Pricing power has always been an important concept in valuing companies and something we take very seriously. It is a good measure of a company’s brand value and a strong measure of its “value” to the consumers of its product or service. One of the reasons we have de-emphasized the ownership of commodity-based companies is … Continue reading Why we are excited to still own Disney
Facebook is in the crosshairs of governments for all kinds of reasons, but maybe governments should accept that Facebook is their friend and start making money like Facebook does. Facebook continues to capitalize on its magical hold on our lives. Why? Because they enable us to focus on something that captures our attention when we … Continue reading Facebook’s move into Gambling
Mid-Summer Update: Ownership vs Playing Musical Chairs If one were to ask an investment strategist from a bank which way the market will be headed in the next year, they could reasonably expect to hear “higher”. That has always been the case. Wall Street’s modus operandi is to sell optimism; it’s hard to sell investments … Continue reading Mid-Summer Update: Ownership vs Playing Musical Chairs
July Update: Cleansing the Temple There really isn’t a lot to say about what’s going on in the stock market that you likely haven’t recently heard. Not much has changed, with investors at somewhat of a standoff. Given the positive tilt to attitudes as expressed by mostly fulsome valuations, the betting is mostly of the … Continue reading Cleansing of the Temple
Month End Update - May 2021 All the companies that you own have now reported earnings for the quarter ended March, 2021. These companies continue to navigate well the various challenges that have beset the world since the outbreak of the Coronavirus early last year. It is a testament to the strength and creativity of … Continue reading Cheque Kiting
Investors continue to value the companies in your portfolio with generous valuations. It is hard to find fault with their enthusiasm when confronted with the following facts. Amazon hit record highs this Friday after posting its 24th consecutive quarter of revenue growth exceeding 15%. This past quarter its sales grew 44% to $108.5 billion or … Continue reading April Update, 2021: Simple Delights of a Hot Fudge Sundae
Investors collectively continue to have a positive bias towards their assessment of economic progress, and by extension, this continues to be reflected in generally rising stock market valuations. This is good news indeed, and we fully encourage a positive bias in the longer-term. There is good reason for optimism about a continuing economic recovery. The … Continue reading March Update, 2021: Counting Your Chickens
This one is not about Facebook. This is about the social network called the stock market, as seen through the lens of GameStop. [Common sense says] that when people make decisions about what they like, they do so independently of one another. But people almost never make decisions independently — in part because the world … Continue reading February Update, 2021: The Social Network Is Us
“If something is impossible to know you are better off not being very smart, because smart people fool themselves into thinking they know while average people are more likely to say, “I don’t know” and end up closer to reality.”Morgan Housel Sitting by a fire, on a nice big, soft, well-worn couch, catching up with … Continue reading January Update, 2021: Know What You Don’t Know
First, this is not breaking news and much like the government’s recent suit against Google, is unlikely to have a lasting, much less negative impact on Facebook's profitability or its attractiveness as a long-term investment. Second, whatever you may read in the coming days about this suit, it will likely proceed, as most of these … Continue reading Facebook: The Bark and Bite of Government Lawsuits
Uncommon Sense 