Given how stocks have outperformed most other asset types in last few years (the S&P 500 is up 27% and 95% since the beginning of 2025 and 2023 respectively), it's perhaps appropriate to remind ourselves of inevitable drawdowns that come sooner or later. In July 2020, I wrote … [Read more...] about Great Decades Come with Gut Punches
MyPortfolio
How the three master investors would’ve ranked my stocks
A Note on the Market: Since my last blog entry, the stock market has kept climbing the wall of worry. It has gone on to new highs recently. As I’ve said before, I don’t plan to ever get out of the market completely but I continue to gradually raise cash by taking some money off … [Read more...] about How the three master investors would’ve ranked my stocks
Portfolio Performance 2025
The year 2025 is in the books. As I’ve done in the past years, this is my annual review post for the year. How did my stock portfolio do in 2025? And more importantly, how it affected my ten-year performance, which is where I tend to focus. Note that the following analysis … [Read more...] about Portfolio Performance 2025
Businesses that went from emerging to entrenched quality
As my long-time readers would know, I am always looking for companies that are running quality businesses and have the durability to survive economic downturns. My goal is to find them, invest in them, monitor their progress, and just hold on to them as they grow. Last month, … [Read more...] about Businesses that went from emerging to entrenched quality
Ignore your cost bases
As the stock market rose to a new high this month, it was time to divest what I had invested during the brief April downturn. I raise cash when stocks are reaching new highs and invest in them when they go down (my dry powder investing). As I considered what to sell, I noticed … [Read more...] about Ignore your cost bases
Dry powder investing helps me stay productive
Since I last wrote in March when it was nearing a 10% correction, the stock market today is clearly in a correction. By some measures, it has been a bear market (with NASDAQ down more than 20% in early April, for instance). So what would an investor do today? As in previous … [Read more...] about Dry powder investing helps me stay productive
My portfolio performance 2024
Yes, it is that time of the year when I compare my portfolio’s performance with the market indexes. For reference, see 2023’s results here. Usually, I start with my portfolio’s one-year relative performance. But then I also follow it with my oft-repeated refrain that … [Read more...] about My portfolio performance 2024
Should investors prefer dividend paying companies over others?
In a word, no. Why do I say that? In this post, I will share my thoughts on dividends payers. Across the universe of all publicly traded companies, I group them into three distinct buckets: (1) Companies that pay generous dividend today (>4%). Though they tend to have … [Read more...] about Should investors prefer dividend paying companies over others?
My magnificent six stocks
I just finished reading Semper Augustus’ 2023 shareholder letter. Chris Bloomstran, its well-known CIO, writes detailed annual letters. They are full of well-researched data and, while long, always make interesting read. This year’s letter was no different. About a half of it … [Read more...] about My magnificent six stocks
Amazon is now a 50-bagger for me
“Here’s how much you would have made in Amazon if you had invested $1000 ten years ago.” We often see such cheesy headlines in the financial press. So indulge me when I say this: It took 24 years for my first Amazon share purchase to become 50x its original cost. Unlike … [Read more...] about Amazon is now a 50-bagger for me