3 Lessons from Investing’s “Moneyball” Moment
This year marks 100 years of research-quality US stock market returns. How important is this centennial? The movie Moneyball provides a good example.
The protagonist of the film, Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane, tries to field a championship contender with a tiny budget after many of his biggest stars sign with other teams. He finds his edge with data. It was an Oscar-nominated film starring Brad Pitt, but it also happened to be based on a true story, adapted from a book by Michael Lewis, who spent time with the real-life Beane and his baseball team.
Rather than adopting the conventional wisdom of his industry, Beane forges a new path based on cutting-edge statistical analysis. Real data, instead of gut instinct. The sport had been doing it all wrong.