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Become a Better Investor Newsletter – 24 August 2024

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Noteworthy this week

  • Credit card defaults rise
  • Gold hits another all-time high
  • US$ hits an annual low
  • China sees equity outflows
  • Capitalism sucks…Not!

Credit card defaults rise: Credit card defaults in the US are now rising at the fastest rate ever. I guess Americans have learned from their government.

Gold hits another all-time high: This week, the yellow metal surpassed US$2,560 per oz t. Got gold?

US$ hits an annual low: Part of the gold ATH is due to a weakening dollar. We haven’t seen a new ATH in, for example, THB.

China sees equity outflows: China is on track for its first-ever annual outflow from equities by foreign investors. China decided to solve the problem by stopping publishing the fund flow date.

Capitalism sucks…Not!: Oops, I did one of those not-jokes again. In times when socialism and authoritarianism are on the rise, it’s important to remind ourselves what creates prosperity.

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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

“Please find the above performance chart of the 5 stock strategies and 1 asset allocation strategy you have access to in the community.”

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Podcasts we listened to this week

Urgent: How to get the global strategy right

Jennifer Briney does the hard work in her podcast, “Congressional Dish.” This particular episode helps you understand the US bureaucrats’ and war machines’ position on global dominance. I like to use this information when I brainstorm my research ideas. This type of research helped me understand that America just went to war with Europe and won what I called World War 2.5.

Listen to the episode on Apple or Spotify.

Readings this week

Fixing the poor performance of the book-to-market ratio

“While the research, commentary and speculation about the failure of value factor strategies over the last decade or two continues along a number of avenues, we haven’t yet seen a movement back towards fundamental analysis or a discounted cash flow (DCF) approach. In this paper, the authors argue for just such a solution. It is a good idea, and the analysis supports the supposition.”

Read the article.

Book recommendation

The Quick Fix: Why Fad Psychology Can’t Cure Our Social Ills by Jesse Singal

An investigative journalist exposes the many holes in today’s bestselling behavioral science, and argues that the trendy, TED-Talk-friendly psychological interventions that are so in vogue at the moment will never be enough to truly address social injustice and inequality.”

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

Enrich Your Future 10: You Won’t Beat the Market Even the Best Funds Don’t

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 10: When Even the Best Aren’t Likely to Win the Game.

LEARNING: Refrain from the futile pursuit of trying to beat the market.

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 09: The Fed Model and the Money Illusion.

Listen to Enrich Your Future 09: The Fed Model and the Money Illusion

China Hongqiao Group Limited (1378 HK): Profitable Growth rank of 3 was up compared to the prior period’s 6th rank. This is above average performance compared to 810 large Materials companies worldwide.

Read China Hongqiao Group – World Class Benchmarking

HD Hyundai Electric Company Limited (267260 KS): Profitable Growth rank of 1 was up compared to the prior period’s 4th rank. This is World Class performance compared to 1,430 large Industrials companies worldwide.

Read HD Hyundai Electric – World Class Benchmarking

PT Perusahaan Gas Negara Tbk (PGAS IJ): Profitable Growth rank of 4 was same compared to the prior period’s 4th rank. This is above average performance compared to 320 large Utilities companies worldwide.

Read Perusahaan Gas Negara – World Class Benchmarking

MediaTek Incorporated (2454 TT): Profitable Growth rank of 1 was up compared to the prior period’s 3rd rank. This is World Class performance compared to 640 large Info Tech companies worldwide.

Read MediaTek – 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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