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Become a Better Investor Newsletter – 12 April 2025

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Noteworthy this week

  • Besides everything else, bonds broke
  • China retaliates with tariffs on the US
  • Trump re-raised tariffs on China
  • Goldman Sachs changes recession forecast in an hour
  • China needs LPG

Besides everything else, bonds broke: People have speculated that Trump imposed tariffs to push down bond yields, which initially happened. However, not that long after, US bond yields shot up.

China retaliates with tariffs on the US: In response to Trump’s tariffs, China raised tariffs on imported US goods to 84% from 34%.

Trump re-raised tariffs on China: Trump responded to China’s retaliation by raising the tariff charged to China by the US to 125%. He also announced a 90-day pause for other countries.

Goldman Sachs changes recession forecast in an hour: GS published a report saying their base case was a recession. 73 minutes later, they issued a report reverting to a base case of no recession.

China needs LPG: The US accounted for about 60% of China’s LPG imports in 2024. Could China cave to the US because the country needs LPG? Time will tell.

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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

#217 Grant Williams: The Slide into Narcissism – State of the Markets

Listen on Apple or Spotify.

Readings this week

Fin De Siecle

“The catalyst for this particular edition was a series of conversations (some of which my Copper Tier subscribers have been privy to in the form of my podcast conversations with Mike Green, Dan Oliver, Andrew McDermott and, particularly, Demetri Kofinas) which have been representative of a reflective journey upon which I find myself in recent months as the world around me continues to get increasingly chaotic and unanchored from that which I understand and in which I feel comfortable.”

Download the PDF.

Book recommendation

A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World First Trade by William J. Bernstein

“Journey from ancient sailing ships carrying silk from China to Rome in the second century to the rise and fall of the Portuguese monopoly on spices in the sixteenth; from the American trade battles of the early twentieth century to the modern era of televisions from Taiwan, lettuce from Mexico, and T-shirts from China.”

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 episode

Enrich Your Future 28 & 29: How to Outsmart Your Investing Biases

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 30: The Economically Irrational Investor Preference for Dividend-Paying Stocks.

LEARNING: Smart people are humble and able to admit when they have made a mistake.

Access the episode’s show notes and resources

Published on Become a Better Investor this week

Can you use Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) during the information-gathering phase of an improvement project? Yes! Join John Dues and host Andrew Stotz as they discuss how John’s team used PDSA to learn more about chronic absenteeism, their surprising findings, and what they’ll do next.

Listen to Plan-Do-Study-Act: Path for Improvement (Part 7)

Rojana Industrial Park Public Company Limited (ROJNA TB): Profitable Growth rank of 2 was up compared to the prior period’s 7th rank. This is World Class performance compared to 110 medium Utilities companies worldwide.

Read Rojana Industrial Park – World Class Benchmarking

MBK Public Company Limited (MBK TB): Profitable Growth rank of 4 was down compared to the prior period’s 2nd rank. This is above average performance compared to 290 medium Real Estate companies worldwide.

Read MBK – World Class Benchmarking

Advanced Info Service Public Company Limited (ADVANC TB): Profitable Growth rank of 3 was same compared to the prior period’s 3rd rank. This is above average performance compared to 220 large Comm. Serv. companies worldwide.

Read Advanced Info Service – World Class Benchmarking

Increased uncertainty drove Gold to new highs. Performance review of our strategies in March 2025 – All Weather Inflation Guard gained 0.2%, All Weather Strategy lost 0.6%, All Weather Alpha Focus gained 1.1%.

Read A. Stotz All Weather Strategies – March 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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