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Become a Better Investor Newsletter – 19 October 2024

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Noteworthy this week

  • Stock buybacks at an all-time high
  • China remains deflationary
  • BRICS have loaded up on gold
  • Blackrock continues to push Bitcoin
  • Higher taxes ≠ higher tax revenues

Stock buybacks at an all-time high: Buybacks in 2024 have reached the highest since 2011. So this should signal that management teams are confident about the future and see value in their stock.

China remains deflationary: The Chinese Economy has seen prices contract for 5 straight quarters, the longest decline in 25 years.

BRICS have loaded up on gold: Brazil, Egypt, India, Russia, and China have built their largest gold stockpiles in history. Diversifying away from the US$?

Blackrock continues to push Bitcoin: Larry Fink says Bitcoin is an asset class. Blackrock is talking with institutions worldwide about allocations.

Higher taxes ≠ higher tax revenues: As with many (most?) socialist policies, they don’t have the intended consequences.

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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

“It would be great to see some people from the Become a Better Investor Community at Sasin, as it’s always nicest to meet face to face.”

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Podcasts we listened to this week

AI Innovations with Joe Lonsdale – Masters in Business

“In this episode, Lonsdale discusses the importance of technology in various sectors, the need for innovation in defense, and the potential of AI to transform the services industry.”

Listen on Apple or Spotify.

Readings this week

A Message From the Past (Thoughts on Nostalgia)

“After college, my wife (who was then my girlfriend) and I got an apartment in the Seattle suburbs. It was amazing – a perfect location, a beautiful apartment, even had a view of the lake. The economy was such a wreck at the time that we paid almost nothing for it.”

Read the article.

Book recommendation

What Has Government Done to Our Money?: and The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar by Murray N. Rothbard

“After presenting the basics of money and banking theory, Rothbard traces the decline of the dollar from the 18th century to the present and provides lucid critiques of central banking, New Deal monetary policy, Nixonian fiat money, and fixed exchange rates. He also provides a blueprint for a return to a 100 percent reserve gold standard. The book made huge theoretical advances.”

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 16: The Estimated Return Is Not Inevitable

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 16: All Crystal Balls are Cloudy.

LEARNING: Estimated return is not always inevitable.

Access the episode’s show notes and resources

Published on Become a Better Investor this week

What can Dr. Deming’s famous Red Bead Experiment teach us about quality? What happens when you only focus on the bad, and ignore the good? In this episode Bill Bellows and Andrew Stotz discuss acceptability vs desirability in the context of the Red Beads and a few of the 14 Points for Management.

Listen to The Red Bead Experiment: Misunderstanding Quality (Part 5)

SVI Public Company Limited (SVI TB): Profitable Growth rank of 3 was up compared to the prior period’s 5th rank. This is above average performance compared to 700 medium Info Tech companies worldwide.

Read SVI – World Class Benchmarking

Pop Mart International Group Limited (9992 HK): Profitable Growth rank of 1 was up compared to the prior period’s 2nd rank. This is World Class performance compared to 910 large Cons. Disc. companies worldwide.

Read Pop Mart International Group Ltd – World Class Benchmarking

Santen Pharmaceutical Company Limited (4536 JP): Profitable Growth rank of 1 was up compared to the prior period’s 2nd rank. This is World Class performance compared to 360 large Health Care companies worldwide.

Read Santen Pharmaceutical – World Class Benchmarking

PT Mitra Keluarga Karyasehat Tbk (MIKA IJ): Profitable Growth rank of 1 was up compared to the prior period’s 2nd rank. This is World Class performance compared to 350 medium Health Care companies worldwide.

Read Mitra Keluarga Karyasehat – 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.

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