Rising Debt and its Potential Consequences: Canada’s New Normal?
We need to understand where we are in the debt super cycle to inform our investment decision making.
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Bottleneck thinking
As an observational lens, bottleneck-thinking can quickly uncover specific pressure points people may have, such as a holding’s valuation or current management.
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There’s no such thing as immaculate perception
Each day we observe events and instantly associate meaning to them. In other words, we are constantly making inferences about the world—usually unconsciously. Unfortunately, we tend to neglect challenging these inferences or even fool ourselves into thinking that they are wholly evidence based.
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For bonds’ sake
Conversations about increasing interest rates and their impact on bond investments have recently spiked in Canada. Since bonds are traditionally viewed as an investment that provides a steady stream of income while acting as a safety net within an overall balanced portfolio, an environment of rising interest rates understandably causes unease: it can decrease the price of bonds and therefore can negatively impact performance.
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Loss avoidance: The power of long-term thinking
Short-term gratification can hurt in the long run.
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Objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear
One thing we might say: change may be closer in the proverbial mirror than it appears.
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Beakerhead 2017: Up against all odds
This week we have the pleasure of partnering again with Beakerhead, a Calgary-based charitable organization that “brings together the arts, sciences, and engineering sectors to build, engage, compete, and exhibit interactive works of art, engineered creativity and entertainment.”
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The age of data monopolies
About a decade ago, was an investor to ask, “What are the best businesses? The ones nearly immune to competition?” the most robust options on the market were arguably two-way network-effect businesses.
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Stroke of the pen risk
The risk that a change in the rules governing an industry could impair an institution's financial performance—more casually known as “stroke of the pen risk,”—is something that all companies are exposed to in varying degrees.
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Don’t ignore the dragon
We must not ignore the dragons in our lives or they will grow bigger and bigger, until they are destabilizing. Acknowledging your dragons is necessary to keep them kitten-sized.
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The anatomy of trust
For investors, trust is an especially fascinating topic. It’s often a factor within the investment thesis since it relates to management teams. And yet, how should we consider “trust” in the context of management teams? How much trust is really enough to invest with someone? And is it ever prudent to fully trust a management team?
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Peanut butter (or why to expect the improbable)
Would you rather give up your favourite food for the rest of your life or wake up every day with a 5% chance of being completely covered in peanut butter?
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Argentina’s 100 year “Houdini” bond
Reminiscent of master escape artist Harry Houdini—who made a small fortune performing upside down and bound in heavily shackled circumstances—Argentina issued a $2.75 billion century bond in U.S. dollars at an interest rate of 7.125%.1 This means that the Argentinian government doesn’t have to pay investors back until the year 2117.
-
Bottleneck thinking
As an observational lens, bottleneck-thinking can quickly uncover specific pressure points people may have, such as a holding’s valuation or current management.
November 8, 2017
-
There’s no such thing as immaculate perception
Each day we observe events and instantly associate meaning to them. In other words, we are constantly making inferences about the world—usually unconsciously. Unfortunately, we tend to neglect challenging these inferences or even fool ourselves into thinking that they are wholly evidence based.
October 25, 2017
-
For bonds’ sake
Conversations about increasing interest rates and their impact on bond investments have recently spiked in Canada. Since bonds are traditionally viewed as an investment that provides a steady stream of income while acting as a safety net within an overall balanced portfolio, an environment of rising interest rates understandably causes unease: it can decrease the price of bonds and therefore can negatively impact performance.
October 18, 2017
-
Loss avoidance: The power of long-term thinking
Short-term gratification can hurt in the long run.
September 27, 2017
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Objects in the mirror may be closer than they appear
One thing we might say: change may be closer in the proverbial mirror than it appears.
September 20, 2017
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Beakerhead 2017: Up against all odds
This week we have the pleasure of partnering again with Beakerhead, a Calgary-based charitable organization that “brings together the arts, sciences, and engineering sectors to build, engage, compete, and exhibit interactive works of art, engineered creativity and entertainment.”
September 13, 2017
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The age of data monopolies
About a decade ago, was an investor to ask, “What are the best businesses? The ones nearly immune to competition?” the most robust options on the market were arguably two-way network-effect businesses.
August 30, 2017
-
Stroke of the pen risk
The risk that a change in the rules governing an industry could impair an institution's financial performance—more casually known as “stroke of the pen risk,”—is something that all companies are exposed to in varying degrees.
August 23, 2017
-
Don’t ignore the dragon
We must not ignore the dragons in our lives or they will grow bigger and bigger, until they are destabilizing. Acknowledging your dragons is necessary to keep them kitten-sized.
August 16, 2017
-
The anatomy of trust
For investors, trust is an especially fascinating topic. It’s often a factor within the investment thesis since it relates to management teams. And yet, how should we consider “trust” in the context of management teams? How much trust is really enough to invest with someone? And is it ever prudent to fully trust a management team?
August 9, 2017
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Peanut butter (or why to expect the improbable)
Would you rather give up your favourite food for the rest of your life or wake up every day with a 5% chance of being completely covered in peanut butter?
July 26, 2017
-
Argentina’s 100 year “Houdini” bond
Reminiscent of master escape artist Harry Houdini—who made a small fortune performing upside down and bound in heavily shackled circumstances—Argentina issued a $2.75 billion century bond in U.S. dollars at an interest rate of 7.125%.1 This means that the Argentinian government doesn’t have to pay investors back until the year 2117.
July 19, 2017
