Episode 8: Macro outlook, Microcap investing & Scorecard review

Most analysis starts with the financials. Earnings, margins, returns, and all that jazz. They’re important, sure, but they come after the fact. They’re downstream of what really matters. Before the numbers, before the model, you need to start with the business itself and the value it’s trying to create for its customers. If it can’t deliver real value, any financial […]

In his 2005 shareholder letter, Warren Buffett shared a neat little parable about a wealthy family called the Gotrocks. It’s a sharp jab at the investment advisory industry — and it clearly struck a chord with Vanguard founder Jack Bogle, who later gave it a starring role in The Little Book of Common Sense Investing. Here’s the gist: The Gotrocks family […]

Utilities and airport software specialist Gentrack (ASX:GTK) has today told investors to expect a full year operating profit (EBITDA) of between $27 – $28 million, less than previous guidance which called for a result “marginally ahead of FY18 ($31 million)”. Gentrack said the downgrade was due to delays in customer projects and contracts as well as bad debt risks in […]

There’s a lot of distance between broad, abstract investing concepts and placing actual trades with your hard earned. 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy by Hamilton Helmer makes a good attempt at focusing the investor’s attention on the things that matter, and putting it in a way that feels a bit more actionable. It’s basically a book about ‘moats’, as Buffett would call them, […]

Most people think of capitalism as a system about markets, competition, or even greed. But at its core, capitalism is about capital — specifically, the accumulation of tools that help us make more things, better things, and new things. Money is capital, but capital isn’t just money. The terms are often used interchangeably, but money is capital in the sense […]

I’ve spent a bit of time lately engaging in a losing battle with a leaky garden shed. What was supposed to be a “quick win” with a bit of silicone and a few tightened bolts has instead devolved into a multi-day saga of rusted screws, rotten wood, and a vocabulary of swear words that would make a wharfie blush. The […]

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