Noteworthy this week
Korea bans short-selling: The ban on short-selling stocks is said to last at least until June 2024. The reaction from the market was that the Korean Tech index jumped >10%. Regulators stepping in to trick with the market mechanics, what could go wrong?!
Apple & Microsoft are 14.4% of the S&P 500: This is the highest weight in the index for the top two stocks since 1980. Before the dot-com bubble burst, the top two stocks accounted for <10%. Buffett has been selling since 4Q22: The famed investor has been a net seller of stocks for the past four quarters. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway continues to sell stocks. Conglomerate offloads more than $5bn worth of US & international shares. Filing indicated the company sold >12mn Chevron shares before it bought Hess for $53bn in an all-stock deal last month. The value of Berkshire’s…
This rate cycle will be different?: Rates are predicted to be lowered slowly when inflation is under control. However, central banks tend to break things and then start cutting fast and furious to undo their own making. When central banks need to cut rates, they need to cut quickly and a lot. What are the odds that this time it will be an orderly and granular process?
The aftermath of We(DON’T)Work: WeWork still has 700 locations worldwide. How will the company’s bankruptcy impact Commercial Real Estate? JUST IN: Bankruptcy documents show that WeWork, $WE, will immediately break 40 office leases in New York City. Documents also show that WeWork plans to break leases on 70 properties in New York City. The worst part? 40 of these locations are completely empty. This comes less…
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Weekly market performance
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Chart of the week
Discussed in the Become a Better Investor Community this week “We go live in 1 hour to discuss an interesting topic: Tripling of US gov’t debt requires a fight to protect the dollar.” Try 1 month of the Become a Better Investor Community for FREE today! You can cancel at any time. Click here to learn more.
Podcasts we listened to this week
The Investors First Podcast – Aswath Damodaran: Unmasking ESG “Today we host Professor Aswath Damodaran, where we speak about how Aswath gained his love for teaching and how it led to him becoming an expert in valuation. The episode quickly veered into a sharp critique of the shortcomings of ESG investing.” Listen to the episode.
Readings this week
What is Stoicism? by John Sellars “In what follows I want to set out some key ideas in Stoicism. My aim is to say something about the philosophical ideas that stand behind all those inspirational quotes from Seneca and Marcus Aurelius that circulate on the internet. What are the foundational principles of Stoicism as a philosophy?” Read the article.
Book recommendation Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes by Morgan Housel “When planning for the future we often ask, “What will the economy be doing this time next year?” Or, “What will be different ten years from now?” But forecasting is hard. The important events that will shape the future are inherently unpredictable. Instead, we should be asking a different question: What will be the same ten years from now? What will be the same one hundred years from now?” Get the book on Audible or Kindle.
Memes of the week
pic.twitter.com/WcJZd6pi6y — Declaration of Memes (@LibertyCappy) November 8, 2023
pic.twitter.com/bkksA6sTcC — What Is It Like to Be a Philosopher? (@CliffordSosis) November 4, 2023
New My Worst Investment Ever episodes
ISMS 34: Larry Swedroe – Consider All Hidden Costs Before You Invest In this episode of Investment Strategy Made Simple (ISMS), Andrew gets into part two of his discussion with Larry Swedroe: Ignorance is Bliss. Today, they discuss two chapters of Larry’s book Investment Mistakes Even Smart Investors Make and How to Avoid Them. In this eleventh series, they discuss mistake number 20: Do You Only Consider the Operating Expense Ratio When Selecting a Mutual Fund? And mistake number 21: Do You Fail to Consider the Costs of an Investment Strategy? LEARNING: Don’t focus solely on the operating expense ratio when buying a mutual fund; consider hidden costs, too. Always consider the costs of an investment strategy, such as bid-offer spreads, market impact costs, taxes, etc. Access the episode’s show notes and resources
Ep747: Chong Ser Jing – Pay Attention to What Drives Business Results BIO: Chong Ser Jing is the Portfolio Manager and Co-Founder of Compounder Fund, an investment fund that invests in stocks around the world. STORY: In October 2010, Ser Jing bought six stocks. Two of these were companies in the oil industry. By the time he was selling these stocks, he had a loss of 77% and 31% from…
