It is incredibly hard for a game as long-delayed and as much-hyped as Kingdom Hearts III to satisfy its fans. When Microsoft delayed and scaled back and delayed again Crackdown 3, it was obvious that the project was in trouble. And though the game has its fans, the general consensus has been, “Meh” at best. There is a kind of resigned sigh that goes through fans of games and series…
How to prevent anchoring from sinking your portfolio
One tricky thing with investing is that things are always changing. An indestructible monopoly one day (can you believe that Microsoft (MSFT) was almost broken up by the government over the bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows?) can find itself suddenly behind the times and struggling to catch up a mere decade later. Similarly, sometimes all it takes is one or two amazing products to turn a tiny and irrelevant company like Apple (AAPL) into the largest publicly traded company in the world over the same time period.
How to Get a Used Nissan Leaf for Free!
How much would you pay to enter a raffle for a free used car? What would the odds have to be to get you to give it a shot? What if the entry fee was simply to give a loan to a friend that you were sure would be paid back and the odds that you’d win the raffle were 100%? Sounds like an insanely good deal that can’t be…
MercadoLibre is En Fuego
Mercado Libre was a Serenity level holding in the Freedom Portfolio, but after last week’s huge jump it has now been promoted to an Enterprise level position. Despite its (originally) relatively modest size, it’s one of my favorite positions and it’s well past time that I give the company its due and provided a proper write-up.
Is Disney+ Overshadowing Galaxy’s Edge?
There were two interesting pieces of news for Disney (DIS) this week. The first was that Disney is supposedly in talks with AT&T (T) to buy out the latter’s 10% stake in Hulu. Disney currently owns 30% of Hulu, and once the Fox acquisition goes through, will own another 30%, giving them 60% total. Comcast (CMCSA) owns the remaining 30% of Hulu. Getting another 10% of Hulu when they are already on track to own a majority might not seem like a huge deal, but I believe it shows that Disney is serious about building up Hulu as a contender in the streaming video wars.
Redfin – Revolutionizing the Home Buying Process
Redfin (RDFN) is a Serenity level holding in the Freedom Portfolio, and it holds a special place in my heart. About a year and a half ago I decided I wanted to get more serious about investing and to start really digging into companies, reading their earnings reports, listening to the earnings calls, and reading up on what other analysts were looking at. Redfin (named for “Real Estate Redefined”) was the first company that I decided to try it with and so even though it’s only a Serenity level holding, I still find myself rooting for it harder than I do for some of my larger positions.
The Third Ever Rampant Discourse Podcast
A few weeks ago, the founders of Rampant Discourse got together to record our first ever podcast. It was a discussion that touched on a number of topics, such as: Politics, Owning vs Renting content, Marie Kondo, Star Wars, and the proper way to drink Guinness. We recorded so much content, that we decided to take a cue from the movie industry and pull a money grab by splitting it…
The Most Significant Commercials from Super Bowl LIII
The Super Bowl was two weeks ago, which makes now a perfect time to revisit what has to have been almost everyone’s favorite part. The memes about the low scoring, “boring,” game are fading, and our attention has turned to the long off-season. In this downtime, there’s a chance for reflection on what might have been the best part of our Sunday experience. I’m in the minority in that I…
Is Netflix Must See TV?
Netflix (NFLX) is one of the most polarizing positions in the Freedom Portfolio for me. As I’ve mentioned before, despite being an early believer in the company and despite it being my biggest winner by almost any metric, it’s also indisputably my biggest investing mistake. Those 610 shares that I owned in 2004 would be worth (after splits) nearly $1.5 million dollars had I held onto them until now. In other words, I might’ve been able to retire by now had I simply not touched those shares for 15 years.
The Second Ever Rampant Discourse Podcast
A few weeks ago, the founders of Rampant Discourse got together to record our first ever podcast. It was a discussion that touched on a number of topics, such as: Politics, Owning vs Renting content, Marie Kondo, Star Wars, and the proper way to drink Guinness. We recorded so much content, that we decided to take a cue from the movie industry and pull a money grab by splitting it…