Blog Archives

O(y) IL VEY

oil vey

Yet again we have witnessed something unprecedented. As the following two charts show, we have never had negative oil prices until last week. Oil has never been cheaper on an inflation-adjusted basis than it is today.

Cost of a barrel of oil in nominal terms 1870 - 2020

Cost of a barrel of oil in real USD terms 1870 - 2020

Source: Marketwatch

And while under “normal” circumstances this would be great for the consumer,

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Follow the Herd: Why COVID19 End Game Needs Herd Immunity

Herd COVID_19

I’m not one to typically advocate following the herd but in the case of the coronavirus, I am having a hard time seeing an end game that doesn’t have herd immunity as the ultimate goal. And this could take a long time and lead to a lengthier economic contraction (to put it mildly) and even more massive federal intervention through government spending and Federal Reserve support of financial markets.

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Are We Missing the Importance of Risk Layering?

Risk Layering

Risk comes in all forms and fashions and it’s a real talent to identify risk. Howard Marks, Chairman of Oaktree Capital Management and who was kind enough to write a testimonial for my book, is perhaps the foremost expert at identifying different types of risk and assessing it.

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Ghosts of Inverted Yield Curve Past

Yield Curve inverted

And all the roads we have to walk are winding

And all the lights that lead us there are blinding

-Wonderwall by Noel Gallagher (for Oasis)

I saw a double bill of Noel Gallagher (formerly of Oasis) and Smashing Pumpkins last week.

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What's Your Crucible?

Crucible

A friend of mine and I went to a local bar that we very much enjoy frequenting because it is set up in a way to foster connection and conversation between the patrons. It has a living room type configuration with couches and very comfortable chairs in which there is the opportunity to sit across from people and be close to them in a very informal and fun social setting.

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Markets Climb Walls of Worry - Is it Time to Worry?

Walls of Worry

[Originally Published October 20, 2014] There is sure a lot going on in the world and the headlines are not pretty causing many to worry. As a lover of great music and particularly poetic, moving, and interesting song lyrics, I like to use songs from time to time to help bring insight,

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Global Warming - Then and Now

global warming climate change

The impassioned plea that took place recently from teen climate activist Greta Thunberg at the U.N. understandably caught the attention of much of the developed world. At the risk of being controversial/politically incorrect I decided to do a couple of searches on www.newspaperarchive.com on “Climate Change” and “Global Warming” and restrict the years to between 1919 and 1965 to see if these were topics covered by newspapers back then and,

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Rising from the Ashes - Lessons From My Visit to Auschwitz & Birkenau

Auschwitz Enterance

According to management guru Peter Drucker, one of the greatest traits a business leader can have is intellectual honesty. This is the ability to see the world as it is and not as you want it to be and then to act accordingly. This applies equally as well to great investors like Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger.

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Renter Nation Depicted

Cedar Springs

We’ve talked a lot about the advent of the Renter Nation at CWS for a number of years. When the housing bubble was in full force we used to say that people were renters but they didn’t know it because they had no equity in their homes due to the very aggressive financing that was available at the time.

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Japan: The Land of the Rising Sun and Shrinking Population

Japan

I spent six days in Japan, in 2014, visiting Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hiroshima. I went to Sumo wrestling, a 430-year-old restaurant, toured some beautiful temples and gardens, visited the peace park in Hiroshima, and of course, I did some karaoke. The Japanese are extremely service oriented and show great attention to detail.

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