Glimpse

  • Did you know that interest in limb lengthening surgery is up 65%.
  • This is something picked up from Glimpse – one of the best resources around (and in my top 12 list)
  • Why? Dating apps allow filtering by height, and though 5’9″ and 5’10” are very hard to differentiate in real life, it is easier in a filter. Bumble even charges for height filtering.
  • This type of cosmetic surgery is one of the few that has a documented financial benefit – every inch of height is equal to $800 more in annual earnings for men.
  • The monthly Glimpse newsletter not only identifies these under the radar trends but is full of this type of insightful analysis.
  • For investors, both in venture and public markets, it is totally worth paying up for the full thing (the free version doesn’t have any analysis and only two trends).
  • Use the code SnippetFinance10 by 13th of June and get a 10% discount on any subscription for six months. (see disclaimer).

Social Media and Efficient Markets

  • Does Twitter make sell-side analysts better?
  • The answer, according to a new study, is yes.
  • Analysts are generally overly optimistic when presenting earnings forecasts (largely due to incentives).
  • As information technology has proliferated, the competition for information production has increased.
  • Negative and positive information are treated differently by human psychology – the former being valued more highly.
  • Analysts looking at Twitter succumb to this asymmetry, biasing their forecasts downwards i.e. negating their over optimism.
  • These are fascinating results (there a few others in the article).

EV and Gas Stations

  • The electrification of cars will have a big impact on gasoline stations.
  • This was a nice piece analysing this impact.
  • It is from Harding Loevner, using Circle K (owned by Alimentation Couche-Tarde) in Norway (which has electrified faster than other countries) as their case study.
  • Positives – charging takes a lot longer = higher conversion to spending customer + longer in store.
  • About 15% of gasoline customers venture inside to make additional purchases during their car’s few minutes at a Circle K pump, while 40% of EV drivers do so during the 20–30 minutes their vehicle is charging.
  • Negatives – three quarters of charging is done at home.

SSRN

  • SSRN the Social Science Research Network – is an open repository of papers on social science (and other areas).
  • Malcom Gladwell called it “The greatest website on the internet” (Source).
  • They now also have a new service dedicated to finance (in partnership with Quantum).
  • It covers everything from Equities to Financial Statement Analysis.
  • Many investors neglect academic work in their field – but it often holds valuable insights.
  • The top papers section at SSRN is also excellent, featuring many financial topics.

The Best Strategies for Inflationary Times

  • Most investors, including me, have limited experience of inflationary risk.
  • This paper, from 2021, is an excellent guide – looking at passive/active strategies across asset classes over the past 95 years.
  • As we have seen it is tough – unexpected inflation is bad for traditional assets (bonds, equities). Commodities do well but depends which ones. Trend following and active equity are the best protection.

103 Bits of Advice

  • Another wonderful list from KK (the previous one is here).
  • A few of my favourites:
  • Half the skill of being educated is learning what you can ignore.
  • Ask funders for money, and they’ll give you advice; but ask for advice and they’ll give you money.
  • It is the duty of a student to get everything out of a teacher, and the duty of a teacher to get everything out of a student.
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