Chasing after returns and timing the market won’t earn you substantial returns, much less generate systematic outperformance. What looked to be attractive returns turn out to be optical illusions: they don’t adequately reflect the risks involved after all. To succeed in the stock market, what are needed are a transparent, efficient investment strategy and iron discipline rather than nerves of steel. One of the most promising strategies delivering the best risk-adjusted return is the minimum variance strategy. It does so by optimizing a basket of stocks to generate the lowest-possible portfolio variance.