The Better Letter

MARCH 18, 2025

Top seeds have only lost to 16 seeds twice in the seeded era – since 1979 – and both occurrences are recent (that said, 2008 was the only year all four top seeds made the Final Four). Motoyuki Mabuchi went all-in with four aces in the main event hand of the 2008 World Series of Poker but lost to Justin Phillips’ royal flush.

Numbers 74

Numbers Marketing Marketing Medicine 74

Random Roger's Retirement Planning

FEBRUARY 8, 2023

The way the math works, a 67% allocation to NTSX replicates 100% into a 60/40 portfolio which leaves 33% left over to do something. You can see the backtest proxy of RSBT has a slightly higher CAGR very similar standard deviation but a much better worst year which was back in 2008.

Portfolio 40

Portfolio Math Management Investing 40

The Big Picture

SEPTEMBER 19, 2023

One, one is true and I’ve always said is that I wanted people to stop, ask if I could doing math. And no one asked me if I can do math anymore with a degree from Booth, particularly in econometrics and statistics. So people really ask you, you take French and can you do math. Two reasons.

Assets 148

Assets Management Investing Investments 148

The Big Picture

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

I’d say management consulting is any of the other thing that least at that time was the other career trajectory, just my personality, more of a math oriented introvert. I could maybe flip that around a little bit since I think particularly post 2008, 2009, the quality style of investing has become a lot more popular.

Valuation 130

Valuation Investing Investments Assets 130

The Better Letter

MARCH 14, 2024

Duke math professor Jonathan Mattingly claimed the average college basketball fan has a far better chance of achieving bracket perfection than one in 9.2 Motoyuki Mabuchi went all-in with four aces in the main event game of the 2008 World Series of Poker but lost to Justin Phillips’ royal flush. quintillion.

Numbers 83

Numbers Medicine Math Marketing 83

The Big Picture

JANUARY 9, 2024

So like a component of it was like the standard derivatives math, right? And so like, you know, I got there and I learned derivatives math, right? And it stopped in like September of 2008. It was derivatives math, it was like working with the traders on like risk management. And so for six months there were no deal.

Banking 130

Banking Retail Math Management 130

The Better Letter

MARCH 16, 2023

The maths are exactly the same. These sorts of math problems are the focus of this week’s TBL. Math Problems As this TBL goes live, just 16 games and one day of the NCAA Tournament are in the books, yet my bracket is a mess. We notice the unlikelihood of 100 in a row because of the pattern. Thanks for reading. quintillion.

Math 94

Math Numbers Medicine Marketing 94

The Big Picture

DECEMBER 6, 2022

And I did the math, and I think at that point in time, roughly speaking, assets in ETS were roughly just 10 percent, 12 percent of assets in mutual funds and I was pretty convinced that that number was to increase significantly. Think about the two founders of Global X, Bruno and Jose, they set up Global X in 2008. BERRUGA: Exactly.

Clients 163

Clients Investing Investments Management 163

The Big Picture

AUGUST 15, 2023

It started on January 1 of 2008. SEIDES: In Warren’s 2008 annual letter, I think it was 2008, he made a statement. RITHOLTZ: So hold the duration risk aside with those two, but just for an investor in treasuries, I know you’ve done the math before. SEIDES: That’s right. So that’s how it came about.

Management 130

Management Investing Investments Government 130

The Big Picture

JULY 19, 2022

But it was — on the other hand, it was just a great place, well, first to try it but the second thing is when 2008 came along, it was one of the few places that we’re making money. But it just didn’t become a great success. RITHOLTZ: Just not a great fit. ILMANEN: Yes. RITHOLTZ: Right. That makes a lot of sense.

Investing 130

Investing Investments Valuation Portfolio 130

Mr. Money Mustache

MAY 20, 2022

It’s fun math – a 20% drop in prices means you get 25% more shares for your dollar, and a 50% drop means twice as many , or 100% more shares per dollar invested.). the current blowup) -20% so far What’s your guess? In today’s market, you are getting about 25% more shares for each dollar that you invest.

Marketing 53

Marketing Marketing Retirement Investing 53

Good Financial Cents

APRIL 14, 2023

It didn’t happen overnight for me, but then few blogging resources were available when I started out in 2008. But a major in any common subject, particularly math or science, combined with above-average command of the subject matter are more important. But like everything else, you can learn how to blog.

