My portfolio has some real-estate (RE) assets but not much. The only commercial real-estate that I have come to own (indirectly) is via public REITs (publicly traded real-estate investment trusts). I have been looking into adding a dose of commercial real-estate in my portfolio. … [Read more...] about My quest for commercial real-estate
Complete List of Blog Posts
Stock investing is not a zero-sum game
Why do I say that? Because people often think of the stock market as a roller coaster. It goes up for a while, but then goes down, eventually ending up at the same place where it began, and then the cycle starts over. The implication is that one must catch the up-cycle to make … [Read more...] about Stock investing is not a zero-sum game
Don’t fall for steady returns
Why everyone and their grandmothers don’t get rich investing in the stock market? It sounds straightforward enough to invest. All one has to do is buy an appropriate market index fund (or ETF) and hold it for ten or twenty years (the well-known buy-and-hold strategy). If you … [Read more...] about Don’t fall for steady returns
A lesson from Buffett
Warren Buffett’s shareholder letter came out last weekend. It’s an annual ritual and it makes for great weekend reading. I am a long-time shareholder and I appreciate how he comments on the general state of investing – besides his own company, Berkshire Hathaway’s affairs. As … [Read more...] about A lesson from Buffett
Let smart people work for you!
The best thing about long-term oriented stock investing is that it doesn’t require lot of work by us, the investors. Instead, we loan our money to people running actual businesses – and they work for us. We own shares in these public companies – so when they make money, we make … [Read more...] about Let smart people work for you!
How media get things wrong
Be wary of news briefs from the financial media – they are designed to catch reader’s attention but in reality often mean nothing – or worse could even be misleading. I follow mainstream news but with care. On one hand we investors need to stay abreast with news related to the … [Read more...] about How media get things wrong
Why I am buying Blackstone
You can see from my 4Q portfolio update that I have been buying shares of Blackstone (BX). I first bought some shares in the third quarter last year – bought again in the fourth quarter – and my last purchase was in January. Blackstone is a somewhat unusual public company. It is … [Read more...] about Why I am buying Blackstone
Yes stocks are volatile
… but only in the short run. As we saw in this previous post, stocks go down 10% or more every year. More often than not, they also recover quickly. So what return could we expect in a given year? Here is a good chart from J.P. Morgan. It shows the range of annual returns that … [Read more...] about Yes stocks are volatile
4Q 2017 quarterly portfolio update
There weren't many changes made in my portfolio last quarter. I did not start any new stock position - though I did add to three of my existing positions. I closed a couple of small stock positions where I took capital losses. There were no changes in my mutual fund positions. … [Read more...] about 4Q 2017 quarterly portfolio update
Should you invest in gold?
Is gold a good investment in today’s world? After all, gold is no longer the dominant medium of exchange – it has been replaced by national currencies backed by sovereign countries. Our obsession with the yellow metal is well known. Gold coins have been in use for trade since … [Read more...] about Should you invest in gold?