The 1960s saw a wave of tiny bubbles that pulled investors back into the stock market. But the over-indulgence in the franchise mania brought the decade and the stock market to a crashing end.

A franchise is a license that grants you the right to run a business under the name of a recognizable brand. In exchange, you agree to sell their products or services while following their operating procedures. In return, the company collects an upfront licensing fee and a percentage of your sales.

It’s a mutually beneficial way for franchise companies to expand. Outside money funds expansion, allowing the company to focus on training, advertising, and improving its products.

Fast food restaurants like McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Kentucky Fried Chicken are a perfect example. In fact, each of those companies was started in the 1950s and contributed to the boom in the next decade (the interstate highway system, the migration to the suburbs, and baby boomers hitting their teenage years helped). Continue Reading…

Misbehavior often gets in the way of investing profits. To say it’s been a longstanding problem is an understatement. Arthur Crump pointed it out in 1875 and little has changed since.

Crump is an Englishman who wrote about speculating in stock markets based on his observations of London markets. His book, The Theory of Stock Exchange Speculation, warned about the common mistakes “haphazard operators” made, and lost money on, almost 150 years ago.

And he doesn’t hold back. You may even recognize a few: Continue Reading…

It’s a short list this quarter. Here’s what I’ve been reading the past three months: Continue Reading…

A year ago this month, the market experienced one of the fastest crashes ever. It was followed by one of the fastest recoveries but the recovery wasn’t uniform.

2020 saw technology, consumer discretionary, communication services, and materials sectors as the biggest winners. Financials, real estate, and energy struggled.

That appears to have changed…so far. That should come as no surprise either. With markets, old trends die. New trends are formed. Last year’s winners can become this year’s losers. The death of value can be resurrected.

The only certainty with markets is change. Investors expecting things to stay the same are sure to be disappointed.

A couple of quick points before diving into the results: Continue Reading…