There are certainly some worthy observations here on the crucial importance of building a financial plan with an eye toward expecting the unexpected. As far as I’m concerned, however, merely creating such a “plan” and then blindly sticking to it (as Mr. Richards suggests here) has been the death knell of far too many portfolios. True “long-term investing” demands constant situational awareness, solid advice and – most importantly – the ability to adapt your plan – not just adhere to it.
Quite coherent article on the changing face of information and news flow in the investment world.  Twitter is becoming both an awareness tool and a “disintermediator” of access to preferred information sources.  Financial institutions that fail to recognize this are going to be left in the dust: “Simon Ricketts of the Guardian has noted that ‘Twitter does its best work in the first five minutes after a disaster, and its worst in the twelve hours after that.’” (@rolldiggity)
Twitter: Your First Source of Investment News, The Big Picture, Barry Ritholtz, 4/21/2013
