This is a piece written by Jim for our friends at the Milken Institute, who were generous enough to allow us to reproduce it here. Two weeks ago, I pulled my first all-nighter since I was 18. The news that the side I supported—those urging the United Kingdom to leave the European Union—had won the…
Brexhausted! I’m now back in Spain after being in the UK on the day of and the morning after the referendum. Wow – what a result! I went to the area just outside Parliament where the TV and radio stations had set up and had been broadcasting all night till the morning of June 24th.…
As seen in the latest issue of Master Investor Magazine It’s hard to believe that the year is almost half way over. There is definitely an acceleration in time as you get older; I feel my life careening towards its ultimate destination – but then I am cheered by the realisation that I have a…
As seen in the lastest issue of Master Investor Magazine I’m writing this on American Airlines flight from LAX to London; and the amazing thing is, I will be sending it by email from the plane to the Editor of this magazine in about an hour or so. There has been internet on US domestic…
I was going to write this piece in Brussels, but decided against going – and so I write from Hamburg. The incompetence of the Belgian police makes it difficult to feel safe in the city of waffles and Eurocrats, so I will defer visiting for a bit. When I made my decision not to go,…
My birthday lunch in Brussels last month was a jolly affair, with 21 people attending, including the editor of Master Investor. After the lunch, and after its effects had worn off, I turned to contemplation. No, I haven’t suddenly gone all “mindful”, but February 17th has always seemed a good day for internal reflection. And…
Despite David Cameron’s embarrassing imitation of Oliver Twist in Brussels last week, his negotiations ended up mired in the minutiae of trivial amendments to the UK’s relationship with Europe. Small restrictions to child benefit and vague wording about exemption from a common currency and “ever closer union” are the thin gruel that our hapless Prime…
Last night, I went to the Hilton in Park Lane, London, to listen to an interview conducted by Jon (yes, that’s the way it is spelt – very liberal, trendy) Snow and Elon Musk. Elon Musk, as readers know, is the polymath founder of PayPal, Tesla and SpaceX, and in his spare time came up…
Happy New Year to all you Master Investors out there! The start of the New Year has been good for those of us fundamentally worried about stretched valuations and a cloudy outlook. China’s ructions have caused some steep falls in most markets. It is worth noting that if January is a down month, typically the…
As I write this, I am on a working Norwegian ferry, hugging the coast between Bergen half way up and Kirkenes in the far North of the country. Kirkenes was the second most densely bombed town (after Malta) in Europe in the Second World War, and is the nearest town in Norway to the Russian…
