My Worst Investment Ever March 2023
Ep666: Jeremy Kokemor – Tread Carefully When Investing in Metals and Mining
BIO: Jeremy Kokemor founded Right Tail Capital: a concentrated, fundamental equity investment firm based in Richmond, Virginia.
STORY: Jeremy was an intern in an investment management firm where he got to cover small-cap metal miners. He was new to this industry and made several mistakes.
LEARNING: Figure out your investment style. Be careful of overconfidence and overestimation bias when looking at stocks to invest in. Be willing to change your mind when the circumstances call for it.
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Ep665: Paul Hodges – There’s No Substitute for Judgment
BIO: Paul Hodges is a trusted adviser to major companies and the investment community and has a proven track record of accurately identifying key trends in global marketplaces. He is chairman of New Normal Consulting and a Global Expert with the World Economic Forum.
STORY: Paul invested in a company in the cinema industry, which according to his research, was a well-performing business. After investing, his bank’s asset manager advised him to sell this stock. The stock grew 10-fold after that. Paul missed out on that windfall.
LEARNING: There’s no substitute for judgment. Distinguish between opinion and knowledge. Opinions are not knowledge.
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Ep664: Amy Minkley – What Is Your Enough?
BIO: The founder of FI Freedom Retreats, Amy Minkley’s, life changed when she discovered the Financial Independence movement in 2019.
STORY: Amy was working in Bangkok, living an unhappy life of overworking and over-saving. This way of life gave her zero balance, and she was burning out. Ultimately, this led her to a new path that saw her quit her job in search of a more balanced life.
LEARNING: Be clear about your values and spend on that and not what others value. Separate creating wealth from growing wealth.
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Ep663: Benjamin Claremon – Know What Kind of Investor You Are
BIO: Ben Claremon joined Cove Street in 2011 and has been a Co-Portfolio Manager for the Classic Value | Small Cap PLUS strategy since its inception in 2016.
STORY: Benjamin has made the biggest mistakes and lost the most money by buying cheap companies that get less valuable over time.
LEARNING: Know what kind of investor you are and let your portfolio reflects that. Just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean you have to buy it. Invest in a business you can own for years.
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Ep662: Edward McQuarrie – Never Ever Sell Naked Calls
BIO: Edward McQuarrie is Professor Emeritus at Santa Clara University. He writes on market history and personal finance, and his research has been mentioned in columns in the Wall Street Journal, Marketwatch, and Barron’s.
STORY: Edward opened an account to trade naked puts. When the financial crisis of 2008 hit, he thought it was a good time to sell his puts. He ended up losing almost all the money in his account.
LEARNING: Keep your play money small. Never trade your treasury bond until maturity to avoid losses.
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ISMS 12: CPI Racing Across the Globe
Is global CPI going to follow the US CPI slowdown?
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ISMS 11: US Banking Crisis and Fed Rate Cut
Did the Fed finally break something with its aggressive rate rises? I’ve been repeating in my investment strategy that the Fed will eventually break something, and yes, they did. They did.
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ISMS 10: US CPI Could Decline to 4% By YE23; Unless QE Revs Up
Is US CPI going up or down by yearend 2023?
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Ep661: Michelle Leder – Read the 10-K Before You Buy That Stock
BIO: Michelle Leder has probably read more SEC filings than just about anyone else on the planet since writing her book, Financial Fineprint: Uncovering a Company’s True Value, and starting her website, footnoted.com nearly 20 years ago.
STORY: Michelle invested in a company without going through important SEC reports.
LEARNING: Dig deep into the company’s 10-K annual report before investing. Look at the risk factors and what the company says about risk.
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ISMS 9: Saving Silicon Valley Bank Brings New Risks
The Silicon Valley Bank crisis started when the US government shut down its economy
The Silicon Valley Bank crisis started when the US government shut down the economy from 2020 to 2021.
Let’s take a step back to January 29th, 2020, when President Donald Trump announced a White House Coronavirus Response task force with the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci, and Deborah Brix as coordinator.
The decision to shut down the economy originated from this body but was ultimately implemented by President Trump, members of congress, and eventually President Joe Biden. This decision was truly the worst decision I have ever seen a government make in my lifetime.
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Ep660: Dave Collum – What Should the US Be Doing in Ukraine?
BIO: Dave Collum is a professor of Organic Chemistry at Cornell University who developed an interest in markets, which, in turn, led to an interest in geopolitics.
STORY: Dave talks about his 2022 Year in Review: All Roads Lead to Ukraine.
