During his recent interview with Tobias. Tim Travis of T&T Capital Management discusses why buying ‘options’ is a very difficult investment to manage, saying: Tim Travis: I mean, I’ve seen a lot of options. I gained experience working at firms that really specialize them, and they did a lot on things like commodities and stuff. They didn’t have a lot … Read More
Why ‘Covered Calls’ Are A Great Strategy For Enhancing Yield
During his recent interview with Tobias. Tim Travis of T&T Capital Management discusses why ‘covered calls’ are a great strategy for enhancing yield, saying: Tim Travis: Sure. So, covered calls we use less frequently, but it’s a great strategy to enhance the yield. So, if you have a dividend paying stock, like AT&T for instance, that’d be a dog of … Read More
How ‘Cash Secured Puts’ Can Provide Investors With Downside Price Protection
During his recent interview with Tobias. Tim Travis of T&T Capital Management discusses how ‘cash secured puts’ provide investors with downside price protection, saying: Tim Travis: Yeah. So, a cash secured put just means you’re not necessarily exploiting the margin factor. So, if we’re selling just a stock, let’s say stock’s at $55 per share, and we’re selling a $50 … Read More
Prem Watsa: Shorting Cost Us $2 Billion and Why Value Investing Is So Tough
We’ve just been reading through the latest Fairfax Financial Annual Report 2018 in which Prem Watsa discusses his failed attempt to short indices (mainly the S&P500 and Russell 2000) and a few common stocks, saying: In the past, to protect our equity exposures in uncertain times, we shorted indices (mainly the S&P500 and Russell 2000) and a few common stocks. … Read More
Warren Buffett: You Don’t Want To Buy Stock In The Company That Has To Do Everything Right
Here’s a great recent interview with Warren Buffett speaking to Becky Quick at CNBC. During the interview Buffett, while speaking about Apple, provides some great insights into why investors should not buy stocks in companies that have to do everything right, saying: Apple, I’d love to see them succeed. That’s a company who can afford a mistake or two. You … Read More
Investors Can Use Consumer Satisfaction Surveys To Capture Alpha
During his recent interview with Tobias. Phil Bak of Exponential ETFs discusses how investors can use consumer satisfaction surveys to capture alpha. Here’s an excerpt from the interview: Tobias Carlisle: So just to go back to the ACSI, the consumer sentiment … Is it consumer sentiment? Phil Bak: Satisfaction. Tobias Carlisle: Satisfaction. Pardon me. So they look at the conducting … Read More
Herding In Investing Significantly Impairs An Investor’s Ability To Generate Market Beating Returns
During his recent interview with Tobias, Mark Jones of Pragmatic Capital provided some great insights into why ‘herding’ in investing significantly impairs an investor’s ability to generate market-beating returns, saying: Mark Jones: I think there’s a lot of herding in investing and I think that that significantly impairs an investor’s ability to generate market-beating returns. It’s difficult to beat the … Read More
Smart Investors Use Put and Call Options To Hedge Stock Positions Before An Earnings Call
During his recent interview with Tobias, Mark Jones of Pragmatic Capital discusses how investors can use put and call options to hedge their stock positions prior to an earnings call, saying: Mark Jones: Right, so when I’m looking at these derivatives, I’m using them primarily for two reasons. One is to accelerate the returns if there’s some material price movement … Read More
Michael Mauboussin – You’ve Bought A Stock, It Goes Down – Are You Still Right Or Are You Wrong?
