From 1928-2017, the S&P 500 showed an annualized average return of roughly 9.6% per year. From 2009-2017, the S&P 500 showed an annualized average return of roughly 15.1% per year. One of these data points is unsustainable (okay maybe both). The S&P 500 would have to go nowhere for the next 5 years to bring…
Here’s something you don’t see every day: This was a tweet sent by a Senator from Wisconsin in response to a piece I wrote for Bloomberg this week about a bill she proposed to ban share buybacks. My main point was that share buybacks are not as evil as some people in politics or the…
On this week’s Animal Spirits with Michael & Ben we discuss: Why the current low interest rate environment is so challenging for investors. Why share buybacks get such a bad rap. The psychological difference between dividends and buybacks. The difficulty in running a hedge fund. Why wealthy investors prefer to pay higher fees. The problem…
There are many definitions and rules of thumb in the finance world. Most are arbitrary since the markets are more art than science. People often throw around terms without providing justification or context. “Bond bear markets” seem to fall under this category. In this piece I wrote for Bloomberg I discuss why a bond bear…
On the one hand, this doesn’t look normal: Stocks basically had a flash correction from all-time highs, rebounded a decent chunk of those losses, and have now continued falling into correction territory. On the other hand, there is no playbook for stock market corrections and bear markets. Assuming markets are going to follow the same…
In a recent blog post, billionaire Richard Branson discussed the benefits of a flexible work schedule that allows you to work remotely. His thoughts on this were shaped by the fact that Branson himself wanted to work more out of the office following the birth of his first son. He laid out 4 reasons employers should…
In my old job I spent a lot of time monitoring our stable of money managers. This meant having a deep understanding of their investment process, tracking performance, combing through their portfolios and understanding their risk exposures. Whenever we would have our quarterly meetings with these managers we would invariably discuss their top holdings. During these…
On this week’s Animal Spirits with Michael & Ben we discuss: How the competition for entertainment impacts business television. Amazon’s numbers are bonkers. How sales & marketing is changing in the asset management business. My pet peeve with surveys & statistics. Is America really as polarized as ever? The coming demographic shift that’s never occurred…
The recent market correction was unusual in how swift it occurred but the magnitude of the losses shouldn’t be unexpected for investors. Losses are part of the game when investing in the stock market. This piece I wrote for Bloomberg in the midst of the sell-off provides some perspective on this year’s losses in stocks….
Most career advice isn’t very helpful. Follow your passion but take the safe route but remember that you’re lucky to even have a job… I say this as someone who has sought out career advice on countless occasions throughout my professional life from a wide range of sources. The reason giving and/or receiving career advice is so…
