Hedge Fund Fees Take a Trim – Financial Times, December 22, 2016. The standard hedge fund industry charge of a 2 percent management fee and a 20 percent performance fee (2 and 20) has been under attack for some time. For new fund launches, the average management fee is now 1.49 percent with a 17.5 percent performance fee. With passive investments available at virtually no cost, hedge funds that are failing to outperform their benchmarks are likely to face continued pressure while new entrants will be viewed with even more skepticism.

What is Your Edge? – Base Hit Investing, December 12, 2016. John Huber identifies three main advantages that can be had in markets: informational advantage, analytical advantage, and time-horizon advantage. Most investors focus only on informational advantages where there is a great deal of competition from other investors trying to do the exact same thing, and even when obtained, informational advantages tend to be short-term in nature. Technology has reduced the ability of investors to benefit from informational and analytical advantages but the advantage accruing to time-horizon advantage has increased. We came to a similar conclusion in an article posted last year.

The Birth & Death Of A Consumer Franchise: Waldbaum’s – Intelligent Fanatics Project, December 16, 2016. This article is a summary of the rise and fall of a retail chain that most people have probably not heard about. Waldbaum’s was a supermarket chain that started from humble beginnings and grew to dominate its market under the leadership of the Waldbaum family. Izzy Waldbaum’s philosophy was to “pile it high and sell it cheap” which is reminiscent of the attitudes of other “fanatic” retailers including Sam Walton and Rose Blumkin. When Izzy died in 1947 at the age of 55, his wife Julia and their son Ira took over operations until the company was sold to A&P in 1986. Waldbaum’s then began a long decline and the brand eventually died. Julia Waldbaum’s obituary is also interesting reading. Readers might also be interested in our recent review of the Intelligent Fanatics Project.

Inequality and Skin in the Game – Medium, December 27, 2016. This is an excerpt from Skin in the Game, an upcoming book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb who is well known for his Incerto Series which is comprised of Fooled By Randomness, The Black Swan, Antifragile, and The Bed of Procrustes. The excerpt goes into some detail regarding different types of inequality, delineated by the type of inequality that people tolerate versus those that people typically find intolerable. This is a distinction that is rarely made in political debate and worth some consideration. Also, the excerpt goes into differences in social mobility between the United States and Europe.

A Breakthrough in Miniaturizing Lidars for Autonomous Driving – The Economist, December 24, 2016. The pace of development of self driving cars has been accelerating lately with more tests taking place on public roads. There are a number of technologies available to allow vehicles to partly replicate the image processing power of the human brain with most taking a “belt and suspenders” approach by combining multiple technologies. Lidar employs laser scanning and ranging to build up a detailed three dimensional image of a vehicle’s surroundings. Until recently, lidar units have been bulky and expensive but new technology could allow car makers to deploy tiny lidar units that cost less than $250 each. It is notable that Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors has, to this point, spurned the technology preferring to use cameras, radar, and ultrasonic systems in the Tesla autopilot system. For more on Elon Musk, please see our recent review of Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future.

The Best of Farnam Street 2016 – Farnam Street, December 29, 2016. If you are not reading Farnam Street on a regular basis, you are missing out on some great content. Shane Parrish lists sixteen of his posts and this is a good place for readers to start. Get 5% Better is a good article to read for anyone contemplating a new year’s resolution.

Happy New Year!

Why would you want to buy a self-driving car? – Financial Times, December 7, 2016. John Gapper believes that road transportation is likely to become a utility purchased by volume with a model similar to electricity and water. Once automobiles are truly self-driving, there will be little reason to actually own a vehicle since the same freedom of travel will be available on demand. For many people, the cost of transportation will be far lower than owning a personal vehicle. Our recent article on Elon Musk’s biography is worth reading for those interested in autonomous vehicles. This is an interesting counterpoint to Mr. Pabrai’s bullish outlook on automobile sales, although it is likely that any move toward less personal ownership of vehicles is many years away.

Overbought!!? – The Brooklyn Investor, December 8, 2016. The Brooklyn Investor looks at total returns for the Standard & Poor’s 500 over the past fifteen years along with some other market statistics. While noting that we can enter a bear market at any time, he does not see any reason to believe in an imminent threat of a “1929/1999/Nikkei 1989-like top” in the stock market. He has also set up a website as a companion for the blog which offers 13-F data along with some interesting charts on Berkshire Hathaway.

