I just finished reading a book titled Factfulness written by Hans Rosling, who spent the latter part of his life convincing audiences around the world that the world was in a much better place than what they thought. He used
Irrationality causes volatility
When the stock market behaves like a yoyo it is good to remind yourself of what a share price really is and that is a daily offer from someone to buy and / or sell you a business. If you
Investing about understanding risks
Investing is not about avoiding risk. It is about understanding the risks and pricing the risk accordingly, which is why we refer to risk and return. The return must be commensurate with the risk taken. The trick is understanding risk.
Omission versus Commission
Was that it? The holiday appears to have disappeared overnight and here we are, already well into the New Year. I did not even get time to contemplate the past year let alone plan for the New Year. “Time” certainly
Always do your homework
Today is Friday and not just any Friday it is “Black Friday”, the day every self-respecting shopper looks forward to when just about everything goes on sale with knock-down price bargains to be had. The frenzy is palatable with a
Last year, this year and next year
The problem with having written this column for over 18 years is that you eventually start sounding like a broken record, for millennial readers that is those vinyl black things in a cardboard box in the garage. The thing about
Inflection Point
Expectations regarding the future are usually an extrapolation of the recent past; in behavioural finance this is known as hindsight bias, which is one of the most common mistakes made by investors and I am not only referring to Mr.
Five key tips for DIY investing
If you planning to be the next Allan Gray, then this article should be of interest to you with five tips for successful DIY investing. Tip 1: Read articles on behavioural finance and study the various biases, which wreak havoc
What you don’t want to hear from your financial adviser
As investors we hate ambiguity, we want certainty, which is why we dislike the idea of randomness. We want our advisors / managers to know exactly what is going on. Financial experts must speak confidently and explain what is driving
Negotiating uncertainty
I can quite honestly say as an investor for over 26 years now that I have never experienced a dull day, but that said, there is a Chinese curse, which says, “May he live in interesting times.” As investors we