Mark Bern CFA is our founder and sole advisor at Bern Factor LLC. He is a former CPA (1990 -2017) and became a CFA charter holder in 2000. He is considered an expert in quantitative and qualitative analysis with experience in technical analysis. He has a deep interest in stock market history and holds degrees in Economics (BSBA) and Management Information Systems (MBA). He has been actively involved with investment analysis and investment management since 1985 but has been a student of investing since the 1960s. He owned his first individual stock position while still in high school. He is a student of Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffett. He has achieved a uniquely diverse experience from multiple careers. This has allowed him to develop a broad perspective enabling him to look at the big picture of macroeconomics all the way down to the detail of a retail unit or factory floor. He spent much of his youth in retail, then served two tours in Vietnam, including one in reconnaisance. He has been a blue collar, union worker in a factory and a manager in services, hospitality and transportation as well as a manager of professional staffs. He has more than 20 years of experience each in both the public and private sectors. He has developed personal points of reference that many analysts will never have.