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Can't Buy Me Love is a movie from the 1980s about a nerd who is desperate to improve his social status. In so doing, he makes an investment. He hires the most popular girl in school to be his girlfriend for a few weeks, believing this will permanently elevate his standing with the popular clique at his high school.

If you’re are an active investor with a goal to outperform, history says the biggest company in the world is not a good bet.

Why?

Because the #1 stock in the world has always—I repeat always—gone on to underperform.

Maybe not right away. But eventually it happens.

Howard Schultz is the pied-piper of modern coffee. A pioneer who brought a fringe coffeehouse culture to the masses, convincing people the world over to pay a premium price for a premium experience. On his watch, the Starbucks franchise grew from just 11 stores to over 28,000.

Fewer people have run a four-minute mile than have scaled Mount Everest. The first runner to do it was Roger Bannister. 

Bannister was a strong runner, but not the most physically gifted athlete. His edge was his strategy. “It is the brain, not the heart or lungs, that is the critical organ,” he once said.

We live in a world where good news travels fast and bad news travels even faster.

Case in point: over the course of just a few hours, Roseanne Barr sent out a racial slur via tweet, and effectively flushed her hit TV show and resurgent career down the toilet.

Did you hear “Yanny or Laurel?”

Uncertainty over the trade relationship between China and the U.S. has periodically roiled markets this year. This week, the topic is again front and center as top Chinese economic officials make their way to Washington to convene talks.

“Apparently, now I’m a verb,” the billionaire founder of Greenlight Capital told the audience at the Value Investing Congress in 2013. He flashed an article with the word “Einhorned” in the headline.

“Let’s talk about time. I’m not sure how much I’ve got left, ok? I’m 70. Longevity does not run in my family. So, how much should a guy like me have in the stock market?”

That’s what a client asked during a recent meeting. Great question.