According to music scholars, Beethoven became more original and brilliant as his hearing deteriorated late in his life. He could not hear the music of either himself or others, and so became less influenced by the external 'noise'. The clarity and creativity of his music formed inside his head, and he no longer listened to and relied on the soundtrack of others.

Good investing is similar. Each person needs to establish a portfolio that suits their circumstances and goals. Most would benefit from drowning out the noise. Set up a diversified mix with quality assets and let them perform over time, rather than reacting to the daily news. Warren Buffett made a clear distinction between investing and speculating, and it helps him remain calm when others are panicking. He said:

We start this week with David Booth, who founded Dimensional on the investment principles of Nobel laureates. He describes the five main lessons he has learned from many decades in investing, with especially good advice on living with uncertainty.

Andrew Mitchell also says investors must look at the long term when selecting fund managers, and he provides evidence that all top-performing managers over 10 years have periods of underperformance. Don't bail out at the wrong moment.

Roger Montgomery reveals the major themes attracting his attention for further stockmarket gains, as he expects equities to perform well in 2021. Which is what has happened in the early days of President Joe Biden.

Among many claims and untruths that Donald Trump uttered during his presidency, he told his followers during the Presidential Debate that (pointing to Biden): "If he's elected, the stockmarket will crash." Well, we now know the market has loved the trillions Biden has spent, even in the face of possible higher taxes. Here are the first 100 days of the S&P 500 of each recent President.

Several readers have asked why we do not publish more articles on cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin. It's partly because I don't believe such a volatile and hard-to-value asset is suitable for the portfolios of most of our readers, but maybe that's living in the past. I have never watched Married at First Sight, the most popular television programme in Australia, or posted on TikTok, so maybe I'm a dinosaur. We asked Citibank as a global house to provide its view, and Rich Welby and Sandy Kaul obliged with 10 quick observations. This level of monthly (not annual) volatility sits uncomfortably for most people.

One threat to the rising stockmarket is inflation, although the latest CPI issued yesterday rose only 0.6 per cent in Q1 2021. It was below consensus expectations giving an annual rate of headline inflation of 1.1 per cent. However, Chris Joye of Coolabah wrote this week:

Chris has a solid track record, especially his recent calls on residential property prices, so his warning is worth noting.

Stephen Miller takes a wider view, critical that we expect the RBA to do so much of the heavy-lifting through monetary policy and interest rates, when a range of micreconomic reforms are ignored.

Finally, a change of pace with a look at the European Super League, which received extensive media coverage in Australia last week, including in the financial press. Yet there is a serious lack of coverage of the A-League despite the high-quality product. You don't need Messi and Ronaldo for a great football experience, so why are the local crowds so poor? I never miss a Sydney FC game, with thanks to David Traktovenko.

Briefly on superannuation, the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has announced changes to the Your Future Your Super (YFYS) regulations and a new consultation period. Two criticisms have been addressed:

Many gems in reader comments last week, especially on the Buffett and Ralston articles. The Comment of the Week comes from Kevin:

This week's White Paper from First Sentier Investors looks at the case for making a structural allocation to high quality credit within a diversified investment portfolio.