Blog Archives

The Art of Improvisation - Liberating Your Artistic Genius

Improvisation

I want to continue focusing on books that resonated with me. A while back I was doing a mental exercise and thinking about some of my most memorable experiences. I was trying to determine if there was some sort of common thread weaving throughout all of them.

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Hope Is Not A Strategy - Don't Discount Liberal Arts!

hope is not a strategy

This will be my last blog post related to Andrew Carnegie. All good things must come to an end. When I started at CWS out of college my first boss asked me what my major was and I told him political science. He had an engineering background and kind of snickered and asked what I planned to do with that degree and if I considered “opening up a political science store.” I laughed it off and gave the standard retort that I thought it would help me be a better writer and think critically.

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Strangers Stopping Strangers: 7 Benefits of CEO's Having Hobbies

“Strangers stopping strangers

Just to shake their hands”

-Jerry Garcia & Robert Hunter

I recently went to listen to a Grateful Dead cover band at a local bar/restaurant. I was immediately impressed by how good they were and the joyous atmosphere they helped create.

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The Skyscraper Indicator - Is the Luxury Home Bubble Bursting?

skyscraper-indicator

A little while back I read an article by Ron Insana regarding New York luxury condos and how he believed that the top was in and the bubble was bursting. This is in conjunction with another article I read on Bloomberg.com about the weakening London luxury home market.

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One Mis-Step Away - Answers Come After the Question is Posed

Question

Answers can only come after a question has been posed. Thus, formulating great questions is the first, and most important, step to growing one’s base of knowledge. As I have written in my book, the two most important questions I need the answers to in terms of our investments at CWS are:

What is going to happen to our Net Operating Income?…

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The Growth of Passive Investing - It Will Bogle the Mind

Jack Bogle

This will be a relatively short post honoring a long life that was highly impactful.

The following chart shows a demand curve that, without much argument, we can point to one man for the explosive increase. It represents the percentage of assets dedicated to passive investing via index funds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).

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A Return to Charts - Focusing on Interest Rates and the Economy

charts

It’s been a while since I have focused on the economy and interest rates so I will return to one of my periodic chart-o-ramas to try to capture some of the dramatic changes taking place in various markets and how investors have gone from embracing risk to shying away from it,

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Handshakes to Hugs - Between a Laugh and a Tear

handshake to hugs

I was planning on writing about Apple’s announcement that they were making a huge investment in Austin, as well as the material, slow down taking place in China and how that is impacting global economic growth. But then, the combination of reflecting on a conversation I had with a friend/mentor/business advisor and a quote my daughter texted me led me to abort and return to the subject of healing,

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Kindness - It Can Be Contagious

kindness

My intention was to make a clean break this week and the transition from mourning the loss of my wife Roneet to discussing more economic and business-related issues. But honestly, I found that I’m not mentally and emotionally in that place right now. As a result,

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Grief - What Is It Good For? and Lessons From Two And a Half Men

grief Gary Carmell Roneet Carmell

First of all, I would like to thank everyone that has expressed their condolences, sadness, thoughts, and feelings about the loss of my beautiful wife Roneet. The outpouring of support and emotion has been extraordinary and so gratifying and, at the same time, quite understandable because of what a very unique and special person she was.

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