“Apparently, now I’m a verb,” the billionaire founder of Greenlight Capital told the audience at the Value Investing Congress in 2013. He flashed an article with the word “Einhorned” in the headline. That same year, David Einhorn was ranked 44th on Time’s 100 Most Influential People List. He epitomized what it meant to be a hedge fund rockstar. People didn’t...
“Let’s talk about time. I’m not sure how much I’ve got left, ok? I’m 70. Longevity does not run in my family. So, how much should a guy like me have in the stock market?” That’s what a client asked during a recent meeting. Great question. Time horizon is an important subject that repeatedly surfaces in my interactions with investors...
“The stock market is way up again today and we’re setting a record literally all the time,” President Trump proudly proclaimed back in January. As Wall Street’s so-called “cheerleader-in-chief,” CNBC tallied over 60 Trump tweets about the stock market since the election in 2016. Someone should tell President Trump his ranking as a “stock market friendly president” is slipping. Seven...
Danny Hurley knows about tough comparisons. Before becoming the starting point guard at Seton Hall University, Danny grew up in the shadow of an older brother named Bobby. Bobby Hurley led the Duke Blue Devils to consecutive national championships and is the NCAA’s all-time assist leader. Brothers who play the same position, in the same sport, are naturally compared to...
First, Facebook did a face plant. Then Twitter and Tesla. Next, the mightiest of the mighty FAANGs—Amazon and Netflix—buckled and saw sharp declines. We can come up with individual reasons to justify the selloffs in each company’s shares. What we’re witnessing from a broader perspective, though, is an unwind in the so-called ‘momentum trade.’ Momentum is a quant jargon label...
The U.S. dollar has steadily fallen since 2017. Consensus positioning in the futures market leans bearish, and many pundits are calling for sustained dollar weakness. I’ll take the other side of that bet. Heading into the second quarter, I believe the dollar has several technical and fundamental catalysts working in its favor. Technical factors The most obvious technical support for...
It’s being described as potentially “the largest retail liquidation in the country’s history.” Toys ‘R’ Us is closing over 700 stores nationwide. Earlier this week, I took my 6-year old son to Toys ‘R’ Us to exchange a birthday present. Waiting to check-out, my mind began to drift; I remember what it meant to be a ‘Toys R Us Kid.’...
Middletown, Ohio is my wife’s hometown. Generations of her family have worked for the local steel mill, Armco Kawasaki Steel (ticker: AKS). Although AK Steel is no longer the largest employer in the area, it is still a dominate topic of conversation at many family gatherings I’ve attended. In his book Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance describes the Middletown of yesteryear...
This is a story about a man who made a smart investment and went the distance pursuing his dream. The man grew up with a burning desire to be in the movie business. However, this dream faced serious obstacles from the moment he was born. The nerves in his face were accidentally damaged when he was pulled from the womb...
Every year, Warren Buffett releases a letter to the world that begins with a simple, yet extraordinary table. The 2018 letter, released a few days ago, continues the tradition. On page 2, there’s a table showing the annual percentage change in Berkshire’s Book Value Per-Share and Market Value Per-Share, alongside the S&P 500’s total return. Here is a sample of...
"It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen." - John Wooden Basketball coach, John Wooden, is considered one of the finest coaches ever. He won a total of 10 national titles at UCLA, including seven in a row. The coach was unique in how he taught his players to focus inward. He did not scout...
This is the first in a two-part series on uncertain investing climates and how to navigate them. Living in a real-time world takes a mental toll when markets are whipping around. There are folks out there who caught wind their 401(k) fell a bunch on Monday. To become better informed, they may have watched CNBC’s Markets in Turmoil special that...