1apmp3rwiewq1rne59srncgehkstn8ssu4fymxdhmxoxkd568u55xqxmyxeaihpz7nr9e1e1w7mr9u4e55p6xbzdiww3rfkky9z7cuitgmjkegge13of6fz5wj697n9acoj73m3uukb3co8m9y5yeghzdefega83ctxb8d7bhnq9euywb5zzz5gfoax9ix9e6m46ywzj7gzc1w5xxghburipyg1u6pg1it8e"><span style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia, palatino;">Read more about Liszt here</span></a>.)</span></div>
<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"> </div>
<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: georgia, palatino;">This brings us to Chopin, who is a year younger than Liszt. He leaves Poland at 20 and settles in Paris. He’s a skinny, sickly-looking man. He’s very shy – he will give only 30 public performances in his lifetime (Liszt gave more performances in a month). He is in poor health; in fact he will die young, just like Schubert, at 39. And where Schubert lives in the shadow of Beethoven in Vienna, Chopin is in Paris, a city completely smitten by Liszt.</span></div>
<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"> </div>
<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: georgia, palatino;">It seems there are two Chopins: the one who reminds us of Schubert – first, the one in poor health, the depressed one, the one who wrote deeply emotional, melancholic music. Remember, this is the composer who wrote the “<a style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-size: 18px; font-family: georgia, palatino;" href="http://clicks.epsrv1.net/click?s=1282|484994386&v=4hjs6oe9rb11xzbtm1r8sw9hwj5y9yyw34cc3e9zu9hy1zbhm79nghtrbx1pzcymtajqpmqwst1yqwr4ntujhw1kq89o9ifi1dug39jap1apmp3rwiewq1rne59srncgehkstn8ssu4fymxdhmxoxkd568u55xqxmyxeaihpz7nr9e1e1w7j4oh3ewqzj16kitmwqtg6itjuurezc1hkgyp5f8uyq3xz9z5158shrxyom6us5wp7f3ejuj1yngiszr4e4kowfhz7ufnrjgxccdhpxh" target="_blank"><span style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-size:18px;font-family:georgia, palatino;">funeral march</span></a>” – happy people who look toward life don’t do that.</span></div>
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<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: georgia, palatino;">And then there is another Chopin, the one who lives in the shadow of Franz Liszt, who is in the same city and travels in same circles as Liszt. Yes, Chopin the virtuoso, trying to push the limits of the piano.</span></div>
<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: georgia, palatino;">Chopin’s etudes are the Liszt side of Chopin. An etude is a short piece of music that is composed to improve a player’s specific technique. Before Chopin etudes were mainly composed for musicians, not for listeners. Chopin’s etudes changed that. Chopin’s etudes are very Lisztonian, as they push the then newly evolved piano to new, unheard levels. I want to share this small excerpt from the Polish movie <em>Desire for Love.</em> This scene features both sides of Chopin: the “Revolutionary Etude” (the Liszt side) and his “Nocturne No. 20” (the Schubert side).</span></div>
<div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><br /><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 26px;"> <a style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 26px;" href="http://clicks.epsrv1.net/click?s=1282|484994386&v=4hjs6oe9rb11xzbtm1r8sw9hwj5y9yyw34cc3e9zu9hy1zbhm79nghtrbx1pzcymtajqpmqwst1yqwr4ntujhw1kq89o9ifi1dug39jap1apmp3rwiewq1rne59srncgehkstn8ssu4fymxdhmxoxkd568u55xqxmyxeaihpz7nr9e1e1w7mr9u4e55p6xbzdiww3rfkky9z7cuitgmjkegge13of6fz5wj697n1gjqkyr63p1y8eyzp4nnq5t31cksreptaxpoi49r8yuuaj5ektw" target="_blank"><span style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-family:georgia, palatino;font-size:26px;"><strong>Click here to listen</strong></span></a></span></div></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" style="text-align:left;"><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td valign="top" style="text-align:center;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" style="vertical-align:top; width:300px;" class="ep-mobile-col-img-with-text"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="ep-mobile-col-table-with-padding"style="float:left; overflow:hidden; text-align:center; background-color:#FFFFFF; padding-top:15px; padding-right:15px; padding-left:15px; padding-bottom:15px; vertical-align:top;"><div class="ep-height-auto"style="height:198px;overflow:hidden;vertical-align:top;display:block;text-align:center;"><img src="http://content.epsrv1.net/image_gallery/uploaded/273/10513/vnk.png" style="max-width:234px;padding-bottom:0;display:inline !important;vertical-align:bottom;border:0;height:auto;outline:none;text-decoration:none;-ms-interpolation-mode:bicubic;"width="234" alt="" height="198" class=""/></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td valign="top" style="vertical-align:top; width:300px;" class="ep-mobile-col-img-with-text"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" style="width: 