<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" > <channel> <title>References – Optionsguru</title> <atom:link href="https://optionsguru.org/category/references/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://optionsguru.org</link> <description>Educate, Exchange, Excel</description> <lastBuildDate>Mon, 26 Feb 2024 14:58:22 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1</generator> <image> <url>https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/RKG_Trans-e1509286614460.jpg?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1</url> <title>References – Optionsguru</title> <link>https://optionsguru.org</link> <width>32</width> <height>32</height> </image> <site xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">163149151</site> <item> <title>A Tribute to Charlie Munger – the Architect of Berkshire Hathaway</title> <link>https://optionsguru.org/2024/02/26/a-tribute-to-charlie-munger-the-architect-of-berkshire-hathaway/</link> <comments>https://optionsguru.org/2024/02/26/a-tribute-to-charlie-munger-the-architect-of-berkshire-hathaway/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ram Ganesh]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 26 Feb 2024 14:58:20 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[References]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Investment Guru]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://optionsguru.org/?p=712</guid> <description><![CDATA[In the physical world, great buildings are linked to their architect while those who had poured the concrete or installed the windows are soon forgotten. Berkshire has become a great company. Though I have long been in charge of the <a class="more-link" href="https://optionsguru.org/2024/02/26/a-tribute-to-charlie-munger-the-architect-of-berkshire-hathaway/">Read More ...</a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>In the physical world, great buildings are linked to their architect while those who had poured the concrete or installed the windows are soon forgotten. Berkshire has become a great company. Though I have long been in charge of the construction crew; Charlie should forever be credited with being the architect.</p> <p>Charlie Munger died on November 28, just 33 days before his 100th birthday.</p> <p>“Charlie Munger, for decades my partner in managing Berkshire, viewed this obligation identically and would expect me to communicate with you this year in the regular manner. He and I were of one mind regarding our responsibilities to Berkshire shareholders” says Warren Buffett in his Annual Letter 2024.</p> <h5 class="wp-block-heading">Charlie Munger’s Words of Wisdom</h5> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>“In my whole life, I have known no wise people … who didn’t read all the time. … You’d be amazed at how much Warren reads, at how much I read. My children laugh at me. They think I’m a book with a couple of legs sticking out.”</li> <li>“If you want to understand science, you have to understand math. … The good thing about business is that you don’t have to know any higher math.”</li> <li>“Whenever you think something or some person is ruining your life, it’s you. A victimization mentality is so debilitating.”</li> <li>“Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant.”</li> <li>“Those of us who have been very fortunate have a duty to give back. Whether one gives a lot as one goes along as I do, or a little and then a lot as Warren [plans to], is a matter of personal preference.”</li> <li>“Anytime anybody offers you anything with a big commission and a 200-page prospectus, don’t buy it. Occasionally, you’ll be wrong if you adopt ‘Munger’s Rule.’ However, over a lifetime, you’ll be a long way ahead, and you will miss a lot of unhappy experiences.”</li> <li>“It is remarkable how much long-term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.”</li> <li>“In my life there are not that many questions I can’t properly deal with using my $40 adding machine and dog-eared compound interest table.”</li> <li>Mimicking the herd invites regression to the mean.”</li> </ul> <h4 class="wp-block-heading">Nuggets from the 2024 Annual Letter </h4> <p>So sanctified, this worse-than-useless “net income” figure quickly gets transmitted throughout the world via the internet and media. All parties believe they have done their job – and, legally, they have. We, however, are left uncomfortable. At Berkshire, our view is that “earnings” should be a sensible concept that Bertie will find somewhat useful – but only as a starting point – in evaluating a business. Accordingly, Berkshire also reports to Bertie and you what we call “<strong>operating earnings</strong>.” </p> <p>Here is the story they tell: $27.6 billion for 2021; $30.9 billion for 2022 and $37.4 billion for 2023.</p> <p>The primary difference between the mandated figures and the ones Berkshire prefers is that we <strong>exclude unrealized capital gains or losses</strong> that at times can exceed $5 billion a day. Ironically, our preference was pretty much the rule until 2018, when the “improvement” was mandated. Galileo’s experience, several centuries ago, should have taught us not to mess with mandates from on high. But, at Berkshire, we can be stubborn.</p> <p><strong>Hedge funds perform no better than the S&P 500 index fund. So an investor is better off investing for himself in an index fund (Vanguard 500 Index Fund) than lose money on high fees to hedge fund managers! Buffett actually challenged the fund mangers on this and won on record (see the annual report for the numbers)</strong> (2017 Annual Letter)</p> <p>S&P 500 ETF VOO – (my) return on investment is > 33% in about an year. </p> <p>BRK/B (my) return on investment in over 2 years is > 40% </p> <p></p> <p>Buffett’s Favorites: Cherry Coke (12 Oz can), Dairy Queen Vanilla-Orange bars, DQ Cheese Cake, DQ Triple Truffle Blizzard, Peanut Brittle, Brooks running shoes, <strong>Diet Coke (Charlie Munger’s)</strong></p> <p><strong>Long Live Charlie in the Investor’s Minds for ever!</strong></p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://optionsguru.org/2024/02/26/a-tribute-to-charlie-munger-the-architect-of-berkshire-hathaway/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">712</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Binary Cross Entropy (BCE) function used in General Adversarial Networks (GAN)</title> <link>https://optionsguru.org/2024/01/12/binary-cross-entropy-bce-function-used-in-general-adversarial-networks-gan/</link> <comments>https://optionsguru.org/2024/01/12/binary-cross-entropy-bce-function-used-in-general-adversarial-networks-gan/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ram Ganesh]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 12 Jan 2024 17:12:11 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence]]></category> <category><![CDATA[References]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Strategy]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://optionsguru.org/?p=702</guid> <description><![CDATA[BCE is used for training GANs. It’s useful for these models, because it’s especially designed for classification tasks, where there are two categories like, real and fake. Let us explain what each part of the BCE loss function means. How <a class="more-link" href="https://optionsguru.org/2024/01/12/binary-cross-entropy-bce-function-used-in-general-adversarial-networks-gan/">Read More ...</a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>BCE is used for training GANs. It’s useful for these models, because it’s especially designed for classification tasks, where there are two categories like, real and fake. Let us explain what each part of the BCE loss function means. How does it work for different labels? The BCE cost function looks a little bit intimidating. Let us break down each of these components and also give examples to provide some intuition on how it works. </p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/BCEF.png?ssl=1"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="720" height="183" src="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/BCEF.png?resize=720%2C183&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-704" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/BCEF.png?w=720&ssl=1 720w, https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/BCEF.png?resize=300%2C76&ssl=1 300w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></figure> <p>First, at the beginning you see a summation sign from 1 to m, as well as dividing by that m. This means summing over the variable m, which is actually the number of examples in the entire batch, and taking the average of those examples. We are taking the average cost across this mini-batch. ‘h’ denotes the predictions made by the model.</p> <p>‘y’ (0 for fake, 1 for real) is the label for different examples. These are the true labels of whether something is real or fake. For example, if real could be a label of 1 and fake be a label of 0, X are the features that are passed in through the predictions, so this could be an image and theta are the parameters of whatever is computing that prediction. In these brackets, you can break these down into two different terms. Let’s look at each of them. The term on the left, is the product of the true label y times the log of the prediction, which is h of x, the features parameterized by theta for the model. To understand what this value is trying to get at, let’s look at some examples.