Last week I wrote an article about how you can create your own “dividend” by selling shares. Many investors have an irrational dividend bias: Benjamin Graham wrote in the Intelligent Investor that a rising dividend has the potential of attracting “ignorant coupon clippers” – not business owners. I believe too many shareholders in ExxonMobil (XOM)…
Nassim Nicholas Taleb invented the word antifragile in his book with the same name when he was looking for the opposite of fragile. Antifragile is relevant for investors. What is antifragile investing? In this article, we look at how you can judge your investment: is it fragile or antifragile? An antifragile investment is something that…
This article contains some brief notes on Chr. Hansen Holding AS, the famous Danish enzymes, food/nutrition and natural colors company. The article is just a short presentation of the company and writing is kept to a minimum and mostly in the forms of bullet points. The business and some history: Chr. Hansen is a Danish…
If you’re a dividend investor, did you know that you can sell shares to get the same “income”? A lot of investors swear to invest only in dividend stocks to get “income”. While I agree a dividend can serve as a useful heuristic in investing, a more rational approach would be to look at each…
Introduction and summary: Credit Acceptance Corporation (ticker code: CACC) is an owner-operated auto lender in the subprime loan segment. The business model is reasonably easy to understand and pretty straightforward: to lend and service auto loans to subprime borrowers via auto dealers. However, the loan assignments are structured so that all parties (lender, dealer and…
Introduction and summary: Comcast (ticker code: CMCSA) is the world’s second-biggest telecom company and headquartered in Philadelphia, USA. The company was founded by Ralph Roberts in 1963 and has largely grown via M&A. I’m long Comcast since late summer 2018 and consider this a long-term holding that will compound for years to come. My main…
Why do family businesses outperform? Family-owned businesses outperform the main stock indices. They outperform because they have skin in the game, attract better shareholders, have conservative leverage, and thus become antifragile, they do less risky M&A, have long industrial know-how, and do smarter capital allocations. They are owner-operated businesses and their interests are aligned with…
This article contains a brief description of Constellation Software, some thoughts on its competitive advantages, and excerpts from Mark Leonard’s excellent shareholder letters. The excerpts are pretty long, about 5 000 words, and I recommend going to the source to read all letters. This article has only small samples of Leonard’s wisdom. The article is…
I signed my first client and proceeded to short my first stock. It almost proved to be my last. Over the next few weeks, I watched the stock trade up to 20, then 30, then 40, finally breaking through 50…..But when the stock climbed past 50, I started to cover, unable to stand the pain….
How do taxes affect your compounding interest? To shelter your savings from taxation while building your nest egg is extremely important and you better understand taxes and compounding. I believe this is pretty obvious for most investors, but I suspect it’s still neglected because the headwind takes about ten years to really make a difference….
In this article, we look at the meaning of scalable and non-scalable professions and careers – scalable vs. non-scalable. What you choose might have a significant impact on your life. The word scalable is in Merriam-Webster defined like this: 1 : capable of being scaled 2 : capable of being easily expanded or upgraded…
I guess most readers of my website have read books by management gurus like Jim Collins and Tom Peters, and many more have probably studied Micheal Porter’s Competitive Strategy. But the “problem” with the business theory is that it’s solely built on case studies and has not been tested scientifically. Matthew Stewart’s The Management Myth…
I believe Buffet’s annual letters are an invaluable source of investment knowledge and advice. I recently reread all of them, in addition to rereading Lawrence Cunningham’s The Essays Of Warren Buffett – Lessons For Investors And Managers, a book containing excerpts from all the annual letters. This is timeless investment quotes valid for all investors…
Charlie Munger likes to think inversely. Inverse thinking simply means focusing on the things you don’t want to happen. Munger didn’t invent this concept, but he has made it immensely popular. (We recommend reading our article about Charlie Munger quotes.) While Munger turns the question on its head, he touches upon a very important aspect:…
Which is more profitable – trading or investing? Who makes more money – traders or investors? The short answer is that you can get rich quickly by short-term trading, but you are more likely to make money by long-term investing. A good trader can make a lot of money, but most traders lose money. Most long-term…
Some weeks ago I published an article about what investors and traders can learn from Atul Gawande’s The Checklist Manifesto. I like to take notes when I read (see my notes on the pic to the left, excuse my eight-year-old handwriting). I believe this is a fantastic resource to revert to later. Better, though, is…
This weekend I reread The Checklist Manifesto, a book published in 2010, which argues the case for a systematic approach to our daily work as professionals. Below you find arguments for why I believe a checklist is a logical part of the toolkit of any aspiring speculator or investor. An investment checklist is a must….
I reread all of Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s books in October 2019 (except The Bed of Procrustes, which I have not ordered yet). I strongly recommend all his books, both for insights in your “everyday” life or “trading/investment” life. His books have made a huge impact on how I view the world and how I invest….
Crowdfunding/p2p is a relatively new asset class and has increased in popularity over the last five years. To my knowledge, the biggest market, UK, at one point had 12% (?) of the lending market served by crowdfunding. But before you dip your toe in the crowdfunding water you should carefully evaluate if this is for…
I believe it’s much more useful to read good books twice than pouring over many books. In this brief article, I explain why you should read good books twice (or rereading multiple times). About one year ago, I moved from a house to an apartment. I try to keep physical possessions to a minimum and…
