Picking the Winner

Money Magazine identified the 30 best-performing stocks over the 30 years from 1972 until 2002.  The list is startlingly unpredictable. Rather than lots of technology or health-care stocks, it includes:  Southwest Airlines,  Worthington Steel,  Dollar General  UST Inc.   Would you have been willing to bet big on any of those stocks back in 1972?   … Read more

Understanding versus Knowing

Thinking you know something versus you understanding it are two very different thoughts, and can be dangerous when it comes to investing.  Here’s why.  The definition of knowing is: “be aware of through observation, inquiry, or information.”   Whereas the definition of understanding is: “perceive the intended meaning of.” When you think you know something it … Read more

The Biggest University

The great recession hit in 2008.  I like many others watched as the financial markets eroded.  Fortunately, I didn’t experience the entire fallout like so many others did, but it was an eye opening experience for me.  I thought I knew enough about investing from my Smith Barney training whereas I would know what to … Read more

Reading Library

Below are many of the books I’ve enjoyed. Some are more technical in content, whereas some are story like. Some are available via Audible. Hope you find one or two to enjoy. 100 Baggers Christopher Mayer A Complete Guide to Volume Price Analysis Anna Coulling A History of the United States in Five Crashes Scott … Read more

The Hardest Thing To Do

The hardest part of investing is the ability to do nothing.  That’s right, nothing. We as humans are built to make decisions all the time for survival and planning.  In fact, it is estimated that a single human being makes on average approximately 35,000 decisions in a day.  This number seems crazy high, but if … Read more

Experience

“If no one ever took risks Michelangelo would have painted the Sistine floor.”  -Neil Simon “Take calculated risks.  That is quite different from being rash.”  -George S. Patton “Be brave.  Take risks.  Nothing can substitute experience.”  -Paulo Cuelho The verb of experience is defined as “to encounter or undergo an event or occurrence.”  Makes sense.  … Read more

The Investor’s Worst Enemy

If you are an investor your worst enemy is you.  We all doubt ourselves, or do things without putting in the proper work, or make impulsive decisions without a plan.  Many of the professional investment books written by professionals with successful track records address this topic, since it’s the hardest aspect of investing to conquer.  … Read more

Performance Fees – Make it Fair

In 1940 Congress created the Investment Act of 1940.  This Act was essentially rules created to stave off another stock market crash like the one that happened in 1929.  The Investment Act of 1940 was put in place to better regulate the investment industry. One of the provisions of the act is that it permits … Read more

Wine and Investing

I love wine.  Wine is more than a drink or a beverage.  It’s a journey. A story from somewhere I am not.  When I taste a wine it takes me to the place where the wine was made.  It creates visions of the land, the scenery, the grape vines growing, the earth of each vineyard, … Read more