Hi Folks! After a bit of a hiatus, I’m glad to return to this blog. I have a new experiment to write about. For the next few months, I’m going to be trying to improve the quality, amount, and speed of the feedback we get as we build our business, Singing Seal Studios. One of [...]
A Quick Thought on “Twist”
Looks like a great buying opportunity for great banks. Prices were low, they’re going lower. Killing the yield curve is going to seriously hurt banks as they’re trying to regain capital. However, this too shall pass. Strong, well capitalized banks not entirely dependent on the yield curve will make it through this and may even [...]
How to Stop Writing Blog Posts and Focus
Vacations are wonderful. They give you perspective and are vital to your work life. Never think that it’s a virtue to not take vacations. Good minds needs rest and perspective. And the insights are wonderful. My main insight from this last vacation: it’s time to focus. Meaning, this blog will be taking a backseat to [...]
Vacation!
On vacation in Alaska and west Texas for the next two weeks and internet connections will be spotty. See you all after labor day.
Bank Valuation Made Simple
After going through the bank analysis series (parts 1, 2, 3, 4) and determining if a bank is one of the few worth taking a look at, the valuation part works out to be pretty simple in practice. Bank valuation can be made a great deal more complicated than it needs to be. Sure, you can [...]
My Kingdom for a Horse of Cash
The most important determinant of whether investors will incur opportunity cost is whether or not part of their portfolios is held in cash. Maintaining moderate cash balances or owning securities that periodically throw off appreciable cash is likely to reduce the number of forgone opportunities. –Seth Klarman, Margin of Safety I have a footnote scrawled in [...]
How to Become a Bank Voyeur
I have another confession. I’m a bit of a bank voyeur. There was a point where I could list some odd tidbit of information on every bank on Montgomery St. in the financial district of San Francisco. Passing by the Beal Bank branch on my way to work was always a treat, knowing that it [...]
A Better Way to Measure Portfolio Performance
I am tired of listening to managers and bloggers using the price growth of their securities as the measure of their portfolio performance. I think it feeds into even more price-centric noise we have to filter out daily. If you’re attempting to buy a company and not a stock, you should treat your investment portfolio [...]
How to Analyze a Bank Part 4: The Fuzzy Edition
In our own little CAMELS analysis, we’ve hit a great deal of the quantitative, number crunching side of analyzing a bank like how to assess a banks earnings, assets, and liabilities and modeling how a bank would handle a difficult downturn. Now it’s time for the lighter, fuzzier side. Questions like: how can I assess [...]
The Right Tool
I wanted to take a short break from the bank analysis series because I woke up this morning ecstatic. My Morningstar Document Research trial run just started. It was like Christmas, and I was ten years old running to play with the toy I’d had my mind set on for weeks. Finding the right tool [...]
