TED Talks

On May 2nd we were in Omaha with several clients attending the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting.  The meeting marked a significant milestone.  Over fifty years have passed since Warren Buffett took control of Berkshire Hathaway, then a struggling New England textile company.  

I say this quite often, and I’ll say it here again, reading about politics is a sure way to make one cynical.  It does for me at least.  However, reading about some of the amazing research occurring at our universities and new treatments being developed by businesses gives me great optimism.     

As the western world ages, concern is growing that we are in the early stages of an epidemic.  According to the World Health Organization, over 35 million people worldwide have Alzheimer’s disease.  Those numbers are expected to triple by 2050. 

Measuring performance in the investment business is absolutely necessary.  But far too often, evaluating performance itself causes investors to make wealth destroying decisions.  This is a phenomenon I’ve witnessed throughout my career.    

Things change quickly – and more drastically than many think…

There was a good article in The Wall Street Journal on December 5, 2014 titled “16 Rules for Investors to Live By.”  One of the rules in particular struck a chord with me.  Rule 6 said:

Things change quickly—and more drastically than many think…

One of the lessons I’ve learned over the years is that a critical part of my job is setting expectations. Since late 2012, US stocks have really marched steadily upward with no major pull-backs. This type of market environment tends to create a false sense of security.

It is utterly amazing how little volatility we’ve witnessed in the stock market over the past six months. The world seems to be a more dangerous and unstable place every month. Think about the big geopolitical events happening right now:

I read a great book recently by Tom Rath called, "Well Being: The five essential elements." The book's first sentence starts by saying, "much of what we think will improve our well being is misguided or just plain wrong." Our well being is not based on happiness alone, nor our wealth, success, family or health.

Warren Buffett made the following quote famous, “Be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when others are greedy.” Invest by this adage and you likely will do very well over time.