Cash! Is Warren Buffett bracing for a market downturn? Berkshire Hathaway's cash reserves have swelled to over $300 billion, sparking widespread speculation. However, this massive cash pile might not be purely bearish positioning. Instead, it's likely a consequence of Buffett's extraordinarily successful Apple investment.
Chris Hohn runs the multi-billion dollar hedge fund The Children's Investment Fund (TCI). As of 2022, the fund generated annualized returns of over 18%. In 2023, TCI's return soared to 32.7%. TCI achieves these impressive returns by focusing on a select few great businesses with
The Ten Best Companies in the World From Visa's global dominance to Hermès' luxury legacy, the 10 powerhouse companies reshaping the business landscape and what makes them the 10 best global companies. Pricing Power Everywhere Companies with pricing power have significantly outperformed the broad market over long
In 2020, former MTV VJ Ananda Lewis announced that she had stage 3 breast cancer. She discovered the tumor during a self-examination not through a regularly scheduled mammogram. She revealed after her diagnosis that she had actively avoided mammograms, despite having a family history of breast cancer. Her reason? She
Brambles - Some Thoughts Wooden pallets a high returning business? But can the company overcome its questionable history of capital allocation, stay focused on its core business, and improve its asset productivity? Why Quality Stocks Perform So Well Why do high-profitability 'quality stocks' outperform their less profitable counterparts?
With its flagship products QuickBooks and TurboTax, Intuit hasn't merely captured market share—it has revolutionized how businesses and individuals manage their finances. What truly sets Intuit apart isn't just its current dominance, but its ability to build and maintain a formidable economic moat that keeps
Human Error Is Predictable Are humans predictably irrational? New research suggests factor investing exploits systematic errors in forecasting. How expectation biases drive asset prices, explain factor returns, and challenge rational expectations theory. Intercontinental Exchange: Powering Global Trade Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has evolved from an energy trading startup to a $100
Few companies have become as central to our daily lives as Alphabet, the parent company of Google. Founded in 1998 by two Stanford Ph.D. students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google began as a simple search engine. Their goal was to organize the world's information, and they
Return on Mental Capital How maximizing your ROMC (Return on Mental Capital) can improve your investment research and decision-making process. Avoiding information overload so you can focus on what truly matters. Contrarians Everywhere, Contrarians Nowhere Why being a contrarian investor is so challenging. The psychological hurdles faced by fund managers
Why is Ted Williams the only baseball hitter to surpass the .400 mark? Ted Williams was an elite hitter, but he also played during an era when the dispersion of talent was far greater than it is today. This environment allowed for extreme performance outliers like his. During Ted'
The Likeliest Outcomes from the Google Antitrust Trial Is Google's search dominance finally cracking? A federal judge ruled against the tech giant, and now the DOJ is proposing remedies that could reshape the internet landscape. From potential breakups to data sharing, the outcomes of this antitrust trial could
Apple's success is built on a foundation of unparalleled ecosystem integration, cutting-edge chip design, and a premium strategy that keeps both users and developers hooked. The iOS Ecosystem: A Web of Sticky Tendrils At the heart of Apple's competitive advantage lies its iOS ecosystem. This intricate
Investing is Just Answering a Series of Questions: Explaining the Reverse DCF How the Reverse DCF transforms investing from guesswork into a series of answerable questions. Investors can gain invaluable insights into potential returns under various scenarios by starting with the current stock price and working backward. Speedwell explores how
What is a bottleneck business? Essentially, it's a money-printing machine. Akre Capital Management coined the term, and here's how they describe it: A bottleneck business is a business that sits atop large, global, secular growth trend fed by multiple industries and geographies. It has those opportunities
Hermès: Capitalizing On Heritage Hermès' 187-year heritage as a family-owned artisanal luxury brand gives it unparalleled authenticity and exclusivity. This legacy allows Hermès to maintain the highest quality standards, limited production, and a timeless appeal that newer luxury brands simply cannot replicate, solidifying its position as the best in
Known primarily for its graphics processing units (GPUs), Nvidia has built a formidable economic moat that continues to widen, particularly in the burgeoning field of artificial intelligence (AI). But what exactly constitutes this moat, and why is it so difficult for competitors to breach? GPU Leadership At the core of
September the Cruelest Month Due to historically lower returns, September is often called the cruelest month for stocks. Reasons include post-vacation selling, tuition funding, and self-fulfilling expectations. However, it's not guaranteed – the S&P 500 has had positive returns in 52% of Septembers since 1928. The Myth
For over 175 years, Philip Morris (PM) has been a giant in the tobacco industry, and perhaps no brand encapsulates its legacy more than Marlboro. But Marlboro's dominance wasn’t always guaranteed—it’s a triumph of adaptability and marketing genius. Originally launched in the 1920s as a
5 Timeless Lessons From Terry Smith 1. Buy great businesses and let them do the compounding. 2. Choose the quality of the business over the cheapness of stock. 3. Return on invested capital is a better value creation metric than earning per share. 4. A high reinvestment rate at a
There are two types of learning environments, kind and wicked. Kind learning environments have clearly defined rules of play and your efforts receive immediate actionable feedback. You master the subject by repetition and testing the boundaries within the clear rules of the game. Playing sports or learning a musical instrument
ASML - A Wonderful Business at a Fair Price As AI reshapes industries, ASML's lithography mastery fuels chip innovation. From 5G to IoT, their machines are the backbone of our digital future. With a monopoly in EUV tech, ASML is poised for explosive growth. Focus: The ASML way
In the competitive world of beauty retail, Ulta Beauty stands out as a formidable player. Ulta Beauty has carved out a unique niche in the beauty retail landscape. As the largest specialty beauty retailer in the United States, Ulta operates approximately 1,400 stores, generating over $11 billion in sales
Booking Holdings – Shares are on sale once again! Global OTA leader with 40%+ market share, strong financials (12% revenue CAGR, 33% FCF margin), and evolving into a one-stop travel shop. The recently initiated dividend also makes it an intriguing dividend growth play. Shares are down 14% in recent months potentially
Ted Weschler Case study This case study delves into the remarkable investment career of Ted Weschler, who transformed $70,000 into $131 million over 22 years with a 41% annual return by focusing on publicly traded securities within an IRA. Lifecycle of Market Champions Among these champions, on the way