Adding a section to the site called “long reads” where I will post longer pieces that aren’t tied to current market news; these pieces will remain relevant longer than a typical post. The first is a history of money, available here: https://investorfieldguide.com/history-of-money/ 

Delivery drones > fewer delivery workers Turbotax > fewer tax professionals Robots, self-driving cars, automation, skynet, etc. > fewer retail salespeople, drivers, even fewer financial advisors (see wealthfront, betterment) Robots and computers took er jerbs! Kidding aside, this is a massive issue, especially for young people.  The future will not be bright if your skillset can be automated….

With $42.8B of inflows in 2013—up from $20.5 in 2012[i]—“smart beta” products have gone mainstream. The debate between traditional market-capitalization weighted indexes and “smart” strategies or indexes is an important one because the choice between the two can lead to significant differences in returns over long holding periods. Smart beta simply means a strategy that…

Robots are a hot topic.  I recently read The Second Machine Age, which explores the amazing recent strides in automated machines and attempts to peer into the future and imagine life alongside robots and other emerging technologies.  We seem to be nearing an inflection point—something like Ray Kurzweil’s “singularity”—where technology growth is almost too fast…

Mini-bubbles, in categories of speculative stocks, will always persist. Often caused by the emergence of some new or improved technology (fuel cells in this case), these bubbles are extremely dangerous for individual investors and should be ignored.  The allure of a quick buck, or the idea of buying and then selling to a greater fool…