One of my all-time favorite authors on investing is Howard Marks. He is a practitioner (not an academic) but also has a way with words. It’s not just me—Marks’ memos are widely read. His first book, The Most Important Thing, was a best-seller. His memos—which he regularly … [Read more...] about An opportunity to invest in real assets
Dividends
Careful with defined outcome investing
I wrote about my principal-protected investments in a February blog post (Market neutral investing). Those are only a tiny fraction of my portfolio. I only use them for my liquid capital—money that I might need in short order and therefore can’t be tied up in ordinary … [Read more...] about Careful with defined outcome investing
My two-year bet on Apple
A week ago, I heard Blackstone’s COO, Jon Gray, talk about his company’s recent growth tilt. He said that decline in the U.S. interest rates that has gone on for last 30 years has come to an end. And with that, expansion of valuation multiples too. He is now focused on acquiring … [Read more...] about My two-year bet on Apple
My uber dividend payers
CenturyLink (CTL), a large U.S. telecom operator, has just slashed its dividend by more than one-half. For the last two years, it had sported a mouth-watering double-digit dividend yield that reached as high as about 16% recently. It was no surprise that many dividend-seeking … [Read more...] about My uber dividend payers
How am I investing in commercial real-estate?
RealtyShare, a crowdfunded real-estate investing operation, just shut down its business a few weeks ago. Hopefully, everyone who invested through them will be fine. The company said they will keep skeleton staff to manage existing properties for investors but won’t offer any new … [Read more...] about How am I investing in commercial real-estate?
Grading CEOs as capital allocators
If there were 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
Revisiting the lost decade of U.S. stocks
If you were following business news in 2010, you must have come across one or two headlines bemoaning America’s “lost decade”. Between 2009 and 2012, there were many discussions in the business media and many columns were written in the press on this subject. How investors have … [Read more...] about Revisiting the lost decade of U.S. stocks
Rise above dividends!
Some investors are fascinated with dividend paying stocks. They invest in them exclusively. Often times, they are looking to generate income. Some investors also believe that dividend paying stocks are safer to invest in. There are investment services and portfolio managers who … [Read more...] about Rise above dividends!
When stocks turn into perpetual bonds
When you buy corporate bonds, you are told how much interest you will get and for how long. Your expected returns are spelled out by the company issuing the bonds. If you hold these bonds until they mature, you will get your initial investment back. There are risks, of course. … [Read more...] about When stocks turn into perpetual bonds