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Become a Better Investor Newsletter – 26 July 2025

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Noteworthy this week

  • Remember, it’s a long game
  • The private equity wonderland
  • Massive productivity gains at Amazon
  • Socialists for growth
  • Oil firms may produce less

Remember, it’s a long game: We get to decide what we focus on. If you choose to focus on days, you are signing up to make yourself miserable.

The private equity wonderland: Welcome to the Alice in Wonderland world of private equity, where logic gets turned upside down, and nothing is quite as it seems.

Massive productivity gains at Amazon: Over the last 10 years, Amazon fulfillment has increased 22x the number of packages handled per employee, while the number of employees per facility has decreased.

Socialists for growth: China and Vietnam are some of the most successful examples in history of development and poverty reduction. I wonder how well that would have worked without the “market economy” part.

Oil firms may produce less: If WTI stays at US$60/bbl, 70% of US E&P firms predict they will be producing less oil 1 year from now.

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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

Where History Meets Finance: Daniel Peris on Paradigm Shifts in Dividend Investing and Beyond – Paradigm Shock

“Daniel Peris joins Paradigm Shock host, Anjon Roy, to discuss his unconventional path from history academia to asset management. Peris reveals how historical knowledge can provide unique insights into financial markets, challenging the status quo and outdated methodologies. His book, ‘The Ownership Dividend,’ forecasts a major paradigm shift regarding dividend investing in the  U.S. Stock Market and beyond.”

Listen on Apple or Spotify.

Readings this week

An AI Analyst Made 30 Years of Stock Picks — and Blew Human Investors Away

“The researchers’ findings were so striking that they started hunting for mistakes. ‘We had this result a year ago,’ says Ed deHaan, a professor of accounting at Stanford Graduate School of Business. ‘And we spent the past 12 months scouring every inch of the data and of the model trying to find where we’d done something wrong.’”

Read the article.

Book recommendation

A Banker’s Journey: How Edmond J. Safra Built a Global Financial Empire by Daniel Gross

“Why are we here? What’s the point of existence? On the ‘big questions’ of meaning and purpose, Western thought has been dominated by the dichotomy of traditional religion and secular atheism. In this pioneering work, Philip Goff argues that it is time to move on from both God and atheism.”

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 39: More Wealth Does Not Give You More Happiness

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 39: Enough.

LEARNING: More wealth does not give you more happiness.

Access the episode’s show notes and resources

Published on Become a Better Investor this week

In this episode, John Dues continues his exploration of Deming’s philosophy in action, focusing on chronic absenteeism. As part of their third PDSA cycle, John’s team shifts from individual interventions to process standardization—mapping how each of their four campuses handles attendance interventions.

Listen to Mapping the Process: Path to Improvement (Part 9)

Eastern & Oriental Berhad (EAST MK): Profitable Growth rank of 5 was down compared to the prior period’s 4th rank. This is average performance compared to 340 medium Real Estate companies worldwide.

Read Eastern & Oriental – World Class Benchmarking

PT Unilever Indonesia Tbk (UNVR IJ): Profitable Growth rank of 1 was same compared to the prior period’s 1st rank. This is World Class performance compared to 560 large Cons. Staples companies worldwide.

Read Unilever Indonesia – World Class Benchmarking

Shanghai Bright Meat Group Company Limited (600073 SH): Profitable Growth rank of 9 was same compared to the prior period’s 9th rank. This is poor performance compared to 560 large Cons. Staples companies worldwide.

Read Shanghai Bright Meat Group – World Class Benchmarking

Banpu Public Company Limited (BANPU TB): Profitable Growth rank of 8 was same compared to the prior period’s 8th rank. This is below average performance compared to 310 large Energy companies worldwide.

Read Banpu – 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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