Members of the Jai Karnataka damaging the banner of Nithyananda Swami in 2010 |  Photo Credit: BCCL

New Delhi: American author Joyce Meyer once said, "We all face storms in life. Some more difficult than others, but we all go through trials and tribulations. That is why we have the gift of faith." Meyer's words stand true to a country like India where people wear their faith on their sleeve. Since the beginning of time, religious identity has been a predominant factor in the lives of Indians who place their trust and beliefs in a higher power.

People often turn to religion to seek answers to questions that are beyond the comprehension of mere mortals. To that extent, India is one of the countries where religious beliefs are considered sacrosanct. However, each coin has two sides and all good things must come to an end. The extent to which religion has been exploited by sections of the society for their own greed is one question India is struggling to answer, even in the 21st Century.

While it is impossible to list every single case where a religious sect or leader misled his/her followers and exploited their faith, it is important to remember the ones who stand exposed and are either absconding or serving time in prison.

Born in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvannamalai, Nithyananda is a self-styled swami who owns a trust which manages temples, ashrams and gurukuls in India and overseas. In 2010, a sex tape of the 'godman' shot by his own former driver was aired on national television. An investigation later revealed that the tape was authentic. A disciple had accused him of sexual harassment in the same year. He was in jail for 52 days in April 2010 before a court granted him bail. He was also accused of raping a female disciple for over a period of five years and a court slapped charges against him under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in 2018. He is currently on the run and reports suggest that he may have fled the country to evade arrest.

[Picture Credits: BCCL]

Lodged at the Jodhpur Central jail, self-styled godman Asaram was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2018 for raping a teenage girl. At the height of his popularity in the 1990s, Asumal Sirumalani Harpalani or Asaram had 400 ashrams operating across India and abroad. Apart from the thousands of people who followed him blindly, Asaram was often visited by politicians, actors and some of the country's most accomplished businessmen.

[Picture Credits: BCCL]

Leader of Sirsa-based sect Dera Sacha Sauda, Gurmeet is currently serving life imprisonment for the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati. In 2017, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the rape of two female disciples. Such was their belief in him as their leader that Gurmeet's followers triggered widespread violence in the town of Panchkula where a CBI court had issued its verdict in this regard. That violence claimed the lives of 30 people and left hundreds injured. He is currently lodged at the Sunaria jail in Haryana.

[Picture Credits: BCCL]

Founder of the Satlok Ashram and a leader of the Kabir Panth, Rampal was arrested from his ashram in Hisar in November 2014. This was after repeated attempts of the police to take him into custody were foiled by his supporters who attacked police personnel with lathis and other weapons on more than one occasion. At the time of his arrest, the bodies of five women and a baby were recovered from his ashram. Currently, in jail, he is anaccused in at least six other cases.

[Picture Credits: BCCL]

Identified as the kingpin of a high-profile sex racket, Shreemurath Dwivedi was arrested in 2010 and is currently behind bars. A security guard at a hotel in Delhi, Dwivedi gained a mass following as Ichchadhari Bhimanand in 1988.

[Picture Credits: BCCL]

A self-styled godman who ran several ashrams in Tamil Nadu and other south-Indian states was convicted on 13 counts of rape and molestation in 1997. His trial famously involved an illusionist's visit to the courtroom for the purpose of debunking his claims of 'divine powers'. He died in 2011 while at the Cuddalore Central Prison.

[Picture Credits: BCCL]

A household name in Jabalpur and neighbouring areas at one point in time, Vikas Joshi was arrested in 2006 for sexually abusing several girls and filming the incidents. A fast track court convicted him in 2010 and he continues to be in prison.

It would be entirely wrong to state that each man, woman or child who devotes his/her life to religion is corrupt. However, if the past has taught us anything, it is to be careful while placing our faith in anyone who claims to be the child of God. One of the world's greatest sportsmen, ace boxer Muhammad Ali once said, "Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams- they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do- they all contain truths."

Continue reading here:

Ungodly tales of godmen: Your faith is sacred! Don't place it in criminals - Times Now

Two popular investment avenues, real estate and bitcoin, have been making waves in todays market. When it comes to these opportunities, it can be difficult to discern which is the wiser investment choice for you. Both have benefits and, like all investments, carry risk.

If you have been considering these assets and are looking to select the option thats a good fit for you, lets examine the pros and cons of each investment. Keep in mind before making any investment decisions to perform your due diligence and consult your financial advisor.

