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Become a Better Investor Newsletter – 8 March 2025

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Noteworthy this week

  • This trade war has happened before
  • People who start wars don’t fight them
  • EU is beating the US
  • Push for lower oil prices may backfire
  • US Tech at 60x CAPE

This trade war has happened before: The market is tracing out Trump’s first trade war fairly closely. While no two markets are ever the same, it is worth noting that even though markets declined, they also rallied.

People who start wars don’t fight them: …the people who spend the taxes don’t pay them, and the people who forgive the criminals don’t live next to them. Of course, we’re going to have too many wars, too much spending, and too much crime.

EU is beating the US: A short time frame, but year-to-date European stocks have beaten US stocks by a wide margin.

Push for lower oil prices may backfire: The Trump administration wants to push WTI oil prices to US$50/bbl to lower inflation. However, this may be sowing the seeds for US$90+ oil.

US Tech at 60x CAPE: US equities have the highest Cyclically-adjusted Price-to-Earnings (CAPE) ratio globally. The tech sector alone is at a staggering ~60x CAPE.

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Weekly market performance

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Chart of the week

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Podcasts we listened to this week

RWH054: BILLIONAIRE BRIT W/ TERRY SMITH

“Terry, a member of Bloomberg’s index of billionaires, manages the Fundsmith Equity Fund, which is the UK’s largest stock fund. Since 2010, it’s returned more than 600%, beating the MSCI World Index by over 200 percentage points.”

Listen to the episode.

Readings this week

Outrageous Predictions 2025

“Our Outrageous Predictions are not exactly news and not exactly real – at least not yet. And while we don’t know which stories will drive the global economy in the coming year, our 2025 predictions, from Nvidia trouncing its Mag 7 peers to the fall of OPEC, from a bold bet on reflation in China to a great leap forward in biotech, are just as promised. Outrageous.”

Explore the predictions.

Book recommendation

The Soul of Wealth: 50 reflections on money and meaning by Daniel Crosby

“We find ourselves at a crossroads. We all know that true wealth is about far more than money. Wealth is friends, family, health, a vocation, command of your time, leisure, and whatever else is important to you. And yet, we are all guilty of acting as if money alone is wealth and an end in itself.”

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

Ep799: Elvi Caperonis – Why Passion Matters in Business

BIO: Elvi Caperonis is a former Harvard University Analyst and Technical Program Manager at Amazon and LinkedIn’s top Voice and a career strategist who has mastered the art of storytelling to create a six-figure personal brand on LinkedIn.

STORY: Elvi decided to be her own boss and started an e-commerce business for which she had no knowledge or passion. It turned out to be a nightmare that cost her $30,000.

LEARNING: If you don’t have passion for something, don’t do it. Happiness and delivering value should be the ultimate goal, not just making money.

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 25: Battles are Won Before They Are Fought.

Listen to Enrich Your Future 25: Stock Crashes Happen—Be Prepared

Riverstone Holdings Limited (RSTON SP): Profitable Growth rank of 1 was up compared to the prior period’s 2nd rank. This is World Class performance compared to 1,180 medium Industrials companies worldwide.

Read Riverstone Holdings – World Class Benchmarking

China Telecom Corporation Limited (728 HK): Profitable Growth rank of 6 was same compared to the prior period’s 6th rank. This is below average performance compared to 250 large Comm. Serv. companies worldwide.

Read China Telecom Corp – World Class Benchmarking

Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited (IVL TB): Profitable Growth rank of 7 was up compared to the prior period’s 9th rank. This is below average performance compared to 790 large Materials companies worldwide.

Read Indorama Ventures – World Class Benchmarking

In February 2025, we published 4 new episodes of the My Worst Investment Ever podcast. Listen to all of them here.

Listen to My Worst Investment Ever February 2025

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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