Investing Due Diligence

One reason I like reading annual reports and earnings transcripts is because I learn a lot about the sector, the industry and the market. Sure, you could read industry reports which will probably give you a more comprehensive picture but where’s the fun in that? I find it far more entertaining to learn about industries from companies.

For example, when you look at reports for Paypal or Square, you get a fair amount of information about the online payment industry, the risks companies face and the potential for long term growth. I actually used this recently for an investment proposal…

Opinion

These days I can’t tell anymore. Actually I could never tell. I always took what people said at face value. I never thought people lied unless they really needed to.

Let’s take the example of a guy who recently told me about closing a deal with Blackstone, one the largest investment firms in the world. While I didn’t say anything immediately, I realized that Blackstone would never be involved in a deal like that. 17 years in the financial industry has me taught something; it’s taught me how to smell a blatant lie.

Another example is of a person who…

Writing may be hard work but, it shouldn’t be difficult. For over a month, it’s been difficult for me. Not only have I been completely absorbed by work, I’ve also…

Investing

An often overlooked item on the balance sheet is Goodwill. I mean it’s just sitting there, right? It doesn’t really do anything and doesn’t move much, at least not anymore. In their zeal for analyzing the results, most people skip over the Goodwill item and head straight for the Revenues and Earnings, because that’s what drives the numbers, and therefore, stock prices.

Most of us live under the misconception that since it’s an asset, it’s a good thing. After all, isn’t that we’ve always learned: Assets = Good; Liabilities = Bad.

Ask an accountant, and you’ll get a very simple…

For the longest time, I’ve always thought that people care about me. I’ve always thought my manager would promote me because he cares about my well-being. I’ve always thought that my friends reach out to me because they want to help me.

Turns out none of this is true. There are a few people in your life that will genuinely care about you. You may not recognize it immediately, but eventually you will realize what you really mean to people.

I don’t mean for this to sound like a pity party. Honestly, I can completely understand the feeling. We only…

There have been some interesting trends in the market. Seems like all the soothsayers were right. People are being asked not to go back to work; “working from home” is…

Life

As we come to the end of the year, I thought I would have something profound to say. Yet, I find myself at a loss for the right words. I find myself feeling a little empty thinking about all the people whose lives will never be the same again.

This is not a year anyone can describe, although many are trying.

There are places around the world where people are getting ready to celebrate the New Year and I wonder to myself whether that is prudent, I wonder whether that is right. I know the news of a vaccine is…

SELF

Happiness is elusive to most people. Somewhere along the way of life, we get lost on the path in search of our happiness. That’s because we don’t know where we’re going. We don’t sit and think about what happiness would like for us. We have some abstract idea in our head that we think would make us happy, but how many people actually visualize living life like that.

Define Your Happiness

It’s important to know what you want if you want to attain it. I see people putting up vision boards and making bucket lists. Excellent ideas but, if you want to make…