Episode 10: Australian property, selling Class and buying Webjet

Shares have grown 4-fold already in 2019

There is precisely one way for an entrepreneur to know if there is actual demand for their product or service: put it out there. They must run the experiment to see if the open market validates their hypothesis. Focus groups and market research are fine, but true validation only happens when customers willingly and repeatedly part with their hard-earned cash. […]

As investors, we tend to spend a lot of time thinking about value. Or, at least, we should. The simple reality is that even if we buy shares in the world’s greatest business, we can still lose our shirt if we pay a stupidly high price. But what makes a price stupid? How can we possibly know what is reasonable […]

Strawman member Bushmanpat kicked off an interesting thread this week, pointing out how pessimistic takes tend to dominate headlines, while optimistic ones are often ignored. Inspired by a piece in the AFR, it was a good reminder of the persistent bias in both media and markets: we are hard-wired to give more attention and credibility to bad news. Our tendency […]

PayPal and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel has some interesting takes, not all of which you may agree with. But he said something back in 2015 which was bang on: “I’m always sceptical of sectors and trends. People always ask me what some trends are that I see happening in the future, and I have never liked the question because I’m […]

With most companies issuing results this month, it’s a busy time for investors. And, given some of the volatility these results can induce, it’s also a period that can test your nerves. Sometimes the market’s reaction is perfectly rational. But not always, at least not in the context of how a long-term investor would appraise things. A good example lately is […]

We’ve seen a solid start to 2023, with the market as a whole already up by more than 6%. Some of the gains in the small-cap space have been far more impressive. Those that have enjoyed the biggest recoveries have tended to be ones that have reported: Strong balance sheets Positive (or at least improving) operating cash flows Sustained sales momentum […]

Dicker Data’s (ASX:DDR) First quarter results were better than expected