</p> <p>The case where the label y = 0, so let’s say this means it’s fake, and you have any prediction here, then this value, the product, actually results in 0. If you have a prediction of 1, let’s say that’s real, and you have a really high prediction that is close to 1, of 0.99, then you also get a value that’s close to 0 (log(1) = 0). In the case where it actually is real, but your prediction is terrible, and it’s 0, so far from 1, you think it’s fake, but it’s actually real, then this value is extremely large (log(0) = -infinity). This is largely caused by the log there. What this is trying to say, is that in the case when the label is 0, this term doesn’t matter, it just goes to 0. This term is mainly for when the label is actually just 1, and it makes it 0 if your prediction is good, and it makes it negative infinity if your prediction is bad. </p> <p>Now looking at the second term, it looks very similar, but have some of these minus signs in here. In this case, if your label is 1, then 1 minus y is equal to 0. Actually if your prediction is anything, this will evaluate to 0, and if your prediction is saying, hey, that’s pretty fake, gets close to 0, then this value is close to 0 (log(1) = 0). However, if the label is fake, that is 0, but your prediction is really far off, and thinks it’s real, then this term evaluates to negative infinity (log(0) = -infinity). </p> <p>Basically, each of these terms evaluates to negative infinity if for their relevant label, the prediction is really bad. That brings us to this negative sign a little bit. If either of these values evaluates to something really big in the negative direction, this negative sign is crucial to making sure that is a positive number and positive infinity. Because for our cost function, what you typically want is a high-value being bad, and your neural network is trying to reduce this value as much as possible. Getting predictions that are closer, evaluating to 0 makes sense here, because you want to minimize your cost function as you learn. In summary, one term in the cost function is relevant when the label 0, the other one is relevant when it’s 1, and in either case, the logarithm of a value between 1-0 was calculated, which returns that negative result. That’s why you want this negative term at the beginning, to make sure that this is high, or greater than, or equal to 0. </p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/BCEFPlot.png?ssl=1"><img decoding="async" width="720" height="350" src="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/BCEFPlot.png?resize=720%2C350&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-707" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/BCEFPlot.png?w=720&ssl=1 720w, https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/BCEFPlot.png?resize=300%2C146&ssl=1 300w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></figure> <p>Now I’ll show you what the loss function looks like for each of the labels over all possible predictions. In this plot, you can have your prediction value on the x-axis, where h is your model, and gives a prediction based on x parameterized by theta. The loss associated with that training example is on the y-axis. In this case, the loss simplifies to the negative log of the prediction. When the prediction is close to 1, here at the tail, the loss is close to 0 because your prediction is close to the label. Good job here, this is good. When the prediction is close to 0 out here, unfortunately your loss approaches infinity, so a really high value because the prediction and the label are very different. The opposite is true when the label is 0, and the loss function reduces to the negative log of 1 minus that prediction. When the prediction is close to 0, the loss is also close to 0. That means you’re doing great. But when your prediction is closer to 1, but the ground truth is 0, it will approach infinity again. </p> <p>In summary, the BCE cost function has two main terms that are relevant for each of the classes. Whether prediction and the label are similar, the BCE loss is close to 0. When they’re very different, that BCE loss approaches infinity. The BCE loss is performed across a mini-batch of several examples, let say n examples, maybe five examples where n equals 5. It takes the average of all those five examples. Each of those examples can be different. One of them can be 1, the other four could be 0, for their different classes.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/DiscTrain.png?ssl=1"><img decoding="async" width="720" height="352" src="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/DiscTrain.png?resize=720%2C352&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-705" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/DiscTrain.png?w=720&ssl=1 720w, https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/DiscTrain.png?resize=300%2C147&ssl=1 300w" sizes="(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></figure> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/GenTrainc.png?ssl=1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="720" height="352" src="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/GenTrainc.png?resize=720%2C352&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-709" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/GenTrainc.png?w=720&ssl=1 720w, https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/GenTrainc.png?resize=300%2C147&ssl=1 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></a></figure> <p>The feature ‘X’ can be a picture, audio, financial electronic document, video, etc. The generator and the discriminator are trained one at a time and maintain the same amount of skill so that one does not overpower the other.</p> <p>How do we watermark and identify AI-generated content?</p> <p>With the tool, text-to-image model, that is available in the market with the watermarking tool, users can add a watermark to their image which is imperceptible to the human eye and detectable even if edited by common techniques like cropping or applying filters. Contents can also be uploaded for the tool to identify if it was made by the waterpark tool by scanning for its digital watermark. This cutting-age technology could help advance other AI models and it is being explored to bring this to other products soon empowering people and organizations to work with AI-generated content responsibly. </p> <p></p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://optionsguru.org/2024/01/12/binary-cross-entropy-bce-function-used-in-general-adversarial-networks-gan/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">702</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Economic Stimulus: Monetary, Fiscal</title> <link>https://optionsguru.org/2021/12/14/economic-stimulus-monetary-fiscal/</link> <comments>https://optionsguru.org/2021/12/14/economic-stimulus-monetary-fiscal/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ram Ganesh]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 15 Dec 2021 01:50:34 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[References]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://optionsguru.org/?p=661</guid> <description><![CDATA[When the economy hits rough patch, the government typically respond with stimulus or actions meant to jump start economic activity. There are two main ways the government does this; with monetary policy and fiscal policy. They can be little bit <a class="more-link" href="https://optionsguru.org/2021/12/14/economic-stimulus-monetary-fiscal/">Read More ...</a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>When the economy hits rough patch, the government typically respond with stimulus or actions meant to jump start economic activity. There are two main ways the government does this; with monetary policy and fiscal policy. They can be little bit confusing because the words monetary and fiscal sound similar. Both influence the economy but they do it in different ways. Understanding the difference between the monetary and fiscal policy and how each works can help you understand what is happening in the economy and how policy changes might affect your investments. So first, monetary policy is set by the federal reserve, the US central bank. The fed is responsible for pursuing price stability, maximum employment and stable economic growth. To do this the fed has a few tools to adjust what’s called the money supply. The total amount of money available at any given time; it’s less, the money printer goes burr…. in more controlling how easy or difficult it is for people in business to borrow money.</p> <p>When there is economic crisis, the fed does things like lower the federal funds rate, the rates banks use when they lend to one another. This typically pushes interest rate lower overall which impacts the demand for loans and the willingness for the bankers to lend. This is the main source of economic stimulation for the monetary policy. Now let’s get fiscal. The fiscal policy is set by the congress and the white house and it is usually financed by the treasury. It deals with taxation and government spending. In difficult economic times congress and the president will often lower taxes with the hope that people in businesses will spend the extra money stimulating the economy. At the same time, the congress and the president commonly increase spending on government projects like infrastructure and defense to help keep businesses working and citizens employed until the economy recovers. The government may even provide direct payments to businesses and individuals. </p> <p>Think of it like this. Monetary policy works behind the scenes to stabilize financial conditions while physical policy works directly to advance a nation’s economy. During an economic crisis, the government typically uses monetary and fiscal policy in tandem to prevent lasting damage to the economy which could lead to a prolonged recession or even a depression. The government response to Covid-19 crisis is a good case study of how monetary and fiscal policy worked together. Public safety measures to slow the spread of the virus caused economic activity to grind nearly to a halt. In response the fed adjusted monetary policy by dropping the federal fund’s rate to zero to keep the borrowing costs low. It also used the tool called quantitative easing or QE. This involves buying assets in order to keep money moving and avoid a financial system collapse. The monetary stimulus was accompanied by fiscal stimulus. </p> <p>In March 2020, the congress passed the CARES act, a 2.2T dollar bill that included increased unemployment benefits, provided emergency loans and grants to businesses and sent stimulus checks to millions of Americans. Congress passed an additional round of stimulus payments in December. As of early 2021, economists and politicians were calling for more fiscal stimulus. Unemployment remained high and GDP had a hard time recovering fully. In future rounds of fiscal stimulus look likely with the new administration and congress. So what kind of impact do the monetary and fiscal stimulus have on investments? You’ll Notice that I haven’t mentioned the stock market much yet. That’s because these policies aren’t directed at the stock market. Instead they focus on the economy as a whole and remember the stock market is not the economy. However, expansionary fiscal policy can lead to higher demand for goods and services which often leads to boosts in stock prices, though that’s not always the case. Similarly, improvements in overall financial conditions set by monetary policy can increase the money supply and push down interest rates and borrowing costs. This is good news for large companies that make up a majority of the big stock indices. Most major companies carry large amounts of debt, so companies can refinance, take on new debt with lower interest rates, a big boon for big businesses. Bottom line gets a quick lift, boosting profits. Lower interest rates also push investors towards stocks. Lower rate, lower return on treasuries. </p> <p>Look at 2020, after an initial downturn, as the corona virus took a toll on the economy, stocks soared to new all time highs. Even while the overall economy had trouble stopping the bleeding, and offices remained closed across the country, continued accommodative monetary policy and additional rounds of fiscal stimulus could drive stocks higher. But, of course there is no guarantee. One potential risk of monetary and fiscal stimulus is increased inflation, which is the rising cost of goods and services. Some economists warned that too large an influx of money into the economy could destabilize financial markets and the price of the dollar. It could also mean larger government deficits which could lead