As the market teeters at the edge of another correction (so what else is new!), as always, we stand ready to take advantage of low prices whenever they come. My dry powder coffers are now full. Over the last 12 months, I took all the cash out of my portfolio that I had invested … [Read more...] about Recent downturns through history’s lens
Investing Mindset
How I approach investing
Make your investing an infinite game
I like to think of investing as a kind of an infinite game. Although it is not strictly an infinite game, I believe it has similar characteristics. So what is an infinite game? It’s a game that has no definitive conclusion. It has no finish line and no one person can be … [Read more...] about Make your investing an infinite game
Why we can do better than professional investors
Stanley Druckenmiller regrets selling his NVIDIA position too soon. He said recently that he wished he had held on to his NVIDIA shares, but admitted he’s no Warren Buffett: “I don’t own things for 10 or 20 years. I wish I was Warren Buffett.” I admire his candid confession but … [Read more...] about Why we can do better than professional investors
If you wait for the robins
Over the last two years, too many people bailed out on stocks because they wanted to avoid a possible recession. Peter Lynch once said: “Far more money has been lost by investors trying to anticipate corrections, than lost in the corrections themselves.” Economic forecasts are … [Read more...] about If you wait for the robins
Should investors prefer dividend paying companies over others?
In a word, no. Why do I say that? In this post, I will share my thoughts on dividends payers. Across the universe of all publicly traded companies, I group them into three distinct buckets: (1) Companies that pay generous dividend today (>4%). Though they tend to have … [Read more...] about Should investors prefer dividend paying companies over others?
Not much going on
There is not much to do in investing these days. In fact, this whole year, I didn’t have many investing transactions. It has been that kind of year for me. One major reason why I didn’t have many stock buys this year is because I buy when the market is going down, not when it … [Read more...] about Not much going on
If you’ve ten years to invest
Last week I read Davis New York Venture fund’s annual letter. Its eponymous portfolio manager Chris Davis writes thoughtful analyses of investing landscape every year. I enjoy reading his investor letters even though I have not (yet) invested any money in his Davis funds family. … [Read more...] about If you’ve ten years to invest
From Buffett’s letter
Warren Buffett’s annual shareholder letter came out last month. As usual, it was widely covered by the mainstream media and numerous financial analysts. There is not much I can add to what was already written about it in the press. Though there is this one minor angle on … [Read more...] about From Buffett’s letter
More founder run businesses
Bessemer Venture Partners is a well-known venture capital firm—also one of the nation’s oldest in VC business. As the name implies, it invests in young startups, mostly technology related businesses. Over the years, it had invested in some promising businesses that grew to be … [Read more...] about More founder run businesses
The odds of making money in stocks
Whether we like it or not, we investors are always making bets. We invest our capital with the expectation that down the road we will be able to recover all of it plus some. But since the future is unknowable, we implicitly make a bet every time we invest. Specifically, … [Read more...] about The odds of making money in stocks