Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Losing the Signal

You've created a company that has taken the world by Storm®. You're the envy of the industry, having become a paper billionaire thanks to your founders shares. But then it all comes crashing down. A series of catastrophic events ensues, and at the end your product has become a laughing stock. Losing the Signal is the brilliant inside story of the spectacular rise and fall of Blackberry.

Friday, November 25, 2016

Bye-Bye, Beazer

Just 7 months ago, I brought up Beazer Homes as a potential value opportunity. This was a profitable home builder trading at an enormous discount to book value. While it's still a profitable home builder, the discount has eroded significantly.

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Best Books of 2016

These weren't actually written in 2016 (most of them anyway), but rather I read them in 2016. I went through all the books I read this year, and have ranked them below, as holiday gift ideas for you!

Parenting With Love and Logic

Your adult child is an irresponsible brat; such is the nightmare of many parents. What can one do to prevent this? The authors of the Bill-Gates-recommended Parenting With Love And Logic have some suggestions.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Expectations Investing

You *could* try to estimate a company's growth rate and future margins in order to figure out what a company is worth. But in Expectations Investing, Michael Mauboussin and his co-author suggest reverse engineering the market's expectations instead.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

FreightCar America

FreightCar America (RAIL) manufactures railcars. This is a highly cyclical industry, thanks to high fixed costs (manufacturing facilities) and fickle demand.

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

The Tiger

John Vaillant may have an obsession with big cats; The Tiger is the second book of his that I've read, following The Jaguar's Children.

Monday, November 7, 2016

Nobody Wants To Read Your Sh*t

Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t is a must-read for any aspiring writer. The title tells you the problem most writers have, and the rest of the book tells you how to fix that problem.

Friday, November 4, 2016

The Buck GameStop's Here

I've owned video-game retailer GameStop more than once over the last 7 years. I've written about it many times. After a several year hiatus, this week I bought back in.