Breaking It Down: Real Estate Investment

Real estate investment is the purchasing of property with the intent of renting or selling it to make a profit. This is a multifaceted investment. You can flip homes, rent business space, be a residential landlord, rent out vacation property or open an Airbnb.

Real estate investing can help diversify your portfolio. Property is also a tangible investment; you can pull money from it and put value back into it. With a proper purchase and research, you can bring in money while putting value into a sellable asset. Additionally, owning property comes with tax breaks.

However, a great deal of effort is involved when it comes to real estate investment. Keeping up with property requires regular maintenance, upgrade and repairs. Owners need to collect rent and worry about utilities, not to mention that purchasing property can be pricey upfront.

Also, property is not an entirely fluid asset. Although you can sell property, it can sometimes be difficult to unload. It takes time to sell, and theres a chance you might pour a lot of money into something that does not equal out. On the other hand, people need somewhere to live, so real estate will always be a necessity.

Pros:

Tangible asset.

Versatile investment opportunities.

Tax benefits.

High cash flow.

Long-term returns.

Cons:

Not a fluid asset.

Costly investment.

High maintenance.

Breaking It Down: Bitcoin Investment

Cryptocurrency, the most popular of which is bitcoin, is one of the newest investment options available. These digital currencies act as a medium of exchange globally as an alternative to money. They are technological currency backed by blockchain technology.

One big benefit of bitcoin investment is the currency can never be inflated, since there will always be a limited number of bitcoins to go around. Theres also not much involved in purchasing the currency. You obtain your cryptocurrency wallet, purchase your bitcoin and mine. The currency is global and can be sold easily on a cryptocurrency exchange. Transactions are marked in the blockchain, which is publicly available, and bitcoin is currently in high demand.

However, as great as all these perks may be, there are some risk factors. Since bitcoin is an intangible asset, theres a fair bit of room for error in exchange. The currency is entirely digital, which makes it open to cyberattacks, and security isnt ironclad. Also, although there are only a limited number of bitcoins, there are many other types of cryptocurrency available that could inflate the market.

Additionally, since this asset is so new, theres not enough data to really calculate its value. As recent price fluctuations show, the market is volatile. You could easily lose everything you invest, so the decision of whether or not to get involved with bitcoin really comes down to how much you are willing to risk.

Pros:

Peer-to-peer system.

Governed by economic principles.

No inflation.

Easy to trade.

Long-term potential.

No maintenance.

Lower cost.

Cons:

Bubble inflates and fizzles out.

Not a tangible asset.

Security issues.

Little/no government involvement.

High risk.

Which investment comes out on top?

As you build out your investment portfolio, your best investment really depends on your personal financial background, your familiarity with the asset and how much you are willing to risk. Purchasing bitcoin is low-maintenance and high-risk with the potential for high reward, while real estate is a long-term investment that could end in a big payout down the road or provide steady income. So its ultimately up to what you can afford and what you can afford to lose.

The information provided here is not investment, tax or financial advice. You should consult with a licensed professional for advice concerning your specific situation.

Continue reading here:
Bitcoin Versus Real Estate: Which Investment Is Better For You? - Forbes

The Valleys affinity for robotics shows no signs of cooling. Technical enhancements through innovations like AI/ML, compute power and big data utilization continue to drive new performance milestones, efficiencies and use cases.

Despite the old saying, hardware is hard, investment in the robotics space continues to expand. Money is pouring in across robotics billion-dollar sub verticals, including industrial and labor automation, drone delivery, machine vision and a wide range of others.

According to data from Pitchbook and Crunchbase, 2018 saw new highs for the number of venture deals and total invested capital in the space, with roughly $5 billion in investment coming from nearly 400 deals. With robotics well on its way to again set new investment peaks in 2019, we asked 13 leading VCs who work at firms spanning early to growth stages to share whats exciting them most and where they see opportunity in the sector:

Participants discuss the compelling business models for robotics startups (such as Robots as a Service), current valuations, growth tactics and key robotics KPIs, while also diving into key trends in industrial automation, human replacement, transportation, climate change, and the evolving regulatory environment.

Which trends are you most excited in robotics from an investing perspective?

The opportunity to unlock human superpowers:

How much time are you spending on robotics right now? Is the market under-heated, overheated, or just right?

Are there startups that you wish you would see in the industry but dont? Plus any other thoughts you want to share with TechCrunch readers.