The Story of How McDonald’s First Got Its Start – Smithsonian Magazine, November 1, 2016. This is a excerpt from Ray & Joan, a recently published book by Lisa Napoli that covers the early years of McDonald’s and how Ray Kroc transformed the company. The excerpt covers the early activities of the McDonald brothers and ends right as Ray Kroc first came on the scene. This looks like a very worthwhile book for readers interested in the restaurant industry.

Does Decision-Making Matter? – The New York Times, November 25, 2016. David Brooks provides his thoughts on The Undoing Project by Michael Lewis, a new book covering the fascinating story of how Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky revolutionized how we think about human decision making. See also William Easterly’s review in The Wall Street Journal published on December 5. (Note: The Rational Walk will publish a review of The Undoing Project in the near future. The book is excellent and well worth reading.)

Business Blunder: Pancake Flipper Al Lapin Jr. & International Industries (IHOP) – Intelligent Fanatics Project, December 1, 2016. We recently reviewed Intelligent Fanatics Project, a book that presents case studies covering eight business success stories. In this article, Sean Iddings looks at the opposite scenario: a “fanatic” who appeared to be on the path to similar success but overreached and ended up failing to realize the potential of the brand he created.

Why Moats are Essential for Profitability (Restaurant Edition) – 25iq, November 18, 2016. Tren Griffin looks at the economics of the restaurant industry and the importance of a moat in achieving profitability. The chance of success in this business is quite low given the huge number of restaurants in the United States (624,301 as of the Spring of 2016) and the low margins resulting from vigorous competition. The kind of profitability posted by a company like Chipotle Mexican Grill until the E. coli crisis hurt results is the exception rather than the rule in this industry.

Efficiency is the Highest Form of Beauty – Mr. Money Mustache, November 24, 2016. There is much inefficiency in the way the typical consumer goes about spending money, and beauty in pursuing a more efficient personal consumption model: “Spending is a skill: a Mustachian can buy the same lifestyle with $25,000 that might cost a Consumer Sucka $100,000 per year. If you can cultivate this skill, the Art of the 75% reduction, at any income level, you can go from a lifetime of being in debt, to being rich enough to retire in less than 10 years.”

What’s Speculating? What’s Investing? Some of the Wisest Investors Weigh In – The Wall Street Journal, December 9, 2016. Jason Zweig examines the elusive nature of making hard and fast distinctions between investing and speculating. The quote from Fred Schwed Jr, author of Where are the Customers’ Yachts?, seems to resonate: “Speculation is an effort, probably unsuccessful, to turn a little money into a lot. Investing is an effort, which should be successful, to prevent a lot of money from becoming a little.”

Warren Buffett Says Donald Trump Won’t Derail the Economy – Fortune, December 5, 2016. In this interview, Warren Buffett reflects on the 2016 election. Mr. Buffett supported Hillary Clinton but believes that Donald Trump’s victory will not derail the economy and that the U.S. will be wealthier after Mr. Trump’s presidency. He also has some interesting points to make regarding free trade.

Articles are listed by broad categories:

General Investment Topics
General Industry Topics
Berkshire Hathaway
Investment Ideas
Book Reviews

Within each category, articles are listed in descending order with the most recent articles listed first.

A full listing of all articles can be found on our archive page. Readers may also search for content by keyword by using the search box that appears nearby.

General Investment Topics

Getting in on the 50th Floor — Everyone wants to invest with the next Warren Buffett just as he or she is starting out but it might be more realistic to invest with proven winners at a later stage of development.

The Problem of Rational Capital Allocation — An essay on the perils and opportunities of capital allocation.

The Individual Investor’s Edge — Timeframe arbitrage is among the most powerful edges an individual has over professional investors who are accountable to clients.

Munger’s Prescription for Corporate Governance — Corporate governance, Munger style.

The Value Investor’s Guide to Value Line Investment Survey — A brief tutorial on how to best utilize Value Line.

Graham’s Advice on Relatively Unpopular Companies — Applying Benjamin Graham’s teachings to the investment environment of mid-2010.

The Dangers of Commitment Bias — One of the “deadly sins” of investing is explored but, of course, commitment bias can plague decision making far beyond investing.

Investors Must Take Responsibility for Executive Compensation — Investors must take responsibility for exerting their rights as owners and setting executive compensation appropriately. Pair with Exposing the Compensation Consultant Smokescreen, Motives Behind Value Destroying Mergers, and Kraft’s Executive Compensation Policies Reward Value Destruction.

