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Become a Better Investor Newsletter – 20 January 2024

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Noteworthy this week

  • Billy G is the biggest
  • Jamie D says Bitcoin is shit
  • China ain’t cheap no more
  • Not enough Chinese babies
  • This time it’s different in Japan

Billy G is the biggest: Microsoft has surpassed Apple to become the company with the highest market cap in the world. Both companies have a market cap of close to $3trn, which is about $1trn more than Alphabet (Google).

Jamie D says Bitcoin is shit: Jamie Dimon joined the rest of the elite in Davos to discuss the future of the world under the leadership of Chairman Schwab. At least this CNBC interview is rather entertaining.

China ain’t cheap no more: Outsourcing supply chains to China was long driven by cheap labor costs. But China’s labor cost isn’t cheap anymore. Labor cost isn’t everything, but you can still go quite far in manufacturing with cheap labor.

Not enough Chinese babies: A longer-term trend that is worrisome for China is the low birth rate. Chinese women are now giving birth to, on average, one child. To keep the population stable in developed countries, you need a fertility rate of 2.1 (the extra 0.1 to counter child mortality, this figure is likely higher in developing nations).

This time it’s different in Japan: Since the crash in 1990, the Japanese stock market has traded relatively cheaply. The stock exchange and regulators have become serious about a change, and it appears that these changes can lead to further re-rating of Japanese stocks.

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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

“How do homelessness and illegal immigrants affect the low unemployment rate in the US? Seems like the homelessness is pretty high but the economy is doing pretty well. Any idea why? Is this a sign that low-income ppl are struggling and would compete for jobs at lower rate and will need to cut back on spending?”

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You can cancel at any time. Click here to learn more.

Podcasts we listened to this week

The Morgan Housel Podcast – Information That Would Get Your Attention

“There’s obviously a hierarchy of information. It ranges from life-changing good to life-changing disastrous.

That got me thinking: What would be the most interesting and useful information anyone could get their hands on?”

Listen to the episode on Apple or Spotify.

Readings this week

Pattern Recognition: Opportunities and Limits

“Pattern recognition tends to work well in stable environments where cause and effect are clear and feedback is effective but poorly where causality and feedback are limited.”

Download PDF

Book recommendation

10x Is Easier Than 2x by Dan Sullivan & Benjamin Hardy

“Dan Sullivan, the world’s leading coach for highly successful entrepreneurs, wants you to know that achieving 10X growth is exponentially easier than striving for 2X growth. Most find this idea confusing at first because simply imagining 10X growth causes them to think they need to do 10X more work to achieve it. However, being a 10X entrepreneur is nothing like what most people think.”

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

Ep767: Andrew Stotz – 8 Benefits of Increasing the Profits of Your Business

Isn’t Capitalism Great!? Here are eight key benefits of increasing the profits of your business. And I challenge you to set the goal for 2024 to increase the profits of your business.

Why is increasing profit so important? Because without profit any business will eventually die. Your obligation as a founder, owner, leader, or director is to ensure that profit remains strong.

Access the episode’s show notes and resources

Ep766: Nathaniel Harding – One Risk at a Time

BIO: A born and bred Oklahoman, Nathaniel Harding is an innovator and market maker who has founded, scaled, and sold companies. He is a successful investor in energy, biotech, and ag tech.

STORY: Nathaniel’s company decided to deploy new technology to explore oil and gas fields. The venture was cash-intensive and an absolute commercial zero.

LEARNING: Categorize risks. Limit your investments to one risk. Do one risk at a time and do it sequentially.

Access the episode’s show notes and resources

Published on Become a Better Investor this week

Slogans and exhortations don’t work to motivate people. Targets usually encourage manipulation or cheating. John Dues and Andrew Stotz discuss how these three strategies can hinder improvement, frustrate teachers and students, and even cause nationwide scandals.

Listen to Pitfalls of Slogans and Targets: Deming in Schools Case Study (Part 16)

Guangdong Shenglu Telecommunication Tech Company Limited (002446 SZ): Profitable Growth rank of 3 was down compared to the prior period’s 2nd rank. This is above average performance compared to 810 medium Info Tech companies worldwide.

Read Guangdong Shenglu Telecommunication Tech – World Class Benchmarking

Meituan (3690 HK): Profitable Growth rank of 6 was up compared to the prior period’s 10th rank. This is below average performance compared to 960 large Cons. Disc. companies worldwide.

Read Meituan – World Class Benchmarking

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (2330 TT): Profitable Growth rank of 1 was same compared to the prior period’s 1st rank. This is World Class performance compared to 660 large Info Tech companies worldwide.

Read Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing – World Class Benchmarking

Hyundai Motor Company (005380 KS): Profitable Growth rank of 6 was same compared to the prior period’s 6th rank. This is below average performance compared to 940 large Cons. Disc. companies worldwide.

Read Hyundai Motor – 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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