In several recent posts accessible through the Archives section of this site, I present my thoughts on what it takes to be a successful investor. In this post, I share that investment success requires the right temperament. Psychological Resilience and Emotional Stability At its core, being a business owner (investor) is a test of temperament. [...]
After ~38 years of investing, I have lost count of my errors of omission and commission. Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) has to rank amongst one of my biggest errors! On October 20, 2021, I initiated a 30 share position in one of the 'Core' accounts within the FFJ Portfolio. I subsequently acquired another 30 shares on [...]
High entry barriers fortify Union Pacific (UNP). My UNP exposure, however, is minimal with my only purchase being 200 shares @ $142.17 on March 9, 2020 while I was on a ski vacation in British Columbia; we were days from experiencing a 'shut down' of the North American economy because of the COVID pandemic. My [...]
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is virtually irrelevant to my investment strategy, and therefore, I rarely look at this investment. With the release of the Q4 and FY2024 financial results on January 22, 2025, I figure this is the opportunity to look at it more closely. Twice a year I disclose which companies are my [...]
During the last several years of my career, my round-trip work/home train commute was ~2 hours. At 5 days/week, that would have been 10 hours/week where I could have read material to improve my knowledge. In hindsight, I did not use my time wisely. On my morning commute, I would be sound asleep within minutes [...]
Most people never set a goal and aimlessly go through life never achieving anything meaningful. Such are the people who ask 'Why?' when they hear of people of go to extremes to achieve what most people would never even remotely contemplate; this is pertinent to the financial aspects of life. In my recent The Illusion [...]
With ~$11.6T in assets under management (AUM) following a record $641B of full year net inflows, including $281B in Q4 2024, I view BlackRock (BLK) as a great long-term investment. What I need to determine is whether BLK's valuation is sufficiently attractive to increase my exposure. I last reviewed BLK in my October 17, 2024 [...]
At Berkshire Hathaway’s 1998 Annual General Meeting (AGM), Charlie Munger stated: The first $100,000 is a bitch, but you gotta do it. I don’t care what you have to do. If it means walking everywhere and not eating anything that wasn’t purchased with a coupon, find a way to get your hands on $100,000. After [...]
Perhaps it is just my DNA but I struggle to sit and read the same book for a few hours. This is why I generally have 4 - 5 books on the go. Currently, I am at various stages of reading the following books: Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power by Steve Coll Don't Fall [...]
We often hear and read what is important to achieve investment success. In this post, however, I want to delve into something a bit more unconventional but equally important and that is 5 things investors should ignore. Beating The Market A common fault of many investors is the fixation about consistently generating investment returns that [...]