Neurologic

There are tons of books on human irrationality. I've reviewed many of them on this site! But NeuroLogic: The Brain's Hidden Rationale Behind Our Irrational Behavior is different. The focus is not so much on the irrational behaviour itself, but rather on what's going on inside the brain during this irrational behaviour.

Beazer the Pleaser

Last year, shares of Beazer Homes fell big-time on the expectation that rising rates would kill consumer appetite for homes. So I bought some, as discussed here. Last week, I sold the shares following an appreciation in the stock of over 50%.

Convertible Debentures: Online Again!

In the past, I have found a few gems among the Canadian convertible debentures, including PineTree and Data Group. So it was more than a little annoying that the National Post stopped maintaining their online listings of these securities.

Astroball

On a 2014 cover of Sports Illustrated, Ben Reiter predicted that the Houston Astros would win the World Series in 2017. They did. This is no small feat considering the salaries the large market teams are able to afford, and the armies of data analysts various teams employ in order to garner an edge. In Astroball: The New Way to Win It All, Reiter tells the story of how they did it.

The Dip

Some books can be shortened to the length of an article without losing anything. Seth Godin's The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit can probably be shortened to a sentence.

The Game

I rarely read books a second time (though I plan to do more of it in the future), so when I do it's because I considered them great. The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists is definitely in that category. It blew me away in a number of ways when I first read it more than a decade ago, and so I decided to give it another go.

The CEO Pay Machine

In general, CEO pay is out of control and out of line with the value managers provide. I suspect that few people who don't benefit from this system would dispute that. Study after study has shown that CEO performance is not correlated with pay, and that luck plays a far more dominant role in company results than management prowess. And yet, the CEO pay scale has risen to astronomical heights, because company boards, who are supposed to be shareholder representatives, have been captured by company management. Since I already have this point of view, I thought there was little point in reading Steven Clifford's The CEO Pay Machine: How it Trashes America and How to Stop it, but it came so highly recommended that I read it anyway.