to future tax increases for individuals and businesses. Higher business taxes could depress corporate revenue, negatively impacting portfolio. On the flip side, many economists now argue that the 787 Billion dollar stimulus package, president Obama passed in 2008 to help with the great recession wasn’t enough to spur a strong recovery. It can be difficult to predict the actual impact of government stimulus. In the end, monetary and fiscal policy are different things with a similar goal, economic stability. Keeping an eye on different ways the government responds to economic crisis and their impact on financial markets can help you better prepare your portfolio for the future. </p> <p>Courtesy: TD Ameritrade</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://optionsguru.org/2021/12/14/economic-stimulus-monetary-fiscal/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">661</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Fall and a Recovery: Stock Market Watch</title> <link>https://optionsguru.org/2021/05/29/fall-and-a-recovery-stock-market-watch/</link> <comments>https://optionsguru.org/2021/05/29/fall-and-a-recovery-stock-market-watch/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ram Ganesh]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 29 May 2021 14:16:24 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[References]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://optionsguru.org/?p=649</guid> <description><![CDATA[A year after the Covid Pandemic forced the nation into a shutdown, the stock market has been overhauled in ways Wall Street never imagined. Last March, stocks plunged as the world faced the frightening spread of a virus, many had <a class="more-link" href="https://optionsguru.org/2021/05/29/fall-and-a-recovery-stock-market-watch/">Read More ...</a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>A year after the Covid Pandemic forced the nation into a shutdown, the stock market has been overhauled in ways Wall Street never imagined.</p> <p>Last March, stocks plunged as the world faced the frightening spread of a virus, many had thought would never make its way to the United States. The S&P 500 lost more than 15% in a searing decline on March 11 and 12. The index plummeted more than 30% by March 23.</p> <p>Perhaps even more surprising than the fall was the market rebound that followed, powered by the twin booster engines of monetary and fiscal policy, including a rollout of programs from the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 is up nearly 89% from the low.</p> <p>The policy response was meaningful and significant, and as a result prevented what could have been a far worse outcome.</p> <p>The virus was a great equalizer. Much of the country was learning to work and attend school from home. Meanwhile, restaurants, gyms and other places where people gathered were closed or changed dramatically.</p> <p>But America adapted, and so did investors.</p> <p>They ran up tech stocks that benefited from a homebound populace, including Netflix, Zoom, Amazon and Peloton.</p> <p>When the economy began to reopen, money moved into recovery-themed stocks, including energy, industrials, materials and financials. These sectors now lead the market, displacing high-flying tech stocks.</p> <p>After years of a steadily growing economy, the pandemic resulted in a shocking decline in gross domestic product. A sharp rebound followed, aided by easy monetary policy and blasts of fiscal spending.</p> <p>The $1.9 trillion stimulus package, signed into law by President Joe Biden, will be rolling out amid an uneven recovery. The service sector had never before led the economy into recession; it is the last to come back. About 10 million people are still unemployed.</p> <p>Economic volatility is here to stay … and that is different from last 30 years.</p> <p>There’s no escaping that when you think about the combination of GDP being down 31% for one quarter and up 33% in the next quarter.</p> <p>Applying record stimulus, the equivalent of about 36.2% of GDP in the subsequent year … it’s just going to be an environment where the quarter-to-quarter swings are going to be much greater than they were.</p> <p><strong>New investors</strong></p> <p>During the past year, a new cohort of retail investors — many using no-fee online trading platforms —became an important part of the market.</p> <p>Goldman Sachs expects households to be the biggest source of demand for stocks this year, with $350 billion to flow into the market, compared with $300 billion from corporations.</p> <p>It’s newer and younger investors who are embracing speculation like never before, as evidenced by call options volumes that are multiples of prior years’ record volumes.</p> <p>Investors are also using record amounts of margin debt to finance their investments.</p> <p>For now, the most speculative activity is focused on meme stocks.</p> <p>GameStop is the poster child for this volatility, a stock that was given up for dead by many but embraced by a group of retail investors.</p> <p>Instead of calling their brokers, these traders turned to the internet. WallStreetBets, a forum on Reddit, became a powerful force in market activity.</p> <p>The question is will it end up like it did at the end of the rally in 1999 and 2000. Could it end up in a very strong parabolic-like surge across the entire stock market?</p> <p> Investors tend to sell momentum as much as they buy momentum.</p> <p>We have seen moves in stock prices, where they can double or triple in a day. The incredible issuance of SPACs (Special Purpose Acquisition Company), the crypto stuff — a lot of these are signs of too much liquidity generating speculative behavior.</p> <p>Nonetheless, the market rewards have been huge. Tesla, for instance, is up 630% since March 23, while Etsy, has risen more than 520%, Freeport-McMoRan 540% and L Brands is up 500%.</p> <p>Stocks have also not really been challenged by bonds for investment dollars, even with the recent rise in yields.</p> <p>Why as a 20 or 30-year-old would you want to buy a fixed income investment if the expectation for inflation is 2% and the Fed is telling you, it’s not going to stop with liquidity until inflation is sustainably above 2%. Because real yields are so low, it continues to be a good time for equity investment.</p> <p>The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield has moved higher lately, as the promise of the latest fiscal stimulus package has boosted the outlook for growth.</p> <p>Economists expect the economy could grow by 6% this year. The 10-year yield, which moves opposite price, was at about 1.59%, well off its year low of 0.50% but below its recent high of 1.61%.</p> <p><strong>Market now in Mid-cycle</strong></p> <p> The market is expected to move higher this year. It’s due for a bigger correction than the market sell-offs that took place from mid-February. In that period, the S&P 500 at the time sold off close to 6%, while the Nasdaq fell more than 10%.</p> <p>When we look at all the historical facts that say stocks are overpriced, it gets us scared. The S&P market cap is 140% of the nominal GDP and the S&P average is 62%.</p> <p>The market has also had only one sizable correction since it took off in March.</p> <p>Because real yields are so low, it continues to be a good time for equity investment. We are more than 20% above where we were the last time we had a meaningful decline, which ended on Sept. 23. </p> <p>The market has now moved to a mid-cycle period, after a fast and furious ‘Recovery’ regime. That should mean a period of continued gains.</p> <p>In this type of market environment, capital expenditures, typically ‘capex’ outpaces consumption, rates rise and ‘good inflation’ picks up.</p> <p>This phase could come to an end when “good” inflation turns into “bad” inflation, with prices rising too much and hurting margins. This period could also last longer than the average nine months.</p> <p><strong>Cyclicals and value should lead</strong></p> <p>Cyclicals and value stocks are expected to continue to outperform. Wall Street strategists had a median target of 4,100 on the S&P 500 for year-end which has already been exceeded. </p> <p>People are positioned very bullishly, and that prevents downside risk to the market. But the market may also not gain the way it did when tech and growth were the leaders.</p> <p>When the technology and internet growth names were still the leaders, a handful of stocks were responsible for the bulk of the index gains. Some of those names, like Apple and Amazon, have suffered double-digit declines.</p> <p>The energy and materials sectors have doubled in price since last March, while industrials and financials are up about 95%. Tech is up about 83%. Meanwhile, communications services, including internet names, are up about 72%.</p> <p>If you lose the leadership of the big dogs, it’s going to hold back the market, even if the other guys are going up. They’re not as big as the huskies … the valuations are different if you lose some of the big tech names.</p> <p>Later in the year, the market could struggle with cyclicals and value stocks as leaders.</p> <p>We might be in a position where later in the year we could see some of the expectations around value and cyclicals disappoint, and then we will see the rotation back to growth.</p> <p>Just as the course of the economy will be decided by the course of the virus and the success of the vaccines, the stock market will be driven by the same factors.</p> <p>Everybody thinks the world will be a lot better in the second half. If there are any hiccups <em>—</em> let’s say it’s a Covid outbreak where we didn’t contain it enough <em>—</em> that would be a disappointment.</p> <p>Finally, it is very important to use low risk option strategies, such as covered calls, cash secured puts, bull put spreads, bear call spreads, zero days to expiration (0dte) spreads and combination spreads such as iron fly and iron condors. These are the strategies that enable one to beat the street significantly!</p> <p>Courtesy: CNBC</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://optionsguru.org/2021/05/29/fall-and-a-recovery-stock-market-watch/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">649</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Stock Market is Up. Why?</title> <link>https://optionsguru.org/2020/07/18/stock-market-is-up-why/</link> <comments>https://optionsguru.org/2020/07/18/stock-market-is-up-why/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ram Ganesh]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 18 Jul 2020 22:04:14 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[References]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://optionsguru.org/?p=621</guid> <description><![CDATA[In the first quarter of 2020, the Gross Domestic Product, the chief tool used to measure the economy shrinks by 5% in the US. The analysts suggest that the worst could be yet to come. On top of that, as <a class="more-link" href="https://optionsguru.org/2020/07/18/stock-market-is-up-why/">Read More ...