Insights on markets, emergent trends, history, innovation, risk management, global economics, strategy, policy, and other topics that catch our attention. Inspired by ongoing research, conversations and events. Written and edited by Osbon Capital Management and published every Thursday morning.

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Too much time is spent talking about price. Fundamentals are ultimately what drive equity prices higher over time. To say this another way, a company’s stock price can’t continue to rise unless it continues to be successful. The famous quote by Warren Buffett is, “In the short run, the market is a voting machine, but in the long run (...)

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What is the Penalty Economy?

The penalty economy’s objective is to guide people into paying more than they intend when they are confused, distracted or too busy to care. It’s not necessarily illegal or even unethical. Have you been spending money in the penalty economy?

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The New Philanthropy Page

Charity is a basic human instinct. The desire to help others with money, time or talent is wired into our very selves. With that in mind, we’re pleased to announce this morning the new Osbon Capital philanthropy page.

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What are Anti-Goals?

Charlie Munger, Warren Buffet’s longtime business partner, has said, “A lot of success in life comes from knowing what you want to avoid: early death, bad marriage, etc.” Charlie was talking about a problem solving technique called “inversion.” We use the term “anti-goals.” Either way, focusing on what you want to avoid is a very powerful tool.

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Decathlon Raises $100k for the kids

Over the weekend, Max and I participated in our favorite event of the year, the D10. It’s a decathlon for professionals from the financial industry and other fields. Dozens of us spent Saturday at the MIT track running, jumping, throwing and lifting. We love the competition and the cause. This year’s Boston event raised $100,000 for pediatric cancer. 

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Four Ways To Give Up Certainty 

In the investment industry, “certainty” is typically defined in terms of a specific guaranteed return. For instance, savings accounts and US Treasury Bills offer certain (but low) returns. T-Bills are finally paying some interest now, a whopping .98% annually. Call it one percent, or $10,000 dollars on $1 million, essentially risk-free.

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To Give or Not To Give

When asked what one of the bigger personal challenges a philanthropist faces, the answer often is “saying no when asked for funding, board participation, or a time commitment.”  At The Philanthropy Workshop, where I am an alumna, we refer to this as the investment of our time, treasure, and talent.

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Let the kids touch the money

Would you turn your family checkbook over to a twelve year-old kid? My mother did. It went better than you might expect.

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A Peek at the Future

I spent the weekend at an invite-only financial regulation round table hosted by Jo Ann Barefoot, senior fellow at Harvard and a veteran of the financial regulation world. Jo Ann founded the Barefoot Innovation Group. Over the course of the weekend we discussed the symbiosis (interaction) of the old guard and the new in banking, lending, asset management and regtech (regulation technology). Here is what we learned.

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5 Summer Investment Goals For Your Kids

Given that the first official day of Summer was yesterday, June 21st, we thought it would be appropriate to suggest a handful of financial and investment goals for your family to explore over the next thirteen weeks. We’re all busy, so I selected these because they’re short, sweet and effective. See if you can manage to tackle all five before September 22nd.

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