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.

The Starch Solution

My LDL cholesterol level (136) was far and above what my family doctor was expecting on a recent blood test. At first, he thought the number was so high that I must have a genetic abnormality, but after asking me a few questions he now pinpoints my low-carb diet as the problem. I've lost 40 lbs following a low-carb diet over the course of the last couple of years, and while my doctor says it's a great way to lose weight, he also says it's bad for my long-term health. He suggested I read The Starch Solution: Eat the Foods You Love, Regain Your Health, and Lose the Weight for Good! by McDougall. This book blew my mind!

Vista Outdoor

Shares of Vista Outdoor have been decimated as the company has been dragged through a deep industry slowdown. Shares are down 80% from their highs in 2016.

Karsan Value Funds: 2019 Q1 Results

Karsan Value Funds (KVF) is a value-oriented fund, as described here. Due to securities regulations, the fund is not open to the public at this time. Should that change in the future, there will be an announcement on this site.

21 Lessons for the 21st Century

There are few books I enjoy that don't support an overall theme, but this is one of them. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is a collection of pretty much unrelated essays by a pretty smart guy. You might recognize him as the author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, which is a terrific book.

Hero To Zero: Interserve

It was with a great deal of confidence that I bought Interserve just over a year ago. My portfolio was running hot; I hadn't had any losers in a while. While I knew that this was probably just due to luck, I couldn't help but think (expect?) that I wouldn't have any losers for some time. That attitude no longer prevails. Taking a company from seemingly healthy to bankruptcy in just 13 months will do that.

Pre-suasion

Though I was a huge fan of Influence, I kept pushing Cialdini's latest book Pre-Suasion further into my reading backlog. I figured the first book pretty much covered the most important stuff so well that this new one was bound to be a disappointment.