As a regular lurker, I've grown tired of reading about candidates' characters: Really, I'm not sure anyone is going to change his mind about that in a discussion forum, no matter how well-written.

Having been drubbed by just about everyone so far in the Forvm stock-picking contest, I thought I'd share these depressing statistics on (tolerably) long-term investment returns. If you've been investing in stocks for the long term, it has been a long road indeed. The past 10 years, through March 31:

3-month T-bills: 40.11%
S&P 500 w/dividends reinvested: 41.11%
Lehman US Universal Bond index (total return): 80.1%
Morgan Stanley Capital International EAFE: 88.7%

Here's hoping for a reversion to the mean --