Investing: I Do Not Remember A Time Like This

 

Highlights:

- How COVID has changed investing

- Countries have overreacted when they closed their economies

- Japanese monetary policy

- Declining population plus debt is an explosive combo for Japan 

COVID: Closing Economies Was A Mistake

We’ve had worldwide epidemics before but never before have politicians reacted the wrong way.

In 2009 we had the H1N1 virus in America. Well, they didn't close McDonald's, they didn't close the airports. This time for whatever reason politicians, academics and journalists seem to have overreacted and said we have to close the whole world.

We've had many epidemics and never before have we closed the whole world. So in my view, they made mistakes and that's what has made this so horrible.

Todays Thoughts: Psychology of Money, Successful People and Wine

A few great thoughts from Twitter,

"The most successful people are not dogmatic and recognize that a better idea or new information today can be reason enough to change your approach."

-- Mark Cuban, entrepreneur

"The 10 Minute Rule: You put the red wine in the fridge 10 minutes before you open it. You take the white wine out of the fridge 10 minutes before you open it."

-- J.C. Parets, technical analyst

And a review of “The Psychology of Money” by Morgan Housel.

Be Audacious

"Be audacious. There is always a best possible path. Your job is to find it and have the courage to follow it. What you think is attainable is just a function of what you know at the moment. Once you start your pursuit you will learn a lot, especially if you triangulate with others; paths you never saw before will emerge."

 Ray Dalio, September 2020

Gold Will Go Higher

Q: Berkshire Hathaway recently made a 500 million dollar investment in Barrick Gold. Any views on that?

A: I don't own any gold shares at the moment. I prefer the real stuff. But if I'm right, if they're right, the price of gold and silver precious metals is going to go higher.