The past few months, with a series of disasters seemingly one on top of another, have felt apocalyptic to many, but the bright side to these dark times has been the outpouring of donations and acts of generosity that followed. From Hurricane Harvey flooding Houston to Hurricanes Irma and Maria ripping through the Caribbean to…
In 1907, Francis Galton asked participants at a county fair to estimate the weight of an ox. While most individuals guessed rather poorly, the median guess was within 1 percent of the ox’s true weight. It’s not a mysterious finding, as some people guess high and others guess low. When the group gets large, these cancel out and…
I support a particular hospital charity that each year or so runs a home lottery and every year I enter. To date I have won a digital camera, an iPod, an Apple TV, a tonne of chocolate, wine (brilliant for a non drinker but good for presents) and a host of other goodies. In fact…
A few weeks ago, I caught the bus, and before I even sat down, I started rummaging in my backpack for my earbuds. After tipping the bag’s contents out on my lap in an increasingly frantic state, I realized: I must have left them behind. I had a 50-minute bus ride ahead of me, plus…
This is a good piece – one those ones I wish I had written. Summary: The irony of equity investing is this: if you knew nothing about the stock market and did not follow any financial news, you have probably made a very handsome return on your investment, but if you tried to be a…
The line stretched as far as my 10-year-old eyes could see. I had never seen a line that long for anything—let alone a movie. It was 1991. My father and I were standing outside on a cold Istanbul afternoon waiting for tickets to see Terminator 2. He had promised to take me to see the hottest…
Whilst wading through all the associated bibs and bobs that accumulate when you are away, this article popped into my feed this morning. For those too lazy to read it and I wouldn’t blame you it is a mild hysteria piece by Fairfax on the collapse of China’s state owned energy producers – PetroChina. Apparently,…
Whilst I was away I only occasionally stole a glance at the market. I long ago lost the need to be in constant contact with the market – gone are the days of religiously carrying a pager and trying to do stupid things such as trade the meltdown in the GBP from an airport lounge…
I find returning home from my regular jaunts to be a jarring experience. I can feel the gears of my life away grinding with those of my “regular” life. When this first began to happen I used to think it was simply a case of jet-lag or post holiday blues but over time I have…
