What caught my eye this week.
Back when this blog was more about my personal adventures in investing than about what you should do with your money, I used to write a lot about Warren Buffett.
How Buffett really [1] got rich, how his family appreciated the benefits of cash [2], and of course the obligatory How to Be Like Buffett [3] post.
The Internet is full of people praising Buffett though. In contrast, ten years ago there was little about passive investing and index funds. And, ironically, even Buffett says [4] you should use tracker funds.
So my co-blogger came on-board to write the manual on passive investing [5], my active investing escapades mostly took a backseat, and the rest is history. (Or rather, a website.)
However, like some South American tribe who ate 17th Century missionary food in hastily knocked-up churches by day but continued to worship vultures and rivers in the forest by night, I never myself converted to passive investing. (In fact I’ve gotten even more active [6] over the years.)
All of which preamble is to set the scene for why I was so delighted when CNBC revealed its Warren Buffett archive [7] last week.
The site collates tons of Buffett bumph from across the ages. But by far the jewel in the crown are full video recordings of 25 years of his Berkshire Hathaway annual meetings!
We Buffett fans didn’t even know these existed, let alone dreamed we’d one day be able to while away a Sunday afternoon watching many hours of a septuagenarian and an octogenarian discussing reinsurance premiums in the 1990s.
Think that sounds dull? Totally understandable, and good for you.
For a certain micro-sliver of readers though, this is like when The Phantom Menace was first announced. (But without the anti-climax of the actual movie, I stress.)
When you’ve got this much grainy video of two of the world’s greatest stock pickers holding forth, who needs sunshine?
From Monevator
Oh dear, a super busy week leaves me frantically pressing the red button on…
The archive-ator: 5 lessons my dad taught me about money – Monevator [8]
News
Note: Some links are Google search results – in PC/desktop view these enable you to click through to read the piece without being a paid subscriber.1 [9]
Interest rates on hold as Bank of England cuts growth outlook – BBC [10]
British shares have only been cheaper during the world wars – Telegraph [11]
UK house prices are on the slide. Where will they go now? – The Guardian [12]
96-Year-Old secretary quietly amasses fortune, then donates $8.2 Million – N.Y.T. [13]
Student loan interest rate is ‘absurd’, say MPs – Telegraph [14]
Buy-to-let isn’t dead: Where landlords could make greatest profits – ThisIsMoney [15]
[16]
The US yield curve hasn’t been this flat since 2007 – Bloomberg [17]
Products and services
Transferwise’s new ‘borderless’ debit card gives you a free account anywhere in the EU, Australia, the US and Britain – ThisIsMoney [18]
Rise in cashback mortgages as lenders appeal to first-time buyers – Telegraph [19]
How futures trading changed [crashed] Bitcoin prices – Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco [20]
Merryn S-W: Time to stop worrying about inheritance tax [Search result, on perils of using life insurance to mitigate IHT] – FT [21]
Smart Beta Vs. Factor Funds: What’s The Difference? – ETF.com [22]
Why the GDPR deluge, and can I ignore it? – The Guardian [23]
Free-to-trade US broker Robinhood aims to rival Coinbase in crypto with $363 million funding round – Fortune [24]
Comment and opinion
Bad financial advice can be expensive – A Wealth of Common Sense [25]
Nobody planned this, nobody expected it – Morgan Housel [26]
A passive investor buys a portfolio of stocks for the first time – bps and pieces [27]
The case for a five-hour working day [Search result] – FT [28]
At last a reason to celebrate! House prices are falling – The Guardian [29]
Did you hear about strategically humble college endowment fund that invests passively in Vanguard funds and beats 90% of its peers? This guy thinks they should lever up and pay higher fees… – Bloomberg [30]
How to invest a lump sum – Fire V London [31]
Managing your money for a lifetime of financial security [Search result] – FT [32]
The costliest bias of all – The Evidence-based Investor [33]
Common Sense with Ben Carlson [Podcast] – Canadian Couch Potato [34]
The worst possible time to retire – Investment News [35]
Drawdown: Lamborghinis and holidays – YoungFIGuy [36]
Why winners keep winning – Of Dollars and Data [37]
Centrica’s 8% yield is priced for energy Armageddon [PDF] – UK Value Investor [38]
Why you should split your start-up 50-50 – Medium [39]
Kindle book bargains
Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: A Brief History of Capitalism by Yanis Varoufakis – £1.99 on Kindle [40]
Total Competition: Lessons in Strategy from Formula One by Ross Brawn and Adam Parr – £0.99 on Kindle [41]
Tomorrowland: Our Journey from Science Fiction to Science Fact by Steven Kotler – £0.99 on Kindle [42]
Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist by Kate Raworth – £1.99 on Kindle [43]
Off our beat
What’s on the menu in hospitals around the world [Pictures] – The Guardian [44]
Rolling the dice in a battle with Russia [Podcast] – The New Yorker Radio Hour [45]
At 112, America’s oldest man has the secret to a long life: ‘Just keep living. Don’t die.’ – Dallas News [46]
Tesla’s giant battery in Australia reduced grid service cost by 90% – Eletrek [47]
When children become scarce – Axios [48]
This is how the [dying] paparazzi business really works [Podcast] – Oddlots [49]
And finally…
“Here were two billionaires hurling insults while the world stopped and watched. CEOs from Davos to Dallas stopped what they were doing to watch it. It was a moment in time – organic, bizarre, and completely unplanned.”
– Scott Wapner, When the Wolves Bite: Two Billionaires, One Company, and an Epic Wall Street Battle [50]
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- Note some articles can only be accessed through the search results if you’re using PC/desktop view (from mobile/tablet view they bring up the firewall/subscription page). To circumvent, switch your mobile browser to use the desktop view. On Chrome for Android: press the menu button followed by “Request Desktop Site”. [↩ [55]]