- A bit off topic for Snippet but these guiding principles from Jim Simons, the founder of one of the most successful funds ever – Renaissance Technologies, are worth a quick absorb.
Misc
Miscellaneous is often where the gems are.
FundSmith Letter
- The latest letter from FundSmith is worth a read.
- Wide ranging discussion including thoughts on trading charges (see table page 5), tirade against value investing (page 7), and comment on Woodford (page 10) .
Global Patent Applications
- We showed how research spending in China now rivals US.
- China is also on its way to overtaking US in patent applications.
Last names
- Most popular last names in every country and what they mean.
- Picture shows Europe but link has the entire world.
How Things Change
Free Coding Classes?
- Check out 42 Silicon Valley.
- “42 Silicon Valley is a college-level, tuition-free, computer programming school with a peer-to-peer learning environment. Learn the skills you need here to begin your career as a Software Engineer, for free.“
- It was started French billionaire Xavier Niel.
How to Invest in Start-ups
- A really great article by Sam Altman.
- An interesting perspective on how to invest in winners.
- “There is a lot of advice about how to be a good startup founder. But there isn’t very much about how to be a good startup investor. Before going any further, I should point out that this is a particularly hard time to invest in startups—it’s easier right now to be a capital-taker than a capital-giver.”
- h/t The Browser.
North vs South of England
- Funny chart from FT giving us a way to tell the North from the south of England.
Genetic Diversity
- We all know about the cost of inbreeding.
- As a result it is generally accepted that species should outbreed as much as possible – but did you know there is a cost of outbreeding as well?
- “To produce healthy children, you should marry a third or fourth cousin. Farther out, the genetic costs of outbreeding begin to outweigh those of inbreeding. That was what a cohort study found in examining Icelanders born between 1800 and 1964. Fertility was lower if the woman’s husband was either closer in or farther out (Helgason et al. 2008).“
Animals
- Amazing article on the human impact on animals.
- “We breed and kill at least 80 billion animals per year for food and at least 115 million per year for research. Fishing kills 1-3 trillion animals per year. Deforestation destroys animal habitats. Leaf blowers and light pollution kill insects. Building and vehicle collisions kill at least a billion animals per year. This year, more than 300 birds were injured or killed in collisions with a building in North Carolina in a single night.“
Are the 1% happier?
- Interesting survey from NPR/RWJF/Harvard cited in Washington Post.
- It oversampled those in the top 1% of income distribution and asks about life satisfaction.
- Money does (at least to the $500,000 threshold) correlate to happiness.
- More survey questions in the article.
Latest Howard Marks
- Latest memo from OakTree’s Howard Marks.
- A really interesting read especially in the parallels between investing and gambling.
- A must read.
Cancer Mortality Rates
- New stats from the US Cancer Society show that between 1991 and 2017 the mortality rate of cancer has dropped 29%.
- According to the report, this was due to lower smoking rates, improved early detection methods and advances in treatment.
- This trend means more than 2.9m lives were saved since 1991.
- Really amazing.
Dishwashers
- Interesting article about what has been going on with dishwashers.
- In summary they have gotten a lot worse.
- In order to reduce water use from the original 15 gallons to 3 gallons, cycle times have increased. The chart (source) is striking.
- The wash results have also gotten a lot worse due to chemical regulation.
- Consumers think that by buying a newer model these problems will be solved but the reality is that an older model will do a better job.
PE getting into VC
- Increasingly private equity (PE) are getting involved in venture (VC).
Best CV Ever
Best Letter of Recommendation Ever
Hedge Funds
- 5th consecutive year of Hedge Funds closing.
- We previously wrote about lack of overall fund launches.
Failure
- It is always important in investing to learn from failure.
- The verge have produced a list of 84 of the last decade’s tech failures.
- Enjoy and learn!
2019 Snippet Wrap Part 2
- Most read Snippets of 2019.
- Woodford’s demise was a big deal for the fund management industry but, despite press, was foreseen by many.
- Business tactics in unlikely places.
- Knight Frank Luxury investment index component returns.
- US Government Deficits are going in the wrong direction.