February 5, 2012

We Are Living in the Midst of One of the Biggest Bond Bubbles in History

McDonald's Bond Certificate Corporate Debentures

Today, I was sitting at the dining room table, drinking a cup of coffee and wearing my Brooks Brothers pajamas watching the stock market skyrocket when it occurred to me that, given the secret project and some other things going on at the business, I want to build some cash and bond reserves at one of the individual operating companies; maybe put aside money a little at a time, let it build and do something fun with it three or four years from now, like design and build a row of townhouses or … [Read more...]

A Hedge Fund vs. a Mutual Fund

Joshua Kennon Mutual Fund vs. Hedge Fund

In the next 2-5 years, depending upon what happens at the private businesses we own, I am seriously considering launching either a hedge fund or a mutual fund.  Both have significant advantages and disadvantages. A Hedge Fund The Pros: With a hedge fund, I could do almost anything I can do now in private business.  This includes borrowing money to acquire real estate or whole companies.  Say I raised $100 million in assets and we had a good 15% year.  With a "standard" hedge fund … [Read more...]

Think Like a Spider Web, Not an Organizational Chart

Life Is Like 3D Chess

Here is the best thing I heard all day ... Life is not an organization chart. Life is more like a spider's web. Things happen in strange ways. - Ross Perot There is a lot of truth in this. You cannot think lineally about your life or business. You need to think in three-dimensions. This is one of the reasons people are successful. Take my parents and their company, Chenille Appeal. How is it they were able to grow, fund significant expansion and make major technology upgrades … [Read more...]

One of the Mansions In Charlie Munger’s Secret “Mungerville” Up for Sale

01_1453Bonnymedetwilight

Given that I wrote about Charlie Munger so much this week (re-reading part of his biography caused him to be on my mind), I thought this was interesting ... Years ago, through a tiny property subsidiary called MS Properties (or something along those lines), that is a subsidiary of Wesco Financial Corporation, that is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Charlie Munger decided to secretly develop a tiny bit of Southern California as a creative outlet.  His friends called this "Mungerville" but … [Read more...]

Are You an Average American Worker?

Household Income in the United States

A Word on the "Average" Worker The universal law of mathematics is that half of all citizens must be above average and half must be below average.  (Our job is to try and increase that average over time so that someone who is "average" today is richer than someone who was "average" 100 years ago). In the United States, average is defined as $50,000 per household income annually. To adjust for folks like Bill Gates on the high end and the homeless guy on the low end skewing the … [Read more...]

The Secret World of Brooks Brothers

Before I "arrived" as they say, I had no idea how different clothes shopping was for men once they became successful.  Honestly, I never thought much about it but the assumption was that in terms of logistics, it would be just like shopping at Wal-Mart only with better surroundings, better service, higher quality and higher price tags.  You know, you walk into a Neiman Marcus or a Saks, look around at the merchandise, and then pay for it at a register if you were satisfied. I was totally, … [Read more...]

Stock Market Finishes with Worst August Since 2001

Investments

The stock market crash this month was the worst August since 2001.  At times, it was, to paraphrase Buffett, "like a bird flying into the middle of a badminton match." The long-term investment accounts were unscathed (there, in fact, we love falling prices) but the speculation accounts took a beating.  For now, it's all on paper due to most of the maturities in our derivatives coming up in January. I joked with my dad yesterday that if I were to sell all of the businesses and take a very … [Read more...]

A Reader Question About the Trade Deficit

A message from a reader named Adam about the trade deficits.  I responded in a five-part essay on How to Solve the Trade Deficit. Joshua, I follow your personal blog, and find your articles very informative, it’s a great reference, and you inspire me, as I feel I am very similar to you, minus the internet business cranking out good money lol. One problem that I am constantly thinking about that this great county is facing is the trade deficit and "free" trade. Our nation really … [Read more...]

A $1,000,000 Municipal Bond Dilemma

Municipal Bonds and Muncipal Bond Investments

Those of you who follow my writings at About.com, a division of The New York Times, know that I've written about municipal bonds at the Investing for Beginners site including one article that detailed some ways to help you determine if a specific municipal bond was "safe". At the wedding this weekend, I was discussing a family friend, who shall remain nameless, who is in his 80's and has more than $1,000,000 parked in municipal bonds.  As many of you know, this means he earns tax-free … [Read more...]

The Hindenburg Omen and the Stock Market

The stock market is all lit up talking about the dreaded Hindenburg Omen, which sometimes (though not always) predicts a major stock market crash. Listen to me: All of this trash is nonsense.  Things like the Hindenberg Omen and other market forecasts are merely attempts to look at symptoms rather than causes.  It would be like if doctors panicked every time a patient had a fever and immediately concluded the patient had not a head cold but full-blow AIDs with an unrelated case of … [Read more...]