A Beginner’s Guide to Cloud Computing
What is cloud computing? How does the cloud work? To invest in companies such as Microsoft, Shopify, Google, or Crowdstrike, we need to understand the basics of cloud computing. In today’s world, most of us use some form of cloud computing. For example, your Gmail, Hotmail, or Outlook accounts utilize the cloud. Instead of running […]
What is Minority Interest and How Do I Find It?
Acquisitions, as a part of growth, continue to play a role in the markets. Many companies use this strategy. Berkshire Hathaway, Google, and Constellation Software use acquisitions to grow their companies. Many of these acquisitions become 100% ownership for the acquirer. But many don’t rise to 100%, and how companies account for the smaller ownership […]
Commercial Paper For Beginners
“The commercial paper, when that dries up, you know, that’s just like sucking the blood out of the economic body of the United States.” Howard Warren Buffett Commercial paper’s nature makes it worthy for institutional and wealthy investors to buy direct, while smaller investors get exposure via their money market funds or brokerage accounts. Most […]
Using Porter’s Five Forces to Determine a Company’s Moat
“The key to investing is not assessing how much an industry is going to affect society, or how much it will grow, but rather determining the competitive advantage of any given company and, above all, the durability of that advantage.” Warren Buffett Investing in companies whose competitive landscape we don’t understand offers some challenges; we […]
Shark Tank Valuation Formulas Explained
Shark Tank is a wildly popular show with star investing tycoons like Mark Cuban and “Mr. Wonderful” Kevin O’Leary. If you’re an entrepreneur about to pitch your company to these venture capitalists, you absolutely must know your stuff, especially your numbers. The name of the game in Shark Tank is valuation, and if you watch […]
Understanding the 12 Most Common Types of Business Models
In a speech in Switzerland, Warren Buffett discussed what he means by buying businesses he understands. “We don’t look for specific sectors; we look for businesses that I can understand. When I say understand, that means where I feel that I have a high degree of confidence in my ability to see what they’re going […]
13F Filings: The Easy Way to Find Awesome Investment Ideas from the Greats
Looking for a place on the internet where you can get a detailed portfolio snapshot of the world’s greatest investors, all regularly and for free. These documents are called a 13F filing, and we can find them at SEC.gov. Using the 13F filing remains easy and free to find what some companies your favorite investors […]
Beginner’s Guide: Value Investing, Intrinsic Value, Top Investors
Value investing is all about finding stocks trading at a discount to their intrinsic value. Investors have used this strategy for decades to find outsized returns; the very best have outperformed the market with this strategy. In a 90 year long study done by Merrill Lynch, it was determined that value stocks returned an average […]
Starting an Investment Firm: LLC, Limited Partnership, or Incorporate?
As an investor for over 9 years and LLC co-owner for over 5, I’ve thought a lot about utilizing my passion for investing in the most optimal way. Maybe you’re thinking of starting an investment firm, wanting to invest on your own or on behalf of others. Well, there’s so many ways to do it, […]
Understanding Why a Company may Decide to Complete a Share Buyback
Companies will often take part in a share repurchase program. However, the reasons for the share buyback are often unknown and can lead to different outcomes. Have you read a company’s quarterly update or listened to their earnings call and heard of a plan for stock buyback or a stock repurchase? When you take a […]