I want to see more founders that are building robotics startups that:

Three years ago, the most compelling companies to us in the industrial space were in software. We now spend significantly more time in verticalized AI and hardware. Robotic companies we find most exciting today are addressing key driver areas of (1) high labor turnover and shortage and (2) new research around generalization on the software side. For many years, we have seen some pretty impressive science projects out of labs, but once you take these into the real world, they fail. In these changing environmental conditions, its crucial that robots work effectively in-the-wild at speeds and economics that make sense. This is an extremely difficult combination of problems, and were now finally seeing it happen. A few verticals we believe will experience a significant overhaul in the next 5 years include logistics, waste, micro-fulfillment, and construction.

With this shift in robotic capability, were also seeing a shift in customer sentiment. Companies who are used to buying outright machines are now more willing to explore RaaS (Robot as a Service) models for compelling robotic solutions and that repeat revenue model has opened the door for some formerly enterprise software-only investors. On the other hand, companies exploring robotics in place of tasks with high labor shortages, such as trucking or agriculture, are more willing to explore per hour or per unit pick models.

Adoption wont be overnight, but in the medium term, we are very enthusiastic about the ways robotics will transform industries. We do believe investing in this space requires the right technical know-how and network to evaluate and support companies, so momentum investors looking to dip their hand into a hot space may be disappointed.

Were entering the early stages of the golden age of robotics. Robotics is already a huge, multibillion-dollar market but today that market is dominated by industrial robotics, such as welding and assembly robots found on automotive assembly lines around the world. These robots repeat basic tasks, over and over, and are usually separated by caged walls from humans for safety. However, this is rapidly changing. Advances in perception, driven by deep learning, machine vision and inexpensive, high-performance cameras allow robots to safely navigate the real world, escape the manufacturing cages, and closely interact with humans.

I think the biggest opportunities in robotics are those which attack enormous markets where its difficult to hire and retain labor. One great example is long-haul trucking. Highway driving represents one of the easiest problems for autonomous vehicles, since the lanes tend to be well-marked, the roads have gentle curves, and all traffic runs in the same direction. In the United States alone, long haul trucking is a multi-hundred billion dollar market every year. The customer set is remarkably scalable with standard trailer sizes and requirements for shipping freight. Yet at the same time, trucking companies have trouble hiring and retaining drivers. Its the perfect recipe for robotic opportunity.

Im intrigued by agricultural robots. Ive seen dozens of companies attacking every part of the farming equation from field clearing and preparation, to seeding, to weeding, applying fertilizer, and eventually harvesting. I think theres a lot of value to be harvested here by robots, especially since seasonal field labor is becoming harder to find and increasingly expensive. One enormous challenge in this market, however, is that growing seasons mean that the robotic machinery has a lot of downtime and the cost of equipment isnt as easily amortized in other markets with higher utilization. The other big challenge is that fields are very, very tough on hardware and electronics due to environmental conditions like rain, dust and mud.

There are a ton of important problems to be solved in robotics. The biggest open challenges in my mind are locomotion and grasping. Specifically, I think that for in-building applications, robots need to be able to do all the thing which humans can do specifically opening and closing doors, climbing stairs, and picking items off of shelves and putting them down gently. Plenty of startups have tackled subsets of these problems, but to date no one has built a generalized solution. To be fair, to get to parity with humans on generalized locomotion and grasping, its probably going to take another several decades.

Overall, I feel like the funding environment for robotics is about right, with a handful of overfunded areas (like autonomous passenger vehicles). I think that the most overlooked near-term opportunity in robotics is teleoperation. Specifically, pairing fully automated robotic operations with occasional human remote operation of individual robots. Starship Technologies is a perfect example of this. Starship is actively deploying local delivery robots around the world today. Their first major deployment is at George Mason University in Virginia. They have nearly 50 active robots delivering food around the campus. Theyre autonomous most of the time, but when they encounter a problem or obstacle they cant solve, a human operator in a teleoperation center manually controls the robot remotely. At the same time. Starship tracks and prioritizes these problems for engineers to solve, and slowly incrementally reduces the number of problems the robots cant solve on their own. I think people view robotics as a zero or one solution when in fact theres a world where humans and robots work together for a long time.

Continued here:
Leading robotics VCs talk about where they're investing - TechCrunch

As the leader in streaming TV services, Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) is in a class by itself. The streaming video pioneer, which popularized binge-watching, reached over $160 billion in market capitalization in 2019, even eclipsing Disney (NYSE:DIS) at one point in the year.

The surge in share price since Netflix entered the streaming market has been both explosive and persistent. As a result, any investor lucky enough to buy in during the early days -- and hold shares through the volatility -- has made a potentially life-changing purchase equating to returns of over 27,000%.

Image source: Getty Images.

