The false choice of market timing vs value hunting

Some time back, I received an email from a regular reader that made me think through some beliefs I had always expressed about equity investments. My friend pointed out a glaring contradiction in the investment wisdom I've dished out over the years. "You always say that we should never time the market. You also say that we should not buy overvalued stocks. However, aren't we timing the market when we wait for valuations to become attractive? Isn't it the same thing?" I truly like getting questions like these. They show that someone is thinking deeply about what they are supposed to be doing. They force us to examine our assumptions and dig into the true nature of investment strategy. After three decades of investing and writing about it, I've learned that what appears contradictory on the surface often reveals a more sophisticated and useful truth underneath. Suggested read: The mysterious mind of the investor So, let's examine this supposed paradox. When I tell people not to time the market, I'm warning against what o