I have been singing the praises of Blackstone on these pages since 2018. I first wrote about the company in February 2018. Back then it was still a Limited Partnership (LP), and its shares were trading around $30. Then, about a year later, I wrote … [Read More...] about Blackstone credit platform
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Did you double your money since the recession?
I didn’t! If you have been following the financial media, you must have seen recent headlines like this one: “If you’d bought stocks in March 2020, you would have doubled your money by now”. This one was from Yahoo! Money. There were similar mentions … [Read More...] about Did you double your money since the recession?
Parting ways with Brookfield Property Partners
My investing in commercial real-estate is mostly via publicly traded REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts). Over the years, I have added several REIT positions in my portfolio. See this table for my REIT holdings. From time to time, I’ve also … [Read More...] about Parting ways with Brookfield Property Partners
Insiders who bought stocks in March 2020
In a March 2020 blog post when we were in the midst of the stock market crash, I highlighted four businesses where insiders had bought stocks. The table from that post is reproduced below. These insider purchases were made with their own … [Read More...] about Insiders who bought stocks in March 2020
Dipping my toe into this SPAC craze
I generally don’t have much interest in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). They are often overpriced, overhyped, and not meant for long-term investors. In last couple of years, IPOs have seen a resurgence along with Direct Listings and SPACs. These … [Read More...] about Dipping my toe into this SPAC craze
Tesla, BYD, and Charlie Munger
As I wrote last month, in 2020 Tesla jumped from #8 to #2 position in my portfolio. This week as I set about writing a blog post dedicated to my Tesla holding, I came across Charlie Munger’s Q&A from the Daily Journal’s annual shareholder … [Read More...] about Tesla, BYD, and Charlie Munger
SoftBank – a second look
SoftBank is an enigma for me. On one hand, it has all the traits of an excellent owner-founder run business—the kind that I love to invest in. On the other hand, some of its management’s recent moves have spectacularly failed, making me think twice … [Read More...] about SoftBank – a second look
What I bought to replace Brookfield Property?
I have now deployed all the cash I raised from selling my Brookfield Property Partner shares (BPY or BPYU). What did I buy? See this table. In my previous blog post, I showed a short list of prospective buys I was considering. See here. Out of … [Read More...] about What I bought to replace Brookfield Property?
How my stocks did in 2020?
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?
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
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
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
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
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
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
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?