Accounting 91

Accounting Communication Investing Investments 91

The Big Picture

APRIL 29, 2023

It’s now up 35 percent since the SVB collapse, and the crypto faithful say it’s just more proof that the lack of trust in government institutions that led to Bitcoin’s birth following the 2008 financial crisis is alive and well. MIT Technology Review ) • How the World Is Spending $1.1

Math 278

Math License Startup Government 278

Brown Advisory

AUGUST 1, 2018

In the last 10 years (2008 through 2017), Berkshire’s shareholders’ equity per share and share price grew at 10.5% Buffett noted that the math of the buyback would get even better if Apple’s shares went down (but not its intrinsic value), something people often misunderstand. equity market. annually, respectively, compared with 8.5%

Assets 52

Assets Investing Investments Insurance 52

Brown Advisory

AUGUST 1, 2018

In the last 10 years (2008 through 2017), Berkshire’s shareholders’ equity per share and share price grew at 10.5% Buffett noted that the math of the buyback would get even better if Apple’s shares went down (but not its intrinsic value), something people often misunderstand. equity market. annually, respectively, compared with 8.5%

Assets 52

Assets Investing Investments Insurance 52

The Big Picture

MAY 9, 2023

So I took it upon myself to go off and took a course in bond math, took another course in derivatives and realized the underlying fundamental concepts were barely, I mean, it wasn’t even high school math in most cases. And then I moved back to London at the end of 2008, which was a really interesting pivot.

Assets 300

Assets Clients Investing Investments 300

The Big Picture

JANUARY 21, 2025

But the numbers you can’t argue with, I mean, we all know that the brutal math of investing before costs investors collectively will earn the market return after costs. And then when I left the journal for the first time in 2008, they said, well, who should we hire to replace you? I did it in 2008 in oh nine.

Investing 148

Investing Investments Management Retirement 148

The Better Letter

OCTOBER 20, 2022

To do math, neither maturity nor knowledge of human nature and experience are required. Back in 2008, then Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson noted that the company spends a billion dollars a day to run the business. Make sure you’ve got your math correct. The problem is corporate greed, collusion & profiteering.

Math 81

Math Numbers Banking Medical 81

The Big Picture

MARCH 27, 2023

MIELLE: After 2008? RITHOLTZ: 2008, ’09. MIELLE: And then the biggest luck of it all, is I joined Canyon in the ‘90s and there was a tsunami that literally lifted all waves of hedge funds from ‘90 to 2008 and even beyond. I guess other than Lehman Brothers, most of them were either rescued or absorbed into another entity.

Assets 286

Assets Investing Investments Management 286

The Big Picture

SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

I led the Union Square Ventures investment in Etsy, I became a venture partner for that, and then became a GP in the 2008 fund. And you know, the only thing math works on recognition by peers, and there’s some prizes. WENGER: Because I knew both Brad and Fred really well, and so it was kind of a natural thing to do.

Valuation 306

Valuation Investing Investments Engineering 306

Random Roger's Retirement Planning

DECEMBER 10, 2023

As a matter of math, it cannot repeat the run from 8.5% Using Vanguard funds as proxies, VFINX for domestic equities and VGTSX for international equities, an investor who retired with $1 million on Dec 31, 2007 who immediately took out their 4% for 2008 would have had $576,000 at the end of 2008. in November.

Portfolio 74

Portfolio Math Assets Retirement 74

The Big Picture

AUGUST 20, 2024

00:03:14 [Mike Greene] So that was actually an outgrowth from my experience coming out of Wharton and you mentioned the, the, you know, the transition of people who tended to be skilled at math or physics into finance. In 2008, we didn’t have Uber, right? Very few people want to quote unquote, get onto a smartphone.

Assets 174

Assets Management Portfolio Marketing 174

The Big Picture

NOVEMBER 22, 2022

RITHOLTZ: Why is it not surprising that a math nerd is also a placekicker? But really, even that experience was about building great friends that I played football with. And many of those gentlemen have gone on to do incredible things as well. It seems to be like the field goal seems to be one of the most mathematical parts of football.

Recruitment 148

Recruitment Engineering Banking Investing 148

The Big Picture

MAY 30, 2023

BRYANT: So money, unlike math, money is highly emotional. I mean, there’s 50,000 kids in the Atlanta public school system, so you can do the math there. I believe I love math because it doesn’t have an opinion, that’s a Melody Hobson quote. This was, so you had the 2008, 2009 economic crisis.

Banking 148

Banking Economics Business Planning Economy 148

Random Roger's Retirement Planning

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

In 2008, S&P+PRPFX did worse than 60/40 by about 300 basis points and in 2022 it did better by about 350 basis points. The 75/50 captures 75% of the upside with only 50% of the downside, the math on that works out favorably over the long term. The two are pretty close. I have 75/50 in mind as sort of a benchmark.