Netflix went public in late May of 2002. At the time, it counted roughly 1 million subscribers who paid a monthly fee for access to its library of DVD movies and TV shows. Its most mature market was San Francisco, where its red envelopes shuttled to and from roughly 4% of households.

CEO Reed Hastings and his team thought they had a long runway for growth in fighting with rivals like Blockbuster, as DVD technology found its way into more households. Netflix's tech-based approach made it scalable, and its software roots gave it an edge over traditional retailers, management said back in 2003.

Those assets persuaded the company to price its IPO at $15 per share back in 2002. Netflix sold roughly 6 million shares at that price and raised about $86 million after expenses. That valued the company at less than $500 million.

Early investors were richly rewarded as Netflix battled with -- and beat -- major competitors like Blockbuster, Walmart, and Redbox for the DVD-by-mail niche. The stock reached a $15 billion market cap in 2011, in fact, translating into a 30-fold return for people who held for a decade after the IPO.

The company would go on to blow past those returns, but not before ensuring that shareholders earned their gains by withstanding a few bouts of epic volatility.

The streaming business was Netflix's real growth catalyst. Executives saw early on that there was much more potential for that entertainment channel, and so they launched a service in 2007 that supercharged subscriber growth. That move, combined with the shift into offering exclusive and original content, made the company a global powerhouse in the entertainment industry.

Along the way, Netflix only split its stock twice, once in 2004 (2-for-1) and again in 2015 (7-for-1). The two splits didn't impact the overall value of the company, but they did ensure that any investors who held through them both would own 14 times their initial number of shares.

So now we have everything we need to calculate your return if you had owned Netflix stock since the beginning.

For simplicity, you could have bought 7 shares for $105, which would have become 98 shares today after the two stock splits. Here in late 2019, Netflix stock is trading for around $314, which means your $105 buy would be worth over $30,770.For context, an equal investment in the S&P 500 would be worth $290 today for an almost 200% return in 17 years.

^SPX data by YCharts

Netflix's 27,000% return since its IPO makes it one of Wall Street's best performers, and those gains are mostly notable for how unusual they are. The other key factor to remember is that shareholders had to endure multiple periods of massive volatility and share price declines, including several 50% slumps, on the way to earning that phenomenal growth.

Together, these facts mean that, while rare, life-changing stock purchases are possible over periods as short as a dozen years. But investors also have to be willing to pay a price in volatility and patience to even have a shot at these massive payouts.

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If You Invested $100 in Netflixs IPO, This Is How Much Money Youd Have Now - Motley Fool

CUSANO MILANINO, Italy (BRAIN) De Rosa, a name long associated with pro tourracing, hopes to stage a win in the global market as it gets a financial andmanagement boost from an investor group that includes industry veteran AndrewHerrick.

De Rosa's footprint in the U.S. market is scarce despite the brand'spopularity in the 1980s. "But there's always opportunity for a small brand in thisage of niche brands," Herrick said Tuesday. He is a managing director at OutdoorCapital Partners (OCP).

While Herrick acknowledged that the global market for road bikes is in aswoon, a small company like De Rosa often can be nimbler than its largercompetitors. "We're not so worried about the macro economics of the industry,"he said.

Next year De Rosa will also return to the pro tour with a teamannouncement expected soon. Herrick pinned some of De Rosa's future growth onwhat appears to be a thriving market in Europe and North America for gravelbikes, gravel events and gravel racing.

A few days ago, Cristiano De Rosa brought a prototype gravel bike into theMilanino office to show his 85-year-old father, Ugo, the company's founder.

"What's this?" Ugo asked.

"It's a gravel bike," Cristiano said.

Ugo quickly quipped,"It's a bike. We've raced on gravel for years."

The company will continue to be led by Ugo's sons, Cristiano and Danilo.Ugo comes to the office every day and still reads the Gazetta dello Sport in thecompany's showroom. He remains chairman. His three grandsons also work at De Rosa.

Ugo, an amateur racer but a professional builder, founded the company in1953. He has built bicycles for some of pro racing's most famous names, and hisbikes have been ridden to victory at the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and theWorld Championships.

"De Rosa stands for quality, design and innovation, providing bikes for someof the best riders in history," Ugo De Rosa said in a statement. The investmentcapital and management skills Outdoor Capital brings to De Rosa marks a newstage in the company's development, he added.

Currently, some of the company's carbon bikes are made in China withsome assembly done in Taiwan. They are painted and finished in Italy. The remainder are manufactured in Italy, including The King, a carbon road bike. The company's e-road bike uses an Asian carbon frame but is fully assembled in Italy.

