(Not) boring finds for 2018

As the end of the year is nearly upon us, we thought we’d go back and select some of our favourite links from around the web. With reminders about volatility; a glance into the economics of craft beer; the consumer effects of trade wars; and demonstrating causality from McRib sales…these seven provide quite the spectrum.

All the best to you and yours in 2019! 

CBC News – New investors who thought markets only skyrocket learn a useful lesson: Don Pittis
A useful reminder that stock markets do not rise and fall in predictable patterns. Also, a recap on bear markets.

The Atlantic – Craft beer is the strangest, happiest economic story in America

On craft beer in the U.S., and how the regulatory environment plays a big role in shaping competitive dynamics.

The Economist asks podcast – Economist asks: should leaders face the music? (20:31 min)

Should decision-makers always have skin in the game? Professor and author Nassim Nicholas Taleb argues yes.

A Wealth of Common Sense – Stocks are more similar to bonds than you think

The two asset classes may share more in common than investors may realize—the clue lies in the ROE (or, “equity coupon” as Warren Buffet would say).

Collaborative Fund – The psychology of money

Anchored around two diverging stories about compounding wealth, Morgan Housel goes through the mental models that make up the every-day, psychological and emotional experience of handling money.

The New York Times – Trade wars can be a game of chicken. Sometimes, literally.

The surprising minute details that trade wars can shape and the additional cost to the consumer.

Of Dollars and Data – The McRib effect

Why understanding causality in the markets is so difficult plus a mental model to differentiate correlation from causation in the form of McRib “stock” levels.