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Become a Better Investor Newsletter – 29 October 2022

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Noteworthy this week

  • Elon Musk now controls Twitter
  • Snap shows that analysts aren’t great at predicting the future
  • Meta (Facebook) is so bad that even Jim Cramer apologized
  • ESG is not going that well at the moment
  • ESG has also meant increased dependence on China

Elon Musk now controls Twitter: The deal is complete. Elon walked into Twitter’s HQ with a sink in his hands and changed his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit.” The CEO and CFO are out, as well as the Head of Legal Policy, Trust & Safety, who made the decision to suspend Donald Trump permanently. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens next.

Snap shows that analysts aren’t great at predicting the future: To be fair, it’s hard. But incentives for sell-side analysts are misaligned. I did some work on Snap in July.

Meta (Facebook) is so bad that even Jim Cramer apologized: Meta has lost 75% of its market cap, or about the GDP of Switzerland, since its peak. I did some work on Meta in August.

ESG is not going that well at the moment: Germany apparently spent close to $1bn to get South Africa to stop using coal. Since then, EU imports of South African coal is up 8x.

ESG has also meant increased dependence on China: China is by far the largest player in producing many of the metals and minerals needed in the green transition.

Poll of the week

Vote on LinkedIn or

Results from last week’s poll

A majority of people who answered out poll said they thought the Fed’s peak would be about 100 more basis points from the current level. But about 50% say another 200 basis points may be coming!

Join the world’s toughest valuation training

The Valuation Master Class Boot Camp is a 6-week intensive company valuation boot camp for a successful career in finance.

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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

Andrew: @XXXX it always seems strange that Korea is considered an emerging market. But it’s important to remember that the word is market, not economy. In the determination of whether a market is emerging or developing, MSCI looks at many factors, such as limits on foreign holdings and obstacles related to investing for foreigners.

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Podcasts we listened to this week

Ep. 7 Library of Mistakes – The Price Of Time with Edward Chancellor

“Edward Chancellor is an author, journalist and former fund manager at the Boston investment firm GMO. His new book The Price of Time: The Real Story of Interest is a detailed analysis of the history of interest rates and also an attack on current thinking, particularly amongst central bankers, about the role of interest rates in the economy.”

Readings this week

Signal #1: “Junk loans” are raising alarm bells

Signal #2: Loans are benefiting from supportive technical

Signal #3: High yield bonds may become increasingly attractive due to their quality and price

Read the full credit market commentary from Oaktree.

Book recommendation

The Price of Time: The Real Story of Interest by Edward Chancellor

“A comprehensive and profoundly relevant history of interest from one of the world’s leading financial writers, The Price of Time explains our current global financial position and how we got here.”

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

Ep.611: Rick Jordan – Be Careful When Helping Friends

BIO: Rick is the Founder & CEO of ReachOut Technology, which just had its initial public offering. He appears on global media and speaks on stages across the United States as an inspirational speaker, cybersecurity expert, and mindset motivator.

STORY: Rick wanted to bail out a struggling friend, so he offered to buy his business. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a legal structure during the acquisition to include a non-compete clause. Six months later, his friend started another company and took back the clients Rick had acquired from the sale.

LEARNING: Get the proper legal structure when buying a business. Refrain from letting emotion drive your decisions when investing. There’s no such thing as a bad asset, just a bad price.

Ep610: Conor Riley – Don’t Throw Good Money After Bad Money

BIO: Conor Riley is a global executive who has worked in investment banking, private equity, and consumer products.

STORY: Conor heard about the Washington Mutual stock from his workout buddy. He invested without doing any research. The stock price dropped significantly when the global financial crisis hit in 2008. Conor thought it was best to buy more. The price never went up. The company finally went under. Conor lost 70% of his net worth.

LEARNING: Don’t have more than 8% of your portfolio in a single thing. Do your own research. If an investment is going wrong, get out as quickly as you can.

Ep609: Dave Clare – Don’t Buy Stuff to Band-aid Your Unhappiness

BIO: For over two decades, Dave Clare has been a practitioner who has led multiple businesses in and through commercially and organizationally challenging times.

STORY: Dave was trying to fill up his unhappy life and thought investing in a community leadership center was the answer. The center only hemorrhaged money and never brought in any revenue.

LEARNING: Don’t buy stuff just because you’re trying to make yourself feel happy. Keep the absolute minimum on costs, and drive revenue. Never compare your insides to other people’s outsides.

Published on Become a Better Investor this week

PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (TLKM IJ): Profitable Growth rank of 2 was same compared to the prior period’s 2nd rank. This is World Class performance compared to 270 large Comm. Serv. companies worldwide.

Read Telkom Indonesia – World Class Benchmarking

Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (AOT TB): Profitable Growth rank of 10 was same compared to the prior period’s 10th rank. This is poor performance compared to 1,240 medium Industrials companies worldwide.

Read Airports of Thailand – World Class Benchmarking

Universal Robina Corporation (URC PM): Profitable Growth rank of 5 was down compared to the prior period’s 2nd rank. This is average performance compared to 600 large Cons. Staples companies worldwide.

Read Universal Robina – World Class Benchmarking

Raffles Medical Group Limited (RFMD SP): Profitable Growth rank of 5 was up compared to the prior period’s 6th rank. This is average performance compared to 390 medium Health Care companies worldwide.

Read Raffles Medical Group – World Class Benchmarking

PT Bukit Asam Tbk (PTBA IJ): Profitable Growth rank of 1 was same compared to the prior period’s 1st rank. This is World Class performance compared to 320 large Energy companies worldwide.

Read Bukit Asam – 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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