The company offers frames in carbon, steel, scandium and titanium.

Outdoor Capital Partners is a boutique investment firm with offices inLaguna Beach, California, and Denver. The company's principles includeEric Horton, formerly Giro Sport Designs' creative director, and MichelleVanGilder, who managed demand planning, sourcing and supply chain logistics forthe Rossignol Bike Group's Felt brand. Sam Mancini, who has worked with Apple,Cisco, Oracle and others, is a specialist in acquisitions, corporate turnarounds andinfrastructure reorganization.

Herrick was a co-founder of Pedro's and later joined GT as a vice president.He has been CEO of Crank Brothers and later was CEO at Intense. He also hasserved on a number of boards, including Selle Royal.

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US investment company teams up with De Rosa as it returns to pro tour in 2020 - Bicycle Retailer

The oil market continues to send mixed signals, with a pending U.S.-China trade deal and potential production cut extension--or deepening--by OPEC counterbalanced by rising crude inventories and an ominous warning about a looming oil glut by the IEA. Oil prices have mostly been treading water in this sea of uncertainty, with WTI prices sitting nearly 8% above the one-month low of $54.18 per barrel.

Yet, even in the event that the bulls end up carrying the day, they might soon have to contend with yet another monster: a contango.

After remaining at or near backwardation for much of the year, the oil market has returned to contango--a situation that could punch big holes in any gains by oil futures traders.

Contango and Backwardation

Contango and backwardation are terms commonly used in commodity futures markets.

A contango market is one where futures contracts trade at a premium to the spot price. For example, if the price of a WTI crude oil contract today is $60 per barrel but the delivery price in six months is $65, then the market is in contango.

In the reverse scenario, supposing the price of a WTI crude oil contract today is $60 per barrel but the delivery price six months down the line is $55, then the market is said to be in backwardation.

A simple way to think of contango and backwardation is: Contango is a situation where the market believes the future price is set to be more expensive than the current spot price, whereas backwardation is said to occur when the market anticipates the future price to be less expensive than the current spot price. Related: Airstrikes Disrupt Production At Libyan Oilfield

The premium future price for a particular contract is usually associated with the cost of carry that includes storage costs and risk of obsolescence.

U.S. Futures Prices: 1st Month Minus Fourth Month Contract

Source: Forbes

In the chart above, a negative reading indicates backwardation while a positive one indicates contango. Backwardation indicates a bearish situation while contango portends the opposite.

To understand why contango and backwardation matter, it's important to understand that the vast majority of futures traders have no intention of handling the underlying physical commodity once their futures contracts expire--which would be impractical anyway for traders with contracts for hundreds of thousands or millions of barrels of oil.

Rather, these traders and speculators find other traders who are willing to hold their contracts to expiration and, in many cases, buy new replacement contracts (aka contract rolling).

In a contango market, the price of the replacement futures contracts is higher than the contract just sold, which in effect creates a small but significant loss that can quickly add up to potentially huge losses in time.

To understand the serious ramifications that contango can have on your portfolio, consider that the United States Oil ETF (NYSEARCA:USO), one of the most popular energy ETFs that rolls its contracts every month, pays high premiums on oil futures contracts (contango) that can cost investors anywhere from 10-80% per year.

Getting around contango

At this juncture, many readers might wonder why traders even bother investing in oil futures at all, especially when you consider that contango has occurred in the oil markets about 60% of the time over the past decade.

Given the ongoing volatility in oil markets, investing in the oil futures markets is a decidedly risky venture. Nevertheless, there are a few methodologies that traders can use to circumvent this challenge.

#1 Constantly monitor the futures curve

The most obvious solution to skirt the negative effects of contango is by constantly monitoring the futures curve and only investing in the market when its in backwardation.

When the curve is sloping upwards, trading futures contracts will erode your capital especially if you do it frequently. As USO has demonstrated, the cost over the course of the year could nearly wipe out your capital.

#2 Invest directly in oil companies

Another obvious solution is to avoid the futures market altogether and invest directly in oil companies instead.

Investing directly in companies that drill, distribute and/or sell oil is a reasonable alternative to holding oil futures. Related: The Natural Gas Nation Every Exporter Is Targeting

However, its also important to bear in mind that many of these companies frequently fail to accurately track oil prices closely enough--and the difference can be pretty dramatic.

For instance, in 2008 during the oil mega-bull market, oil prices climbed 200% compared to an 88% gain by oil and gas giant, Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM).

Another reasonable, if not precise, method is by investing in large energy ETFs such as Vanguard Energy ETF (NYSEARCA:VDE) and the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA:XLE) that offer diversified exposure to the industry.

