Skip to content
Learning that drives better investment decisions

Become a Better Investor Newsletter – 20 July 2024

|

Noteworthy this week

  • Europe is no. 1 in taxes
  • Massive gov’t expenditures in the West
  • Politicians are shameless liars
  • Coal is far from history
  • Never lose money

Europe is no. 1 in taxes: Even at the bottom of this list, taxes are pretty darn high.

Massive gov’t expenditures in the West: “With government expenditure over 50% of GDP can one really call Italy and France free market economies?” I think that the US, at close to 40%, is pretty high, too.

Politicians are shameless liars: This may not be a newsworthy claim, but the second part of the quote is worth considering: “it is also a reflection on us.”

Coal is far from history: The COP26 slogan of “consign coal to history” appears far away. global coal consumption hit an all-time high in 2023, boosted by China and India.

Never lose money: This is a good graphical representation of why Buffett’s rule No. 1 is so important. “Rule No. 1: never lose money. Rule No. 2: never forget rule No. 1.”

Join the world’s toughest valuation training

Become a Valuation Expert. Valuation Master Class Boot Camp graduates can confidently value any company in the world and possess in-demand industry skills.

Click here to learn more.

Weekly market performance

Click here to see more markets and periods.

Chart of the week

Discussed in the Become a Better Investor Community this week

“M2 is a measure of money supply, i.e., the amount of available money. Gold supply is relatively constant (actually, I think it increases by a few percent per year since more is mined). So, this would mean that if the money supply grows faster than the gold supply, the gold price should go up, and all else should be equal.”

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 One Percent Show with Vishal Khandelwal – Ep. 32: Bogumil Baranowski on Building Generational Wealth and Playing the Infinite Game of Investing

“I talk to Bogumil Baranowski, a seasoned investor, insightful author, and a thought leader in the field of finance and investing. Bogumil is a published author of three books: Outsmarting the Crowd, Money, Life, Family, and Crisis Investing.”

Listen on Apple or Spotify.

Readings this week

U.S. Companies Have Outperformed Japanese Companies, or Have They?

“Over the period January 2000-March 2024, the S&P 500 Index returned 7.4% per annum, outperforming the return of 2.2% per annum of Japanese large stocks (MSCI/Nomura data) by 5.2 percentage points per annum. The outperformance has been even greater since 2010, with the S&P 500 Index returning 13.7% per annum, outperforming the 6.5% per annum return of Japanese large stocks by 7.2 percentage points per annum. This persistent and massive outperformance has caused many investors to abandon their diversification strategy. The abandonment of plans could have been caused by recency bias..”

Read the article.

Book recommendation

Day Trading Attention: How to Actually Build Brand and Sales in the New Social Media World by Gary Vaynerchuk

“In his latest book, Vaynerchuk argues that today’s fast-growing businesses, brands, content creators, and influencers have one thing in common: They mastered storytelling in areas of underpriced attention, which predominantly exists across a handful of social media platforms. Informed by 20+ years of business and marketing success, he contends that the biggest transformation and opportunity is the ‘TikTokification of Social Media.’”

Get the book on Audible or Kindle.

Audible is great; have you tried it? If not, click here to get 2 books for free.

Memes of the week

New My Worst Investment Ever episodes

Enrich Your Future 06: Market Efficiency and the Case of Pete Rose

In this episode of Enrich Your Future, Andrew and Larry Swedroe discuss Larry’s new book, Enrich Your Future: The Keys to Successful Investing. In this series, they discuss Chapter 06: Market Efficiency and the Case of Pete Rose.

LEARNING: Don’t try to pick stocks or time the market.

Access the episode’s show notes and resources

Published on Become a Better Investor this week

In this episode of Enrich Your Future, Andrew and Larry Swedroe discuss Larry’s new book, Enrich Your Future: The Keys to Successful Investing. In this series, they discuss Chapter 05: Great Companies Do Not Make High-Return Investments.

Listen to Enrich Your Future 05: Great Companies Do Not Make High-Return Investments

IHH Healthcare Berhad (IHH MK): Profitable Growth rank of 7 was down compared to the prior period’s 4th rank. This is below average performance compared to 380 large Health Care companies worldwide.

Read IHH Healthcare – World Class Benchmarking

Realtek Semiconductor Corporation (2379 TT): Profitable Growth rank of 2 was up compared to the prior period’s 4th rank. This is World Class performance compared to 640 large Info Tech companies worldwide.

Read Realtek Semiconductor – World Class Benchmarking

Yutong Bus Company Limited (600066 SH): Profitable Growth rank of 2 was up compared to the prior period’s 8th rank. This is World Class performance compared to 1,430 large Industrials companies worldwide.

Read Yutong Bus – World Class Benchmarking

Sri Trang Gloves (Thailand) Public Company Limited (STGT TB): Profitable Growth rank of 8 was down compared to the prior period’s 7th rank. This is below average performance compared to 390 medium Health Care companies worldwide.

Read Sri Trang Gloves (Thailand) – World Class Benchmarking

DISCLAIMER: This content is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Readers should not consider statements made by the author(s) as formal recommendations and should consult their financial advisor before making any investment decisions. While the information provided is believed to be accurate, it may include errors or inaccuracies. The author(s) cannot be held liable for any actions taken as a result of reading this article.

Posted in Newsletter