The Value Investor’s Technology Dilemma — Personal reminiscences of the eBay IPO in September 1998 from an employee of another software company operating down the hall.

Strategies for Achieving Economic Moats — This is a general discussion of economic moats influenced by Charlie Munger, Philip Fisher, and Michael Porter.

The Virtue of Pessimism for Investors — Bruce Berkowitz refers to his research process as, in part, an effort to “kill the company” which essentially inverts the typical process employed by most investors. We explore some of the ramifications of this approach.

Net Current Asset Value Stocks — A brief overview of the cigar-butt method of security selection pioneered by Benjamin Graham.

Coping With Market Meltdowns — Written in early March 2009 very close to the bear market bottom, this article contains personal reflections on dealing with market declines.

General Industry Topics

Pitfalls in Oil & Gas Accounting — Much to our surprise, this has become one of the more popular articles on The Rational Walk over the years.

Rockefeller vs. Railroads: Regulatory Debate Heats Up in Washington — In this popular article, we discuss talk of revisiting the 1980 Staggers Rail Act and point out some interesting trivia related to the Rockefellers.

Robert Rubin: “I Did Not Want Significant Operational Responsibility” — Robert Rubin comments on what he thought his responsibilities were in exchange for $126 million in cash and stock compensation over a decade at Citigroup.

Greenspan: Those Who Predicted Housing Bubble are “Statistical Illusions” — In a bit of revisionism, Alan Greenspan explains away Michael Burry and others who foresaw the housing crash as statistical illusions.

Catastrophic Health Insurance and HSAs Can Control Costs — An editorial on the healthcare industry written on the eve of the passage of the Affordable Care Act (also known as “ObamaCare”) in March 2010.

Expand a Competitive Moat by Closing on Sundays? — The counter-intuitive step of closing on Sunday could provide a competitive edge for certain businesses.

How to Fail in Retail: Six Easy Steps! — How to fail in running a grocery store.

Can Traditional Print Newspapers Survive “Creative Destruction”? — It is interesting to look back at this article written in 2009, a time when the demise of print newspapers was further on the horizon than it is today, yet still quite apparent.

Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway in 2026 — A forward looking assessment of Berkshire’s prospects over the next ten years from the perspective of April 2016.

Revisiting Berkshire Hathaway’s Acquisition of BNSF — Looking back at the BNSF acquisition from the perspective of late 2013.

Assessing the Past Decade at Berkshire Hathaway — A view of Berkshire Hathaway’s ten year history as of early 2012.

Sokol’s Resignation Raises Questions Regarding Lubrizol Transaction — We covered David Sokol’s resignation from Berkshire Hathaway in considerable detail. Mr. Sokol claimed that he shouldn’t have shared his idea with Warren Buffett and there were also contradictions that surfaced in his subsequent interview with CNBC. Ultimately, Mr. Sokol was not charged with any violations of securities law.

Video Interview with Ajit Jain — A rare interview with Ajit Jain from early 2011.

Buffett Seizes Opportunities During Financial Crisis — An essay describing Warren Buffett’s opportunistic side during the financial crisis.

Berkshire Likely to Pay Dividends Eventually – But Not This Year — The perpetual dividend discussion from the perspective of early 2011.

What We Known (And Don’t Know) About Berkshire’s Succession Planning — The known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns of Berkshire Hathaway’s succession planning as of late 2010.

The Collector: 1977 WSJ Article on Buffett Strikes Familiar Themes — A discussion of one the first major articles on Warren Buffett published in the Wall Street Journal.

Highlights From Buffett’s Partnership Letters — Berkshire shareholder Frank Gifford provided The Rational Walk with detailed notes on Warren Buffett’s partnership letters at a time when little information regarding the letters was available to the public. Pair with our subsequent review of Warren Buffett’s Ground Rules.

Charlie Munger’s Latest Parable: Basically It’s Over — An optimistic account of the future beneath the gloomy surface.

From Cigar Butts to Business Supermodels — An account of the evolution of Warren Buffett’s early investment style.

Berkshire’s Misunderstood Derivatives — Written in early 2009, this article explores common misconceptions regarding Berkshire Hathaway’s derivatives exposure. Although derivatives have become less important to Berkshire over time, some exposure will remain for several more years.

