In investing, the DON’Ts are even more important than the DOs. A list I like to keep:
1. No fads
Do not invest in clothing or other low customer retention sectors that exhibit “fashion” dynamics (Asos, Boohoo)
2. No developed country electronics/manufacturing
Do not invest in electronics made in Europe (Alfen) or other manufacturing competing with China (Bekaert)
3. No businesses being actively disrupted
Do not invest in markets being disrupted
(Stellantis, GSK, ING, Bpost)
4. No "just get it done" businesses
Do not invest in companies offering convenience/utility instead of love/indulgence/status
(Hellofresh, Heineken vs LVMH, Lotus Bakeries, Duvel)
5. No locked up capital businesses
Do not invest in companies based in countries without freedom of capital (Gazprom, Alibaba, JD)
6. No low diversification businesses
Do not invest in high capital, low diversification businesses (Telecom, Airlines, GenAI providers?)
7. No short term champions
Do not invest in companies prioritising short term financials over long term customer satisfaction (Herbalife, Wells Fargo)
8. No politics/ESG before investors
Do not invest in companies that want to focus on politics first and shareholders second ($BUD)
9. No forgone glory
Do not invest in companies living on their reputation, where employees sleep in the castles their founders and early employees have built (IBM, Dell)
10. Do invest in eternal excellence seekers
Invest in companies striving to excel, aiming higher, creating greatness, inspiring employees to create a new experience for customers and disrupting their industry and our way of life, in small or large ways! (Nvidia, Crowdstrike, Intuitive Surgical, Lotus Bakeries … )
Deep value guys are built like fridges, worth $10M, wear the same $9 jeans for 12 years, hate everything, haven’t smiled since 2008, and haven’t touched their wives since QE1. But they will die on a hill for a 0.4x P/B stock.
@OtterMarket Hey Harris, appreciate the thread. Do you find all of your ideas yourself through rock-turning or are they sometimes from your network of like-minded investors? Also, having grown a lot in terms of NW, did you diversify part of the port into ETFs?
@BrownMarubozu We plebs can debate the AI impact question all we like but they can see it inside the business. I think his adding 20% might have been for optics at the time. Figure we should see some other insiders gaining confidence and looking to profit. I have no strong opinions on it.
Sad day in NL, the Dutch government is expected to pass a bill introducing a 36% tax on unrealized capital gains.
This will destroy long-term strategies, kill compounding effects & trigger a wealth exodus of biblical proportions.
But they'll pass it anyway. Can't fix stupid.
@marketplunger1@BuyCheapNPray Agree she's great but she definitely adapted it and it seems to work. I take her for a cross of Schloss and Keith Gill in style, which is pretty cool.