Friday, October 31, 2014

Make It Stick

How I wish I had access to the contents of this book earlier in my life. It would have saved me countless hours during formal education. In Make It Stick, Peter Brown shares the scientifically asserted techniques to help you learn faster and more effectively.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Alco-Stores Bites The Dust

I've had a few people ask me about ALCO Stores (ALCS) recently, so I thought I would answer the questions here. ALCS used to be a net-net that eventually ended up chewing through all its assets and finally declared bankruptcy. I haven't followed it very closely over the last year, but even so I think there is a lot to be learned from this situation.

How Google Works

Eric Schmidt was Google's CEO from 2001 to 2011, which was a period of stunning growth for the technology behemoth. In How Google Works, he discusses the aspects of the company that he believes contributed to its success.

Monday, October 20, 2014

100 To 1 In The Stock Market

While the book's title is horrible, it accurately describes what the book is about. In 100 To 1 In The Stock Market, Thomas Phelps makes a case for how and why you should focus on a particular set of stocks, as they have the potential to return 100 times your investment.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

KING Of Monetization

I get positively excited when market sentiment turns negative. Although it takes a toll on my portfolio in the short-term, it provides opportunities that increase the chances of portfolio success in the future.

One such opportunity I have begun to nibble on is King Digital Entertainment (KING), maker of Candy Crush and other games for mobile phones and social networks.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Are Value Investors Religious?

I'm curious as to whether value investors are religious. If you're a value investor and are comfortable providing an anonymous answer in the totally unscientific poll on the right, please feel free to do so. I realize the question is ambiguous, as I'm basically just counting on you to define it as you wish. EDIT: The poll was closed after two weeks with "No" at 71% and "Yes" at 28%

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Unexpected Returns

A lot of effort has been spent trying to determine whether the stock market is over- or under-valued. But over decades and generations, what is it that leads to these extreme changes in market valuation? In Unexpected Returns, Ed Easterling identifies the factors that cause valuations to change.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Tesco Regrets

Just a few months ago, I discussed English grocer Tesco (OTCPK:TSCDY) as a potential value idea. The company's share price performance since then, however, has been poor. Often, when a stock I own drops in price, I welcome the opportunity to purchase more. In this case, however, a number of events within the business persuaded me to cut my losses and bail out of my position. Read more...

Friday, October 3, 2014

Karsan Value Funds: 2014 Q3 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.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Experiments With Truth

There seems to be this prevailing belief that Mahatma Gandhi was this perfect person. The truth is far from it, as Gandhi tells himself in his autobiography, Experiments with Truth.