</a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>In the first quarter of 2020, the Gross Domestic Product, the chief tool used to measure the economy shrinks by 5% in the US. The analysts suggest that the worst could be yet to come. On top of that, as of May 28th, more than 40 million American workers have filed for unemployment benefits. The effects of COVID-19 on our economy is abundantly clear. Yet the Stock Market which plummeted from Feb 19th through March 23rd may be on the rebound. The S&P 500 is up 36% as of June 1st. How can that be? How can unemployment be soaring, GDP shrinking, and stocks marching on as if nothing is wrong. For starters, stock market is not the economy. The stock market is forward looking, meaning Stock prices are based on expectations of companies’ future earnings, not just present earnings and in that sense it is possible for the markets to be less impacted by the current circumstances if investors feel that there is a bright future ahead. Now that we have decoupled the Stock market from the overall economy, let us talk about how the Stock market is coming on so strongly despite the factors working against it.</p> <p>The fact that people are buying tells us that there is some confidence in a good recovery from the losses brought on by the corona virus. The question then is where is the confidence coming from. It likely starts with aggressive and unprecedented maneuvers from the Fed. To calm the markets the Fed slashed the interest rates to zero and bought mortgage backed securities and high yield ETFs. It is safe to assume the Fed is not done yet. When asked his opinion on the current market, Torsten Slok, chief economist at Deutsche Bank Securities, said, “ This rally in equities is clearly not driven by fundamentals – it’s driven by the liquidity support from the Federal Reserve, companies are getting cash to keep the lights on through the significant support to credit markets.” Then there are the stimulus bills from congress like the CARES Act which increased unemployment benefits and provided direct payments to individuals. In short, investors confidence could be coming from the fact that the government is placing a large pillow under the market to soften the fall. Another factor that may be driving the stocks up is a flood of new investors entering the market. </p> <p>The government stimulus funding combined with the fear of missing out on the dip in equity pricing and zero commissions is driving lot of interest in buying stocks. With more free time and fewer entertainment options like sports some people are turning to stock trading to pass the time. Also with lowered interest rates, stocks are one of the only ways to find some yield. Looking at what stocks people are buying can shed more light on the stock market’s expectations about the post Covid-19 economy. Overall, as of June 1st, S&P 500 is back up above its 200 day moving average after rising 36% from its low on March 23rd. Looking at the 11 sectors of the S&P 500 over the last three months, energy, financials and utilities sectors have not bounced back as well as the communication services, information technology and consumer discretionary sectors. FAANG stocks, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Google’s parent company Alphabet which drove the longest bull market in history leading up to the crash are also leading the charge in this rally. Because of the way the stock indices measure the market the out performance of these few huge companies can help bully the overall indices, potentially covering up areas of weakness. Overall this disparity may suggest that investors envision future economy even more dominated by digital companies. So, while the stock market is not the economy it is a leading indicator where the investors think the economy will go. Taking a closer look at who is buying and what they are buying may give us clues as to what the recovery may look like. </p> <p><em>Courtesy: TD Ameritrade</em></p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://optionsguru.org/2020/07/18/stock-market-is-up-why/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">621</post-id> </item> <item> <title>FED Rate Cut, What Happens?</title> <link>https://optionsguru.org/2020/04/26/fed-rate-cut-what-happens/</link> <comments>https://optionsguru.org/2020/04/26/fed-rate-cut-what-happens/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ram Ganesh]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 26 Apr 2020 17:09:38 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[References]]></category> <category><![CDATA[FED]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://optionsguru.org/?p=613</guid> <description><![CDATA[What happens when FED (Federal Reserve, the central banking system of the USA) lowers interest rates? Speculation about whether the FED will cut interest rates can generate a lot of happenings. It is not always clear how the cut might <a class="more-link" href="https://optionsguru.org/2020/04/26/fed-rate-cut-what-happens/">Read More ...</a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>What happens when FED (Federal Reserve, the central banking system of the USA) lowers interest rates?</p> <p>Speculation about whether the FED will cut interest rates can generate a lot of happenings. It is not always clear how the cut might affect investors. So let us see how lowered interest rates can stimulate the economy and impact financial markets. Also let us take a look at which types of investments historically performed the best in low interest rate environments. </p> <p>The goal of the federal reserve or the FED is to keep the US economy healthy two ways. </p> <ol class="wp-block-list"><li>Minimizing Unemployment</li><li>Stabilizing Inflation</li></ol> <p>FED does this by decreasing or increasing interest rates. Historically as the economy has shown signs of weakness, the FED has responded by cutting interest rates.</p> <p>Here is how it works.</p> <p>A committee within the FED called the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meets 8 times a year to look at the health of the economy. If there are signs of a weak economy, like rising unemployment and stagnating job growth, the FED may decide to lower interest rate, specifically, the federal funds rate. Generally, when the federal funds rate is low, the banks lower their interest rates. This can help stimulate economic growth in a couple of ways. First, lower interest rates makes it cheaper for people and businesses to borrow money for big purchases and new ventures. Second, cutting interest rates makes it less profitable to keep money in bank accounts. Instead of saving, individuals and businesses may want to invest or spend that money. The goal is to kick-start the virtuous cycle of spending and growth that creates jobs and steer inflation towards healthy levels. However, it is likely to be sometime after the FED cuts before consumers begin to feel the signs of economic growth. Though the economy responds slowly, you may see changes in stock and bond markets immediately. For major stock indices rate cuts are typically good news. All expectations are often priced in. Sometimes there is a surprise that can cause the market to spike. In fact, sometime just rumors in cuts can cause a rally. For example, in June 2019, FEDs chairman J. Powell assured that the FED will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion. Many investors interpreted this as a hint that the interest rate would be cut. As a result stocks soared and DOW broke a six weeks losing streak. Historically, the S&P 500 index has generally performed well following interest rate cuts. It may be partially due to economic recovery but could also be due to investors increased optimism. Interest rate cuts can also have a major impact on the bond market. This is because if interest rates are going to be lower, older bonds with higher interest rates become more valuable. For investors who already own bonds, interest rate cuts can potentially allow them to sell their bonds at a higher price in the secondary market.</p> <p>Over the past 46 years, the performance of stocks, commodities, REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) and gold was relatively balanced. But, during low interest rate environments, REITs and US stocks have been the highest overall performing asset classes. Because interest rates are typically cut during an economic slowdowns, defensive stock sectors may be better poised to weather low interest rate environments. Think of it this way. Reduced rates in bonds may cause investors to look for income streams elsewhere. This can cause increased demand for stocks that are known for their steady dividends, like real estate, utilities and telecom. Consumer staples may also be a good investment during a rough economy because people will always need food plus these stocks tend to pay dividend as well. But remember, the point of cutting interest rate is to nudge the economy in the opposite direction. Though cuts may be the result of negative economic outlook, forward thinking investors may want to anticipate our interest rate cuts which may help spur along longterm economic growth. </p> <p>Courtesy: TD Ameritrade</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://optionsguru.org/2020/04/26/fed-rate-cut-what-happens/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">613</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Before You Tell Your Boss to Go Pound Sand</title> <link>https://optionsguru.org/2019/06/08/before-you-tell-your-boss-to-go-pound-sand/</link> <comments>https://optionsguru.org/2019/06/08/before-you-tell-your-boss-to-go-pound-sand/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ram Ganesh]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 09 Jun 2019 02:00:57 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[References]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://optionsguru.org/?p=571</guid> <description><![CDATA[The success in trading is 80% psychological and 20% one’s methodology, be it fundamental or technical. For example, you can have a mediocre knowledge of fundamental and technical information, and if you are in psychological control, you can make money. <a class="more-link" href="https://optionsguru.org/2019/06/08/before-you-tell-your-boss-to-go-pound-sand/">Read More ...</a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>The success in trading is 80% psychological and 20% one’s methodology, be it fundamental or technical. For example, you can have a mediocre knowledge of fundamental and technical information, and if you are in psychological control, you can make money. Conversely, you may have a great system, one that you have tested and has performed well for a long period of time, yet if the psychological control is not there, you will be the loser.</p> <p>Money is made in the markets by taking it from other traders. If you think it sounds ruthless, you are right. It is. This isn’t holistic coming together of like-minded souls to light incense and a celebration of the meaning of life. This is trading. It’s a zero-sum game.