Margarine and Shorts
First, what is margin? Margin is a collateralized loan from your custodian that lets you control more exposure than your cash balance....
An Optical Illusion Could Teach Us About Value Traps
The classic duck or rabbit illusion seems straightforward. Some people see a duck while others see a rabbit. With a small shift in...
The Light That Burns Brightest
During Thomas Edison’s long effort to perfect the incandescent light bulb, a small accident captured his philosophy of progress. After...
To successfully build wealth, you must make many small calculated decisions over a long period of time. You are growing a garden that will feed you for the rest of your life. You cannot expect the market to immediately provide you abundance. If it appears to do so, it will likely take it away with […]
I was the second youngest cousin in a very large family based in Virginia. I lived in Michigan with my parents as a child. I write this as a memory of a 12 year old boy. My family would travel to Virginia for Christmas, and certain other holidays to a farm outside of the District […]
First of all, if you are only holding assets in IRAs or 401(k)s, this is largely irrelevant and you should stop reading now. If you hold assets in individual accounts or trust accounts, this is something that needs to be understood. Short-term vs Long-term Taxation Short-term capital gains treatment will apply to assets sold after […]
A pure holding company is a business entity that owns a controlling position in other companies. A pure holding company itself does not produce anything. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies and manage those investments on the behalf of shareholders. Control Typically holding companies will own at least 50% of a company […]
When I was a child there was a neighborhood garage sale that would take place every year where I lived. I would sell lemonade, as would many other children. My lemonade was made with real lemons and it was delicious. I would serve it in larger quantities than my competitors and therefore charged more, but […]
Is it true that Frosty the Snowman was as alive he can be? Yes, I can confirm. Frosty was a strange dinner guest because he was always melting. However, he was great company. Though he was slowly defrosting, he still made excellent conversation at the table. He was a good snowman. In retrospect, I should […]
I recently taught a friend to play chess, which is a passion of mine. Within a year, she is defeating me 50% of the time. I could have felt resentment. I did not. I felt proud that I was able to teach someone a fairly complex game and be defeated by my “apprentice”. How Does […]
First Steps Awake at 5:00. Throw on a robe and slippers. Drink a large amount of water. Eat a healthy breakfast in some form. Change your shoes and pants. Go on a walk and deeply breath. When you return, meditate or pray if you can. Call Your Mother She will always tell you things you […]
Trading volume is a metric used in the equity market that identifies the total number of shares in a company which were traded during a defined time period. What Does This Tell You? Institutional Activity Large volume increases or declines may suggest that buying or selling by large institutions is occurring. These will generally be […]
A P/E ratio, or Price to Earnings Ratio, is a simple financial metric used to examine the value of a company. It tells you how much the market is willing to pay for $1 of a company’s earnings. The Math The price of a company’s stock is divided by the earnings per share of that […]