The biggest risk of investing in these ETFs is that they frequently display large tracking errors because they invest in both oil and gas companies whereas price movements by the two commodities do not necessarily correlate. They also invest in exploration & drilling, equipment & transportation companies whose performance is not directly tied to energy prices.

Luckily, there are ETFs that track non-integrated oil companies. These include SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (NYSEARCA:XOP) and iShares U.S. Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (BATS:IEO). These are not without risk, though, since they also invest in small companies that are hugely volatile due to idiosyncratic factors that may be unrelated to oil prices.

#3 Use a hybrid model

So far, we have observed that each methodology that tries to avoid the negative effects of contango has its own limitations due to the how the company or exchange traded fund operates.

Therefore, we can surmise that the best way to get around the problem is by employing a hybrid model whereby you invest in the cheapest futures contract that optimizes between USO, PowerShares DB Oil ETF (NYSEARCA:DBO) and the United States 12 Month Oil ETF (NYSEARCA:USL) when the futures curve is in backwardation, then shift to general energy ETF such as XLE, IEO or VDE when its in contango.

This methodology certainly requires a little more elbow grease and constantly keeping an eye on the futures curve to identify any flipping points. However, it can potentially yield better results than the other two methodologies executed in isolation.

By Anes Alic for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

Link:
How To Invest In An Oil Contango - OilPrice.com

If you're a young person today, you have the best investing advantage in the world: Time.

Due to the miracle of compounding investment returns, investing a small amount today in a winning investment idea has the potential to fund your entire retirement -- that is, if the idea is good enough, and if you hold for the long-term.

Don't believe me? Consider the track record of the world's best long-term value investor: Warren Buffett. If you had the luck of knowing Buffett back when he initially took over the struggling New England textile business Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A) (NYSE:BRK-B) in 1964, and had the ability to invest just $1,000, your retirement would be more than set right now.

Don't believe that just $1,000 could fund your entire retirement? You may be surprised.

Image source: The Motley Fool

Berkshire Hathaway had already existed as a public company before Buffett took it over. It actually traces its roots all the way back to 1839, and became a large textile manufacturer in New England over the next 130 years. Buffett began buying shares of the company through his investment partnership in 1962. In 1964, Berkshire's owner made an offer to buy out Buffett's shares for $11.50 each, which Buffett agreed to. However, when the offer came in, it was for $11.375, below the agreed-upon price. This made Buffett so angry that he decided to buy the rest of the company instead of selling, then fired the CEO that had slighted him.

Unfortunately, Berkshire Hathaway was a declining business, and was eventually shut down in 1985; but in the meantime, Buffett and his partner Charlie Munger took the cash flow from its operations, then diversified into insurance and many other businesses, using their value investing acumen to reap huge gains over time.

Buffett's early insurance wins came from investments in National Indemnity and GEICO, which Berkshire now owns, along with consumer businesses such as See's Candies and The Washington Post. Berkshire then compounded those gains with larger and larger investments in more recent years, including BNSF railroad and Midwestern Energy in the early 2000s.

In terms of public market investments, Buffett made a killing investing in Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO), Capital Cities/ ABC, and Gillette in the 1980s, thenWells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) in the 1990s. During the financial crisis of 2008, Buffett scooped up a large number of U.S. financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Buffett's current favorite bank, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC). More recently, Buffett has bought stakes in all four major U.S. airlines, and over the 2016-2017 time frame took his largest public stock position of all in Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).

Between 1964, the year that Buffett took over Berkshire, and 2018, Berkshire's market value has compounded at a stunning 20.5% annual rate, appreciating a whopping 2,472,627% over that period. Thus far in 2019, Berkshire's stock has gained almost 8% to $329,225 per A share. Berkshire has never split its A shares, though it introduced more modestly priced B shares in 1996.

BRK.A data by YCharts

Thus, from 1964 through November of 2019, Berkshire's stock is up 2,666,178%. That means if you had invested $1,000 in Berkshire back then -- perhaps because of your instinctual "belief in new management" under Buffett -- that stake would be worth a stunning $26.7 million today.

Needless to say, it can pay off -- and pay off big -- to seek out winning investments you can hold for the long-term. As Berkshire's stunning returns show, 54 years of compounding can turn just $1,000 into many millions, giving financial independence to you and your family in your later years. While it would be hard to match Buffett's long-term returns, the example shows that, given enough time, prudently adding even small sums of money to your investment account in high-quality businesses with good management can lead to a healthy and prosperous retirement.

