“After all is said and done, the greatest publicity agent in the wide world is the ticker.” Jesse Livermore Amidst the dreariness and boredom of lockdown life, an army of Reddit traders has captured the public’s imagination.  How?  By propelling a floundering company’s stock ‘to the moon’ and taking out a few Wall Street titans […]

“Hindsight is notably cleverer than foresight.” Chester W. Nimitz Few years in recent history have received the unanimous ire and contempt bestowed upon 2020.  No tears were shed as the calendar flipped on this hellacious year.  And while the virus pays no regard to the earth’s rotations around the sun, the new year begins with […]

“Extrapolating from the statistical growth of the legal profession, by the year 2035 every single person in the United States will be a lawyer, including newborn infants.” Michael Crichton – State of Fear One of the favourite tools of forecasters and prognosticators is extrapolation: the art of taking an existing trend and extending it into […]

“Your path you must decide.” Yoda According to legendary investor Sir John Templeton, the four most costly words in the annals of investing are “this time is different” (1933). The lesson being that economic cycles and history often repeat, or at least rhyme. But given our current pandemic predicament, investors can be forgiven for thinking those four dangerous words.  […]

“No one party can fool all of the people all of the time; that’s why we have two parties.” Bob Hope In the run-up to elections, markets tend to move up and down depending on which candidate is leading the polls.  History would suggest that for the most part, this is an exercise in futility […]