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
Igor Yelnik – Think About Non-Market Risks
Bogumil Baranowski – Be Careful With Businesses in Secular Decline
ISMS 17: Larry Swedroe – Do You Project Recent Trends Indefinitely Into the Future?
ISMS 16: Top 5 EM Country Interest Rates – Normal China Yield Curve
ISMS 15: Top 5 DM Country Interest Rates – Steep US Inversion
ISMS 14: Regional Interest Rates - Low in Asia, Egypt and Frontiers on Fire
ISMS 13: Global Interest Rates - Hikes Slow, Inversion Signals Recession
Peter Ricchiuti – Don’t Fall in Love With a Stock
Jason Hsu – The Market Can Be Crazy for Longer than You Have the Conviction
Shreekkanth Viswanathan – Qualitative Strengths of a Company Matter Too
Jeremy Kokemor – Tread Carefully When Investing in Metals and Mining
Paul Hodges – There’s No Substitute for Judgment
Amy Minkley – What Is Your Enough?
Benjamin Claremon – Know What Kind of Investor You Are
Edward McQuarrie – Never Ever Sell Naked Calls
ISMS 12: CPI Racing Across the Globe
ISMS 11: US Banking Crisis and Fed Rate Cut
ISMS 10: US CPI Could Decline to 4% By YE23; Unless QE Revs Up
ISMS 9: Saving Silicon Valley Bank Brings New Risks
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