Articles
Why Did I Write a 27-page Letter To Clients
In these letters I diligently walk clients through our research on stocks we own, including those we have recently bought and sold. I cover how we value them, why we own them, etc.
A Shift in Perception Transforms Reality
2020 will go into our memory banks as a very painful year. Stoicism, particularly the stoic practice of negative visualization, helped me put 2020 into a broader historical context, and compare what happened, which was bad, to what could have happened.
McKesson: Amazon Will Not Throw This Drug Railroad Off The Tracks
Amazon.com has announced an online pharmacy offering. How big of a punch could this be to drug distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health and AmerisourceBergen?
One Spreadsheet at a Time
Recalling a teaching moment I had with my daughter Hannah, in which I got to share my love of spreadsheets and their usefulness.
Letter from the Value Investing Mental Asylum or How I Embraced Stoics
Albert Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different outcome.” I can relate to this on some level. I share with you why I am not writing this from a mental asylum. I found solace in Stoicism.
Free Value Investing Curriculum for College Students
An announcement that should be of interest if you are a college student with a passion for value investing.
Jonah Doing Jonah’s Thing
I describe the next adventure my son Jonah will have going to college from Hawaii.
Svenska Handelsbanken and How to Use Book Value
I discuss our investment in Swedish bank Svenska Handelsbanken, and what makes their culture so unique. Then give a short explanation on when book value works as a measure of intrinsic value, and why it often doesn't.
Defense Stocks
We purchased stocks of several American and European defense companies. We like these businesses for several reasons.
Tesla’s Stock Price Discounts Temporal Wormhole into the Future
Low interest rates have messed with the temporal properties of the market and created a wormhole in time and in Tesla’s stock.
Santa Fe: “Remember This”
Santa Fe and my family go way back to the early 90s. It all started with my father and my stepmother. My father had his paintings exhibited in a gallery on Santa Fe’s famous Canyon Road. A few times a year, they would load up paintings in a minivan and drive them to Santa Fe.
When the Facts Change, We Change Our Minds (Anatomy of a Sale)
Even before the coronavirus we were not big fans of the airlines stocks. Planes are expensive. Airlines have to pay for them whether they are fully occupied during normal economic times or when they are half-loaded during recessions.
Uber Eats: Delivering Food and My 4 Seconds of Fame on PBS (not PBS Kids, unfortunately)
I was on PBS NewsHour talking about Uber Eats and the food delivery business (you can watch it here). When ...
Nifty FANGAM and Other “One Decision” Investment Strategies
In early January we would not have guessed the stock market would be at today’s level, there must be more to the stock market than FANGAM.
De-Numb Your Mind
I can definitely see how we are always trying to numb our minds. We constantly need the mental organ entertained and well-numbed with external stimuli. It seems that whenever we are left with ourselves, that is, with our minds, we reach out for our favorite portable numbing device and happily lose ourselves in Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, or YouTube. We spend little or no time with ourselves.
The Fischer Random Chess Stock Market
There is a parallel between today’s stock market and Fischer random chess. The last time we faced a global pandemic was in 1918. The only common denominator between now and then is that humans have not really changed that much – it takes a few millennia to rewire our DNA and thus our fundamental behavior.
Why The Survival Of Traditional Carmakers Is Far From Certain
Traditional carmakers do have strengths in designing, assembling, and marketing cars. They can afford to make an enormous investment in EV and absorb the losses that come with them. But will they?
Rebuilding Good Habits after Lockdown
Though I loved working from home during the lockdown, I now realize that it came at a cost – in March and April I destroyed most of the good habits I had worked very hard to build over the last few years.
The Jet Lag Series: How do I work? When do I find time to write?
How do I work? When do I find time to write? I get asked this question a lot. People wonder when I have time to do research. Do I do research at all? Or do I have someone else do it for me?
The Jet Lag Series: There is no “I” in Hannah (But There are Two in “Vitaliy”)
Last summer Hannah started playing volleyball. She really fell in love with the game. She was one of the best players. Then the program director noticed Hannah’s play and told me that Hannah had “good hands” and suggested that we transfer her to a more advanced team of 15-year-olds (Hannah just turned 14). I instantly started calling her “good hands Hannah.”
The All-Terrain Dividend Portfolio
I was finally able to do something I have tried to do but could not for ten years! We have built a dividend portfolio that’s “all-terrain” and that yields … well, you’ll have to read to the end to find out.
