“There’s as much risk in doing nothing as in doing something.”
— Trammell Crow, real estate mogul

Cycles are an inseparable part of the landscape of markets. Fortunes are often made in the valleys. I was thinking of this after I read several obituaries of Trammel Crow, who died this month. He was a guy who saw many booms and busts over his 94-year life.

Trammell Crow was a big-time developer and died a rich man. The Wall Street Journal once described him as “America’s biggest landlord.” His firm, Trammell Crow Co., estimates it built some 500 million square feet of real estate space. But it was a long road to get there from humble beginnings. His life is one of those great American…