The Ledger

Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.

clear all ✕

why aren't all 7 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable

Prediction Not checkable as stated
Marks: The investor who best understands AI will dominate the next decade
“Who is the person in the investment business today who will find the most success in the next 10 years? The answer is, in my opinion, the person who best understands AI and its capabilities and implications.”
Howard Marks May 4, 2026 ▶ 1:06:16 Howard Marks: AI, Debt vs Equity & The Next 40 Years Of Investing | Nikhil Kamath | People by WTF · Nikhil Kamath
Assertion Supported
Marks: Annual S&P 500 returns are almost never between 8% and 12%
“The return on the S&P, which averages 10, is almost never between eight and 12.”
Howard Marks May 4, 2026 ▶ 19:10 Howard Marks: AI, Debt vs Equity & The Next 40 Years Of Investing | Nikhil Kamath | People by WTF · Nikhil Kamath
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Marks: 99% of Oaktree's high-yield bonds paid full principal and interest
“I've been in high yield bonds for 48 years. And in our experience, 99% of the bonds have paid interest in principle as promised.”
Howard Marks May 4, 2026 ▶ 53:49 Howard Marks: AI, Debt vs Equity & The Next 40 Years Of Investing | Nikhil Kamath | People by WTF · Nikhil Kamath
Assertion Supported
Marks: Oaktree's 40-Year Default Rate Is Roughly One-Third Market Average
“Over the last 40 years, on average, something like 3.6 or 3.7% of all high yield bonds have gone into default every year. And our default rate has been Roughly a third.”
Howard Marks May 4, 2026 ▶ 1:01:33 Howard Marks: AI, Debt vs Equity & The Next 40 Years Of Investing | Nikhil Kamath | People by WTF · Nikhil Kamath
Assertion Contradicted
Marks: Buying Nifty 50 stocks in 1969 led to 95% losses
“And if you bought those stocks, the day I got to work in September of 69, if you held them tenaciously for five years, you lost about 95% of your money. 95%. Because for many of them, something did go wrong, and for all of them, the price was too high. The P.E…”
Howard Marks May 4, 2026 ▶ 48:09 Howard Marks: AI, Debt vs Equity & The Next 40 Years Of Investing | Nikhil Kamath | People by WTF · Nikhil Kamath
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Marks: Bruce Karsh managed $70B in distressed debt with 90%+ profits
“He's managed about 70 odd billion dollars since 1988 in that field, by far the biggest. And of his total profits and losses, well over 90% are profits, less than 10% are losses.”
Howard Marks May 4, 2026 ▶ 55:09 Howard Marks: AI, Debt vs Equity & The Next 40 Years Of Investing | Nikhil Kamath | People by WTF · Nikhil Kamath
Assertion Partly supported
Marks: S&P 500 returned 20% annually in the 1990s and zero in the 2000s
“In the nineties, it returned 20% a year, and in the aughts, it returned zero per year.”
Howard Marks May 4, 2026 ▶ 19:00 Howard Marks: AI, Debt vs Equity & The Next 40 Years Of Investing | Nikhil Kamath | People by WTF · Nikhil Kamath
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