My Worst Investment Ever Podcast
Business:Investing
BIO: Michelle Leder has probably read more SEC filings than just about anyone else on the planet since writing her book, Financial Fineprint: Uncovering a Company’s True Value, and starting her website, footnoted.com nearly 20 years ago.
STORY: Michelle invested in a company without going through important SEC reports.
LEARNING: Dig deep into the company’s 10-K annual report before investing. Look at the risk factors and what the company says about risk.
“Pay attention to the stuff in the 10-K if it is a significant position for you.”Michelle Leder
Guest profile
Michelle Leder has probably read more SEC filings than just about anyone else on the planet since writing her book, Financial Fineprint: Uncovering a Company’s True Value, and starting her website, footnoted nearly 20 years ago.
Michelle recently relaunched Friday Night Dump, a weekly newsletter. It focuses on SEC filings made after 4 pm on Friday afternoons when companies tend to bury the most negative information that they are required to disclose.
Worst investment everTwenty years ago, Michelle was relatively new to investing and had been a business journalist for about 10 years. She bought some shares of Quest Communications because she was covering IBM at the time. IBM had just announced a big deal with Quest. Michelle thought this would be an excellent opportunity to buy some Quest shares. She watched the shares go up until they stopped and started plummeting.
Michelle went back, and I looked at the footnotes she’d collected while researching IBM. She discovered that IBM had booked the whole billion dollars for the deal with Quest upfront in year one, even though it was a 10-year deal. Michelle had missed this, so she watched Quest go all the way down.
Lessons learnedStart with one or two companies you know well. See what you can discover by reading essential filings like the 10k and proxy statements. Does the new information you get make a difference?
No.1 goal for the next 12 monthsMichelle’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to focus a lot more on her business.
Parting words“Life is a learning experience. In the end, it’s not about the money; it’s about the quality of your relationships.”Michelle Leder
Connect with Michelle Leder
August Biniaz - Be a Specialist Not a Jack of All Trades
William Browder - Don’t Go to Russia
ISMS 41: Larry Swedroe – Focus on Managing Risk Not Returns
Chris Ball - If They’re Not 100% Right, Don’t Hire Them
Vivek Raina - Nobody Can Beat You at What You’re Good At
William Cohan - Power Failure: The Rise and Fall of An American Icon
Tony Fish - Be Brave to Ask the Unsaid Questions
ISMS 40: Larry Swedroe – Market vs. Hedge Fund Managers’ Efficiency
Chris Kendall - Don’t Underestimate the Funding Needed to Go Big Time
Riggs Eckelberry - Don’t Go into Any Industry Unprepared
ISMS 39: Larry Swedroe – Don’t Choose a Fund by Its Descriptive Name
Lark Davis - Take Your Profits and Run Away
Sam Primm - Be Intentional About What You Invest In
Marc Faber - The Value of True Diversification
Coach JV - Diversify Inside and Outside the Asset Class
ISMS 38: Larry Swedroe – The Self-healing Mechanism of Risk Assets
Solomon Thimothy - Give Yourself Permission to Fail
Anthony Greer - Be Patient and Willing to Get Rich Slow
Kevin Sutantyo - You Have to Back the Right Founders
Dan McClure - Understand Who You Are and What You’re About
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Commercial Edge: Unleash the Power of People
The emPOWERed Half Hour
Aligned Money Show
Dubai Property Podcast
IBKR Podcasts
The Ramsey Show
The Clark Howard Podcast