Underperformance or Outperformance?

I did not expect to see the day that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway would underperform the S&P 500 in 5 out of 6 years, but that's basically what has happened. On the other hand, over the last 7 years (and also for any period longer than this), Berkshire has still handily outperformed this same benchmark! This is the more important indicator, in my opinion.

The Innovators

In The Innovators, Walter Isaacson describes the history of the electronic age: how we went from a society with no computers at all to one with them everywhere.

This Will Make You Smarter

This Will Make You Smarter is a collection of essays written by a number of people deemed to be at the cutting edges of their fields. Each essay seeks to answer the question of what concept would improve one's cognitive toolkit.

Death By Food Pyramid

I first started following the very talented Denise Minger after she wrote a fantastic take-down of a book I previously thought was well-researched. She has a unique ability to make complicated stuff sound very simple, and for this reason I jumped at the chance to read her book, Death By Food Pyramid.

Aberdeen Activists Lose

For reasons beyond my comprehension, Aberdeen shareholders voted to keep current management given the option of ousting those who have destroyed capital for so many years. As a result, the Aberdeen stock idea I presented about a month ago did not end up working out.

Everything is Bullshit

I have no interest in writing a book, but if I were to, this would be a topic that interests me. A lot of stuff society takes for granted are really just the result of either bad science, convincing marketing or some combination of the two. In Everything is Bullshit, the authors delve into a number of topics to expose why the conventional wisdom is wrong.

Selling Reitmans After The Pop

Almost 1.5 years ago, I wrote about Canadian retailer Reitmans (RET.A) as a potential value opportunity. Since then, sales have fallen, the Canadian retail outlook has degenerated, and the company's shares are up some 20%. As a result, my estimate of the company's intrinsic value has fallen, whereas the company's share price has risen, so I have sold my shares.Read more...