LEARNING: Never trust politicians and bureaucrats.
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Ep659: Bill Blain – Always Sell Fast in a Difficult Market
BIO: Bill Blain is a well-known financier and commentator on financial markets, contributor, and editor of the Morning Porridge.
STORY: Bill loves airships, and many of his investment mistakes involve airships.
LEARNING: Ignore the worst and the best estimates and focus on the middle consensus. In a difficult market, a bid is a bid, and you’ve got to sell fast.
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Ep658: Jeroen Blokland – Know the Actual Business Outlook Before Investing
BIO: Jeroen Blokland is a long-term multi-asset investor with a long-term track record in financial markets. Jeroen worked at Robeco, the largest independent asset manager in The Netherlands, for almost 20 years before launching his independent investment research company, True Insights.
STORY: Jeroen’s first investment was in a Dutch company selling PCs. He barely did any research or due diligence. The company reported a loss of $27 million in the same year Jeroen invested. It later went bankrupt, leaving Jeroen with a massive loss.
LEARNING: Know the actual outlook of a company before investing. Diversify your portfolio.
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ISMS 8: Larry Swedroe – Are You Overconfident in Your Skills?
In this episode of Investment Strategy Made Simple (ISMS), Andrew and Larry discuss a chapter of Larry’s book Investment Mistakes Even Smart Investors Make and How to Avoid Them. In this first series of many, they talk about mistake number one: Are you overconfident in your skills?
LEARNING: Don’t be overconfident. Look for value-added information when researching an investment.
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Ep657: Brian Feroldi – Be Careful When Trading Options
BIO: Brian Feroldi is a financial educator, YouTuber, and author. His career mission statement is “to demystify finance.”
STORY: Brian invested in an oil pipeline company with take-or-pay contracts. This meant that the company would get paid either way if the price of oil or natural gas went up or down. Prices went down and despite the contract, the pipeline’s stock went down because its customers couldn’t afford to pay. Brian lost 70% of his entire portfolio.
LEARNING: Don’t use options as an investment strategy. Never let one company become your largest position. Be careful about trying to leverage beyond your capability.
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Ep656: Matt LeBris – Prepare for the Downs During the Uptime
BIO: Matt LeBris is a born and raised NY’er who inevitably caught the hustler’s spirit that fills his hometown streets.
STORY: Matt got an opportunity to be part of a successful business venture in his early 20s. He was making good money and living a good life. Unfortunately, the business went down, and he took an unpaid internship with Daymond John of Shark Tank. Matt’s biggest mistake was to continue living large even though he no longer had money coming up. He blew over $80,000 of his savings by living way above his means.
LEARNING: Understand how you’re subconsciously programmed about money. Live below your means.
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Ep655: Pim van Vliet – Just Because It’s Cheap Doesn’t Mean You Have to Buy It
BIO: Pim van Vliet is Head of Conservative Equities and Chief Quant Strategist at Robeco. He is responsible for a wide range of global, regional, and sustainable low-volatility strategies.
STORY: Pim wanted to make more money investing, so he decided to go all in on a cheap stock. He believed the price would eventually go up as it had done a few years back. Unfortunately, the company went bankrupt, and Pim lost 75% of his investment.
LEARNING: Don’t be overconfident and over-optimistic when investing. Just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean you have to buy it.
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ISMS 7: Financials, Cons. Disc., and Utilities Sectors Look Most Interesting
What do you think: Which of the global sectors is most attractive?
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Ep654: Logan Nathan – Your Supplier Is an Extension of Your Business, Not an Outsider
BIO: Logan Nathan is the founder and CEO at i4T Global. He’s a digital transformation specialist, a serial startup entrepreneur, a board director and advisor, and an angel investor.
STORY: Logan offers time-tested advice on how to launch a successful software product.
LEARNING: Focus on customer experience and satisfaction to win confidence.
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Ep653: Louis-Vincent Gave – Your Success Comes Down to Portfolio Sizing
BIO: Louis-Vincent Gave is the Chief Executive Officer of Gavekal, a Hong Kong-based company he co-founded over 20 years ago with his father, Charles, and Anatole Kaletsky.
STORY: Louis’s father invested one million dollars in a portfolio of 10 Asian companies. Louis was managing this portfolio, whose size was disproportionate to his earnings. He was earning $50,000 annually at the time and had never owned a portfolio this big, which made him sick.
LEARNING: Portfolio sizing matters tremendously. Never under or over-position yourself. Invest with people who have experience.
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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.