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Become a Better Investor Newsletter – 7 September 2024

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Noteworthy this week

  • US households invest a lot in stocks
  • 9 million vacant homes in Japan
  • US labor market worsens
  • We’re working a lot less
  • Prices have skyrocketed in the past 50 years

US households invest a lot in stocks: US Households now have 42% of their financial assets in stocks. That’s the highest percentage on record, with data from 1952.

9 million vacant homes in Japan: Japan’s government says there are now 9 million vacant homes in the country as it struggles with a declining and aging population. One should maybe get a house in Japan.

US labor market worsens: US job openings fell in July to the lowest since the start of 2021, and layoffs rose.

We’re working a lot less: The average worker in wealthy countries now works only about half as many hours per year as in the late 19th century. What will happen when AI is broadly implemented?

Prices have skyrocketed in the past 50 years: “WTF happened in 1971?” is a rhetorical question. On August 15, 1971, President Nixon announced his New Economic Policy, a program “to create a new prosperity without war,” which marked the beginning of the end for the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates established at the end of World War II.

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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

“@channel please find the above performance chart of the 5 stock strategies and 1 asset allocation strategy you have access to in the community.”

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Podcasts we listened to this week

David Epstein: 10,000 Hours Is A Lie! The Morning Habit That’s Secretly Ruining Your Day! – The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

“In this conversation, David and Steven discuss topics such as, how to become more successful at work, the link between phone addiction and life challenges, how to master something new, and the importance of failure.”

Listen on Apple or Spotify.

Readings this week

The Less-Efficient Market Hypothesis

“Market efficiency is a central issue in asset pricing and investment management, but while the level of efficiency is often debated, changes in that level are relatively absent from the discussion. I argue that over the past 30+ years markets have become less informationally efficient in the relative pricing of common stocks, particularly over medium horizons.”

Read the paper.

Book recommendation

On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything by Nate Silver

“From the New York Times bestselling author of The Signal and the Noise,the definitive guide to our era of risk—and the players raising the stakes.”

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 12: When Confronted With a Loser’s Game Do Not Play

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 12: Outfoxing the Box.

LEARNING: You don’t have to engage in active investing; instead, accept market returns by investing passively.

Access the episode’s show notes and resources

Published on Become a Better Investor this week

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 11: The Demon of Chance.

Listen to Enrich Your Future 11: Long-Term Outperformance Is Not Always Evidence of Skill

In this episode, Bill Bellows and Andrew Stotz discuss David Garvin’s 8 Dimensions of Quality and how they apply in the Deming world. Bill references this article by Garvin.

Listen to 8 Dimensions of Quality: Misunderstanding Quality (Part 2)

Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited (CPF TB): Profitable Growth rank of 10 was same compared to the prior period’s 10th rank. This is poor performance compared to 560 large Cons. Staples companies worldwide.

Read Charoen Pokphand Foods – World Class Benchmarking

BOE Technology Group Company Limited (000725 SZ): Profitable Growth rank of 9 was same compared to the prior period’s 9th rank. This is poor performance compared to 640 large Info Tech companies worldwide.

Read BOE Technology Group – World Class Benchmarking

In August 2024, we published 6 new episodes of the My Worst Investment Ever podcast. Listen to all of them here.

Listen to My Worst Investment Ever August 2024

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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