Andrew Stotz, Author at Become a Better Investor

We Aren’t All Skinny nor Financially Independent

By Andrew Stotz | April 23, 2019 |

The news was shocking. It turns out her mother had only US$35,000 in her retirement account. An impossible amount to retire on. I learned that knowledge is not enough. Think of all the books about losing weight. The knowledge is there. So are we all skinny?

Thais Choose Calm over Confrontation, for Now

By Andrew Stotz | March 25, 2019 |

The first general election in Thailand since the 2014 coup d’état that installed General Prayut Chan-o-cha as the country’s leader revealed five core themes: First pro-military party, first anti-military party, Thaksin’s influence remains strong, Democrats are dead, and Thais want politicians with a backbone.

False Hope, Poor Due Diligence Blinds Oil Industry Investor

By Andrew Stotz | February 18, 2019 |

My Worst Investment Ever: Overall, the investment in Cruise resulted in a return for me of around 125% for a 10-month investment and I was brimming with confidence of course at the prospect of such returns continuing.

8 Value Investing Icons

By Andrew Stotz | February 12, 2019 |

Value investing is the idea that you can achieve superior investment performance through buying stocks at prices that appear to be below the “intrinsic value” of the business. The investor tries to estimate the intrinsic value of a business through a variety of means such as price-to-book, price-to-earnings, tangible assets value, dividend discount value, or free cash flow value.

Start-Up Entrepreneur Runs out of Investment ‘Juice’

By Andrew Stotz | February 11, 2019 |

My Worst Investment Ever: My partner and I founded a business producing and delivering raw juices for detoxification. We had felt that this product would be a winner because a lot of people were signing up quickly once we had explained the many health benefits of raw-juice programs.

All Asian Markets Fell in 2018

By Andrew Stotz | February 5, 2019 |

Chart of the Day: Overall, all Asian markets fell in 2018. Besides Thailand, Hong Kong, and China, Asian currencies weakened against the USD. The two worst performers in 2018 were the best in 2017.

Being the Money Man for Friends

By Andrew Stotz | February 4, 2019 |

My Worst Investment Ever: My worst investment decision was an investment in a start-up company. I did not invest because I thought the company had a good idea but because I liked the people who were working there, and I didn’t feel I could say “no” to them.

Lack of Commitment Can Deal a Death Blow to an Investment

By Andrew Stotz | January 30, 2019 |

My Worst Investment Ever: I have invested in a couple of businesses that were unsuccessful, but my worst investment ever was in my own start-up business. My team had won a start-up competition a few years back. Our company was a web-based enterprise, but it failed for several reasons.

Confessions of a Crypto Lemming

By Andrew Stotz | January 28, 2019 |

My Worst Investment Ever: My worst investment was when I jumped on the crypto-currency bandwagon. Even though I made some money out of it, I would personally consider it to be the worst investment I have made so far.

Investor Paid the High Cost of Inertia

By Andrew Stotz | January 23, 2019 |

My Worst Investment Ever: If something is great, and you use it and love it, and everyone loves it, maybe you should invest in it. I started using Amazon.com early on, say around 1998.