“The truth is that life is by nature harsh and competitive. No matter how much money or resources you have accumulated, someone will try to take them from you, or unexpected changes in the world will push you backward. These are not adverse circumstances but merely life as it is. […] Those who are not afraid of change or chaos; they embrace it by being as fluid as possible. They move with the flow of events and then gently channel them in the direction of their choice, exploiting the moment. Through their mind-set, they convert a negative (unexpected events) into a positive (an opportunity).” The 50th Law, 50 Cent
Full year 2020 performance update
“If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to”- Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching ~600 BC.
“Change is the only constant” – Heraclitus of Ephesus ~500 BC.
“Everybody talks as if they know what is going to change, but they are all just guessing”- i-Cthru ~2021 AC
Wall street high – Main street low – The 4th Revolution – What is going on?
It is 2:00 AM in the Ariake district of Tokyo, Japan. Yet in the dark, sleepy hours of the night, there is a lot of activity. A warehouse and a huge logistics center are humming with activity; a delivery truck is being unloaded; bar codes are being scanned; and products are disappearing in a dimly lit warehouse, where they are stored and packed, made ready for distribution to Uniqlo’s 900 stores in Japan…
Vincent’s Blog | Stock Market, Stories, and Parallel Universes
Do you know the story of Francois Dominique Toussaint Louverture? He was a highly respected French general, a visionary rebel leader who established a free republic, and much more. Check your feelings while reading this remarkable true story as it is essential to know what chemicals are released to create your feelings. Yes, I want to show you something. There is a reason…
Vincent’s Blog | The Stock Market: Can you win big and repeat it?
Play to win. Repeat. Everybody likes to win. It is in our nature. The rush caused by winning is prodigious, especially if the winnings are significant. We either win due to luck or skill, or a combination of the two. Usually, when skills are equal amongst players, luck plays the deciding factor. Winning by sheer luck is satisfactory but poses an immediate challenge to the winner: “Can I repeat my win? Is this possible?”. Winning because of skill is much more satisfactory than winning thanks to luck, but also poses an immediate challenge: “How do I keep ahead of my …
Celine’s Blog | Trying To Time The Market? Why You Should Think Twice.
When we encounter crises like the current one induced by Covid-19, we all look for past reference points as they provide strong guidance as to what may or may not occur. This crisis is unprecedented in many ways and no single past event will allow us to predict what lies ahead. However, when it comes to market timing, we think that the above graph of the Dow Jones index during the 1929-1932 bear market, is humbling and a stark reminder that first looks/rallies may be deceiving. This is not to say that history will repeat itself, but merely to point …
Vincent’s Blog | Pandemic and Investing: A New Playbook
It’s not business; it is personal First and foremost, a shout out to all the sung and unsung heroes fighting an enemy that concerns all of us. We know that, statistically, heroes always rise to a challenge but we don’t always know who and where you are. You make all of us look better and you have our respect and support. During the first quarter of 2020, we were able to limit our clients’ losses between -3.9% and -11.8% (depending on our client’s individual risk profiles and circumstances). On average, our Q1 2020 losses are limited to approximately -7% on …
Vincent’s Blog | Tall Tales and Long Tails in the Stockmarket
It is a windy and cold day in New York City and I am driving my cool new electric car down Broadway towards the downtown offices of J.P. Morgan where I have a meeting to discuss Investment Trust Funds, an investment vehicle that has become so popular that Goldman Sachs & Co launched a separate company, the Goldman Sachs Trading Corp, to sell an unprecedented amount of Investment Trust shares to the public. ..