If you’re a small business owner, then you probably can’t relate to the full court press from what seems like all of New England—and the […]
Welcome to Hôtel de Crillon: You’ve Arrived
You know you’ve arrived, literally and figuratively, the minute you see Place de la Concorde up on your left and Hôtel de Crillon on your right. As your driver pulls up you are surrounded by regally dressed staff, guiding you to the historic facade as if it’s your movie being premiered. Welcome to the mansion […]
Economic Freedom: Where does USA Rank?
You may be surprised at how far you need to scan your finger down the list to locate the United States in the Economic Freedom of the World: 2017 Annual Report co-published by the Cato Institute, the Fraser Institute in Canada and more that 70 think tanks around the world. The United States, which has […]
October RAGE Gauge
My October Rage Gauge is in and it seems like the frogs in the pot have no idea what’s going on around them. When someone tells me they can handle a 20 percent hit because they’ve “made” so much money in this market, I think to myself, “they haven’t done the math on a 100 […]
Preparing Yourself for the Next Disaster: Water Storage
Do you live in a bone-dry, hot, desert? Then your water storage strategy may differ from someone that lives near a well, lake, river or reservoir. The same is true if you live in a third-floor city condo, compared to a quarter-acre in the burbs or 25 acres in the boondocks. You want to build […]
You’ve Read the Last Intelligence Report Now What? Part II
Being on the front lines every day talking with investors just like you, it never ceases to amaze me how much you appreciate Dick Young and how he has made you a more comfortable and successful investor. He made you self-reliant. He helped you beat inertia. How? You basically had no choice. You needed to […]
Preparing Yourself for the Next Disaster: Water Requirements
You never want to miss an opportunity to improve your situation when it comes to water. You simply cannot afford to be without it. You can’t live without water beyond three days, give or take. That’s why I suggest a short-term solution by simply making sure you have enough water on hand for the next […]
Buffett’s Flying J Invests in the Energy Revolution
“A sucker is born every minute, and Warren Buffett just proved it. He agreed to spend an undisclosed sum of his shareholders’ money to buy a controlling stake in Pilot Flying J, the truck-stop chain that sells food, coffee and diesel fuel to truckers”, writes Holman Jenkins, Jr. in his WSJ column. “After all, aren’t […]
My Concerns as Money Piles Up at Vanguard
Let the good times roll? Great lyrics from the Cars but it’s a song I can’t get out of my head thinking about the money piling up by the truckload at Vanguard’s back door. We’re talking nearly $300 billion in the first nine months of this year alone. All of that money unloaded and stacked […]
You Are on the Most Beautiful Boulevard in Paris
You won’t believe your good fortune. You just arrived in Paris, checked in to your room at Hotel Franklin Roosevelt and decided to turn left on to Rue Clement Marot. You are on your way to the most beautiful boulevard in Paris: Avenue Montaigne. You note, in case you get hungry later, that across the […]
Preparing Yourself for the Next Disaster: Drinking Water
When thinking about water storage, I like to break it down into three needs: short, intermediate, and long-term. Short-term needs are immediate and can last anywhere from 2 hours to 3 days. In some situations you may have some time to prepare, such as for a storm. But I’m thinking about a short-term emergency that […]
How it Feels to be Rich like Bezos
What makes Jeff Bezos tick? You. From the very beginning Jeff Bezos has always been about the customer. And that ethos flows through the company like a package from your computer to your doorstep. To Bezos, if the customer isn’t satisfied, what’s the point of being in business? And the Smith house is satisfied. At […]
Weekends in the Mountains or on the Water
Over the weekend we were at our log cabin in New Hampshire. One of the best parts about being in the White Mountains is the change of pace. It breaks up the routine. Instead of heading to the office or off to school, we went to my parents’ house for coffee, drove around town, and […]