Kiera and I hang’n out at Point Pelee, the southernmost tip of mainland Canada. (Middle Island is actually the Southernmost point in Canada.)
The point I’m trying to make (yes, there actually is one!) is exactly what I wrote last year, i.e., personal resources (time and money) directed towards experiences as against “stuff” are the keys to both short and long term happiness. This is one of the reasons we feel so good when we are engaged in acts of giving through its many different levels – not just money, but also time, friendship and, most important … love.
NOV 21, 2023
MY CRYSTAL BALL IS BROKEN
BY KEITH THOMSON
“People have always had this craving to have someone tell them the future. Long ago, kings would hire people to read sheep guts. There’s always been a market for people who pretend to know the future. Listening to today’s forecasters is just as crazy as when the king hired the guy to look at the sheep guts. It happens over and over and over.”
—Charlie Munger
Recently, a client emailed me asking if I could draw on the wisdom of economists, money managers....
OCT 27, 2023
WHAT THE NEGRONI CAN TEACH US ABOUT INVESTING
BY KEITH THOMSON
“When confronted with multiple solutions to a problem, choose the simplest one.”
—William of Occam (Occam’s razor or rule)
The Negroni cocktail is one of my favourite libations. Its three ingredients (gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari) make for a tasty combination of sweet and bitter, with the help of an orange garnish to smooth out of the latter. Not surprisingly there is a huge number of variations on this classic with the....
SEP 13, 2023
UNCHARITABLE
BY KEITH THOMSON
“You want to make $50 million dollars selling violent video games to kids, go for it. We'll put you on the cover of ‘Wired’ magazine. But you want to make half a million dollars trying to cure kids of malaria, and you're considered a parasite yourself.”
—Dan Pallotta
"Charities spend too much on overhead!” ... we all hear this phrase often. It’s also continuously reinforced by media and sometimes, so much so, that it is....
JUL 24, 2023
REFLECTIONS ON THE LAST SIX MONTHS
BY KEITH THOMSON
“Benign neglect is the secret to long-term investing success. If you change your investment policy, you are likely to be wrong; if you change it with a sense of urgency, you’re guaranteed to be wrong."
—Charley Ellis
I'm even more delighted than usual to report to you at midyear on the events of the last six months, and on the further progress of our long-term plan. But first,....
JUN 15, 2023
IS THAT IT?
BY KEITH THOMSON
“Our capital markets are simply a relocation centre; they relocate the wealth from the impatient to the patient.”
—Warren Buffett
The S&P 500 index (made up of the 500 largest companies in the States) recently re-entered another bull market. Technically defined, that is a re-bound of 20% from....
MAY 16, 2023
MY WEEKEND WITH WARREN AND CHARLIE
BY KEITH THOMSON
“If you're not confused, you don't understand things very well.”
—Charlie Munger commenting on the state of the global economy
Earlier this month I was able to finally check off one of the items on my life “bucket list”, specifically, attending the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting....
APR 15, 2023
PLEASE… JUST TELL ME WHEN IT WILL BE OVER!
BY KEITH THOMSON
“The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.”
—Warren Buffett
The last time the market made an all-time high (as defined by the S&P 500) was on Monday, January 3rd, 2022. Put another way we have now being waiting 458 long days....
MAR 6, 2023
TIME TO FEED THE GOOSE
BY KEITH THOMSON
"Taxes are our way of feeding the goose that lays the golden eggs of freedom, democracy and enterprise. Someone says, 'Well, the goose eats too much!’. That’s probably true. But better a fat goose than no goose at all."
—Jim Rohn
Please find below two CI Private Wealth tax resources which may assist you in dealing with your 2022 and 2023 tax reporting....
FEB 22, 2023
THE GRAND UNIFYING THEORY FOR SUCCESSFUL INVESTING
BY KEITH THOMSON
"The single most important variable in your quest for equity investment success is also the only variable that you ultimately control: your own behavior."
—Nick Murray
Over the last few years I have found myself increasingly attracted to living a life based on the tenants of Stoicism....
JAN 16, 2023
WHAT WE BELIEVE
BY KEITH THOMSON
"Recessions and bear markets are very easy to predict, except for the timing, cause, magnitude, duration, location, and policy response."
—Morgan Housel
If you are a client reading this, I trust you are a long-term, goal-focused, plan-driven equity investor. We believe that lifetime investment success comes from acting continuously on our plan....
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