We’ve just been listening to Michael Mauboussin’s interview with Patrick O’Shaughnessy on his podcast, Invest Like The Best. During the interview Mauboussin provides some great insights into what investors can do if they’ve added a stock to their portfolio, and it goes down. Are they still right or are they wrong? Here’s an excerpt from that interview: Mauboussin: The other … Read More
How To Find Contrarian Stocks That Generate Outsized Returns
During his recent interview with Tobias, Mark Jones of Pragmatic Capital describes his approach to finding contrarian stocks that provide outsized returns, saying: Mark Jones: Right, so I have a four-step research process and this is how I vet or I audit the market’s point of view. I find that there are a lot of situations where a stock will … Read More
In Investing The Counter To Fooled By Randomness Is Fooled By Narrative
During his recent interview with Tobias, Corey Hoffsten provides some great insights into how investors can be fooling themselves by coming up with a narrative and then data-mining the facts to fit that narrative, saying: Corey: Yeah, I think it sounds wonderful and flowery and intuitive to say, “Hey, I want the economic rationale, why would I invest in something … Read More
Seth Klarman – Unsuccessful Investors Are Dominated By Emotion
One of the best books ever written on investing is Margin of Safety, by Seth Klarman. There’s one passage in particular in which Klarman discusses behaviors to avoid in order to achieve success in investing, saying: Unsuccessful investors are dominated by emotion. Rather than responding coolly and rationally to market fluctuations, they respond emotionally with greed and fear. We all … Read More
When There’s No Pain, There’s No Premium In Investing
In his recent interview with Tobias, Corey Hoffstein discusses his no pain, no premium investing strategy, saying: Corey: So this is one of those, it goes back to the old, “No pain, no gain.” It’s just a play on that, but at the end of the day it goes back to this risk-based mindset we were talking about at the … Read More
John Rogers: ‘Cheap Orphan’ Stocks Appear During High Volatility Markets
Here’s a great interview with John Rogers of Ariel Investments speaking with Business Insider. During the interview Rogers shares some great insights into how ‘Cheap Orphan’ stocks appear in high volatility environments, saying: We try to make volatility our friend. And when we see stocks that are gapping down on maybe where there’s no fundamental change in the long-term economic … Read More
Aswath Damodaran: Do Not Invest In Companies That Try To Achieve Growth Through Acquisition
Here’s a great article by Aswath Damodaran in which he warns investors who are considering investing in companies that use acquisitions as part of their growth strategy, saying: “If you look at the collective evidence across acquisitions, this is the most value destructive action a company can take.” Here’s an excerpt from the article: Aswath Damodaran has a blunt message for … Read More
Warren Buffett: Stocks – What Else In The World Don’t You Like To Buy Cheaper Than You’re Paying The Day Before?
Here’s a great recent interview with Warren Buffett at CNBC discussing a number of topics including his value investing mindset. Here’s an excerpt from the interview: BECKY QUICK: I know you’re like Dr. Spock. You’re completely emotionless, when it comes to dealing with market moves. But is there any part of you that gets a little queasy, when you see … Read More
Charles Munger: Here’s Why Investing Is So Much Tougher Today
Here’s a great recent interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick and Charles Munger discussing the difficulty of being an investor today, compared to when he and Warren started. Here’s an excerpt from the interview: Becky Quick: Charlie thank you very much for taking the time to sit down with us today. You spent a lot of time today talking about how … Read More
Charles Munger: The Most Important Investing Trick I Learnt From My Grandfather
We’ve just been watching Charlie Munger at the latest Daily Journal meeting in which he recounts the most important investing trick he learnt from his grandfather, saying: I had a grandfather who was very useful to me. My mother’s grandfather. He was a pioneer. He came out to Iowa with no money but youth and health and took it away … Read More
Seth Klarman: The Proper Wiring for a Long-Term Investor
In Seth Klarmans’ latest shareholder letter he writes successful investing is like being a successful relief pitcher, saying: Consider the plight of a relief pitcher. Historically undervalued, unappreciated, often used interchangeably with other relievers, and, until recently, low on the major league pay scale. Required to be ready throughout most games at only a moment’s notice. And the role comes … Read More
Warren Buffett: How’s That For A Strategic Plan?
In the 1984 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Letter, Warren Buffett describes his and Munger’s suprising strategic plan for finding their big investment ideas, saying: “Using my academic voice, I have told you in the past of the drag that a mushrooming capital base exerts upon rates of return. Unfortunately, my academic voice is now giving way to a reportorial voice. Our historical 22% … Read More