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If You Invested $1,000 in Berkshires IPO, This Is How Much Money You'd Have Now - The Motley Fool

During Ronald Reagans second U.S. presidential debate with Walter Mondale in October 1984, the former movie star was asked about his age he was 73 and whether he would be able to handle the rigours of the toughest job in the world.

The oldest president in U.S. history responded: I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponents youth and inexperience.

Brilliant. Even Mondale had to laugh.

Top tennis players typically reach their highest levels of performance at age 24, (although Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are making a strong argument that it can be past 30).

For baseball, the peak age is 28, the same for long distance runners. Its three years older for golf. For table tennis its 17 years. Its all downhill after that.

So, whats the peak performance age for investors? Well, there are a number of great investors who are still going strong in their golden years. Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and one of the richest men in the world, is 89. His right-hand man, Charlie Munger, is 95.

There are others who were even older. Phil Carret, one of Buffetts role models and the founder of one of the first mutual funds in the U.S., was still investing when he died at 101. Irving Kahn, an early disciple to Benjamin Graham, a.k.a. the father of value investing, was the worlds oldest active investor when he passed away in 2015 at the age of 109. Interestingly, all of the them are (or were) value investors.

There seems to be no age limit, barring cognitive impairment or other ailments, that hampers ones ability to be a great investor.

Great investing has nothing to do with getting older. In fact, its quite the opposite. I asked Carret at a Berkshire Hathaway meeting many years ago to what he owed his longevity. He thought for a moment and said, Well, I never smoked, I drink in moderation and I dont worry about anything.

I believe its the latter element that was the most important. All of these aforementioned investors had the ability to block out short-term market gyrations and not be upset by them. In fact, they saw big drops or even collapses in stock prices as something to celebrate and they saw them many times during their careers.

Age gives you something that the young simply cant have experience and mistakes. Consider the thoughts of Thomas Edison, inventor of the light bulb.

I have not failed 10,000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work, he said.

Those who have never experienced large market declines are at a distinct disadvantage to those who have. Many investors today dont even remember the near-collapse in 2008, the bear market of 2000 to 2002 or the white-knuckle abyss of 1987.

Investors who have been around a few years possess the huge advantage of having lived through both bull and bear markets. They have witnessed the wild elation of investors throwing rational thought to the wind and paying ridiculously high prices for businesses. They have also seen their despair at the opposite end of the investing spectrum when selling their holdings for rock-bottom values. Reading the history of such events is one thing. Living through the real-world behaviour of Mr. Market, the imaginary investor in Grahams 1949 book, The Intelligent Investor, is something else altogether.

Experience is invaluable in investing. Yes, having the right education is essential. Studying economics, accounting and mathematics helps to build an important foundation. But the classroom is light years away from the ultra-competitive and cut-throat real world of investing.

In that arena, my mistakes have taught me way more than my successes. The pains of losses are incredibly great teachers.

What do you learn from mistakes? Well, you do not want to do them ever again. For example, buying into a value trap or owning a company run by a bunch of crooks can feel like getting hit in the head by a brick. Paying far too much for a business, even a good one, can be another path to pain and learning the hard way.

So, what are the young investors who have never experienced these long-term events to do?

One suggestion: Read the history of markets. There are many great books that have been written about market manias, the subsequent panics and human behaviour.

This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff and A Short History of Financial Euphoria by John Kenneth Galbraith are two of the best. The latter is a delightfully, entertaining short history of market madness through the ages. For a deeper understanding of the 1920s, Galbraiths brilliant book, The Great Crash 1929, is also essential reading.

Otherwise, you will live the horror of what Galbraith reportedly said many years ago the old generation has to die off so a new set of idiots can make the same mistakes all over again.

Larry Sarbit is a Portfolio Manager at Value Partners Investments in Winnipeg.

Link:
The pain of a failed investment can be the best teacher of all - Financial Post

The Cavar wind complex will feature four windfarms. Credit: Iberdrola Navarra.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to provide financing of 50m for the construction of the Cavar windfarm in Navarra, Spain. The windfarm will be built by Renovables de la Ribera, a 50/50 joint venture (JV) between the Spanish electric utility company Iberdrola and Caja Rural de Navarra.

Located between the municipalities of Cadreita and Valtierra, the Cavar complex will comprise four windfarms with a total capacity of 111 MW and will be operational in the first quarter of 2020.

EIB vice-president Emma Navarro said: Spain has major renewable energy potential, and the EIB wants to help it to become a reference point in the sector by providing investments to promote the transition to a low-carbon economy while simultaneously fostering growth and employment.

