My point of the post is not to dismiss their past records, but to point out that these gurus are now lost.
(additionally, no one cares about what you did in the past, they care what you can do for them now)
Ken Fisher states the following in his article:
http://www.forbes.com/business/forbes/2008/0901/110.html
There have been three other bear markets since I started this column 24 years ago: 1987, 1990 and 2000. This is the first time I haven't anticipated the fall. (See my columns of Oct. 5, 1987, May 14, 1990 and Mar. 6, 2000.) I hate that. I let you down.
I also admit confusion. In my 36 years as a professional investor I have not seen a period like this. Investors are afraid, journalists are morose, and the same old stories keep replaying endlessly. That's not normal. In the world I've known most of my life, old stories quickly lose their power over capital markets and get replaced by new surprises. That which everyone fixates on gets priced into the stock market quickly and can't drag on. But here, 19 months after we first started hearing about subprime mortgages, housing woes and weak financials, the stories moving stocks are little changed.
Quote from Landis82:
Excuse me, but hasn't the total returns of Bill Miller's fund outperformed the S&P for 15 years up until January 1st of 2006?
Not bad for a fund manager that has watched his asset base grow to $20 Billion.
We all should be so lucky.