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Become a Better Investor Newsletter – 26 April 2025

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Noteworthy this week

  • Hard landing incoming
  • Private equity wants out
  • US bond yields rise again
  • Gold hits another ATH
  • Shitcoin holders get presidential dinner

Hard landing incoming: Fund managers, like everyone else, are quick to change their minds. Now, close to 50% think we’ll get a hard landing, compared to just above 10% in the month before.

Private equity wants out: PE firms are sitting on many companies they want to get rid of. Let’s see what happens when all those are marked to market.

US bond yields rise again: Bessent has to refinance trillions of dollars in government debt this year. He needs lower yields. But that’s not what happened.

Gold hits another ATH: In the past week, gold hit another record of US$3,500/oz t before retreating a bit.

Shitcoin holders get presidential dinner: Top 220 holders of $TRUMP get to have dinner with Trump.

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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

RWH056: CALM AMID THE STORM W/ CHRISTOPHER BEGG

“Chris has also taught for many years at Columbia Business School, where he teaches the prestigious Security Analysis course that Warren Buffett took with Ben Graham in 1951. Here, Chris discusses how to stay calm amid market turmoil; how he identifies great businesses; why Tesla could deliver extraordinary long-term returns; & how he builds a balanced life in 7 key areas.”

Listen to the episode.

Readings this week

Enhancing Industry Momentum Strategies: Finding Hidden Neighbors

“Momentum is a financial anomaly in which buying stocks with positive past returns and selling the negative yielding ones has delivered positive returns.”

Read the article.

Book recommendation

Anti-Oedipus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari

“Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari set forth the following theory: Western society’s innate herd instinct has allowed the government, the media, and even the principles of economics to take advantage of each person’s unwillingness to be cut off from the group. What’s more, those who suffer from mental disorders may not be insane, but could be individuals in the purest sense, because they are by nature isolated from society.”

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

No One Is Coming to Save Your Business, Do It Yourself

I want to tell you about a midsize business owner drowning in consultants. He kept hiring them, one after another, each promising to turn things around. They’d show up, drop off a fancy report, and disappear. Meanwhile, his profit stayed flat, his team was overwhelmed, and he barely slept.

One night, he was alone in his office, staring at a payroll he wasn’t sure he could cover. That’s when it hit him. He told me, “I realized it’s on me. No one’s coming to save my business.” That moment was his turning point. So, what’s yours?

Access the episode’s show notes and resources

Enrich Your Future 30: The Hidden Cost of Chasing Dividend Stocks

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: The dividend policy is irrelevant to stock returns.

Access the episode’s show notes and resources

Published on Become a Better Investor this week

Are your specification limits holding you back from improving your products and services? Should you throw out specifications? What does Stephen Hawking have to do with it? In this episode, Bill Bellows and host Andrew Stotz discuss specifications and variation.

Listen to Do Specification Limits Limit Improvement? Misunderstanding Quality (Part 12)

TIME dotCom Berhad (TDC MK): Profitable Growth rank of 6 was down compared to the prior period’s 1st rank. This is below average performance compared to 190 medium Comm. Serv. companies worldwide.

Read TIME dotCom – World Class Benchmarking

Food Empire Holdings Limited (FEH SP): Profitable Growth rank of 3 was same compared to the prior period’s 3rd rank. This is above average performance compared to 410 medium Cons. Staples companies worldwide.

Read Food Empire Holdings – World Class Benchmarking

BTS Group Holdings Public Company Limited (BTS TB): Profitable Growth rank of 8 was up compared to the prior period’s 10th rank. This is below average performance compared to 1,150 medium Industrials companies worldwide.

Read BTS Group Holdings – World Class Benchmarking

MeiHua Holdings Group Company Limited (600873 SH): Profitable Growth rank of 1 was same compared to the prior period’s 1st rank. This is World Class performance compared to 760 large Materials companies worldwide.

Read MeiHua Holdings Group – 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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