Values for business and for life
Value #1
We serve you, our dear reader
We exist to improve the lives of the people who read our work…
That's our raison d'etre… our reason for being…
It's why the first filter we apply to every decision we make is "will this benefit our reader?"
If it doesn't, we ditch it immediately...
Value #1 also means we respect our audience, their intelligence and their right to form their own opinions...
We will never present things like they’re absolute truth.
Rather, we show you our facts and ask you to make up your own mind…
Value #2
Radical accountability
In a world of YouTube “gurus” who delete videos that contain forecasts gone wrong, doomsday economists who predict the same crash year after year… and talking heads on TV who will say anything for ratings…
We want to stand out for the opposite reason: by embracing radical accountability…
That’s why we publish our entire track-record of economic forecasts to a third-party archive we don’t control…
And we display an ongoing tally of how those forecasts are doing, so it’s impossible to hide inferior ideas and methods…
It means our work is judged on its merits, not obfuscation and marketing…
If our ideas aren’t producing results, we will cease to exist…
Value #3
A wide-open, discerning mind
Our mind isn’t just open, it’s wide open to ideas all across the spectrum…
If the mainstream dismisses an idea, we get curious…
We’ve found that hyper-valuable ideas are often hidden behind mainstream derision…
At the same time, we’re discerning because most ideas are bad…
Before we consider implementing an idea, it must prove itself with remarkable results in the real world…
Value #4
The best idea wins (we’re always open to being wrong)
We are constantly testing our ideas in the real world.
If they stop producing results – or we find an idea that produces better results – we will adopt it without hesitation.
This means we’re always open to the idea that we could be wrong... even when it comes to our most deeply held beliefs.
Believing that we could be wrong helps us stay humble and keep an open mind.
Value #5
Time is the most valuable resource
Time, not money, is the most valuable resource we all have.
Our financial methods and way of living are about optimizing time for the most important things in life:
Family, friends, great experiences & delicious food…
Value #7
We don’t take ourselves too seriously
We make a point to have fun with the markets, our commentary and our lives.
We aren’t corporate and we don’t wear suits.
We believe that if you take things too seriously, it makes it harder to invest well – and it also makes life a lot more miserable.
So why not have fun?
Value #6
Humility
While our methods allow us to forecast the markets with accuracy – we know this is not because of any kind of special ability.
In fact, the 3-layer model we use is extremely simple.
Many investors employ far more sophisticated strategies – using indicators and models that we have a hard time understanding… let alone putting to use.
Our edge comes from being lucky enough to stumble upon the right ideas… and more importantly, the work of the great researchers who originated those ideas so they were there to be found...
We stand on the shoulders of giants.