The Great Northern Expedition was one of the largest exploration endeavors in human history. The grueling state sponsored trip, which lasted ten long years (1733-1743) and covered thousands of miles, cost one-sixth the annual income of Russia. During this campaign, the St.Peter, led by Danish cartographer Vitus Bering, was shipwrecked on what would later be…
March 2018
These Are the Goods
Articles Luck is the flip side of risk By Morgan Housel The iron law of Blumhouse By Nick Maggiulli Ramsey is the pro bono financial adviser to millions of Americans who otherwise could never afford one. By Tim Alberta Making it look easy requires plenty of hard work. By Ben Carlson Not only are the sources of…
Animal Spirits: Goodnight Moon
On this week’s Animal Spirits with Michael & Ben we discuss: The Flash Correction U.S. Household net worth hits record highs I knew Dave Ramsey was big, but not this big Rising rates are a double-edged sword The bond bull market resulted mostly from high starting rates, not falling rates. Not everything should be indexed…
The Flash Correction
31 days ago the market peaked. In nine sessions the NASDAQ 100 fell 10%. And then in the next 21, it got it all back and then some, gaining 13% over that time. This has been a wild few weeks for stocks, but it is not unprecedented. This type of move has happened before, as…
The Race to A Trillion
In the last 92 trading sessions, Amazon has added $304,512,850,704 to its market capitalization. Not that $300 billion in 92 days needs context, but here’s some anyway: This is more than Amazon was worth in April 2016, not even two years ago. This is bigger than every company in the S&P 500 with the exception of…
These Are the Goods
Articles Coming up with explanations for past successes is easy but figuring out who the winners will be going forward never is. By Ben Carlson Sometimes not acting can be worse than taking a big risk By Nick Maggiulli Shifting the investment program from benchmark-based to goal-based allows every institution an opportunity to succeed…
There Is No End Point
The muckraking journalist Jacob Riis asked Police Commissioner Theodore Roosevelt if he had ambitions to someday be the President of The United States. Roosevelt’s reaction startled him. “Don’t you dare ask me that,” TR yelled at Riis. “Don’t you put such ideas into my head. No friend of mine would ever say a thing like…
Animal Spirits: Brothers From a Different Mother
On this week’s Animal Spirits with Michael & Ben we discuss: Reader questions- keep em coming! Smart Beta Is Making This Strategist Sick Pulling the goalie: Hockey and investment implications And the coach who never punts Will active stock funds save your bacon in a downturn Dow vigilantes Harvard blew $1 billion on tomatoes. Not…
Now or Later?
Does the chart below strike you as a risky investment? What about this one? Both of these charts cover the period from 1939 to 1985. The first one is five-year U.S. treasury notes after inflation. Five-year bonds are thought to be a rather risk-free investment. You lend money to the government, you receive interest payments,…
Today in Market History: All-Time Highs
Today in March 2013, after 1,974 days and a 54% drawdown, the Dow Jones Industrial Average recaptured all-time highs that were last seen in October 2007. The Dow was at 14,000, the CAPE ratio was under 18, unemployment was 7.5%, and the ten-year was yielding 1.9% From time to time I like to look back…
