The ancient Athenians had a word for it. They called it hubris. The dangerous belief that success was permanent, that the rules applied to everyone else, and that borrowed time was the same thing as earned time. Twenty five centuries later, in the spring of 2010, the modern Greeks discovered that the word still carried […]
Why Every Value Investor Needs to Study the Fall of Athens Read More »
There is a word that means completely different things depending on which side of the Atlantic you are standing on. That word is “broke.” In New York, being broke is a temporary emergency. It is a problem to solve, a fire to put out, a condition that demands immediate action. You are broke, so you
Why Being “Broke” in Paris is Different Than Being Broke in New York City Read More »
There is a drug dealer in your pocket. It does not wear a trench coat or lurk in alleyways. It wears the logo of your favourite brokerage app, and it has studied your brain more carefully than you ever will. Welcome to neuro-harvesting, the quiet art of turning your emotional impulses into somebody else’s profit.
Neuro-Harvesting: How Your FOMO is Literally Someone Else’s Alpha Read More »
The Asset You Cannot Sell There is a strange irony at the center of modern wealth. The most valuable asset most people will ever own is one they cannot trade, cannot liquidate, and cannot pass on to their children. It does not appear on any balance sheet. No bank will hold it in custody. And
Most people meet Alexander Hamilton through a Broadway musical or through the face on a ten dollar bill. Few realize he essentially invented the modern concept of a government stepping in to rescue a collapsing financial system. And he did it before the United States had a functioning economy, a credible currency, or any real
How Alexander Hamilton Invented the “Bailout” to Save a Fragile Nation Read More »
There is a famous quote attributed to Theodore Roosevelt: “Comparison is the thief of joy.” It is a fine quote. Inspirational posters love it. But Roosevelt was being generous. Comparison does not just steal your joy. It steals your money, your time, your freedom, and quite possibly the decade of your life between 55 and
Why Comparison Is the Thief of… Your Early Retirement Read More »
Everyone knows Warren Buffett. He is the Oracle of Omaha, the folksy billionaire who drinks Cherry Coke and dispenses wisdom at annual meetings like a financial Buddha. Entire libraries exist about his methods. MBA students can recite his letters to shareholders the way seminary students recite scripture. But almost nobody knows William Duer. And that
Why Modern Investors Should Study William Duer, Not Just Warren Buffett Read More »
There is a phrase that floats around dating advice circles like a motivational poster in a dentist’s office. “See their potential.” It sounds wise. It sounds generous. It sounds like the kind of thing a person says right before making a terrible decision with their heart and their bank account at the same time. Let
Don’t Marry Potential: The ROI of Dating Someone Who Already Has Their Act Together Read More »
You have never made a truly rational financial decision in your life. Neither have I. Neither has anyone walking the floor of the New York Stock Exchange or quietly managing a sovereign wealth fund in Oslo. This is not an insult. It is a design feature. The human brain did not evolve to maximize portfolio
Why Your Brain Needs a “Story” More Than It Needs a Profit in Financial Markets Read More »
In 2011, a trader at UBS named Kweku Abiodua Adoboli managed to lose $2.3 billion of the bank’s money. Not over a decade. Not through some elaborate corporate conspiracy. Over a matter of months, through unauthorized trades that he hid with the kind of creativity that, in another context, might have earned him a promotion.
Adrenaline and Accounting: The Bio-Chemistry of a Rogue Trade Read More »