Investment Ideas

Company Profile: DaVita Healthcare Partners — Profiling one of Ted Weschler’s favorite stocks in October 2016.

Company Profile: TransDigm Group — A classic “outsider” run company is profiled in April 2016.

Company Profile of Expeditors International — A profile of Expeditors written in early 2016. We soon followed up with a profile of C.H. Robinson.

Examining Progressive’s Competitive Position — A profile of GEICO’s main competitor written in early 2016.

Markel Corporation at $800/share — We examine Markel Corporation at a key psychological milestone in mid 2015. We revisited Markel in May 2016 with a focus on Markel Ventures. We again revisit Markel Ventures and the valuation of the company as a whole in November 2016.

Contango Oil & Gas: Compelling Opportunity for Natural Gas Bulls — An ill fated write up (and investment) in the oil and gas industry written in September 2012 with a follow-up in October 2012. Following the announcement of a merger with Crimson Exploration and the untimely death of CEO Kenneth Peak, we concluded that the facts had changed and invalidated the original thesis.

Joy Global: A Misunderstood Cyclical? — Inspired by an article in the Graham & Doddsville newsletter, we examine the track record of Joy Global in mid-2012.

Loews Corporation: Cheap on Sum-of-the-Parts Basis — A 2012 view of the Rodney Dangerfield of value stocks with a subsequent follow-up in 2013. We presented another follow-up in early 2016 when, as seems perpetual, Loews was still cheap on a sum-of-the-parts basis.

Daily Journal: Declining Publisher or Rising Hedge Fund? — A discussion of Charlie Munger’s “other company”.

Platinum Underwriters: Mining for Value in Reinsurance — An article accompanying a published report on Platinum and a follow-up in early 2014.

What Does Warren Buffett’s Valuation of GEICO Imply for Progressive? — Inferring Progressive’s value based on Warren Buffett’s valuation of GEICO as described in the Berkshire Hathaway 2010 annual report.

Investors Title Represents Value in Midst of Housing Turmoil — Title insurance was a fertile field for value investing in late 2010. Also see a follow-up post in early 2011 on hidden real estate value on Investors Title’s balance sheet. We later follow up (prematurely, in retrospect) and declare that Investors Title has approached intrinsic value.

Contango Ore: An Intelligent Gold and Rare Earth Speculation? — In a departure from value investing, we examine a speculative spin-off from Contango Oil and Gas.

Why Is Todd Combs Bullish on Western Union? — A look at Western Union after the announcement that Todd Combs would be joining Berkshire Hathaway as a portfolio manager.

Assessing Steve Ballmer’s Track Record at Microsoft — An assessment of Mr. Ballmer’s record three years prior to his resignation as CEO.

Tractor Supply Offers a Compelling Growth Story — A profile of a rapidly expanding niche retail concept.

Noble Corporation: Profile and Analysis — Short write-up of Noble Corporation in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster. A follow-up article was posted in early 2011. See also other coverage of the oil and gas industry.

Examining Middleburg Financial: David Sokol’s Favorite Bank? — A discussion of Middleburg Financial written in early 2010.

George Risk Industries: A Potential Bargain With Limited Downside Risk — A net-net in a boring industry located in Nebraska sparked interest in early 2010 and generated reader questions. Also see this follow-up article written in mid-2010.

Book Reviews

For all book reviews published on the Rational Walk, click here. The following links represent the most important and/or popular reviews.

Berkshire Beyond Buffett — Lawrence Cunningham examines Berkshire’s prospects after Warren Buffett leaves the scene.

The Manual of Ideas — A review of John Mihaljevic’s investment classic.

Howard Marks on the Human Side of Investing — A review of The Most Important Thing which has become an investment classic over the past few years.

Using Checklists to Control Emotions During Market Meltdowns — A review of Atul Gawande’s The Checklist Manifesto and an application of the principles to the field of investing.

The Big Short Tells a Cynical Tale of the Subprime Fiasco — A cynical and timely tale of the subprime bubble.

Lessons from Andrew Ross Sorkin’s “Too Big to Fail” — A review of one of the first books to be published covering the 2008-09 financial crisis.

Pleased But Not Satisfied by David Sokol — A review of the Berkshire Hathaway executive David Sokol’s memoir. The article was written prior to his fall from grace in the Lubrizol scandal of 2011.

In-N-Out Burger’s Remarkable Moat — A review of Stacy Perman’s book on In-N-Out Burger, one of the most enduring and beloved brands on the west coast. Also see In-N-Out Burger: Building a Succession-Proof Business.

