Human beings are reaction machines versus reflective and responsive individuals. We are our own worst investing enemies when it comes to investing successfully. Most people are easily susceptible to bouts of fear and greed when it comes to investing. Unfortunately, these emotional highs and lows are often when the masses are reacting in a similar manner.
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The last few weeks have been a good representation as to why I have an aversion to fixed-rate loans when doing a refinance or an acquisition. Assuming fixed rate loans from sellers when acquiring properties, however, is a different story and worthy of its own write up so I won’t address the distinctions here.
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What a difference one week makes. Last week I was concerned that the 10-year Treasury note yield had breached its previous cycle peak. I used some questionable, but fancy statistical analysis to justify that the peak I should really be worried about was 3.16% versus the previous cycle peak of 3.04%.
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I recently completed Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow and it is a wonderful read about the fascinating life and times of John D. Rockefeller. Ida Tarbell, one of the great muckraking writers and profilers who gained her fame while writing for McClure’s was personally impacted by Standard Oil’s brash business tactics.
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The future is clearly unknowable other than the certainty of our demise. All we can do is to utilize our knowledge and experience to assess when we think the odds are in our favor or against us and take action accordingly. Everything comes down to risk and reward,
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Warren Buffett has said that people should read 500 pages a day if they want to compound knowledge at a very high rate. Along the same lines, Bill Gates reads at least one book a week to help satisfy his immense curiosity.
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Like most people, especially investors, I’ve been wondering about whether there is a philosophical prism through which Donald Trump sees the world other than through deals and negotiations. In business, especially in real estate, there are often objective outcomes to shoot for to know if you are winning,
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On my recent trip, I visited 10 countries in Africa and Asia. My last destination was Singapore. I had been there in 1999 and remember how impressed I was with the city-state then and departed this time even more so. Singapore became an independent state after being kicked out of the Malaysian Federation in 1965.
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The tariff debate and controversy seems to be escalating and has been leading to tremendous stock market volatility. Whenever there is such a heated topic that catalyzes strong emotions I like to take a step back and find ways to drown out the cacophony. One of the ways I do this is to ignore today and look to history to see what I can learn from the past.
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I am an avid reader and always on the lookout for interesting information and trends that might spark some kind of insight with regard to economic, financial, or societal trends. I thought I would share a few graphics that caught my attention recently. These are in no particular order.
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