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Become a Better Investor Newsletter – 29 March 2025

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Noteworthy this week

  • PE hasn’t performed that well
  • People are getting stupider
  • The stock market wasn’t always US-centric
  • The US has the largest gold reserve
  • Is the recession coming?

PE hasn’t performed that well: Private equity (PE) is often sold as offering lower risk and higher returns than public equity. The part about lower risk is nonsense, but you would have expected higher returns due to illiquidity. However, PE has underperformed in the past 5 years.

People are getting stupider: Individuals are experiencing declines in reading, math, and reasoning skills, and are struggling more to concentrate and learn, which is attributed to the fact that people are reading less and spending more time passively consuming social media.

The stock market wasn’t always US-centric: There was a time, only about 10 years ago, when the MSCI World Index’s share of US to non-US stocks was about 50-50. Are we heading back there?

The US has the largest gold reserve: While China and Japan hold the most reserve assets, the US holds the most gold, accounting for approximately 75% of its total reserves. Looking at gold’s share of total reserves, Germany, Italy, and France also stand out.

Is the recession coming?: When layoffs have shot up, recessions have followed. Will it be different this time?

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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

TIP708: WHY WALL STREET’S PLAYBOOK IS BROKEN W/ HARRIS KUPPERMAN

“On today’s episode, Kyle Grieve chats with Harris Kupperman about his investing strategy based around concentrated bets on macro and events. Harris has decades of market experience and shares his thoughts on why investors have so much difficulty navigating the markets.”

Listen to the episode.

Readings this week

China: Back in the Game

“The stock market is all about confidence. Company earnings matter, but just as important is whether governments create the right conditions for businesses to thrive. In the US, Trump’s back-and-forth on tariffs is making investors nervous and raising questions about long-term corporate growth. Meanwhile, in China, Xi Jinping’s highly publicized meeting with top tech entrepreneurs last month has sent a strong signal of support to the private sector.”

Read the article.

Book recommendation

Building a StoryBrand 2.0: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller

“When you apply the StoryBrand framework your brand will stand out. Developing that framework to clarify your message and grow your business is about to get a whole lot simpler.”

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 episode

Enrich Your Future 27: Pascal’s Wager: Betting on Consequences Over Probabilities

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 27: Pascal’s Wager and the Making of Prudent Decisions.

LEARNING: Use Pascal’s wager to avoid making devastating mistakes.

Access the episode’s show notes and resources

Published on Become a Better Investor this week

In this episode of Misunderstanding Quality, host Andrew Stotz and Bill Bellows discuss what not to measure when it comes to quality. Bill offers some great examples to show how organizations get it wrong, and how to get it right.

Listen to To Improve Quality Don’t Measure Quality: Misunderstanding Quality (Part 11)

Devon Energy Corporation (DVN US): Profitable Growth rank of 2 was up compared to the prior period’s 3rd rank. This is World Class performance compared to 280 large Energy companies worldwide.

Read Devon Energy Corp – World Class Benchmarking

Toyota Motor Corporation (7203 JP): Profitable Growth rank of 5 was down compared to the prior period’s 4th rank. This is average performance compared to 870 large Cons. Disc. companies worldwide.

Read Toyota Motor – World Class Benchmarking

Cummins Incorporated (CMI US): Profitable Growth rank of 2 was up compared to the prior period’s 4th rank. This is World Class performance compared to 1,290 large Industrials companies worldwide.

Read Cummins – World Class Benchmarking

Central Japan Railway Company (9022 JP): Profitable Growth rank of 5 was same compared to the prior period’s 5th rank. This is average performance compared to 1,290 large Industrials companies worldwide.

Read Central Japan Railway – 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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