</p> <p>Retirees have a sort of freedom, but at what price? Retirement is a GPS signal for death to come and find you. It’s important to always be engaged with an interesting future. The only paid professions I’ve seen that offer a large degree of freedom are independent contract-type jobs like driving for Uber; the pay isn’t great, so a lot of hours still have to be worked. </p> <p>Reasons for trading full or part time are many. These include: the desire for stay-at-home husband, a wish to be more independent, controlling your own hours, with nobody telling you what to do. A lot of would-be traders I meet are already successful in other areas of lives – they are simply bored. I call these folks “doctors seeking excitement” although this can include anyone in a high-paying career. They like the income and the prestige, but they don’t like the bubble in which they are now trapped. Others have been burned by financial markets and are now interested in taking control of their financial future. And many have put together a small stake and want to give it a go and pursue their dreams of becoming a trader.</p> <p>Trading, when done right, offers substantial income for a small amount of work. Traders, at least who learn the art of being consistent, have the opportunity to create an independent life free from the hassles of the average Joe. These perks are extremely appealing and impossible to duplicate in many other professions. </p> <p>This is a “job” that provides the chance to make a very nice living, and it’s a lot more interesting and fun than any other profession, except being a rock star, of course. But if sharing a stage alongside U2 seems slightly out of reach, then trading is a good alternative.</p> <p>Start-up costs are minimal thanks to falling computer prices. Trading in your robe or nothing at all is perfectly fine. Best of all, a trader can choose their own working hours. For example, I would trade actively from October through April, and then take the next five months off or trade until I make 50% of the capital and then take the rest of the year off. Possibilities are endless.</p> <p>It truly represents the proverbial American Dream, and traders from all over the world are giving it a shot.</p> <p>The bottomline is that traders sweep aside political and philosophical differences when speaking to other traders. Traders around the world are linked by a single idea – to generate cash with their mind and to reap the benefit that this cash creates: freedom. It’s a beautiful thing. I love traders and all the craziness they represent.</p> <p>Traders have to constantly battle their desire to be right and prove their worldview, as it in no way, shape or form helps them to make consistent money. An unsuccessful trader who cannot figure out why he is struggling has the characteristics of a psychopath; anti-social behavior, poor judgment, failure to learn from experience, inability to see oneself as others do and inexplicable impulsiveness.</p> <p>One of the fallacies of trading is the idea that, “to make more money, I need to trade more.” Nothing can be further from the truth. Trading smarter and less frequently is one of the hidden secrets of doing this for a living. There is no need to catch every move, True freedom.</p> <p>The only way to become a professional trader is to obtain an edge, a weapon that can separate you from the rest of migrating sheep. That edge is gained by utilizing specific chart setups and trading methodologies that take into account certain key points, as well as the psychology of the trader taking the other side of the trade. Without this, as you enter the revolving door to the financial markets, filled with excitement and anticipation, the predators are merely licking their lips because what they see is a slab of freshly cured meat, ripe for eating. And feast they will.</p> <p>Trading and life are tightly intertwined. The better you understand yourself, the more likely it is that you ‘ll be able to find a market, a strategy, and an overall trading philosophy that best fit your personality.</p> <p>The Stock Market is a device used to transfer money from the impatient to the patient. – Warren Buffet</p> <p>All true artists, whether they know it or not, create from a place of no-mind from inner stillness. – Eckhart Tolle </p> <p>True underlying attraction to trading is far more fundamental and universal. Trading is an activity that offers the individual unlimited freedom of creative expression, a freedom of expression that has been denied to most of our lives.</p> <p>The trader’s mind should be in the present and calm, without the mind entering in the picture. This keeps the emotion out and the trading becomes more objective and the probability of success increases.</p> <p>So it is the freedom and excitement that attracts traders. And it’s the freedom that’s the undoing of many traders because with so much freedom comes a cruel price. Simply put, the markets cannot protect traders from themselves. Individual traders, unlike fund managers are unsupervised and have the freedom to act unchecked in any way they choose. And for many traders, this means they live a life where they are one mouse click away from disaster. The markets lull them, encourage, and even reinforce bad habits. </p> <p>I am trading full-time from home and just made over $6000 in just five trading days!.The earning potential is unlimited. My return on investment in 2018 was greater than 30% in my IRA account. </p> <figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="498" height="351" src="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/IMG_0472.png?resize=498%2C351&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-574" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/IMG_0472.png?w=498&ssl=1 498w, https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/IMG_0472.png?resize=300%2C211&ssl=1 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 498px) 100vw, 498px" data-recalc-dims="1" /></figure> <p>My mentors are multi-million dollar traders, the best on Wall Street, who had been there and done that, “The Raging Bull.”</p> <p>It is FREEDOM!</p> <p>Excerpts from must-reads:</p> <ol class="wp-block-list"><li>Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas</li><li>Mastering the Trade by John F. Carter</li></ol> <p>Good Trading!</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://optionsguru.org/2019/06/08/before-you-tell-your-boss-to-go-pound-sand/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">571</post-id> </item> <item> <title>A New Earth: Book Review</title> <link>https://optionsguru.org/2019/03/03/a-new-earth-book-review/</link> <comments>https://optionsguru.org/2019/03/03/a-new-earth-book-review/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ram Ganesh]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 03 Mar 2019 16:42:44 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[References]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://optionsguru.org/?p=555</guid> <description><![CDATA[Happiness in life results from understanding one’s purpose. In Eckhart Tolle’s (ET’s) book “A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose,” he stresses the importance of transcending the ego and be with the true-self. This will end the human dysfunction <a class="more-link" href="https://optionsguru.org/2019/03/03/a-new-earth-book-review/">Read More ...</a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p>Happiness in life results from understanding one’s purpose. In Eckhart Tolle’s (ET’s) book “A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose,” he stresses the importance of transcending the ego and be with the true-self. This will end the human dysfunction and suffering and result in personal happiness. In order to have a fulfilling existence, there must be a shift in consciousness or awakening. This book will awaken only those who are ready and resonate with them and for those who are not, it will not make sense or resonate. This book is a must-read for readers wanting to increase their personal happiness and decrease their propensity toward self-destruction.</p> <p> Here ET addresses, the essential question of this book: Will human beings be able to distance themselves from their identification with materiality and their personal ego and experience a transformation of consciousness? As ET points out this process has been at the foundation of all great spiritual teachings including Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism. ET suggests that the content of the book will either be transformative or nothing at all. It is up to the reader to decide which one it’s going to be for them.</p> <p>Chapter 1: The Flowering of Human Consciousness</p> <p>Our Inherited Dysfunction: ET points out that all major religions have suggested that what we call the “normal” state of mind has serious elements of dysfunction or even madness. While the human mind is highly intelligent this dysfunction has unleashed incredible destruction on the world. </p> <p>The Arising New Consciousness: While all religions have identified this “fault” in human consciousness they also have another insight to offer. This is that there is the possibility of a radical transformation of human consciousness. In Christianity this is termed “salvation”, Hinduism “enlightenment” and in Buddhism “the end of suffering”. ET believes that the greatest achievement of humanity is the recognition of its own dysfunction. ET states the basic beliefs of religion have become distorted so that they have become divisive rather than uniting.</p> <p>Chapter 2: Ego, the Current State of Humanity, The Illusionary Self</p> <p>When you don’t cover up the world with words and labels, a sense of the miraculous returns to your life that was lost a long time ago when humanity, instead of using thought, became possessed by thought.</p> <p>Even a stone, and more easily a flower or a bird, could show you the way back to God, and the Source, to yourself. When you look at it or hold it and let it be without imposing a word or mental label.</p> <p>Content and The Structure Of The Ego: ET then explains how we start to identify with the things that we own. This process is one where our own sense of self becomes indelibly associated with this other thing. It starts with something simple like a toy and overtime extends to our television, our car or our house and so on. The structure of the ego remains the same, but its content varies.</p> <p>The Peace that Passes All Understanding: It is sometimes in the face of the greatest tragedy that we find true peace. When all of the things that our ego identifies with: our family, our possessions, our position in society are completely gone that the ego collapses. Your sense of being becomes free from the entanglements with form. This can be called the peace that passes all understanding.</p> <p>Chapter 3: The Core of Ego</p> <p>Beyond ego: your true identity: All that is required for someone to become free of the ego is to be aware of it. This is because ego and awareness are mutually exclusive with one another. Awareness is the power that is found in the present moment. This is why it is called presence. It is only by being present in the moment that we can become free of our ego.