Portfolio 40

Portfolio Math Assets Taxes 40

The Better Letter

FEBRUARY 8, 2024

Subscribe now Share The Better Letter Get more from Bob Seawright in the Substack app Available for iOS and Android Get the app TRIGGER WARNING: I’m going to do some sports math nerding-out this week. If that isn’t your cup of tea, I understand. This TBL is about football, but I really love to nerd-out over baseball.

Numbers 92

Numbers Education Management Math 92

The Big Picture

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

RIEDER: — there was — and then, you know, punctuating with obviously 2008. How are we doing in literacy versus math versus science? And then in ‘94 and ’98, you know, all had a different stream to 2002. By the way, it seemed like every four years — RITHOLTZ: Right. Where are we?

Economy 148

Economy Numbers Marketing Marketing 148

The Big Picture

MARCH 12, 2024

My family and I moved to McLean, Virginia in, in 2008. And I was always good at math and, and I had been writing code since I was in the sixth grade. Who, who, who, who else did you speak to when you were there? What, so what was that experience like? Sean Dobson : I lived in Washington, DC for five years.

Banking 148

Banking Marketing Marketing Investing 148

Random Roger's Retirement Planning

APRIL 20, 2025

In 2008, Forester was up 3.57%. Who is to say whether that conclusion will stand up going forward but this excerpt hits on a key point I started making ages ago regarding avoiding the full brunt of large declines and the math supporting the 75/50 portfolio (capturing 75% of the upside with only 50% of the downside). OK, so not so much.

Asset Allocation 59

Asset Allocation Portfolio Math Assets 59

The Big Picture

DECEMBER 12, 2022

Yet the fundamental math of bond returns bodes well for 2023, our columnist says. ( Survival Lessons From Past Tech Downturns : The current tech downturn could be much worse than it appears now, say those who lived through the 2001 and 2008 crashes—but those who make it have the chance to fuel the next bubble. New York Times ). •

Math 307

Math Economy Communication Economics 307

Random Roger's Retirement Planning

APRIL 18, 2025

The math checks out and while the timing for these funds to launch was simply unlucky, I can't figure how these make managing a portfolio easier. It was only down 8% in 2008 when the S&P 500 was down almost 40%. RSSY is 100% stocks and 100% futures yields and RSST is 100% stocks and 100% managed futures.

Management 52

Management Portfolio Math Retail 52

The Big Picture

AUGUST 17, 2023

New York Times ) • Bond Yield Hits Highest Since 2008, Adding Pressure to Borrowing Costs : Bets that interest rates will fall have suppressed 10-year yields for most of 2023, but analysts warn that may be changing.

Insurance 246

Insurance Math Taxes Economy 246

David Nelson

AUGUST 8, 2022

IBM Stock Buybacks since 2008 – Do the Math. However, the bigger issue is that stock buybacks have their roots in a deeper problem, stock option grants. But that’s another whole can of worms. I’ve been a long outspoken critic against stock buybacks for much of my career.

Budgeting 98

Budgeting Taxes Math Management 98

The Irrelevant Investor

AUGUST 9, 2018

Sri Thiruvadanthai made the astute observation that "even if pensions had put all their money in stocks at the end of 2008, it wouldn't have made much difference to their funding status." If you're curious to learn how the math behind this, read this piece from Econompic. Not so fast.

Economics 52

Economics Investing Investments Distribution 52

Carson Wealth

APRIL 28, 2025

The math is just Earnings * (Price / Earnings) = Price, since the Earnings parts cancel. So, we should be able to avoid a financial crisis, a la a 2008-style meltdown in markets and the economy. Its a way of getting a stock index price forecast by breaking it into two important pieces.

Marketing 78

Marketing Marketing Economy Manufacturing 78

The Big Picture

AUGUST 23, 2022

So, I did the math, 20 million times a hundred. So, let me just repeat the math. And so, again, I went through this simple math. And so, it wasn’t just a fishing boat, it was an oceangoing factory, very impressive. And asked them, how much does one of these things cost, and they said, $20 million new.

Government 322

Government Banking Numbers Investing 322

The Big Picture

NOVEMBER 25, 2024

And I, and I really like the application of math and statistics and computer science to markets. You learn the math that can help you with, with market making operations. It’s just not smart on a math basis to do that. And then what happened in, in 2008? And I just caught the bug. Become options market makers.

Portfolio 148

Portfolio Management Marketing Marketing 148