Greenblatt’s Advice on Special Situations — A review of Joel Greenblatt’s classic book on special situations, You Can Be a Stock Market Genius.

Personal History by Katharine Graham — A brief review of Katharine Graham’s bestselling memoir.

Selecting a Buffett Biography: Lowenstein vs. Schroeder — Brief review of both major Warren Buffett biographies currently on the market.

Thoughts on Graham and Dodd’s Security Analysis: Sixth Edition — Book review of a classic that requires no introduction.

How Can Value Investors Apply Philip Fisher’s Investment Principles? — A book review of Phil Fisher’s classic, Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits.

The Essays of Warren Buffett: Convenient Arrangement of Shareholder Letters — A book review of Lawrence Cunningham’s 2nd edition of his compilation of Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters.

Madoff’s Weapons of Influence — A book review of Robert Cialdini’s masterpiece, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, and how Bernie Madoff’s leveraged psychology to manipulate the victims of his ponzi scheme.

Is Indexing Worse Than Marxism? – The Wall Street Journal, November 24, 2016. Burton G. Malkiel, who is very well known for his book, A Random Walk Down Wall Street, takes on critics who are claiming that index funds pose grave dangers to the stock market, the overall economy, and perhaps to capitalism itself. Mr. Malkiel acknowledges that an efficient market requires some active traders who analyze and act on new information but suggests that the proportion of active managers could shrink to as little as 5-10 percent of the total and still provide sufficient efficiency.

Faith, Feedback and Fear: Ready for the Valeant Test? – Musings on Markets, November 22, 2016. NYU Professor Aswath Damodaran recaps the past several months at Valeant and revisits his investment thesis that led him to purchase shares at $27 in May 2016, a time when his analysis led him to believe that the intrinsic value of shares was $44. Although recent events have reduced his intrinsic value estimate to $32.50, the share price has also declined. This led Prof. Damodaran to double his Valeant holdings at $15. His article follows news of Lou Simpson’s exit from Valeant in the third quarter.

How Two Trailblazing Psychologists Turned The World of Decision Science Upside Down – Vanity Fair, November 14, 2016. Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman are best known for their groundbreaking research in the field of behavioral economics, much of which was set forth for popular audiences in Daniel Kahneman’s recent book, Thinking, Fast and Slow. In this article, adapted from The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds, Michael Lewis discusses the evolution of thought, research, and experience that led to breakthroughs that would forever change how economists view real world decision making.

William Ackman’s 2016 Fortune: Down, but Far From Out – The New York Times, November 15, 2016. Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square is on course for a second year of double-digit annual losses, but many big investors believe that his firm will turn the corner. Mr. Ackman’s most prominent mistake has been Valeant Pharmaceuticals which has plunged over 90 percent from the average of $190 that Pershing Square paid to acquire a big stake in 2015. Mr. Ackman has secured two board seats to influence a turnaround strategy. More recently, Mr. Ackman has acquired a significant stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill (see also New York Times article on November 18 and The Rational Walk’s recent coverage of Chipotle).

Bonds Down, Stocks Up! – The Brooklyn Investor, November 22, 2016. The Brooklyn Investor explores the relationship between interest rates and equity prices over many decades along with the implications for equity valuations in periods of rising interest rates. Since the presidential election on November 8, interest rates have risen quite sharply while stock prices have also rallied. In theory, higher interest rates should act as a downward pressure on equity valuations, but this relationship is not precise and also depends on whether the stock market ever completely “priced in” the period of abnormally low interest rates that have prevailed since the financial crisis.

Warren Buffett’s Meeting with University of Maryland Students – By Dr. David Kass, November 20, 2016. Warren Buffett met with twenty students from each of eight universities on November 18. During the session, he responded to twenty student questions over a period of 2 1/2 hours. The questions range from politics to economics to questions about specific investments such as Berkshire’s recent foray into airline stocks.

The Money Management Gospel of Yale’s Endowment Guru – The New York Times, November 5, 2016. David Swensen runs the $25.4 billion Yale endowment which is one of the largest in the country. Mr. Swensen is best known for pioneering an investment strategy that includes holdings in real estate, private equity, and venture capital along with other alternative investments. This is in contrast to the more typical stock and bond allocations common in endowment fund management. Mr. Swensen took over management of the $1 billion endowment in 1985 at a time when it provided 10 percent of Yale’s annual budget. The endowment provides 33 percent of the budget today. In this article resulting from a series of interviews, Mr. Swensen provides insights on active vs. passive management, activist investors, and his experiences during the financial crisis, as well as many other topics.