</p> <p>All structures are unstable: Ego always wants something from other people and situations. It always has a hidden agenda. It uses people and situations to get what it wants. But when it gets what it wants it doesn’t stay satisfied with it very long. This means that people are either in a state of desire or anguish. They are constantly in a state of dissatisfaction.</p> <p>Chapter 4: Role Playing – The Many Faces Of Ego</p> <p>Mastery of life is not a question of control, but of finding a balance between human and Being. Mother, father, husband, wife, young, old, the roles you play, the functions you fulfill, whatever you do—all that belongs to the human dimension. It has its place and needs to be honored, but in itself it is not enough for a fulfilled, truly meaningful relationship or life. Human alone is never enough, no matter how hard you try or what you achieve. Then there is Being. It is found in the still, alert presence of Consciousness itself. The Consciousness that you are. Human is form. Being is formless. Human and Being are not separate, but interwoven.”</p> <p>Chapter 5: The Pain-Body</p> <p>ET introduces the pain-body. The body has a mind of its own. The degree that people are trapped by their mind varies from person to person. Some people are able to enjoy periods when they are free from the egoic state and able to enjoy peace and joy. Others are constantly trapped in this state and are alienated from both themselves and other people.</p> <p>How the pain-body renews itself: ET considers the pain body to be semiautonomous and require replenishing in order to strengthen and survive. The pain body thrives on negative thinking and emotional drama. Essentially the pain-body has an addiction to unhappiness.</p> <p>Chapter 6: Breaking Free</p> <p>ET discusses the idea of how we can break free from the pain body. ET suggests that the first step to breaking free is to become aware that we actually have a pain body. When we become alert we will start to notice the influx of negative emotion that occurs when the pain body becomes active. When you no longer identify with the pain body it cannot control your thinking or renew itself by feeding on these thoughts. This does not mean that your pain body will disappear straight away. But because you are no longer providing it energy it will eventually wither and dissolve.</p> <p>Presence: ET tells the story of a woman in her thirties who came to visit him. While she was smiling he could tell that she was undergoing great pain. As she told her story it was revealed that she had physically violent father. ET instructed her that rather than trying reject the emotions that she was feeling she needed to accept that this was the way that she felt right now and be present. She found the shift in consciousness.</p> <p>Chapter 7: Finding Who You Truly Are</p> <p>Knowing Yourself: The problem with the way most people go about getting to know themselves, though, is that these unconscious people tend to merely add spiritual sounding concepts to the ideas they have about themselves floating around in their minds. None of these concepts or ideas have anything to do with living in a true state of Being. We all have a sense of who we are, ET states, which we use to determine our needs and what matters to us. Within those boundaries, how one responds to life situation ascertains the degree of consciousness the person possesses. The essence of who we are requires no belief, because every belief is an obstacle. This realization, according to the author, allows us to shine forth in the world. </p> <p>Not Minding What Happens: To illustrate how this works, ET uses the example of J. Krishnamuri, the Indian philosopher and spiritual teacher, who revealed his secret with the phrase “I don’t mind what happens.” This in turn aligned him with what is, allowing him to form a relationship with non-resistance.</p> <p>Chapter 8: The Discovery Of Inner Space</p> <p>Ancient Sufi story: In this story there was a king who was either in a state of extreme happiness or incredible depression. If something good happened to the king he would be overwhelmed with joy. But if even the slightest thing went wrong he would become furiously upset. Eventually even the king become tired of living in this way and looked for an alternative. To overcome his problem he sought out advice from a wiseman and asked him what the secret to his serenity was.</p> <p>This Too Will Pass: The wiseman told the king that he would give him a gift that was so priceless that even his kingdom would not be enough to pay for it. He said before he would give this great gift to the king he must promise that he would honor the gift. The king agreed and several weeks later he was presented with a gold ring housed in an ornate jade box. Inscribed on the ring were the words “This too will pass.” The King demanded to know what the meaning of the gift was.</p> <p>As ET points out this story is a perfect illustration of the key ideas of impermanence and non-judgement. Any event that occurs in our life is transient. The idea that “this too shall pass” isn’t just a way of making us feel comforted when things are bad. It also shows that everything, good and bad will eventually pass away. By becoming detached it does not mean that we can no longer enjoy things. By being aware of their transient nature we can often enjoy them more because we don’t have to fear losing them.</p> <p>The Bliss Of Being: The first step to seeking inner space is accepting that it exists. When you can simply enjoy being in the moment, whether that is admiring the beauty of the clouds in the sky or being kind to a stranger without expecting anything in return, then you have opened yourself up briefly to inner space. When this occurs you will experience a feeling of well being and peace. The wisemen of India would called this state ananda which is simply the bliss of being. By becoming an observer of the sense perceptions, the inner space is created between the observer and the observed.</p> <p>Chapter 9: Your Inner Purpose</p> <p>ET discusses the idea of discovering your inner purpose. As ET points out once we have overcome the problem of survival, the issue of meaning and purpose becomes the most important questions we can ask.</p> <p>Life purpose: Many people feel that their life lacks purpose. They feel overwhelmed by their finances or living situation. They long for freedom and prosperity. But even in cases where the prosperity arise it is not enough to imbue their life with meaning. The problem is caused by looking for meaning on the outside. But it is not what you do but rather your state of conscious that gives your life meaning. In ET’s conception inner purpose is to do with being, outer purpose is to do with doing. It is inner purpose which is the most important of the two.</p> <p>ET suggests that our inner purpose is simply to awaken. This is the same purpose that every person on the planet has. It is also the same purpose of humanity. When you live in alignment with your inner purpose then you have built a foundation for fulfilling your outer purpose. If you do not have this alignment you can be successful on the outside by doing but still not feel fulfilled.</p> <p>Chapter 10: A New Earth</p> <p>ET begins by discussing the occurrence of the big bang over fifteen billion years ago in a gigantic explosion and has been expanding ever since. Eckhart explains that the universe is always growing and becoming more complex and differentiated. He goes into how scientists think this drive towards multiplicity may reverse at some point and move back towards unity. The universe will eventually stop expanding and begin to contract again, reversing and going back to the nothingness, the un-manifested, and maybe even begin the whole process again of being born, expanding, and dying.</p> <p>Inner And Outer Purpose: We all have an inner and outer purpose, and we are all reflections as microcosms of the macrocosm. The universe as well has an inner and outer purpose. The outer purpose is create forms and watch the interaction of those forms together, the human drama, the play. The inner purpose is to awaken to its inner formlessness, its essence. The purpose is to bring that inner essence of consciousness into the world of forms and thereby transform the world. That is the reconciliation between the world and “God” or whatever you want to call it, the physical plane and the spiritual plane, that of energy and formlessness.</p> <p><strong>Summary as I see it</strong></p> <p>The default human position is one of dysfunction (dukha in Buddhism), or the unhappiness as we all as know it. This is largely due to identification with conditioned mind. The ego exercises control over us by dwelling in the past or worrying about the future and never staying the present. The present is always used as a means to an end by ego which cherishes or resents the past and worries about the future. As one awakens and stays in the present, the ego begins to lose its grip on us. Ego has a structure and a content. While the structure remains the same, the content varies for everyone. The present is the only gateway to enter the true-self or the “being”. ET explains this by using the horizontal and vertical dimensions. While the horizontal dimension represents the past and the future, the vertical dimension represents the depth, the intra-personal and the eternal true-self. Thus the ego is associated with time in the horizontal dimension, while the true-self is eternal and has no time association in the depth direction. In order to know who you really are, you need to know who you really aren’t. Possessions and positions are not who you are, and who you are can only be found by going deep within yourself. You can get a glimpse of yourself, by staying conscious, still and alert with no thought. </p> <p>All the sense perceptions, and the emotions we feel happen on the substratum, namely the “being” or the “true-self” or the “consciousness”, the subject. Thought needs consciousness but the consciousness does not need thought. So we have the observer, the act of observing and the observed. Every human has inside what is called a “pain-body” which is an accumulation of negative energy. The density of the pain-body varies from person to person. The pain-body is energized and fed by negative thinking. If you identify with the pain-body it becomes part of the ego. It is therefore, important to recognize the pain-body in oneself and in others. You deal with your own pain-body by observing as an observer, the substratum, the subject without judgment. You deal with other pain-bodies by not reacting and feeding negative energy which is what feeds them in the first place. Everyone has functions to perform such as a mother, teacher or a son. When one identifies with the function beyond the duration when it is necessary, it becomes a role that ego plays to fulfill its own desire to maintain power over us. It is therefore, important to recognize this at an early stage and dis-identify with this role playing, as it leads to unconsciousness and suffering, as the saying goes, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions’. Whenever we observe the emotion, role-playing in us or others pain-body, the objects we create an inner space as ET calls it. The concept of “inner space” does not arise if one is unaware of the true-self, the observer, and lost in the mind, meaning identified with the mind. Social media is the perfect example of total unconsciousness when the humanity is completely hijacked by the collective mind and prevents the humanity from realizing self or the inner space. Humanity has an inner purpose which is to bring consciousness into this world, “being”, and the outer purpose is “doing”. The inner purpose is more important than the outer purpose and they have to be aligned which ET call it, the “awakened-doing’. If you do this, your doing will be successful because the Universe supports it as it is in line with the evolutionary impulse of the Universe. The three things required for you to awaken to true-self are, non-attachment, non-judgment and non-resistance. </p> <p>Example of Real-World Application:</p> <p>Myth: Rich people are not Spiritual (mental block) and therefore I don’t want to be rich</p> <p>Truth: As long as you are an “awakened-doing”, meaning rooted in the “being” and bring consciousness into the world, and not lost in the mind, your abundance seeking is in line with the evolutionary impulse of the Universe and it will conspire in every which way to make you Rich in whatever mode you choose.