News Update on Everyone’s Favorite $37 Billion Hedge Fund Posted on October 10, 2017 By Matt It’s Harvard. The $37 billion hedge fund is Harvard. More specifically, I’m referencing Harvard’s endowment. When Harvard announced yet another management change last year, I was skeptical. It seemed to me that Jane Mendillo inherited a mess created by an intellectual mercenary (who left his next employer under undesirable circumstances… Read more
News For William’s First Day of Second Grade Posted on August 22, 2017 By Matt Today’s post is a departure from the norm of investment news and snark. I’m going to share a bit about my son, William, and ask you to spend a minute of your day to think about his cause. William was born in 2010 with Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease, or… Read more
Opinion Who is Holding Your Leash? Posted on August 11, 2017 By Matt On PIMCO’s blog, Gene Frieda writes that “markets do not explode every time volatility is low, but volatility has always been extremely low when markets have exploded.” This reminded me of the variable or intermittent reward system I stumbled upon when researching training techniques for my dog. The idea is… Read more
Chasing Risk Posted on August 4, 2017 By Matt I read the Howard Marks memo last weekend and you should, too, if you haven’t already. The memo got me to revisit some of my investing viewpoints. It’s easy to listen to the same investment philosophy on repeat. My fear is that one day I’ll look up and find… Read more
News Argentina and the Frog Posted on June 23, 2017 By Matt Like many classic fables, the story of the frog and the scorpion can be traced back to many cultures, each with their own twist. Aesop’s version is here. A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across… Read more
Investing This Weekend’s Fiduciary Test Posted on June 12, 2017 By Matt The first phase of the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule went into effect on Friday. This is the rule that mandates that your financial advisor must act in your best interest. The whole thing doesn’t go live until 2018, but it will be interesting to see who makes what kinds… Read more
News News As Drama Posted on May 11, 2017 By Matt Children have trouble focusing their attention. To get my son to turn all his attention to his homework (since when do first graders have homework, anyway?), we often need to mute or turn off the TV. Handheld screens are completely off the table for him unless we are on a… Read more
Due Diligence Walk of Shame Posted on April 11, 2017 By Matt Motivation Most people seem to be operating on the same social frequency. I can see this, but I am unable to take part without tremendous effort that feels insincere. Awkward conversation is my forte. Hoping to improve, I observe and try to understand how people interact with one another. One… Read more
News Eventful 24 Hours Posted on April 7, 2017 By Matt The last 24 hours have been eventful. If you need yet another perspective on world events, keep reading. If not, just skip to Other Stuff where it’s less serious. We launched missiles into Syria. This feels like the typical setup where the world calls on the US to act as… Read more
Don’t Buy the Next Amazon Posted on March 28, 2017 By Matt THIS STOCK COULD BE LIKE BUYING AMAZON IN 1997! So reads the ad disguised as a headline on Yahoo Finance. Here’s the thing: you don’t want to buy the next Amazon. Clicking on the ad takes you to a wall of text. The performance is stellar. The method is so… Read more