Buy and hold, hopefully forever…
Everybody knows about Warren Buffett’s great investments, whether American Express, GEICO, or Coca-Cola, but what about his mistakes? One of the best things about Buffett is his generosity, and I am not referring to the obvious bequeath here, but instead to his frankness in discussing investing in general and particularly his mistakes. I touched on one of […]
A flattish-to-positive September is never a bad thing; this one yielded + 0.3% for the portfolio, but by the end of the month markets were beginning to show increased volatility. At the start of October this has been confirmed with price swings increasingly holding promise of lower prices to come in the near future. Bad […]
The latest career move of Bill Gross (the Bond King) has caused tremendous excitement in the financial media over the last few days. Just in case you have been on holiday, Mr. Gross has departed PIMCO (the company he founded) for Janus Capital. Reading between the lines, some of his colleagues at PIMCO are not too disappointed by […]
There was an unusually stark difference of opinion between two great investors about Tesco early in 2012. Just at about the time Buffett was filling up his trolley with the retailer, Neil Woodford was… checking out [groan]. Neither investor tends to deal in bite-sized portions and so, sure enough, the positioning was significant–Woodford took Tesco from about […]
There is a lot of talk about various markets being at or near their all-time highs, but I do not believe that it necessarily follows that all shares are over-priced as a result. With that belief (and hope) in mind, I added a few more JP Morgan shares at a shade over $60 last week. […]
I have just returned from a fantastic two-week holiday in the US and, on my return, find that there is one issue that is dominating the airwaves: Scotland, and whether it is going to vote Yes or No to independence. There seems to have been quite a change because, before I departed, the referendum was very much in the background, which I […]
[The last leg of our road trip and my final holiday post. The return to reality looms…] West Point West Point is the home town of Howlin’ Wolf, a man with a voice rougher than sandpaper and more menacing than an old shotgun. He was a great singer but also had the good sense to work with a brilliant […]
[This is the penultimate stage of my holiday posting. Back to normal in a couple of days…] The Grand Ole Opry The Grand Ole Opry is both a Southern institution and a slick money-making operation. Where once it had been situated in the famous Ryman auditorium in downtown Nashille, now it is in “Opryland”, which is […]
(This is the latest in a series of holiday postings. Back to normal business soon.) Sun Studio–Whole Lotta Shakin’ Sun Studio must be the most famous recording studio in music. I have seen it on countless documentaries and so it felt slightly surreal to be driving up to that famous yellow guitar on the corner. It […]
Note: I am still on holiday and so not posting about anything financial. I will be back on-topic shortly. Clarksdale–mecca of the blues And so our rented 4×4 finally rolls onto the hallowed ground of Clarksdale. This smallish town is to music what Tabasco is to food: small but delivering of a mighty punch. It has been birthplace or home to […]