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://optionsguru.org/2019/03/03/a-new-earth-book-review/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">555</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Market Strategy for the Present Time – Impending Bear Market</title> <link>https://optionsguru.org/2018/12/10/market-strategy-for-the-present-time-impending-bear-market/</link> <comments>https://optionsguru.org/2018/12/10/market-strategy-for-the-present-time-impending-bear-market/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ram Ganesh]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 10 Dec 2018 15:19:37 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[References]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Intrinsic Value]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://optionsguru.org/?p=544</guid> <description><![CDATA[“You don’t find out who has been swimming naked until the tide goes out.” – Warren Buffett The decade-long run for the current bull market and widespread concerns about elevated values in US stocks leading to days like Tuesday (Dec <a class="more-link" href="https://optionsguru.org/2018/12/10/market-strategy-for-the-present-time-impending-bear-market/">Read More ...</a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“You don’t find out who has been swimming naked until the tide goes out.”</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">– Warren Buffett</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">The decade-long run for the current bull market and widespread concerns about elevated values in US stocks leading to days like Tuesday (Dec 4th 2018) and Friday (Dec 7th 2018) when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell close to 800 and 550 points respectively, are reminders that getting at the true value of corporations is as important as it has ever been. </span></p> <p class="p5"><span class="s1">Even with just four days of trading, this past week was a headache for investors.</span></p> <p class="p5"><span class="s1">The Dow lost 4.5%, the S&P 500 dropped 4.6%, and the Nasdaq dropped 4.9%. For each of the major indexes, </span><span class="s2">it was their worst week since March. F</span><span class="s1">or some market experts, this marks only the beginning of a rocky period for investors that will continue.</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">So no one should be making rash decisions, as Warren Buffett reminds the fearful that the stock market is there to serve investors, not instruct them (echoing Ben Graham’s maxim).</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">As many sector’s within the S&P 500 are in correction, every investor should be questioning the value of what they own in their stock portfolio.</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">The Concept of Intrinsic Value and Book Value</span></p> <p class="p3"><span class="s1">Intrinsic value is the preset value of the stream of cash that is going to be generated by any financial asset between now and doomsday. It is easy to say, but impossible to figure. What counts for most people in investing is not how much they know, but rather how realistically they define what they don’t know. An investor needs to do very few things right as long as he or she avoids big mistakes.</span></p> <p class="p8"><span class="s2">Book value</span><span class="s1"> and </span><span class="s2">intrinsic value</span><span class="s1"> are two ways to measure the value of a company. There are a number of differences between them, but essentially book value is a measure of the present, while intrinsic value takes into account estimates into the future.</span></p> <p class="p8"><span class="s1">Book value is based on the value of total </span><span class="s2">assets</span><span class="s1"> less the value of total </span><span class="s2">liabilities</span><span class="s1">—it attempts to measure the net assets a company has built up until the present time. In theory, this is the amount that the shareholders would receive if the company were to be completely liquidated.</span></p> <p class="p8"><span class="s1">For example, if a company has $23.2 billion in assets and $19.3 billion in liabilities, the book value of the company would be the difference, $3.9 billion. To express this number in terms of book value per share, simply take the book value and divide it by the number of </span><span class="s2">outstanding shares</span><span class="s1">. If a given company is currently trading below its book value, it is often considered to be </span><span class="s2">undervalued.</span></p> <p class="p8"><span class="s1">There are, however, several problems with the use of book value as a measure of value. For example, it would be unlikely that the value the company would receive in </span><span class="s2">liquidation</span><span class="s1"> would be equal to the book value per share. Nevertheless, it can still be used as a useful </span><span class="s2">benchmark</span><span class="s1"> to estimate how much a profitable company’s stock might drop if the market turns sour on it.</span></p> <p class="p8"><span class="s1">Intrinsic value is a measure of value based on the future earnings a company is expected to generate for its investors — it attempts to measure the total net assets a company is expected to build in the future. It is considered the true value of the company from an investment standpoint and is calculated by taking the </span><span class="s2">present value</span><span class="s1"> of the earnings (attributable to investors) that a company is expected to generate in the future, along with the future sale value of the company.</span></p> <p class="p8"><span class="s1">The idea behind this measure is that the purchase of a stock entitles the owner to his or her share of the company’s future earnings. If all of the future earnings are accurately known along with the final sale price, the company’s true value can be calculated.</span></p> <p class="p8"><span class="s1">For example, if we assume that a company will be around for one year and generate $1,000 before being sold for $10,000, we can find the intrinsic value of the company. At the end of the year we will have received $11,000. If our </span><span class="s2">required rate of return</span><span class="s1"> is 10 percent, then the present value today of the future earnings and sale price is $10,000. If we were to pay more than $10,000 for the company, our required </span><span class="s2">rate of return</span><span class="s1"> would not be met.</span></p> <p class="p8"><span class="s1">Discounted Cash Flow Model is one of the ways the intrinsic value of the company is calculated. It requires the input of some significant assumptions, such as how long a company’s outperformance can last. The key is to start with the company’s strategy and current performance and ask how long that performance is likely to be sustainable, given the nature of the industry and competition. Much of the value estimate in DCF lies in terminal value.</span></p> <p class="p8"><span class="s1">The reason an intrinsic value model can work so well – in terms of making people lot of money – is that so few can effectively master them. “Since value is about the future, it is obviously based on forecasts. Forecasts have to be based on assumptions. The question really is how to make your assumptions sensible and grounded in fundamentals. That is why it is called fundamental analysis. If there is a mechanical way to do this, it will not have much pay-off in the investment process since everyone would have the same information, and it is tough to make money with common information in a market. So assumptions are a double-edged sword. They are subjective, but they are also the source of superior investment returns.</span></p> <p class="p8"><span class="s1">The principles related intrinsic value can be laid out, but there is no one formula into which an investor can plug the ideas and come out with the same result as an experienced investor does. If nothing more, the attempt to understand the ideas and calculate a publicly traded<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>company’s intrinsic value, even done imperfectly, could help an investor to avoid the big market blunders before hitting the buy button. </span></p> <p class="p8"><span class="s1">Or the investor would be perfectly correct to come away from an attempt to understand intrinsic value and say, I would rather just buy an S&P 500 index fund – this anti-stock picking strategy is also approved by experienced investors.</span></p> <p class="p8"><span class="s1">An investor would be wise to start by reading a lot more about intrinsic value, as this barely scratches the surface. Read everything you can such as equity research reports, 10-Ks and other company filings and be prepared to feel lucky if only 1% of it leads to a great investment idea.</span></p> <p class="p8"><span class="s1">If one can come up with the intrinsic value of the stock and apply a factor of safety of 50% as Ben Graham would suggest, because the factor of safety is actually a factor for ignorance in coming up with the correct intrinsic value, and pull the trigger to buy at that price, that is value investing and this strategy alone will make the investor very rich in the years to come. Now is the time when the markets are down in a bear market territory to get hold of such chock-full-of value stocks! Value stocks are on fire-sale!