Comebacks only seem inevitable after the fact
You can gain back most things that you lose if you’re willing to learn from your losses and risk trying again.
In this edition:
Put your mind where your money is
The comeback - a fine display of high performance
What a Trump presidency means
Also, some ups and downs from the news.
STORY
With money, ignorance is not bliss
I’ve spoken to thousands of people about investing over the years.
This means I’ve listen to people convince themselves whether or not to invest many times.
Most people with an income are ready to risk it for some return if an opportunity sounds compelling enough. They are willing to give their hard earned money to an unknown person or institution on a promise to make it grow. This is fine. What isn't fine is how little most people are willing to try to understand their investments.
Investing is smart. But how smart is it to put your money into something you don’t understand?
Here are some of the most common reasons people I’ve heard from people for not learning:
“I’m not a math/ finance person.” or “It’s too complicated.”
“I’ll let the experts handle it for me.”
“Investing is for the rich.” or “I earn too little to invest so why bother?”
“I’ll start when I have more time/ money.”
“I could lose my money.” or “I know someone who lost their money.”
“I don’t have the time to follow stocks & news everyday.”
“I’m too old to learn now.”
Do you hear yourself in any of these statements? The truth is, such thinking can keep you stuck in financial inaction leading you to live an infinite loop. With all the demands of daily life, it's understandable to feel this way but ignorance is no defence.
If you work hard for your money, it’s your business to know what your money is doing when it is working hard for you. Or you might find that it’s actually working for someone else.
In a near future edition I’ll dig deeper into why people think this way and give you an expert perspective to help you overcome them.
ROUNDUP
Bouncing back some
Here are my news picks from the week in investing & investing in tech:
An October rally and a stronger currency have made the NSE Africa’s best performer in USD terms gaining 60% in 10 months bouncing back from a 43% loss in 2023.
Kenyan telco Safaricom’s half year net income fell 17.7% to KES 28.1bn from KES 34.1bn mainly due to depreciation of the Ethiopian birr - underlying business remained strong.
Kenya’s inflation at a 14-year low offering no respite to consumers.
A chronology of how Trump executed the ultimate comeback with the dollar rallying after his win.
What will a 2nd Trump term mean for US tech companies and AI?
NOTES TO SELF
Against all odds
We all love a comeback story.
We see them in sports, business, politics and other competitive pursuits. But what is it that fascinates us more about a comeback than an expected win?
It’s the fact that for the people in those situations, a win appears near impossible. They have the odds stacked against them and if they somehow won, it would be worth more. And it would make for a great story.
Last week Donald Trump completed one of the greatest political comebacks in American politics. A few days prior, F1 World Champion Max Verstappen staged one of the greatest comebacks in racing in his Brazil victory.
Like them or not, their wins were as much the results of technical preparation as they were the result of a mindset.
Executing a comeback is a fine display of high performance.
It takes a lot to be “down and out” - like Trump was after a controversial loss as an incumbent in 2020, and like Max was after qualifying 17th - and come back to a convincing win.
It requires a level of delusion. A level of self-belief so large that it can only be explained by the outcome. It reminds us that anything is possible.
This ability to challenge impossible odds separates high performers from everyone else.
As Sylvester Stallone says in Rocky Balboa, “It ain’t how hard you hit…It’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. It’s about how much you can take and keep moving forward.”
It's as much technical as it is mental. If anything, it’s easier to be written off while down. But the greater the difficulty, the greater the glory.
The ability to come back from the bottom is in us all. High performers put themselves through challenging situations to prepare for these moments. And then they somehow win against all odds.
THE BUFFET
What does a Trump presidency mean?
The US election impacts most of the world. Wherever you are, and especially with respect to your investments, you should have an idea of what the outcome could mean for you.
Here are three quick explainers to bring you up to speed altogether in under 10 mins.
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
— Nelson Mandela
Have the best week possible.
Yours truly,
AG