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Become a Better Investor Newsletter – 27 September 2025

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Noteworthy this week

  • Gold demand continues to surge
  • Gold has its best year since 1979
  • 39% of fund managers have no gold
  • S&P 500 FCF yield at 2008 levels
  • It’s about time in the market

Gold demand continues to surge: Global gold ETF holdings rose by +27 tonnes on Friday, the biggest daily increase since January 2022. This is 2x the daily average seen so far this year.

Gold has its best year since 1979: Over the last 50 years of gold trading (gray lines), 2025 (blue) has only seen one better year, 1979 (green).

39% of fund managers have no gold: Even though gold has done really well, it’s not a typical asset for fund managers to allocate to. 39% of fund managers have no gold allocation, and only 6% have an allocation of 8% or more.

S&P 500 FCF yield at 2008 levels: Free cash flow yield on the S&P 500 is back down below 2.6%, the lowest since 2008, and before that, the early 2000s. It’s been a long road from when this peaked in 2009 at the market bottom.

It’s about time in the market: Investing with terrible luck still beats sitting in cash. Even “perfect timing” (which is impossible) doesn’t put you far ahead of those who got the entry point wrong. Invest, move on with your day, and let time and compounding do the rest.

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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

China’s Quest to Engineer the Future: A Conversation with Dan Wang – ChinaPower

“The conversation unpacks China’s monumentalism in its grand engineering projects, the advantages and consequences of building at such scale, China’s push to lead in key technologies, Beijing’s social engineering efforts, and much more.”

Listen on Apple or Spotify.

Readings this week

Why the 5% Rule is the New 4% Rule

Comment: I’m not sure if I agree with this article and the research it references. First, he’s calling different slices of equity as different asset classes, which I would say is incorrect. Additionally, he’s simply increasing the weighting in equities to achieve a better result. And of course, he upped the weighting in equities during a time of a rising stock market. What do you think? Please reply to this email with your thoughts.

Read the article.

Book recommendation

The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich A Hayek

“F.A. Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom is a groundbreaking work of political and economic philosophy that warns of the dangers posed by centralized control and the erosion of individual freedoms. Written during the tumultuous period of World War II, Hayek’s incisive analysis critiques the rise of socialism and its potential to lead societies toward authoritarianism and tyranny.”

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

Published on Become a Better Investor this week

What is your data trying to tell you? In this episode, John Dues talks to Andrew Stotz about why most leaders misread data, overreact to single results, and miss the real story. Discover how Deming thinking exposes when change is truly happening and how to use a process behavior chart to listen to the real story.

Listen to Making Data Work for You

NH Foods Limited (2282 JP): Profitable Growth rank of 8 was down compared to the prior period’s 7th rank. This is below average performance compared to 560 large Cons. Staples companies worldwide.

Read NH Foods – World Class Benchmarking

Minor International Public Company Limited (MINT TB): Profitable Growth rank of 8 was down compared to the prior period’s 3rd rank. This is below average performance compared to 970 large Cons. Disc. companies worldwide.

Read Minor International – World Class Benchmarking

Petronas Dagangan Berhad (PETD MK): Profitable Growth rank of 2 was same compared to the prior period’s 2nd rank. This is World Class performance compared to 310 large Energy companies worldwide.

Read Petronas Dagangan – World Class Benchmarking

Gree Electric Appliances Inc of Zhuhai (000651 SZ): Profitable Growth rank of 2 was same compared to the prior period’s 2nd rank. This is World Class performance compared to 970 large Cons. Disc. companies worldwide.

Read Gree Electric Appliances Inc of Zhuhai – 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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