Vol 3, Issue 7. Quarter 1 - 2026. As a Professor of Operations Management I am often reminded of the huge contributions of Andrey Markov. (Who the hell is that?) Markov was a Russian mathematician who dedicated most of his professional life to the study of stochastic...
Vol 3, Issue 6. Quarter 1 - 2026. According to the National Institute for Retirement Security (NIRS), “The average American worker has less than $1,000 saved for retirement.” If you want to be more precise, the number they come up with is $955. This is reported in...
Vol 3, Issue 5. Quarter 1 - 2026. One of the most famous debaters at ESPN had a silly phrase that he likes to use. “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it ain’t a damn mongoose!” There is a fairly new product in the “investment” world...
Vol 3, Issue 2. Quarter 1 - 2026. Let’s begin with a few obvious facts. It is better to have something and not need it, than to need something and not have it. Money doesn’t buy happiness – but it rents a lot that is awfully darn close. The “scholars” telling you that...
Vol 3, Issue 3. Quarter 1 - 2026. There is a collection of ideas floating around known as Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), or Modern Money Theory. The major conclusion of this so-called “New” theory is that a country that issues debt in its own currency, while...
Vol 3, Issue 1. Quarter 1 - 2026. Many fans argue that The Godfather was the best movie ever made. I am not one who shares that view. However, there was a common role in the old gangster movies that always fascinated me. The "Consigliere" was the fellow who served as...
Vol 2, Issue 6. Quarter 4 - 2025. One underappreciated book on investor behavior is “The 5 Mistakes Every Investor Makes and How to Avoid Them” by Peter Mallouk. (See Mallouk, 2014.) But to be more specific, I often come back to one of his favorite lists – 9...
Vol 2, Issue 9. Quarter 4 - 2025. Before I begin to dig into too much data let’s set up a base case. You can take any and all money that you do not need to live off of today and invest it into a Global Stock Index Fund such as VTI. This is an extremely low cost index...
Vol 2, Issue 10. Quarter 4 - 2025. “What I want to talk about is Retail Options Trading; also known in some circles as degenerate gambling.” Ben Felix If you don't know who Ben Felix is, I highly recommend his Rational Reminder podcast (Rational Reminder) I am not...
Vol 2, Issue 9. Quarter 4 - 2025. I recently stumbled across a number of YouTube Videos with titles like, “Trading Options for Beginners,” and “Options Trading in 7 Minutes: How to Make $100 dollars a day,” and my new favorite, “Options Trading in 10 Minutes: How to...
Vol 2, Issue 8. Quarter 4 - 2025. When I was a child back in the 1970’s I would often overhear my mother speaking on the phone and sometimes I would hear the word “SHARP”, as in “girl, that was a sharp outfit”, or “he sure is a sharp dresser.” The work Sharp meant...
Vol 2, Issue 8. Quarter 4 - 2025. It seems fair to say that the biggest single topic in the financial media related to investment management for the small investor is RISK. The Risk of outliving your money (which almost never happens); the Risk of stocks and the...
Vol 2, Issue 6. Quarter 4 - 2025. NERD ALERT - NERD ALERT. I AM ABOUT TO GEEK OUT COMPLETELY. Risk Aversion (as opposed to Loss Aversion) is the extent of the preference for certainty in quantifiable, positive outcomes. When presented with a choice between a...
Vol 2, Issue 4. Quarter 4 - 2025. One of my go-to recommendations for young workers beginning to think about investing is a great little book entitled, “Millionaire Teacher” by Andrew Hallam. (See Hallam, 2017.) I have given away 4 or 5 copies (No, I am not going to...
Vol 2, Issue 3. Quarter 4 - 2025 I just completed my read of a recent book from a Senior Economist at a famous financial services firm that develops a somewhat detailed model that was used to guide portfolio construction for 10 year and longer planning horizons. I...
Vol 2, Issue 2, Quarter 4. 2025. There is an old saying among investors that the price of a stock is simply "a number from today multiplied by a story about tomorrow." Therefore, if we want to generate a forecast of the future movements of an equity market you need to...
Vol 2, Issue 1. Quarter 4 - 2025 It was the best of times – it was the worst of times. A tariff today – no tariff tomorrow. A cease fire at noon – a missile at 12:15. Musk is a stable genius – Musk is a complete idiot. A housing shortage this quarter – a collapsing...
Vol I, Issue 23. Quarter 3 - 2025. In surveys retirees routinely state that they would prefer the guaranteed income of a simple annuity over holding a portfolio of assets that is subject to a loss. However, the percentage of these same people who actually purchase...
Vol I, Issue 22. Quarter 3 - 2025. Recent headlines refer to new Executive Orders that aim to set up a system where money in retirement accounts can be directed to Private Equite (PE) funds. You may be asking yourself whether this is a good or bad idea. In short – it...
Vol I, Issue 21. Quarter 3 - 2025. Around 1800 a Jewish student in England names Benjamin Gompertz wanted to enter a University in England, but this was almost impossible due to the political norms of the times. Given the social constraints in place, Benjamin decided...