If there are just two questions to ask about a CEO, ask these: Does he run the business well? Is she good in utilizing shareholders’ capital? The first question requires no explanation -- this is obviously any CEO’s number one task. The second question is a bit more complex. We … [Read more...] about Grading CEOs as capital allocators
My Investment Portfolio
What's in my portfolio and why
My investments with founder CEOs
The median tenure of public company CEOs is about five years [1]. They come and go. Many of them are paid handsomely to run a company – in either cash or stocks that vest in 3 to 4 years. They’d own some shares while they work for the company and then cash out as they … [Read more...] about My investments with founder CEOs
There is never a bad time to start investing
Is this the right time to invest in the stock market? The answer is yes – it’s always a ‘yes’. And I am not being facetious! The best time to invest in stocks is … when you have money to invest. Of course, some cash saving is required for near-term needs. But if you have money … [Read more...] about There is never a bad time to start investing
Mid-year portfolio update 2018
Since my last quarterly update, there haven’t been many changes in my portfolio. Stocks have been on the rise since April this year -- making up for the losses in the first quarter. Looking further back, if I compare today’s asset allocation with what I had last year, there have … [Read more...] about Mid-year portfolio update 2018
Revisiting my dry powder strategy
As I explained in my previous post on dry powder, I have cash that only gets deployed when stocks go down by a certain amount. How much cash to deploy and when? From the same post, you can see the rulebook I follow. If stocks follow historical averages, I may be able to deploy … [Read more...] about Revisiting my dry powder strategy
Benchmarking my portfolio against Yale’s endowment
I realize that this sounds silly. Individual investors and university endowments don’t play in the same league! Still there is no harm in studying other investors’ portfolios. Even those that are managed professionally. For perspective, current market value of Yale University’s … [Read more...] about Benchmarking my portfolio against Yale’s endowment
Apple, Starbucks, Facebook, Tesla
These are all well-known companies. They are also very successful stocks since their respective IPOs. And they all have been rising with the market for last few years. Then what am I doing still buying them today? I own all four companies for many years. You can see my … [Read more...] about Apple, Starbucks, Facebook, Tesla
Quarterly portfolio update – March 2018
I don’t pay much attention to quarterly stock market changes. I don’t spend time trying to read tea leaves either. However, when the market goes down 10% or more from its peak, it spurs me into action. Why? As I detailed in this blog entry, I have a cash-as-dry-powder strategy. … [Read more...] about Quarterly portfolio update – March 2018
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 … [Read more...] about Why I am buying Blackstone
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