100%;"><tbody><tr><td class="ep-mobile-col-table-with-padding" style="text-align:left; overflow:hidden; background-color:#FFFFFF; padding-top:15px; padding-right:15px; padding-left:15px; padding-bottom:15px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;">Vitaliy N. Katsenelson, CFA, is Chief Investment Officer at <a style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;" href="http://clicks.epsrv1.net/click?s=1282|484994386&v=4hjs6oe9rb11xzbtm1r8sw9hwj5y9yyw34cc3e9zu9hy1zbhm79nghtrbx1pzcymtajqpmqwst1yqwr4ntujhw1kq89o9ifi1dug39jap1apmp3rwiewq1rne59srncgehkstn8ssu4fymxdhmxoxkd568u55xqxmyxeaihpz7nr9e1e1w7mr9u4e55p6xbzdiww3rfkky9zha1u6tb9uwhwp3p37qjp13gf7ty"><span style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-family:georgia, palatino;font-size:16px;">Investment Management Associates, Inc.</span></a> in Denver, Colo. He is the author of <em>Active Value Investing</em> (Wiley) and <em>The Little Book of Sideways Markets </em>(Wiley). <a style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;" href="http://clicks.epsrv1.net/click?s=1282|484994386&v=4hjs6oe9rb11xzbtm1r8sw9hwj5y9yyw34cc3e9zu9hy1zbhm79nghtrbx1pzcymtajqpmqwst1yqwr4ntujhw1kq89o9ifi1dug39jap1apmp3rwiewq1rne59srncgehkstn8ssu4fymxdhmxoxkd568u55xqxmyxeaihpz7nr9e1e1w7mr9u4e55p6xbzdiww3rfkky9zhqdka3zuk7n3nboa4qtmt6hwqz9hh6qqkmz7oqgbxzank3pdef1n"><span style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-family:georgia, palatino;font-size:16px;">His books </span></a></span><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;">were translated into eight languages. </span></div><div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"> </div><div style="color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;word-break:break-word;"><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;">Forbes Magazine called him "The new Benjamin Graham". <strong>To receive Vitaliy’s future articles by email or read his articles <a style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-family: georgia, palatino; font-size: 16px;" href="http://clicks.epsrv1.net/click?s=1282|484994386&v=4hjs6oe9rb11xzbtm1r8sw9hwj5y9yyw34cc3e9zu9hy1zbhm79nghtrbx1pzcymtajqpmqwst1yqwr4ntujhw1kq89o9ifi1dug39jap1apmp3rwiewq1rne59srncgehkstn8ssu4fymxdhmxoxkd568u55xqxmyxeaihpz7nr9e1e1w7mr9u4e55p6xbzdiww3rfkky9z7agnpgskwq8u8xmb7unbizuoxroojoq63amrosdjmtj14muprj7qzyby49qms8tiupsnbiqxdmqofw"><span style="color:#2196F3;text-decoration:none;font-family:georgia, palatino;font-size:16px;">click here</span></a>.</strong></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0"><tbody><tr><td height="10"></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#ffffff"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" class="footer" style="text-align:center;color:#4b4b4b;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:12px;padding-top:15px;padding-right:15px;padding-bottom:15px;padding-left:15px;"><div><div>Investment Management Associates, Inc., 5690 DTC Blvd, 140W, Greenwood Village Colorado 80111, United States</div></div><div class="removable"><a href="http://epsrv1.net/subscription/unsubscribe?s=1282|484994386&v=4hjs6oe9rb11xzbtm1r8sw9hwj5y9yyw34cc3e9zu9hy1zbhm79nghtrbx1pzcymtajqpmqwst1yxgtgu5kgk4g3fbgi96gkjwtp1wh8x5wyhxbt4eue3soo84qoeryfjc6cqqqw3m5t3yfn5htobw7qo9xtzi7cqoa7rx89re4kzrozrd3p4ppj6hefm8hk8h6e9wn9kjxaku81ge416q35wnr1jkk61dox3py" style="text-decoration:none;color:#2196F3;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span style="text-decoration:none;color:#2196F3;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:12px;">unsubscribe</span></a></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0"><tbody><tr><td height="10"></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0"><tbody><tr><td><img src="http://open_tracker.epsrv1.net/opened?v=4hjs6oe9rb11xzbtm1r8sw9hwj5y9yyw34cc3e9zu9hy1zbhm79nghtrbx1pzcymtajqpmqwst1yqwr4ntujhw1kq89o9ifi1dug39jap1apmp3rwiewq1rne59srncgehkstn8ssu4fymxdhmxoxkd568u55xqxmyxeaihpz7nr9e1e1w7y99y7rrh6fig6m6sc3s6w4um1q" width="1" height="1" style="max-width:0px;max-height:0px;display:none;"/></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0" bgcolor="#ffffff"><tbody><tr><td align="center"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0"><tbody><tr><td style="height:40px;" align="center" valign="center" width="100%"><span style="font-size:12px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#4b4b4b;vertical-align:middle;">Powered by</span> <a href="http://clicks.epsrv1.net/pb"><img src="http://content.epsrv1.net/no_rev/assets/powered_by_logo.png" border="0" alt="ExpressPigeon" style="vertical-align:middle;"/></a> <a href="http://clicks.epsrv1.net/pb" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="color:#2196F3;font-size:12px;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:middle;">ExpressPigeon</span></a></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></body></html>