Michael Mauboussin on how to compare alternatives
Year end portfolio review of Clark Street Value
Eddy Elfenbein has released his 2018 buy list
A good write up on Dairy Farm from the Globalstockpicking blog
Digital advertising is a massive duopoly
Why Bitocin took so long to succeed
Estonia seems to be the first E-Country
Again the promise: This will not become a Crypto Currency blog. On the other hand I really find the topic fascinating and maybe one or the other reader finds it interesting too.
After looking at rather non-exciting ICOs like Naga Coin and Whysker, I decided to have a quick look at IOTA.
Why IOTA ?
First of all, IOTA is also based in Germany and I want to know what is going on in my home country. Secondly, I was surprised that Robert Bosch AG, the very conservative privately hold German auto supplier invested in IOTA coins a few weeks ago. Although Bosch did some stupid things in the past (like buying Ersol and Aleo Solar), it is nevertheless an interesting move.
Another part of my annual blog rituals is a short overview of all the positions I own at the end of each year with a short review of why I (still) own them.
The summaries of the previous years can be found here:
My 27 investments for 2017
My 27 investments for 2016
My 28 investments for 2015
My 24 investments for 2014
My 22 investments for 2013
Interestingly, the list for 2018 contains the lowest number of stocks so far as I tried to concentrate my portfolio a little more into my “best” ideas and kicked out a few positions where I wasn’t fully convinced anymore (Aggreko, Ashmore, Pfandbriefbank, Coface, Romgaz, Kuka, Lloyds Banking) or where the catalyst actually took place (Gagfah, Sapec, Kuka). In general, I would feel comfortable in owning up to 25 positions.
But now let’s look at the 21 stocks I own as of year end:
What a story: Sam Antar vs. Overstock.com vs. Marc Cohodes
2017 review of the highly recommended Stratechery blog
Nate from Oddbal thinks that no one in investing has an edge
Franam Street blog’s 2017 annual letter
Interesting interview with David Einhorn
Another bites the dust: John Griffin closes down Blue Ridge Capital
Some interesting thoughts on Goodwill
and of course:
I’ll promise my readers that this will not turn into an Crypto/ICO blog, but I also must confess that I am absolutely fascinated by what is happening right now with Bitcoin & Co. After briefly looking at the “Nagacoin Doublepump” a few weeks ago I can not withstand to look at the second German based ICO called Wysker / Wys (the coin).
What is Wys / Wysker
As any good ICO these days they have a 19 page whitepaper which looks quite modest compared to the Naga pamphlet.
In short, Wysker aims to be the “Tinder for shopping” (funnily enough, Naga wanted to be the “tinder for stocks”). In order to make this thing more sexy, there is also a block chain aspect and, of course machine learning involved.
How it is supposed to work:
Exactly 7 years ago now, the first (German) blog post appeared on this site.
As I have done in the past years, this is a good time to reflect about happened over the year. Again a huge THANK YOU to all readers and especially those who actively contributed by commenting (critically) or sending Emails. And those who are suffering my sloppy spelling and grammar….
I am still surprised that I manage to keep this level of activity in the 7th year, but knowing that a lot of really smart people read my post is a fantastic motivation to keep going and try to become better.
Thank you again !!
The 10 most popular posts written in 2017
Kinnevik is one of the more well-known “typical” Swedish investment companies. Founded in 1936 and still controlled (via A shares with multiple votes) by the 3 founding families, Stenbeck, Van Horn and Klingspor, the company now has a market cap of around 7,8 bn EUR.
Originally, farming, forestry & industrial were their main businesses but Jan Hugo Stenbeck, who unfortunately died in 2002 at the age of 59, transformed Kinnevik into a more “modern” company.
One specific feature of Stenbeck was that he didn’t only invest in listed companies but also helped to create new companies or invested in a very early stages. This is from Stenbeck’s obituary in the annual report 2002:
Why Paul Singer (Elliott) always wins
Very funny: How to become the #1 restaurant in London on Tripadvisor
Spotify AB seems to go for a direct listing on the stock exchange without an IPO
Momentum investing was king in 2017
Deep thoughts on auctions and Tripadvisor from Greenwood Investors
Ben From Wertart likes Pershing Square Holdings
Market Folly has a good collection of Sohn London pitch notes
While looking at General Electric some days ago, I remembered that I had the IPO/Spin-off GE Capital Credit Cards which is now Synchrony Financial on my research list for quite some time.
Company Background
This is from the 2016 annual report explaining how Synchrony was separated from GE:
A very interesting collection of turnaround stories (BCG)
12 indicators that your value stock might be a value trap
If Bitcoin is not tangible enough, maybe sneakers as an investment make more sense ?
An eclectic book list from the Franam Street blog
Some thought on why Jeff Bezos is a great CEO
General Electric seems to have made many mistakes in the past years
value and opportunity 