I reject the Passive model, which is what gets us thinking this way. My starting premise is that of course returns are largely predictable at least in the long run, that of course long-term timing always works even if short-term timing never does. When you start with this idea rather than the Passive idea, some amazing things happen to your attitude to investing over time.

For investors with this attitude, it's not an entertainment anymore. Rational Investors are not surprised by the price changes we see. We ignore the short-term changes because we know on a deep level that they are inconsequential. And we anticipate the long-term changes years in advance (because they have played out the same way over and over again since the market first opened and always must continue to do so if the market is to continue to function). We are not surprised by the stock market's tricks. So they don't make us laugh or cry. For us, it's not entertainment anymore.

The key to getting over the idea that investing is entertainment is seeing the reality that is the cause of stock returns. It is the productivity of the U.S. economy that determines long-term stock returns. All that you need to know to avoid thinking of investing as entertainment is that U.S. productivity has been sufficient to finance a 6.5 percent real return for many, many years and any return higher than that is cotton-candy nothingness that is being borrowed from your future returns. Stop taking the nominal returns reported in the newspapers as serious numbers (always adjust for valuations) and the game aspect of investing goes “Poof!”

Rob