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Become a Better Investor Newsletter – 9 August 2025

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Noteworthy this week

  • Chinese entrepreneurship is dead
  • Bubble trouble
  • Only Mag 7 makes money
  • Starbucks is struggling
  • LinkedIn is not struggling

Chinese entrepreneurship is dead: Hardly any private companies have been founded in China over the past few years. Private entrepreneurialism, which fueled China’s economic rise, has come to a full stop.

Bubble trouble: When looking at this cycle in terms of its absolute gain of 84% and the relative breadth of only 35% (meaning that only 35% of stocks are outperforming the index), the only analogs seem to be the 1998-2000 tech boom and the 1970-1973 Nifty 50 bull market.

Only Mag 7 makes money: The S&P 493, the S&P 500 excluding the “Magnificent 7,” is expected to deliver just 2-3% net income growth in Q2-Q4.

Starbucks is struggling: The coffee chain has now reported six consecutive quarters of declining same-store sales.

LinkedIn is not struggling: LinkedIn now earns nearly US$18bn in annual revenue. Microsoft acquired LinkedIn for US$26bn in 2016.

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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

The Hundred Year Pivot Ep. 6 – Lawrence Fossi

“With Lawrence’s trademark candour, the conversation delves into the dangers of celebrity-driven populism, the fragility of democratic norms, and the deep structural imbalances threatening the US political and economic system. This is a sobering yet essential listen for anyone trying to make sense of the chaos—and looking for slivers of hope within it.”

Listen on Apple or Spotify.

Readings this week

Why Do Nations Rise and Fall: A Survey

“Why do civilizations fall? Not from invasion, but erosion—from lost virtues, squandered capital, and cultural amnesia. History remembers. Will we?”

Read the article.

Book recommendation

How States Think: The Rationality of Foreign Policy by John J. Mearsheimer and Sebastian Rosato

“To understand world politics, you need to understand how states think. Are states rational? Much of international relations theory assumes that they are. But many scholars believe that political leaders rarely act rationally. The issue is crucial for both the study and practice of international politics, for only if states are rational can scholars and policymakers understand and predict their behavior.”

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

Ep809: Pieter Slegers – A Teen’s Investing Nightmare Becomes His Greatest Teacher

BIO: Pieter Slegers is the founder of Compounding Quality Newsletter. Pieter worked for three years as a Belgian asset manager before focusing full-time on his investment newsletter, Compounding Quality, in July 2022. Compounding Quality has over 1 million followers across social media and nearly 500,000 email subscribers. The goal of the newsletter is to help other investors by focusing on Quality Investing.

STORY: At the age of 13, Peter convinced his parents to open a brokerage account. He picked the broker’s newest “hottest pick” stock—an oil/gas transport company. He invested everything, thinking the people running the company knew what they were doing. Weeks later, the 2008 financial crisis hit. Peter sold his stock after a year, taking a 60% loss.

LEARNING: Small losses are better than catastrophic ones. Knowledge is your only edge.

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 40: The Big Rocks.

Listen to Enrich Your Future 40: Why Passive Investing Gives You Back What Wall Street Steals

Taiwan Mobile Company Limited (3045 TT): Profitable Growth rank of 4 was up compared to the prior period’s 5th rank. This is above average performance compared to 250 large Comm. Serv. companies worldwide.

Read Taiwan Mobile – World Class Benchmarking

Thai Vegetable Oil Public Company Limited (TVO TB): Profitable Growth rank of 1 was same compared to the prior period’s 1st rank. This is World Class performance compared to 560 large Cons. Staples companies worldwide.

Read Thai Vegetable Oil – World Class Benchmarking

Godrej Industries Limited (GDSP IN): Profitable Growth rank of 1 was same compared to the prior period’s 1st rank. This is World Class performance compared to 1,430 large Industrials companies worldwide.

Read Godrej Industries – World Class Benchmarking

In July 2025, we published 5 new episodes of the My Worst Investment Ever podcast. Listen to all of them here.

Listen to My Worst Investment Ever July 2025

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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