Reading Time: 4 Minutes I’m seeing a lot of questions on social media about “Has the market bottomed?” or “What should I buy?” Now more than ever, as the markets whip-saw, more and more people are paying attention as their investment and retirement balances are smashed 20%, 30%, some even more… all in the space of a month. The speed of the market decline to form this bear market is unprecedented. So of course, there are many folks, myself included who are sitting on the sidelines, champing at the bit, ready to charge in, and make a killing. But I think we are all asking the wrong questions, or at…
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The History Of Pandemics, COVID-19 In Perspective
Reading Time: 2 Minutes Geez, some of the news just goes from bad to worse right guys? Stay safe, stay vigilant and above all, wash those hands! Despite all the chaos and disruption and FEAR, I thought perhaps we could take a step back and ask why? Why is this happening? And more importantly, why is it happening now? The answer is… … It’s always happened. By this I mean pandemics, and viruses and natural illnesses have always been a part of our history. Indeed, some pandemics have been far, far worse than COVID-19. Our friends at Visual Capitalist constructed a brilliant post on the history of pandemics to give…
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Coronavirus Public Service Announcement
Reading Time: 2 Minutes I think everyone knows by now that we have a pandemic on our hands in the form of the Coronavirus. So as a responsible member of the community, I am doing my bit to make sure the message gets out there and is heard. This afternoon, the Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison announced mandatory 14-day self-quarantine measures for ALL travellers coming into Australia, in the latest government initiative to contain the virus. Unfortunately my opinion is that it is too late for containment. This is because the R0 (“R-naught” is a reproductive measure of infectivity) of the virus sits around 2.2 – meaning that one infected…
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A Conversation Between Two Punters About Coronavirus
Reading Time: 2 Minutes What’s up people! Of course, the word on everyone’s mind is “Coronavirus”. Boy, has the market been smashed!!! Yours truly is staring down the barrel of some whooper losses. Oh dear, oh dear. So what to do? Should we sell? Should we buy? WHAT? Well, I was talking about this with my e-penpal and thought it would be interesting for everyone if I shared our conversation. I haven’t told my penpal, but I’m pretty sure he won’t mind. TFS: Thoughts on the latest? Penpal: This seems like the biggie I’ve been waiting for. My mental model on this is based around: Back in early Jan I…
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February Net Wealth Update
Reading Time: 2 Minutes What a rollercoaster the month of February was! I think the main theme has got to be the Coronavirus. Specifically, it’s impact across the global economy and the associated drop in share markets world-wide. I think the vast majority of investors – professional or not, have been caught up in the volatility. I am no different, and the overall net wealth has taken a bit of a hit. If you want to read about January’s numbers – you can do so here. Net Wealth Important Notes The numbers (apart from the individual shares), are rounded given property is an illiquid asset (meaning values are not representation…
