Category: General

Two of the best books I’ve read in recent years are Sapiens, by Yuval Noah Harari, and The Beginning of Infinity, by David Deutsch. Neither is related to investing, but they’ve been incredibly valuable in shaping how I think about it. Specifically in regard to the importance of narrative and the nature of knowledge. Harari argues that much of human interaction — […]

Ian Cassel absolutely nails it with this tweet On the ASX alone there are over 2,000 individual stocks. There’s something like 10,000 across all US equity markets. It’s impossible to have a thorough understanding of every single one. The good news is, you don’t need to. In fact, you shouldn’t even try. Having a take on every company doesn’t make […]

George Soros once said, “It’s not whether you’re right or wrong that’s important, but how much money you make when you’re right and how much you lose when you’re wrong.” It’s the kind of thing that sounds obvious until you realize how few investors actually live by it. Most of us are obsessed with being “right” as often as possible […]

You might have heard the tale about the fund manager with a quirky hiring practice. Each time he needed a new analyst, he’d begin by taking half the resumes and — without even a glance — tossing them straight in the bin. His rationale? “I don’t hire unlucky people.” Now, while this story is almost certainly apocryphal, there’s a twisted […]

Last week, I highlighted a curious reality: despite incredible advances in tech and productivity, most people are still working as much as ever just to cover the basics. Real wages have gone flat, while the costs of essentials like housing, healthcare, and energy keep climbing. Once you see it, it’s tough to ignore. It cries out for an explanation. It’s […]

Why is it that, despite all the benefits of technology, we’re still working as much as ever to secure a decent life? I don’t have have any groundbreaking insights, but it’s fun to ponder. Plus, it’s somewhat relevant for anyone managing their own capital, particularly if you’re looking to account for any long-term, technology driven structural shifts. Here’s my take. […]

Even the most serious of investors can’t resist a bit of scandal, rumor, and gossip.  The Australian Financial Review’s coverage of Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) and WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) — specifically, the controversies relating to the (alleged) behavior of their founder-CEOs — is perhaps proof of that. It’s almost enough to make New Idea look like the Harvard Business Review in comparison. Still, […]

Paradigm-shifting innovation always has its skeptics. It’s almost a rite of passage. Virtually all of our modern technological marvels — the things we today take for granted — were initially met with plenty of Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt (FUD). Steam power, electricity, radio, the internet are all great examples, but one less discussed tech revolution deserves special mention — simply because it seems so laughable […]

Herbert Stein, an American economist, once observed that if something cannot go on forever, it will stop. That’s hardly a groundbreaking insight. But just because something is self-evident doesn’t mean it’s widely understood. Indeed, much of modern economics and finance is predicated on the belief that the future will largely mirror the past. To be fair, that’s not a terrible […]

In a recent conversation on the Excess Returns podcast, NYU Professor Aswath Damodaran talked about his latest book, “The Corporate Life Cycle“, which argues that businesses, like people, age. They start young, grow with vigor, reach middle age, and then — no matter how hard they fight it — begin to slow down. This natural cycle, he argues, should guide how […]