Just a quick example for people who are keen on hedging or risk reduction. Hedging or risk reduction in any form acts as a drag on performance – this is a side effect of what it is designed to do. The chart below is a performance comparison between GOLD and unhedged local gold ETF and…
I have just returned from a few days on Hamilton Island and whilst standing around waiting to board the flight home I was talking to an American mother and daughter who coincidentally had also sat across the aisle from me on the flight up. I asked them where they were going next and after a…
We all like to believe that we’re experts in our fields. I’ve been in property for many decades and this has given me an expertise and knowledge I didn’t have when I first started out. I’ve seen property cycles peak and cool and watched as property spruikers encouraged people to buy into volatile regional hot…
April 2013. My three sisters and my Mum were in turmoil. My father was dying and there was nothing any of us could do about it. His body was starting to rapidly fade, just the way his mind had over the past few years. Mum’s distress was spreading over her like some form of fast…
The following quote is from an excellent long form article on the opioid crisis in the US. Nevertheless, pain research remains startlingly underfunded and undervalued. In American medical schools, the average number of teaching hours on pain is nine; in the average veterinarian curriculum, it’s forty-five. More here – Harpers Magazine
When someone calls you a gambler because you’re building a better life through trading… I say “Bring it on!” When the market gives you loss after loss, but you still follow your trading plan to the letter for the very next trade, I say “Bring it on!” When you get that huge win that triples…
At the end of a two-day investment conference sponsored by Dimensional Fund Advisors in Los Angeles last month, I couldn’t stop squirming. The final workshop included a slide show highlighting articles from major business publications across the country conveying a range of dire investment messages. Some spouted warnings of impending market calamity. Others urged investors…
“OK Louise, if you’re such a freaking saint, then why don’t you give away your trading knowledge for free?” Yes, that’s an actual email I received. Hint: He didn’t really use the word ‘freaking’. 2nd hint: He did use a word that started with ‘f’. I’ll let you decide which one. Firstly, thanks for your…
Whilst I am on the topic of correlations and returns Yahoo Finance does offer the capacity via their charting program to compare various instruments and get a sense of their relative returns. In the chart below I have compared the AUD/USD to SPDR Gold Trust ETF and GOLD a local gold ETF. You can make up…
PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES HAVE shown that when you’re under high stress, you get dumber. It can be difficult to remember what to do, or if you remember what actions you’d planned on taking, when you’re under pressure to act. That’s why so many people have trouble trading when they don’t have a written trading plan. It’s also…
WAKE-UP, GO TO work, come home, go to sleep. Wake-up, go to work, come home, go to sleep. Wake-up, go to work, come home, go to sleep. Wake-up, go to work, come home, go to sleep. Wake-up, go to work, come home, go to sleep. Wake-up, go to work, come home, go to sleep. Wake-up,…
“OH LOUISE… YOU DON’T understand the plight of being a beautiful woman.” She closed her exquisite eyes and two delicate tears rolled down her cheeks. Beautiful ex-model, Lisa, had come to me for sharemarket training… or so I thought. In reality she wanted me to rescue her. She’d lost $650,000 of her pilot-husband’s Superannuation money…
Abstract We examine all S&P 500 firms over 1999-2014 that publicly characterize their annual performance with extreme positive language. We find that only 18% of such firms increase shareholder value, while nearly 75% have insignificant performance, and the remaining 7% actually destroy shareholder value. Our evidence suggests that firms often base their positive claims on…
We’ve asked our friend, Matt Leibowitz from stake.com.au to write another article for us all. We like Matt, respect his views, and are behind his plan to give Australian traders better, more affordable access to the US markets. Here’s what he has to say: As I’m writing this, we’re at a precipice. The US markets are…