</span></p> <p class="p8"><span class="s1">Courtesy: CNBC’s Warren Buffett Archive </span></p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://optionsguru.org/2018/12/10/market-strategy-for-the-present-time-impending-bear-market/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">544</post-id> </item> <item> <title>How to be a Super Investor of Graham-and-Doddsville?</title> <link>https://optionsguru.org/2018/09/16/how-to-be-a-super-investor-of-graham-and-doddsville/</link> <comments>https://optionsguru.org/2018/09/16/how-to-be-a-super-investor-of-graham-and-doddsville/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ram Ganesh]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 16 Sep 2018 20:19:27 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Options Strategy]]></category> <category><![CDATA[References]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Market]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://optionsguru.org/?p=533</guid> <description><![CDATA[Many professors argue that the stock market is efficient by quoting their “efficient market theory”. That is, the stock prices reflect everything that is known about a company’s prospect and about the state of the economy. There are no under-valued <a class="more-link" href="https://optionsguru.org/2018/09/16/how-to-be-a-super-investor-of-graham-and-doddsville/">Read More ...</a>]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Many professors argue that the stock market is efficient by quoting their “efficient market theory”. That is, the stock prices reflect everything that is known about a company’s prospect and about the state of the economy. There are no under-valued stocks because there are smart security analysts who utilize all available information to ensure unfailingly appropriate prices. Investors who seem to beat the market year after year are just lucky. Is it true?</p> <p>Well, may be. But the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett presented a group of investors, who have year in and year out, beaten the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index. The hypothesis that they do this by pure chance is questionable. This group identified by a common intellectual home is worthy of study. Academic studies have been conducted on the influence of such variables as price, volume, seasonality, capitalization size, etc., upon stock performance, but no interest has been shown in studying the methods of this unusual concentration of value-oriented investors. In this group of successful investors that we want to consider, there has been a common intellectual patriarch, Ben Graham. But the children who left the house of this intellectual patriarch have made their investment choices in many different ways. They have gone to different places and bought and sold different stocks and companies, yet they have had a combined record that simply cannot be explained by any random chance. The patriarch has merely set forth the intellectual theory for making decisions, but each student has decided on his own manner of applying the theory.</p> <p>The common intellectual theme of the investors from Graham-and-Doddsville is this: they search for discrepancies between the value of a business and the price of small pieces of that business in the market. Essentially, they exploit those discrepancies without the efficient market theorist’s concern as to whether the stocks were bought a certain specific way. They simply focus on two variables; price and value. Attached Table shows the record of the Sequoia fund, which was managed by Bill Ruane who Warren Buffett met in Ben Graham’s class in 1951 in Columbia Business School. Bill Ruane graduated out of Harvard Business School, worked in Wall Street before taking Ben Graham’s class. Bill’s record from 1951 to 1970, working with relatively small sums was far better than average. Sequoia fund was set up by Bill at the request of Warren Buffett to handle his partners when Warren wound up Buffett partnership. Bill was the only person who Warren recommended to his partners. Warren also said that if Bill would achieve a four-point-per-annum advantage over the Standard & Poor’s, that would be solid performance. Bill has achieved well over that, working with progressively larger sums of money.<br /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-536" src="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Sequoia.jpeg?resize=762%2C809&ssl=1" alt="" width="762" height="809" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Sequoia.jpeg?w=762&ssl=1 762w, https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Sequoia.jpeg?resize=283%2C300&ssl=1 283w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 762px) 100vw, 762px" data-recalc-dims="1" />Walter Schloss, Tom Knapp and Ed Anderson who are all disciples of Graham, produced similar results where practically, there is no duplication in their portfolios. These are men who select securities based on discrepancies between price and value, but they make their selections very differently.</p> <p>I am an ardent follower of Buffett’s principles in value investing, managed (self-directed) my own IRA (Individual Retirement Account). My portfolio consists of Stocks and Calls and Puts Options. The longest running bear market helped me achieve a yearly ROI (return on investment) of 30.21% whereas the bench mark S&P Index made 19.66% (see attached) during the same period. One of the Super Investors of Graham-and-Dodsville, Bill Ruane had similar returns from his Sequoia fund, in the year 1982, viz., 31.2% and 21.4% respectively. Am I a Super Investor of Graham-and-Doddsville? I also followed the same set of rules and produced similar results.</p> <p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-534" src="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Year_Perf_1.jpeg?resize=610%2C410&ssl=1" alt="" width="610" height="410" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Year_Perf_1.jpeg?w=610&ssl=1 610w, https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Year_Perf_1.jpeg?resize=300%2C202&ssl=1 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 610px) 100vw, 610px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-535" src="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Year_Perf.jpeg?resize=780%2C247&ssl=1" alt="" width="780" height="247" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Year_Perf.jpeg?w=1436&ssl=1 1436w, https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Year_Perf.jpeg?resize=300%2C95&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Year_Perf.jpeg?resize=768%2C243&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Year_Perf.jpeg?resize=1024%2C324&ssl=1 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" data-recalc-dims="1" />In 2008, Warren Buffett issued a challenge to the hedge fund industry, which in his view charged exorbitant fees that the funds’ performances couldn’t justify. Protégé Partners LLC accepted, and the two parties placed a million-dollar bet.</p> <p>Buffett has won the bet, Ted Seides wrote in a Bloomberg op-ed in May. The Protégé co-founder, who left in the fund in 2015, conceded defeat ahead of the contest’s scheduled wrap-up on December 31, 2017, writing, “for all intents and purposes, the game is over. I lost.”</p> <p>Buffett’s ultimately successful contention was that, including fees, costs and expenses, an S&P 500 index fund would outperform a hand-picked portfolio of hedge funds over 10 years. The bet pit two basic investing philosophies against each other: passive and active investing.</p> <p>Therefore, none of the fund managers could beat the market, viz., the S&P 500 index!</p> <p>Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. 2013 Annual Report by Warren E. Buffett: (about passive investing)<br /> I have good news for these non-professionals: The typical investor doesn’t need this skill. In aggregate, American business has done wonderfully over time and will continue to do so (though, most assuredly, in unpredictable fits and starts). In the 20th Century, the Dow Jones Industrials index advanced from 66 to 11,497, paying a rising stream of dividends to boot. The 21st Century will witness further gains, almost certain to be substantial. The goal of the non-professional should not be to pick winners – neither he nor his “helpers” can do that – but should rather be to own a cross-section of businesses that in aggregate are bound to do well. A low-cost S&P 500 index fund will achieve this goal.<br /> The antidote to many kinds of mistiming is for an investor to accumulate shares over a long period and never to sell when the news is bad and stocks are well off their highs. Following those rules, the “know-nothing” investor who both diversifies and keeps his costs minimal is virtually certain to get satisfactory results. Indeed, the unsophisticated investor who is realistic about his shortcomings is likely to obtain better long-term results than the knowledgeable professional who is blind to even a single weakness.<br /> Here is the incentive for the investors to learn active investing from the masters, Graham and Buffett and by following their value investing principles, can indeed become one of the Super Investors of Graham-and-Doddsville with investment returns beating the street by a large margin just like I have demonstrated here.</p> <p>The heavy-hitters in investment business and their beat-the-street-stellar returns are shown below:</p> <p> </p> <p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-539" src="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Heavy_Hitters.jpg?resize=780%2C438&ssl=1" alt="" width="780" height="438" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Heavy_Hitters.jpg?w=1628&ssl=1 1628w, https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Heavy_Hitters.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Heavy_Hitters.jpg?resize=768%2C431&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Heavy_Hitters.jpg?resize=1024%2C575&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Heavy_Hitters.jpg?resize=780%2C439&ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Heavy_Hitters.jpg?resize=800%2C450&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Heavy_Hitters.jpg?resize=400%2C225&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/optionsguru.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Heavy_Hitters.jpg?w=1560&ssl=1 1560w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" data-recalc-dims="1" /><br /> Recommended Reading: The Intelligent Investor, the definitive book on value investing, by Benjamin Graham (Appendix 1: The Super Investors of Graham-and-Doddsville)</p> <p>Notable Quotes by Warren Buffett:<br /> “I am a better investor because I am a businessman, and a better businessman because I am an investor.”<br /> “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”<br /> “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to arbitrage and you feed him forever.”</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://optionsguru.org/2018/09/16/how-to-be-a-super-investor-of-graham-and-doddsville/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">533</post-id> </item> </channel> </rss>