Posts Tagged ‘investment’
Welcome back Franco fan! Please share your thoughts and leave some comments!
Not sure if this is a national promotion, but I just got a coupon handed to me at my local Albertsons grocery store (which is owned by SuperValu) stating that if you buy a $250 gift card you can get $20 free or a $300 gift card to get $30 free. As I mentioned last year, this is a tremendous deal! Groceries are something we all are going to spend money on over the next year whether we like it or not, so why not save 10% while you’re at it. Where else can you guarentee a 10% return on your money?
I can’t seem to find any details about this promotion online, but the bottom of the coupon states that it is valid “now through tax day” and to “see customer service for details.”
Ciao,
Franco
The Wall Street Journal published an article today detailing once famed stock picker and mutual fund manager Bill Miller’s recent demise. It is a well written story of how the highly praised mutual fund manager ended his 15 year out performance streak over the S&P 500 index in dramatic fashion.
Mr. Miller has profited from investor panics before. But this time, he said, he failed to consider that the crisis would be so severe, and the fundamental problems so deep, that a whole group of once-stalwart companies would collapse. “I was naive,” he said.
A must read for anyone considering active investing (stock picking vs. passive index investing).
Enjoy,
Franco
Warren Buffett recently penned an article explaining why he is investing in US companies during this hair raising credit crisis. Please take a couple minutes to read it and gain some perspective on the current market conditions in light of previous stock market downturns and the overarching goal to remain focused on long-term investment returns.
Franco
During the last couple weeks, we have seen trillions of dollars evaporate with major market sell-offs across the globe. Market volatility is at it’s highest level in decades, housing prices continue to fall, and basements leaks are becoming more and more expensive to fix (oh wait…that’s a local problem for yours truly). All this happy-go-lucky news has left many investors in a state of paralysis wishing the bad man would just go away. At the same time, my most recent scare job about the perils of putting off investing brings us to a bit of a cross road. Should one really be investing their hard earned money into “assets” that seem to become less and less valuable by the minute?
Books:
Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein. A biographical look at the forces and events that shaped the world’s most sucessful investor.
The Davis Dynasty by John Rothchild. A biographical look at one family’s investment acumen over three generations of investment management.
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Philip A. Fisher. A classic investment book that explores some of the aspects that differentiate superior companies from the pedestrian ones.
Active Value Investing: Making Money in Range-Bound Markets by Vitaliy Katsenelson. An excellent book that lays out the “Quality, Valuation, & Growth” framework for buying and selling stocks.
By now all the frugal followers have begun amassing a tidy fortune from my money saving tips, but what should one do with these new found riches? The answer is where phase two of the Frugal Franco plan (save - invest - give back) comes into play. Most everyone has heard the old adage, “it’s never too late to start saving,” but really it should read, “It’s never too early to start investing.”
