Become a Better Investor Newsletter – 29 July 2023
Noteworthy this week
- Fed hikes another 0.25%
- Thought the US was in trouble? Look at the UK
- More Brits regret Brexit
- Falling office rents in the Americas
- X
Fed hikes another 0.25%: As the market expected, the Fed raised another 0.25% to an upper limit of 5.5%. Do you think this was the last hike in this cycle?
BREAKING! The #FederalReserve hikes rates to 5.50%.
Taking the cumulative rate hike in this cycle to 5.25%.
From this angle, this is the biggest tightening cycle in over 40 years.
From here, the #FOMC ‘Will Continue to Assess Additional Information’ pic.twitter.com/73aMPTGod6— jeroen blokland (@jsblokland) July 26, 2023
Thought the US was in trouble? Look at the UK: You may have read about how much the US gov’t interest payments have risen due to higher interest rates. Though, as a percentage of government revenues, the UK is in a significantly worse state.
At 10.4% of total gov revenue, UK interest costs are at highest level of any AE. Roughly 1/4 of UK government debt is in index-linked bonds, whose payouts fluctuate with inflation, making UK an outlier internationally. most countries have < 10%https://t.co/klJhMxggx4 pic.twitter.com/8zzR1v6dee
— Adam Tooze (@adam_tooze) July 25, 2023
More Brits regret Brexit: Since 2021, the trend has clearly shown an increasing number of Brits think it was wrong to leave the European Union.
What do you think? Right or wrong? pic.twitter.com/Br1rkrypEl
— Michael A. Arouet (@MichaelAArouet) July 26, 2023
Falling office rents in the Americas: Interesting chart showing where in the cycle global office properties are. Americas see rents falling. Europe ex UK is about to see falling rents, while UK sees rental growth accelerate.
Global Office Properties – Where countries are in the cycle pic.twitter.com/K4AZndqsPJ
— Ayesha Tariq, CFA (@AyeshaTariq) July 26, 2023
X: Twitter has now changed its logo to X instead of the blue bird, and x.com points to twitter.com. The question is what more Elon has up his sleeve.
Our headquarters tonight pic.twitter.com/GO6yY8R7fO
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 24, 2023
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Weekly market performance
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Chart of the week
Discussed in the Become a Better Investor Community this week
“@channel, everyone thinks there’ll be a 0.25% hike tonight (Thai time) by the Fed.
- Anyone here thinks differently?
- Do you think this is the last hike?”
Try 1 month of the Become a Better Investor Community for FREE today!
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Podcasts we listened to this week
The Morgan Housel Podcast – Rich and Anonymous
“A subtle problem with money is that assets are easy to measure but liabilities can be hidden. Measuring assets is simple. But how do you measure losing your privacy? Or the nagging doubt that some friends only like you for your money? That’s way harder.”
Readings this week
ESG Is Dying Its Inevitable Death
“ESG scoring and mandates remain a subject we have contested since it sprang to life in 2020. The push of ’woke activism’ on, and by companies, to meet nebulous or artificial standards has led to various bad outcomes.”
Book recommendation
Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh
“In Delivering Happiness, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh shares the different lessons he has learned in business and life, from starting a worm farm to running a pizza business, through LinkExchange, Zappos, and more.”
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
https://t.co/yZcTvjsuEe pic.twitter.com/hu6OrGjelt
— Kenneth Dredd (@KennethDredd) July 26, 2023
There’s no way aliens are real pic.twitter.com/3gVoUkcAyF
— greg (@greg16676935420) July 27, 2023
New My Worst Investment Ever episodes
Ep716: Dana Anspach – Loving a Product Is Different From Running a Business
BIO: Dana Anspach is the founder and CEO of Sensible Money, LLC, a firm specializing in retirement income planning. In 2022, Sensible Money ranked on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing privately owned companies in the U.S.
STORY: Dana loved a fitness product so much that she decided to open her own franchise. Soon enough, she discovered running a business is so much different from loving its product. She sold the company at a loss.
LEARNING: Just because a product is great doesn’t mean the business will succeed. Instead of opening a second business, create a new revenue stream in your existing one.
Access the episode’s show notes and resources
Blog post – Swedroe & Stotz Discuss 15 Common Investment Mistakes
Even the most experienced investors screw up. The most important thing is that you learn from your mistakes and ensure they’re not fatal. Managing money is about managing your behavior.
Larry Swedroe and Andrew Stotz have recorded a number of episodes discussing Investment Mistakes Even Smart Investors Make and How to Avoid Them from the book with the same title that Larry co-authored with RC Balaban.
This blog post and the podcast episodes cover 15 out of the 77 investment mistakes even smart investors make mentioned in the book. These 15 common investment mistakes show how understanding and controlling human behavior is an important determinant of investment performance.
ISMS 27: Larry Swedroe – Familiar Doesn’t Make It Safe and You’re Not Playing With the House’s Money
In this episode of Investment Strategy Made Simple (ISMS), Andrew and Larry discuss three chapters of Larry’s book Investment Mistakes Even Smart Investors Make and How to Avoid Them. In this eighth episode, they discuss mistake number 13: Do you confuse the familiar with the safe? Mistake number 14: Do you believe you’re playing with the house’s money? And mistake number 15: Do you let friendship influence your choice of investment advisors?
LEARNING: Just because you’re familiar with something doesn’t make it less risky. Diversify globally to get the real benefits of diversification. Your financial advisor is not your friend; it’s a business. Value and protect your investment gains as much as you value and protect the principle.
Access the episode’s show notes and resources
Ep715: Manisha Thakor – Invest in Your Financial Health and Emotional Wealth
BIO: Manisha Thakor has worked in financial services for over 30 years, focusing on women’s economic empowerment.
STORY: From a very young age, Manisha equated her self-worth to her achievements. This led her to overwork herself almost to death—twice.
LEARNING: Don’t underestimate the incredible power of the net present value of your future earnings. Invest concurrently in your financial health and your emotional wealth.
Access the episode’s show notes and resources
Published on Become a Better Investor this week
In this episode, John and Andrew discuss what “transformation” means in education. John juxtaposes two reports, conducted a decade apart, that have influenced education for the last 40 years: A Nation at Risk and the Sandia Report.
Listen to Is Transformation Needed? Deming in Schools Case Study (Part 6)
KPJ Healthcare Berhad (KPJ MK): Profitable Growth rank of 4 was up compared to the prior period’s 8th rank. This is above average performance compared to 390 medium Health Care companies worldwide.
Read KPJ Healthcare – World Class Benchmarking
Verisign Incorporated (VRSN US): 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 Verisign – World Class Benchmarking
SK Telecom Company Limited (017670 KS): Profitable Growth rank of 8 was down compared to the prior period’s 6th rank. This is below average performance compared to 260 large Comm. Serv. companies worldwide.
Read SK Telecom – World Class Benchmarking
ASPEED Technology Incorporated (5274 TT): Profitable Growth rank of 1 was same compared to the prior period’s 1st rank. This is World Class performance compared to 820 medium Info Tech companies worldwide.
Read ASPEED Technology – 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.