This post is part of an ongoing series reflecting on Warren Buffett’s career and investment philosophy. Buffett on Scale and Structural Advantage In 1999, at the height of the dotcom bubble, Warren Buffett gave an interview for BusinessWeek. Buffett was discussing how the combination of an over-heated stock market and Berkshire Hathaway’s large size made
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This post is Part One of a Beginner’s Guide to Stock Investing series. New to investing? Start with our guide to fundamental investing. Part 1: What is a Stock? Most people have some familiarity with the stock market. But what is exactly is a stock? Why do people buy stocks? There are plenty of people
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Why Investors Should Care In a fiat monetary system, central bank credibility is the anchor for inflation expectations. When that credibility is weakened by political pressure, the effects are not always immediate, but they are significant for investors over time. Investors should care about Federal Reserve independence because: Key Takeaways for Investors For a deeper
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Early Life and Family Influences In the first post in this series, I wrote a bit about how I encountered Warren Buffett’s investment philosophy as an undergraduate student (read it here). In this post, I discuss Warren Buffett’s early years and some of the influences that shaped his early career. Warren Buffett was born on
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Part One: Early Influences, Long-Term Discipline, and Learning to Think About Business Why Reflect on Warren Buffett Now On January 1st, 2026, Warren Buffett officially stepped down as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., the sprawling conglomerate and investment holding company that Buffett, alongside his late partner Charlie Munger, built up over five decades. As
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The Russell 2000 is an index managed by FTSE Russell, which consists of companies with smaller market capitalization and is thus considered a “small cap” index. The term “small cap” is somewhat of a misnomer. Although there is no official definition, in the investment industry the term “small cap” generally refers to companies with market
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Unlike the other indices, (S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average), the NASDAQ Composite Index consists only of stocks that trade on the NASDAQ. A brief review of the NASDAQ exchange is thus a good place to start. New to investing? Start with our guide to fundamental investing. Brief History of the NASDAQ In 1938,
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What Is the Dow Jones Industrial Average? In 1896, Charles Dow and his associate, statistician Edward Jones, both co-founders of the financial publishing firm Dow Jones and Company, created an index of industrial companies. This index was the second stock market index ever created, as Dow had created a transportation index twelve years earlier. How
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Before diving into the S&P 500, it’s worth taking a step back to understand what a stock index really is and why it matters. From how they’re constructed to what they actually represent, indices form the foundation of nearly every market conversation — and every investor’s frame of reference. If you’re new to investing, start
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When Momentum Cuts Both Ways Tuesday’s gold selloff highlights a feature of markets that too many people forget: momentum works both ways. Gold has had one of its best years since it was demonetized in 1971. On the spot market—where gold is purchased for immediate delivery—prices have risen from roughly $2,600 at the beginning of
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