Episode 9: Integrated Research, Xref and Mailbag

“To invest successfully does not require a stratospheric IQ, unusual business insights, or inside information,” said Buffett in a foreword to Benjamin Graham’s The Intelligent Investor. “What’s needed is a sound intellectual framework for making decisions and the ability to keep emotions from corroding the framework.” According to uncle Warren, factors like habits, character and temperament are what matter most. “What […]

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, […]

Medical imaging software provider Volpara (ASX:VHT) has delivered another set of strong results today, reporting financial results for the six months ending 30 September, 2019. Total revenue surged 197% to NZ$6.8 million, with subscription revenue up 148% to NZ$5.2 million. At the end of the period, Volpara’s level of annual recurring revenue was NZ$15.7 million, up from just NZ$4.8 million […]

What’s behind the latest move?

In his book The Unsettling of America, Wendell Berry sketches two archetypes: the nurturer and the exploiter.  “I conceive a strip-miner to be a model exploiter, and as a model nurturer I take the old-fashioned idea or ideal of a farmer. The exploiter is a specialist, an expert; the nurturer is not. The standard of the exploiter is efficiency; the […]

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, […]

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 […]

One of the great things about equity investing is that you can be extremely fussy. You don’t need to buy hundreds of stocks. A dozen or so can give you solid diversification, provided they’re not all marching to the same beat. And you’ve got literally thousands of candidates to choose from. Tens of thousands, if you’re happy to look offshore. But […]