PE4FAMs Blog

It is with a massive dose of humility that I am attempting to divine why Warren Buffett has sold down his large ownership position in Apple stock and how he accomplished it without affecting the trading prices. Here is a 5 year chart of Apple’s performance. It has risen from around $68 per share in […]

Over the last several decades a profound shift has occurred in the world of investments and responsibility for investment risk. Once upon a time when I started my career in the 1970’s, the risks associated with investment decisions were squarely shouldered by investors themselves. In this traditional model which had existed from the beginning of

Reddy Kilowatt was the creation of the electric utility industry in the 1930’s when it was trying to spur consumer adoption of electricity which, for many, was simply an abstract invisible commodity. Here is Reddy Kilowatt circa 1930: By the end of WWII Reddy Kilowatt’s likeness was global and demand for electric power began to

I first learned about debt jubilees when I took a religion course in college.  The concept is rooted in the bible, but it also has antecedents in the way religious leaders and kings curried favor with their subjects to remain in power and avoid rebellion. I asked ChatGPT to for a short history of debt

I have been monitoring many of the favorite investment names in the U.S. stock market like Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), Progressive (NYSE: PGR), Facebook (NASDAQ: META) and Alphabet/Google (NASDAQ: GOOG). After a significant downturn in 2021 these stocks and many others have rebounded and, in many cases, have exceeded the giddy highs set in October

Many of our blog readers have asked about Bitcoin (Ticker: BTC). This corresponds to the development of multiple ETF’s earlier this year, the halving of the reward paid to Bitcoin miners in April and Jamie Dimon rendering his annual opinion that Bitcoin is a “fraud”. Background On Bitcoin Here is a description of Bitcoin taken

I have always loved Triscuits and peanut butter. It was a staple of the McCreary family diet for more than 20 years.  As time passes, I have noticed less salt, less fat, and less taste in modern day Triscuits but most of all I think the volume of Triscuits you get in the modern box

In the 1980’s, against the backdrop of 18% interest rates, politicians and the financiers each staked out their turf. The financiers ceded the power to legislate, tax and create entitlement programs to the politicians and the politicians let the financiers run a legal monopoly known as the stock and bond markets where wealth creation trickled

A career in financial services has been a wonderful place to be for the last 40 years. Powerful macrotrends like 40 years of falling interest rates, Moore’s law with the doubling of computing power every several years, the emergence of a sophisticated credit economy, a plethora of worldwide investable capital and an almost error-free infrastructure

As we start a new investment year and take inventory of bad habits to avoid and good ones to enhance, I come back to some value investing principles foremost of which is first do no harm or spoken in investment language, avoid losses. However, had you burrowed into your foxhole during the second half of