value and opportunity

AI “Pioneer” Klarna paddles back on AI use for customer service

Highly recommended: Conversation between Nikolai Tengen and legendary investor Chris Hohn (TCI)

Wintergems has 3 new positions. I do like the Vintage year/Cohort approach a lot.

The “Wonder Stock” Substack has a great write-up on UK smallcap Kitwave

Arranging portfolio companies like players on a football tactic screen is a very nice idea

Robin’s Substack on Misitano & Stracuzzi, a potential “Mini Robertet” from Sicilly 

Behind the Balance Sheet with (among other stuff) a deep dive into the catastrophic Walgreen & Boots take-over

The largest Battery company of the world, CATL, is going public in HongKong

The “Top 40 UK dividend stocks” list is a good starting point for dividend fans

A pretty pessimistic take on the future of Google’s search business from a former employee

Large language models are really hard to understand

For Offshore Wind farms, the so called “wake effect” can be quite relevant

Interesting article on Mytheresa’s CEO and their approach to online luxury shopping

Antti Ilmanen (AQR) with an interesting paper on return expectations

After 60 years running Berkshire, Warren Buffett announced that he will retire by the end of the year.

Verdad thinks that European equities, especially small & micro caps still have potential

Sparkline Capital with a nice overview on how to cluster stocks with regard to tariff exposure

UK’s THG Group has achieved mastery in adjusting its “profit” numbers (FT, search for headline)

Despite all the hype, the ability of robots to “manipulate” real world objects is very limited and will stay so for some time to come (Good luck for those Tesla shareholders who believe in Proximus to save them)

Great interview with John Cleese (Monty Python) about the 50th anniversary of the “Holy Grail”.

Interesting article on BTG Pactual, the Brazilian Bank called “Goldman of the Tropics” (FT Search result)

The Bain Private Equity Report and the corresponding material is a must read for anyone interested in the space (in short: The industry is undergoing a very difficult time)

An interesting overview of listed UK Infrastructure Trusts

KKR thinks that empathic leaders do better

NEDAP, a Dutch tech company looks kind of weird but interesting

A very sobbering look from Apollo into the impacts on tariffs on the US Economy

Thomas Pueyo on why Canada is so sparsely and unevenly populated

Klement on Investing explores why Germans are so bad at (stock) investing

The Wintergem Substack with a very interesting write-up on Canadian Business Jet Maker Bombardier

Behind the Balance Sheet with a great deep dive into the business of Finance/Investing Substacks

A very interesting article on the influence of Korean retail investors in the most volatile US securities

Lego’s profit margins are in decline (but still very high)

Richard Beddard looks at UK Smallcap Dotdigital

A good overview of the “Private Infrastructure” Asset Class from Larry Swedrow

A decent summary of the current “hangover in Alcohol stocks”

Highly Recommended: Rob Vinall’s 2024 letter is out

Paul Singer is a very rare Podcast guest. So if he appears, do listen/watch. A true “living legend”.

Heat waves and droughts are really bad for GDP in the mid- to long term

Flyover Stocks with a great post on how capital cycles work (Examples Bourbon & Home building)

Maynard Payton with an interesting write-up of BIG Technologies, a UK based “fallen Angel” IPO

The new Mauboussin Paper “Probabilities and Payoffs” is worth reading

An interesting article on a busted Austrian Private Equity deal and the pitfalls of “adjusted EBITDA”

Recommended: Wexboy with his 2024 portfolio & performance review

A great video explaining the East 72 Dynasty portfolio with a lot of interesting “family owned” companies

Some deep thoughts from the Brooklyn Investor on the “Broken Markets” theme

Nat Bullard’s annual presentation is a must for anyone interested in the energy sector

An interesting analysis that shows that “real assets” were not good hedges against inflation following Covid

Fantastic post why you should never rely on Bullshxt Earnings errrr Adjusted EBITDA

Royce Funds Microcap 2024 review with some summaries of US microcaps

Some deep thoughts on the relationship between material wealth and happiness

You can challenge any of Prof. Damodaran’s assumptions on Nvidia, but compared to the many clowns and scumbags that pose as stock analysts these days, his logic and level of transparency is just awesome. Well done Professor !!!

Nice wite-up on conglomerate Jardine Matheson from Emerging Value

Some interesting stats on UK take-over premiums from Klement on Investing

For anyone interested in the insurance industry, the Swiss Re Sigma reports are a great resaource

Interesting Sharescope article on small cap premium and a few UK Trust ideas

Philipe Luchesi with a new Video discussing Laurent Perrier (French, Youtube offers translation in subtitles)

Nice year end review from the “no deep dives” Substack with some interesting positions

Wintergem Substack with an update on Hingham Savings Bank

Famous short activist Hindenburg announced to stop operating

Are Cannabis spiked drinks really replacing alcohol in the US ?

I had linked to the study last time, here is a summary of how Ozempic/Wegovy seem to change people’s eating habits

Fascinating story about the development of the Video Game “Star Citizen” that might cross the 1 bn USD budget soon

FT Alphaville on how overvalued the USD actually is (Hint: a lot)