Both Spotify and Dropbox are well-known brands not only among the investment community but in general. I literally do not know 1 person (besides my non-tech wife) that doesn't use either product or both. This name recognition is likely to attract a lot of attention when these companies go public. IPOs are expected this month. GSV Capital invests in private companies. … [Read more...]
ValueX Presentation: Discovery Communications
In January, I had the honor to be invited to Guy Spier's ValueX. The event took place in the village of Klosters (Davos region) in Switzerland. I had not seen so much snow since my college days at Illinois. People skied or took group walks during the day while the presentations started at 3 pm and went on until late in the evening. The event had many similarities to the … [Read more...]
ETFs that destroyed accounts…
ETFs started off as a 'savior' product for the retail investor, giving him options at a low cost. That product has turned into a monster in my opinion that has both resulted in distorting the market and destroying accounts. Investors experienced the 2015 flash crash which resulted in index funds dropping 35%+ intraday. At least by the end of the day the prices of these … [Read more...]
We simply went too long w/o a correction
The press tried to find reasons to attach to the drop, but they forgot a basic fundamental fact of finance. With higher returns comes higher volatility. It's that simple. If we define the end of the bull market to be one which experiences a 20% correction, then the current bull market is the 2nd longest in history! As shown below, the longest bull market ended in March … [Read more...]
Outlook 2018
It’s the end of the year and as we enter 2018 investors will ponder on what the future will bring. As, like last year’s popular December issue, I collected a bunch of links to investment and economic outlooks by a variety of financial institutions. Do keep in mind Credit Suisse’s Deputy Global CIO Burkhard Varnholt who said “Here’s the thing: none of us can predict the … [Read more...]
Why the iPhone 8 Plus at $799 is cheap
Yes, the new iPhone 8 Plus is a bargain. And if you see my logic, you will agree too. I'm a proud owner of Apple's new phone from October 2017. My previous phone was the iPhone 5 which I purchased in February 2013. It was a great phone and I would have held it for another year if my wife didn't leave it in the sun on the beach at Protaras. It was in a bag but at over 40 … [Read more...]
Video: A Variant View on Indexing and Passive Investing
The CFA Institute will invite a limited number of Charterholders to speak at the annual conference in Hong Kong in May 2018. To be considered you had to submit a 15-17 min video on a topic. Below is my submission which I share with you. … [Read more...]
