Weekend readings - 14 May, 2021 : Edition 41

A compilation of few interesting, multi-disciplinary reading links from the internet

Section 1 - Investing & Personal Finance

Bill Nygren's (Oakmark Funds) latest quarterly commentary touches upon balancing opposing forces in investing - Strong convictions, loosely held. It also talks about the Dunning-Kruger effect and why investors need to be vary of it. On the other hand, Neil Clemen Jensen is back with another edition of The Absolute Return letter talking about how portfolios can be restructured around rising interest rates.

Section 2 - Economic Trends & Themes

Everyone is becoming aware of the hollowing out of U.S. semiconductor manufacturing capacity. Whether it's the rise of TSMC, the stumbles at Intel, or the inability of car companies to acquire much-needed chips, semiconductors are becoming a major political issue. The battle of this commodity between China and the US is well explained here with prospective ideas on how to turn things around discussed in this Odd lots podcast in depth.

Section 3 - Personality study & Development

Shane is the founder of Farnam Street, the CEO of Syrus Partners, and the host of The Knowledge Project. I have been following his work for close to 5 years now. In this interview with Superorganizers, he bares it all - Mental models, learning tricks by using journals, taking notes while reading, how to avoid BS and learning with his own divorce.

Section 4 - Business History & management

Elon Musk's tweets on making humans as interplanetary species is now well known but there is some real progress being made on that Journey. “60 Minutes” reports on the nerve-wracking Mars landing of the rover Perseverance. Watch the video here. And there is more evidence that Mars is volcanically more active than ever more.

Section 5 - Reading  & Entertainment

I have been an ardent fan of the 2019 HBO series - Chernobyl. If you have seen the web-series, can now listen to this podcast series for a quick refresh. There are many critical plot points which did not make it to the actual series but are equally fascinating. However, what's going on in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone currently from an ecological and biodiversity perspective is even more fascinating. Ukrainian authorities say the area may not be fit for humans for another 24,000 years. But, endangered animals are thriving and the likes of Eurasian lynx, brown bears, European bison, and Przewalski's horses can be seen. The rarest of rare species!

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I am happy to share that we have launched a 'Special situation portfolio' on the Smallcase platform. Check out the blogs pertaining to the investment in this theme here on my website. Happy investing!

You can find me here on Linkedin and Twitter.

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Now Listening :  "Can I Buy You A Drink?" - Sainee Raj ft Hasan | UnErase Poetry

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That's it for me. Have a great weekend ahead. Stay safe and mask up!

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