History of Dow Jones
The Dow Jones closes at an all time high.
Did you know?
The index was created back in 1896 by Charles Dow and Edward Jones in order to track the performance of the industrial economy. Dow was a journalist and co-founder of the WSJ and Jones was a statistician.
“Be Like Water”
“Be like water”
It is the most famous quote attributed to Bruce Lee. The actual quote is famous in Chinese philosophy and Taoism and has been used for decades. Lee made it mainstream.
vc exit collapse
VC exits have collapsed. Even ignoring 2021, it's still below trend for a number of reasons.
risks worth taking
Top 3 things (in reverse order) that would have never happened without someone, somewhere taking a risk without being able to calculate the probability of success:
markets hit new all time highs
📈 Markets continue to make new all time highs.
Gold is up at over $2,500.
VIX is below 20.
For investors, it's all good signs for your portfolio.
a cheesy joke
I recently spent a lovely long weekend with my wife in Zurich. This post isn’t about how nice the Lindt is or the beautiful lake and mountain vista or even the strange micro climate. I wanted to talk about crossing the road.
Origins of SWOT
When starting to analyse an existing business for investment or looking to build a new business, it’s often said in strategy circles that you should do a ‘SWOT’ analysis.
Advantage of Investing Early
The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.
The second best time is now.
probability of positive returns
The probability of positive returns increases the longer you hold your investment.
The chart below is from Macrobond and shows; MSCI World Equity Mid and MSCI Large Cap Total Return in GBP, 1 January 1972- July 2022
avoiding conformity
“If everyone’s jumping on the bandwagon, I’d rather build my own wagon. It might have square wheels, but at least it’s original!”
Contrarian thinking is hard to do. It is uncomfortable. It’s much easier to follow the crowd and not stand out. Psychologically we are not wired to accept we are wrong and therefore being part of the group allows us to take comfort in being wrong with others. The contrarian has to take the opposite view and know they are leaving themselves open to, at best, criticism and at worst, ridicule.
private market tomatoes
I did a post not so long ago trying to help shed some light on the terminology commonly used in the investment industry. The last post was about call options and the feedback I got was positive, especially from younger people starting their investment journey.
Over the last 5 years the interest in private markets has skyrocketed and therefore we need to ensure we are up to speed with how this market works, the terms used and how they play a part in portfolio management.
aesthetic bias
Here is one for all the gym bunnies out there or anyone who has dabbled with personal training.
work on your strengths
Back to school this week for most (although I know in Scotland they have gone back a couple of weeks ago!), and parents can begin to breathe a sigh of relief.
A great article by Shane Parrish at Farnam Street talks about how school tests weaknesses but life rewards strengths.
are you competitive?
Do you think you are competitive? How competitive are you?
Can you be "too" competitive?
how to avoid a punch in the face
'Iron' Mike Tyson famously said "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face!"
illusion of understanding
"The confidence people have in their beliefs is not a measure of the quality of evidence but of the coherence of the story the mind has managed to construct" - Daniel Kahneman 'Thinking, Fast and Slow'.
how to time a meeting
What is the optimal time/day to book in a meeting?
Researchers at the firm YouCanBookMe (link below) found that 2.30pm on Tuesday afternoon is the best. Their research covered 2 million responses to 530,000 meeting requests.
change is inevitable
"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything." – George Bernard Shaw.
decision traps
If you are looking for a great quote, it’s always worth checking out the work of Mark Twain before you search too far. Mr Twain seemingly has some wisdom on many topics.