Like Buffett, Another Folksy Investor Turns Patience Into Profit – The Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2015. Jason Zweig shares his experiences covering the 2015 Markel Corporation annual meeting in Richmond, Virginia. This article, focusing on Markel’s co-CEO Tom Gayner, might be of interest to readers who have been following The Rational Walk’s recent coverage of Markel.

Quit Social Media. Your Career May Depend on It – The New York Times, November 19, 2016. Cal Newport, who describes himself as a “millennial computer scientist” and author makes the case against the use of social media. Although his complete absence from social media may be considered extreme, the author’s warning regarding the risk of distraction warrants consideration: “Consider that the ability to concentrate without distraction on hard tasks is becoming increasingly valuable in an increasingly complicated economy. Social media weakens this skill because it’s engineered to be addictive. The more you use social media in the way it’s designed to be used — persistently throughout your waking hours — the more your brain learns to crave a quick hit of stimulus at the slightest hint of boredom.”

The Quest for 10-100 Baggers – The Compounders, November 9, 2016. This is actually a video of a talk given by Mohnish Pabrai at Peking University (rather than reading material) but it is quite interesting given the subject matter. Many readers will want to subscribe to The Compounders in order to follow Mohnish Pabrai’s thoughts on investing. Also, readers may want to follow his portfolio activity on dataroma which provides an easy way to keep up with 13-F filings.

The David Rubenstein Show: Warren Buffett – Bloomberg, November 4, 2016. This is a video of David Rubenstein interviewing Warren Buffett at Gorat’s Steakhouse in Omaha. While there were no groundbreaking revelations in this conversation, it was interesting to hear Warren Buffett describe his use of computers. In the past, he described his use of computers as primarily a tool for playing online bridge. Apparently he is now using a computer quite extensively for research purposes.

FreightCar America – Barel Karsan – Value Investing, November 9, 2016. At the time this post was published, FreightCar America was apparently a “net-net” although the stock price is up quite a bit over the past few days. Net-nets were a favorite hunting ground for Benjamin Graham as well as for Warren Buffett during his early years, and even made a few appearances during and after the 2008-09 bear market. However, net-nets have been more rare recently so it is interesting to see an article discussing a current example.

Steve Ballmer Says Smartphones Strained His Relationship With Bill Gates – Bloomberg, November 4, 2016. (Article and video). Steve Ballmer discusses his working relationship with Bill Gates, his tenure as CEO, as well as the circumstances that led Microsoft to miss the smartphone revolution. He does admit some mistakes related to his initial reaction to the iPhone which apparently did not factor in the possibility of carrier subsidies to defray the high sticker price of smartphones in the $500+ range.

Afraid of What Comes Next for the Markets and Economy? Read This – The Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2016. Jason Zweig argues that a time of political shock is not the right time to make major changes in an investment program. Indeed, the events of the past week prove this point with stocks initially rising early last week in anticipation of a Hillary Clinton victory, then falling precipitously in the futures market when Donald Trump’s victory appeared certain, and then rallying strongly in the days that followed when nearly everyone expected a market crash in the event of a Trump win.

How to Invest When You Only Have an Hour a Day to Do It – Gannon on Investing, November 10, 2016. Geoff Gannon receives a reader question regarding the strategies open to someone who has five to ten hours per week to devote to investing a portfolio under $1 million. He argues for spending a very focused hour every day on security selection with an emphasis on stocks that can be held indefinitely so that there is no need to devote much thought to the selling decision. The majority of investors with such a limited amount of time to devote to the endeavor should either delegate the task or purchase a market index but those who want to pursue an active strategy will find this advice interesting.

Becoming an Expert: The Elements of Success – Farnam Street, November 7, 2016. This article is a discussion of the factors that underpin success. Is success driven by luck, innate talent, or hard work? Or a combination of several factors? The article refers to Malcolm Gladwell’s “10,000 hour” theory of deliberate and focused practice for those learning a skill. Ultimately, those who want to develop world class ability in any field must not only attain but maintain a skill. And in order to grow a skill, it is necessary to constantly strain to achieve a target just out of reach. This seems intuitively true and applicable in broad areas of human endeavor.