Australia is a fascinating place not least for some of its quaint (read staggeringly unrealistic) attitudes to things. I live in an area where English cottage gardens are often the preferred mode of vegetative display. And each year these gardens that are wonderfully manicured during spring are burnt to a crisp during our ferocious summers.…
On a July morning, Billy Joel watches through the window of the study at his Long Island estate as a helicopter takes flight. “My wife had to go into the city today,” he says as the Joel family chopper ascends. He smiles. “Life is funny, isn’t it?” It’s a week before the singer and erstwhile…
Wherever you go, money talks. And it has for a long time. Sadly, though, money has been mum about its origins. For such a central element of our lives, money’s ancient roots and the reasons for its invention are unclear. As cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin multiply into a flock of digital apparitions, researchers are still…
I am staring at a photograph of myself that shows me 20 years older than I am now. I have not stepped into the twilight zone. Rather, I am trying to rid myself of some measure of my present bias, which is the tendency people have, when considering a trade-off between two future moments, to more heavily…
I have been sitting on this one for a bit since I am not convinced. The practical me – that is the one who has a business that regularly confronts losses is not convinced. Loss aversion, the idea that losses are more psychologically impactful than gains, is widely considered the most important idea of behavioral…
I caught this over the weekend and it is well worth finding on Google Play, Amazon or iTunes. It is particularly good if you have a nostalgic itch for the old style record store.
When I was a student I used to work security be it pubs, concerts or private functions. It paid reasonably well and suited the lifestyle of a full-time student who was also training with state teams. A good night was simply watching girls with big hair dancing around their handbags to Bananarama at the 21st…
Following on from my last missive I have cobbled together a list of the additions and deletions since 2011. Additions Deletions Afterpay Touch Group (APT) Asaleo Care (AHY) Appen (APX) Iron Mountain Incorporated (INM) Inghams Group (ING) Retail Food Group (RFG) Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield CDIs (URW) Westfield Corporation (WFD) OneMarket Limited (OMN) Mantra Group (MTR) IDP Education…
If you thought traditional finance had very little credibility try astrology…… It’s 11 a.m. at the Princeton Club in Midtown Manhattan. A number of financial professionals have gathered here for the “AFund June 2018 Natural Resources Investment Symposium.” Our first speaker is HSBC’s chief precious metals analyst, the aptly named James Steel, who promotes gold…
So why is trading psychology so important? Well, I discovered the hard way that no amount of external success could fix the way I felt inside. The more I achieved in my corporate life, the more I felt I needed to achieve. No matter what I accomplished, I still felt a gnawing sense of emptiness…
“How many millionaires do you know who have become wealthy by investing in a savings account? I rest my case.” — Robert G. Allen Albert Einstein famously stated, “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world.” “Recognize the fortunate so that you may choose their company, and the unfortunate so that you may avoid…
“A year ago I made a loss in the markets. Now I just can’t seem to motivate myself to trade again. What’s going on?” asks Sharon from Adelaide. Well Sharon, I know that some losses can hit you harder than others, so I do hear where you’re coming from. I want you to examine your…
The tram rattled and groaned. I was coming home from the city where I’d met up with my son. Usually I’d drive. This time though, the school insisted on the families coming in by train, tram or bus. With me was my husband and our excited 11-year old. I’d forgotten. Forgotten how exhausted people are…
