Episode 8: Macro outlook, Microcap investing & Scorecard review

A business is best thought of as a machine; one that takes various inputs (capital, commodities, people) and converts them into outputs (products/services). If you are interested in a company’s potential for growth, it helps to understand exactly how those inputs are converted to outputs. Furthermore, you need a sense of how demand for those outputs will change over time, […]

When I first started to attend company briefings, I usually came away feeling more than a little stupid. It always felt like I was accidently sat at the adults table; nodding along like an idiot and desperately hoping no one expected me to speak. While others asked probing questions on all manner of esoteric accounting adjustments and industry specifics, I […]

We’ve seen a solid start to 2023, with the market as a whole already up by more than 6%. Some of the gains in the small-cap space have been far more impressive. Those that have enjoyed the biggest recoveries have tended to be ones that have reported: Strong balance sheets Positive (or at least improving) operating cash flows Sustained sales momentum […]

I’ve had a tough time of late with my home broadband provider, Optus. The details are too painful (and boring) to recount, but let’s just say that after 10 days without internet, I’ve learned the true meaning of “on hold.” Rather than scream into the void, I decided to channel my rage productively: digging into Optus’s financials. If it sucks […]

Modern economics is littered with ideas that are, frankly, wrong. Not obviously so, which is partly why they are so hard to kill. That, and the fact they tend to be politically comforting, at least in terms of their intended outcomes. That those outcomes would indeed be nice if achieved, and often come from the best of intentions, is not […]

Better tactics for better returns

When it comes to investing, mistakes are unavoidable. Even the best investors get it wrong — a lot. But here’s the thing: it’s okay to be wrong, as long as you handle it the right way. The trick is to make sure being wrong is rare, quickly admitted to, swiftly corrected, and (importantly) learned from.  Rare, Not Never No investor can […]

I recently watched a talk by Patrick Honohan, Ireland’s central bank governor through the depths of the GFC. He was reflecting on the country’s property and banking collapse of 2009, and no surprise, it got my inner perma-bear twitching. But this isn’t about to turn into some Chicken Little rant about the similarities with Australia’s housing market. Actually, there are […]