August 25, 2019 There is probably no topic more discussed, agonized over and dreamed about than romance. While it has consumed and inspired artists (and much of humanity) for centuries, technology recently has added something to the table. Today, almost half of US people aged 18-24 use an online dating product, up from 16% just […]
August 18, 2019 This week we take a short pause in our entrepreneurial analysis to talk about a phenomenon that was not part of my economic undergrad studies: negative interest rates. It is striking that more than $15 trillion of bonds today are guaranteed to give their buyers a loss on maturity (see figure). Lots […]
August 11, 2019 Growing up in the 80’s, there was a craze for non-reusable items. Having changed some of my sisters’ cloth diapers, I witnessed first hand the advantages of use it and trash it. While some of that may be still true, the times they are a’changin. Gen Z and Millennial shoppers are highly […]
Inherent Value Update In our January 2019 letter, we introduced an analysis of our long portfolio inherent value creation. This month we update this analysis (Chart 1). Please see the appendix where we reprint our description of the methodology behind this analysis. Chart 1 Source: Somar Analysis Note: Index December 2016 = 100 Our performance […]
August 4, 2019 As a teenager in the 80’s, I loved spending free time honing my Tetris skills at arcades. Not the cheapest of hobbies, but also not the unhealthiest as compared to what else I saw in high school. Later, I became pretty good at Sonic the Hedgehog. Little did I dream that one […]