There was an interesting chart in The Economist displaying GDP growth since 1999, the start of the Eurozone, for Western economies. From a quick glance at the chart, it appears that Germany is the impressive winner, generating over 20% change in GDP per person. Spain, Greece, Portugal and Italy don’t look so good… But…
Should I be Buying Stocks Right Now?
I think the answer to that question is always yes…but the real question is: which ones? I’m not a big fan of chasing new highs so sometimes you have to dig deep to find good value. I bought stock in a new company last week – Equinix (EQIX). They’re an owner/operator of large data centers…
What’s the most important metric when evaluating a company/stock?
Is it the P/E ratio? Is it revenue or profit growth? Or maybe the company’s market share? While all of these are important in analyzing a stock as a potential investment, I think the most important metric to evaluate isn’t quantitative but qualitative. I believe the answer is management – the executives of the company…
The True Value of an Advisor/Investment Manager
There was news this week that Warren Buffett, famed manager of Berkshire Hathaway, did not beat the S&P 500 on a 5-year rolling basis for the first time in his career. Does this mean that he did a poor job and failed? He would probably say that he did because his stated benchmark goal has…
The Investment Markets in 2014
2013 was certainly an eventful year both politically and economically and I think 2014 will prove to be just as interesting. The biggest concern I see over the next year is the amount of civil unrest that is building. For some reason governments think corruption and higher taxes will go unnoticed… In 2013, we saw…
New Buys
I bought a new stock last week, and added a little more this week – Howard Hughes Corp (HHC). They’re a real estate development/management company that targets properties in higher-end areas like New York City, Honolulu, Houston and Las Vegas. The company has evolved over time from an initial master planned community purchased by Howard…
Technology and the Future
It’s astonishing to see how quickly technology is changing things. Two things that jump out at me and have certainly received a lot of media attention lately are drones and Bitcoin. A lot of companies, including Amazon, are testing the use of drones to deliver packages to your home. It seems so futuristic to think…
China’s Economic Rebalancing
Chinese officials announced that they’ll be easing their intervention in the currency market to let the yuan trade more freely as well as gradually removing caps on deposit rates. These are two big steps in the right direction for China to rebalance their economy with less of a reliance on government driven investment and a…