The lesson to take from the wisdom of Van Halen’s “no brown M&Ms” rider is that having good indicators is key to achieving success. This is also extremely true for the world of investing, where you are deploying capital based upon an expected future return. How do you determine when it’s a good time to enter into an investment? Once in it, how do you monitor the conditions supporting your rationale for holding it — are those changing? And if so, are they getting better or worse? When should you exit the position? For all of these questions, the better the indicators you use, the more accurate and informed your decision-making will be. And the better your returns as an investor will be.