It’s a blog.
It’s educational.
It’s hopefully entertaining.
It’s not investment advice.
I write about how to think about investing.
Subtraction by Addition
Does merger math work different from what you learned in school? What are your options when you put 2 and 2 together and end up with less than you began? How to find opportunity in deal rubble.
What’s in the box
When shareholders revolt, should management listen? Are all shareholder returns created equal? How to find value in flailing industries.
One Size Fits All
How does shopping for clothes compare to picking investments? What do wear and tear tell us about how attractive a company might be? How to compare the relative merits of companies in a lively M&A market.
2024: What Did You Expect?
What happens if you give your kids that pony they wanted as a present? What happens if you give them the pony, but they wanted even more. How to navigate market expectations for 2024.
2024: The Game Show
What’s behind door number 2? What do game shows have to do with investing anyway? How to find the right investing game for you.
Pie by the Slice Redux
Do pixels mix with pizza? What do parking tickets tell us about digital payments? How helping customers helps your stockholders.
Week Theory
If you don’t yell in a forest and everyone is around to listen, what happens then? How much can an investor get done in a week? How to think about time and investing.
Not So Fast
Does everyone drive an EV? What happens when bankruptcy makes a company more complicated? How think about opportunity at the fork between expectations and reality.
Pie by the Slice
Why does Costco sell pizza for $1.99? How can a company reduce its costs with different size slices? What does any of this have to do with payments processing? How lessons from Costco and Amazon fit into financial plumbing.
How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Index
How many Grammys has Beyonce been nominated for? What is the height of the St. Louis Arch? What does any of this have to do with investing? What medicine to take for investing uncertainly.
Five Hours
What’s the half-life of an investment idea? How long does it take to look foolish on the internet? What can you take away from the market’s “constructive criticism?”
Lights, Camera, Action
What does good writing tell us about investing? Do good stories make good investments? How to compare investing bestsellers.
Schrodinger's Deal
What does quantum physics tell us about stock prices? When is a merger both alive and dead? How to use what investors “know” to frame an investment decision.
Let Them Eat Crab Cakes
How much does free crab cost? Can I just get the free part? How to unbundle weird pieces of a merger to test an investment.
Tilting at Windsocks
How would Don Quixote charge at merger regulation? What’s the record on errant regulatory crusades? How to evaluate opportunity in marquee regulatory tilts.
Stadium Seating
What do stadium restrooms tell us about investing? How did the move to indoor plumbing highlight opportunity? Finding investing chances in a digital paper chain.
The Smart Investor
What makes an investment smart? What makes another intelligent? Can an investment be both? A field guide for figuring it out.
A Tail of Two Companies
Is it the best of times? Is it the worst of times? How Dickens might look at analyzing a cash-registers-to-calling-cards venture.
Dirty Money
What’s your role? Do economists have a sense of humor? An empirical analysis. Advice for what to do when you see money lying around.
Cookies & Cream
What happens to ice cream sandwiches when your baker turns off the ovens? What do ice cream sandwiches have to do with digital advertising? A framework for evaluating companies in transition.