After taking a short hiatus in January, I am back. Happy belated new year, everyone! So this month I start off with end-of-year update of my stock holdings. In my mid-year update post (Breaking out to a new high) in July last year, I pointed … [Read More...] about How my stocks did in 2020?
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Leadership changes in founder led businesses
It’s no surprise to anyone who go through my posts that I admire founder led businesses. I also love investing in them. But perhaps not all of them. Only those that have proven to have durable business models and where founders have large stakes in … [Read More...] about Leadership changes in founder led businesses
Costco and its special dividends
Costco just announced a special dividend of $10 per share, payable in December. This is their fourth special dividend payment to the shareholders in last eight years. It’s called special dividend because it is in addition to the regular dividend … [Read More...] about Costco and its special dividends
A bear market in rear view
About a year ago, I wrote a blog post wishing that all long-term investors get at least one bear market in their investing journeys. In that post, I made the case that a bear market is a blessing in disguise, rather than a curse, for all patient … [Read More...] about A bear market in rear view
Three years of dry powder deployments
Last month, the S&P 500 Price index reached its previous high, making up for all the losses incurred in this bear market. That was my automatic trigger to sell some stocks and recoup dry powder cash. It turned out to be an unusually quick … [Read More...] about Three years of dry powder deployments
A look back at BREIT performance
Two years ago, I did a blog post on Blackstone’s real estate investment trust called BREIT. It had just opened its doors to retail individual investors like me. At the time, I was looking to increase my investments in commercial real estate (CRE) … [Read More...] about A look back at BREIT performance
Dividends, six months later
It has been more than six months since the pandemic started affecting the global economy. Many dividend paying businesses were impacted too. In response, some stopped or cut dividends. But not many businesses that I own have gone that route. I wrote … [Read More...] about Dividends, six months later
Breaking out to a new high
On June 9th, as the stock market came within 5% of its previous record high, my portfolio reached a new all-time high. That day, my portfolio nudged just above its prior record high made on February 19. Credit for this outperformance (since the … [Read More...] about Breaking out to a new high
Risk-return analysis of my hedged stock positions
I have written about my dry powder investing several times before. I am not going to rehash all that stuff here. [You can check out all my previous Dry Powder related posts here.] Instead, in this post I will just focus on performance of my hedged … [Read More...] about Risk-return analysis of my hedged stock positions
How are my dividends holding up?
According to a recent WSJ article, eighty-three U.S. public companies have either canceled or suspended dividend payments so far this year. And another 142 companies have reduced their dividends. The journal went on to predict about 10% decrease in … [Read More...] about How are my dividends holding up?
More founder run businesses
Bessemer Venture Partners is a well-known venture capital firm—also one of the nation’s oldest in VC business. As the name implies, it invests in young startups, mostly technology related businesses. Over the years, it had invested in some promising … [Read More...] about More founder run businesses
The odds of making money in stocks
Whether we like it or not, we investors are always making bets. We invest our capital with the expectation that down the road we will be able to recover all of it plus some. But since the future is unknowable, we implicitly make a bet every time we … [Read More...] about The odds of making money in stocks
Buy businesses that are recession proof
In June this year, the NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) announced that U.S. had entered an economic recession beginning in February. This recession came after the longest economic expansion in the US history—from June 2009 through February … [Read More...] about Buy businesses that are recession proof
A guide for young investor
I am in my fifties and I have been saving and investing since I began working full time more than twenty-five years ago. I have been writing about my investing in these pages for about three years. If you are in your 20s or 30s, perhaps you just … [Read More...] about A guide for young investor
Older Posts
Are we in a short correction?
This stock market crash is looking more like a short-but-deep correction than a conventional bear market. Since its March 23rd trough, the market has been relentlessly going uphill. As of today, the S&P 500 is just about 12% off from its prior … [Read More...] about Are we in a short correction?
When’s the market bottoming?
Things have settled down a bit in the stock market. Since that nasty crash in March, stocks have mostly been on an upward trend. So, has the stock market already bottomed out? Or would there be another leg down from here? I can’t say. I admit it … [Read More...] about When’s the market bottoming?
I closed my Apple bet
About a year ago, I had opened a hedged Apple (AAPL) position. The goal was to invest cash in an asset where I could benefit from the upside but also limit my downside risk. The cash I had invested was my dry powder cash—the kind of cash that I would … [Read More...] about I closed my Apple bet
Seeking wisdom in trying times
In my last post, I wrote that I have been buying stocks. Well, since then I continued buying stocks as the market dropped even further. At the time, I reported I had invested 60% of my dry powder cash. Today, I am 70% deployed. As the stock market … [Read More...] about Seeking wisdom in trying times
Be greedy
Two weeks ago, I wrote that I have bought (or sold) very little in my stock portfolio in past twelve months. But that changed rather quickly in last two weeks. The stock market had been worried about the COVID-19 pandemic for a few weeks. But then on … [Read More...] about Be greedy
My portfolio is getting top-heavy
I break down my stock holdings into three distinct buckets: long-only stocks, long-only stock index funds, and long-short stocks and options (for income primarily). From these, my long stock holdings are by far the largest bucket as you can see in … [Read More...] about My portfolio is getting top-heavy
Why are you buying stocks today?
Today, Investors have become more enthusiastic about buying stocks. Although I don’t see euphoria about stock ownerships yet, but stock investing has become trendier. This is just my observation, entirely based on anecdotal evidence. Perhaps it’s a … [Read More...] about Why are you buying stocks today?
Another weekend of worry
Barron’s magazine had its annual roundtable issue last week. This is where it gathers several high-profile investors and money managers around a table to discuss new year’s prospects for the economy and the stock market. There was much … [Read More...] about Another weekend of worry