For the past hour, my mind has been on the power of some businesses to capture annuity streams that pay dividends for years, even decades or generations, with very little additional work. When you can get one of these in your portfolio, they pump out wealth as long as you update them every once in a while. They are the closest thing to geese laying golden eggs that exist outside of fairy tales.
We talked about theft a couple of years ago but it’s on my mind, again. I still struggle to come to terms with it, despite overwhelming, conclusive evidence that it is true: A small percentage of the population will steal, simply if given the opportunity. They won’t even need the stuff. They may not even want…
Radical simplicity. The phrase that has been on my mind, constantly humming in the background almost ceaselessly, for the past three or four weeks is “radical simplicity”. It’s the last thought on my mind when I fall asleep at night, and the first thing I think about when I wake up.
With less than 10 hours to go before the polls open for the 2012 Presidential election, I thought it would be a good time to remind you about the importance of using cartograms to study business, political, and socioeconomic data. Cartograms should be a constant tool in your intellectual toolbox that you utilize to overcome…
It is remarkable how much more enjoyable your life can be when you refuse to participate in situations that you know are going to end poorly, or work with people in environments that you know are going to cause problems. When you see something like this on the horizon, employ the Grandpa Simpson strategy. In…
It’s long been said that it is more important to avoid bad investments than it is to find good investments. “A single bad deal can wipe out a lifetime of work,” or so the sentiment goes. There is a great truth in that. It was the first thing I thought of this morning when I read the Wall Street Journal coverage of the Bank of America / Countrywide Mortgage merger four years ago.
When Peter Lynch was 33 years old, he was put in charge of the obscure Magellan fund, which had $18 million in assets. This was 1977, so today that is about the same as $63 million. The amazing thing about Peter Lynch is, it would have been effortless for him to raise billions of dollars…
If you were going to take a family vacation, you would never just get in the car and start driving, picking random turns at intersections. If you did, you would be lucky to end up anywhere meaningful. The chances of stumbling upon a Disneyland or New York would be remotely small. Instead, you decide where…
I once read somewhere that you should measure the success of your day by the seeds you plant for a better future. Over time, you keep planting, your life radically changes for the better. I came across a perfect illustration of that concept through a bit of serendipity.
Just Because Something Is Old Does Not Mean It Is Right A significant error in thinking comes from people using “It has always been this way” as justification for the state of things. As if, somehow, precedence confers legitimacy. Just because something is old does not mean it is right. Being long-established does not mean…
