Howard Marks, who has written his popular investment memos for 35 years, credits his success to focusing on the core of investing: understanding risk and psychology. In an interview with CNBC’s Sara Eisen , he said the philosophy emphasizes judging “where we are” in the market cycle rather than predicting the future, by reading investor sentiment and behavior to identify extremes of optimism or pessimism. (See the full interview above.) He recalls pivotal moments like his warnings before the 2000 dot-com crash and the 2008 financial crisis, when he urged investors to buy amid panic. On today’s AI-driven market, Marks says valuations are “high but not crazy.” He doesn’t see the “mania” that defines true bubbles. His writings have become required reading on Wall Street and even received a glowing endorsement from Warren Buffett himself — “When I see memos from Howard Marks in my mail, they’re the first thing I open and read. I always learn something,” Buffett once said.