As part of its aim to establish itself as the EU climate bank, the EIB has reaffirmed its commitment to increasing its financing to support Europe in its plans to become the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050.

Once operational, the complex will generate enough power that will be sufficient to meet the electricity needs of 46,500 people, while offsetting 84,000 tonnes of carbon emissions into the atmosphere annually.

Around 40MW of energy generated by the windfarm will be supplied to Nike in Europe under a power purchase agreement (PPA).

During the construction phase, the project is expected to create 200 employment opportunities in the region. By providing finance to the project, EIB has further strengthened its efforts to promote clean energy production in Spain.

The EIB is supporting the project through a Green Loan. Additionally, the financing will support European Commissions proposed goal of generating 32% of the energy used in the EU from renewable sources by 2030.

Read this article:
The European Investment Bank to finance Cavar wind complex in Spain - Power Technology

Bonds offer stability and income.

Investors often choose bonds to avoid market volatility and generate income, especially as they get closer to retiring. Government bonds such as municipal bonds and U.S. Treasurys provide income, but pay a lower yield when the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates for a longer period. Fixed-income investments provide a balance to stock portfolios during volatility and investors can choose from individual bonds, mutual funds or exchange-traded funds, says Daren Blonski, managing principal of Sonoma Wealth Advisors. "It's important to note that fixed-income tends to underperform stocks over the long run," he says. "Fixed-income investments should not be used as a replacement for stock investments." Here are seven types of fixed-income investments.

Bond ETFs or mutual funds

Choosing a single government or corporate bond can increase risk. Another approach is to add an ETF or mutual fund that owns many bonds, such as the Vanguard Long-Term Bond ETF (ticker: BLV). Investors receive a broader exposure with an ETF like JPMorgan U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (JAGG) and investment-grade bonds, Blonski says. Investors seeking a higher return can select an actively managed mutual fund to seek an advantage, such as the Lord Abbott Short Duration Mutual Fund (LALDX). "The value of using a fund over an individual holding is that funds can provide an element of diversification," he says. "It's really important to understand the underlying assets you are buying."

Short-term bonds

Both corporate and government bonds have maturity dates that range from one year to as long as 30 years. When a bond matures, the issuer pays the principal or face value of the bond. A shorter maturity means the risk of interest rates rising is less and the investor receives a lower yield. Since the yield curve is flat, investors should stick with short-term bonds, says Charles Sizemore, a portfolio manager at Interactive Advisors. "When we see the 10-year Treasury yield get close to a 3% yield again, it might make sense to buy longer-term bonds," he says. "Until then, staying in T-bills or very short-term corporate bonds is the smarter move."

Preferred stock

Preferred stock is a hybrid investment that has characteristics of both common stock and bonds. Investors receive a coupon that specifies the yield, says Rohan Reddy, a research analyst at Global X ETFs. Preferred securities are sensitive to interest rates. When rates decline, preferreds rise in value and provide consistent dividend payments. They are typically issued by banks and insurance companies. Investors near retirement often seek more yield and some turn to preferred stock, since the yield tops most bonds, Reddy says. "Preferred stock dividends often come with favorable tax characteristics compared to bonds," he says. "A decent portion of preferred stock dividends are classified as qualified dividends, meaning dividends received by investors are taxed at their long-term capital gains rate."

Leveraged bond funds

Similar to stock funds and ETFs that use leverage to boost returns, bond funds have similar strategies. Be wary of bond funds that employ too much leverage because when "rates go the other way, they will be feeling some pain," says Ron McCoy, CEO of Freedom Capital Advisors. "An 8%, 10% or 12% yield is alluring to many and with the dip in rates this year, many have climbed higher in price," he says. Investors should be willing to accept to accept less yield in return for safety, McCoy adds. "The higher the yield, the more likely you will see volatility when things adjust."

Municipal bonds

Municipal bonds are issued by a city, state or government agency. The issuer agrees to pay the face value of the bond when it matures and interest. Municipal bonds can be free of taxes if you meet certain residency rules. With the potential tax benefit, it doesn't make sense to hold these bonds in a retirement account, but can they create tax-exempt interest income outside of a retirement portfolio, says Alex Chalekian, CEO of Lake Avenue Financial. A municipal bond mutual fund or ETF can also diversify the risk. "We tend to lean more towards the mutual fund option as we prefer active management of the bond holdings instead of an index," Chalekian says.

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Corporate bonds

Corporate bonds are one way for investors to lend money to a company and also earn a set yield along with the return of the principal amount. These bonds are ranked by ratings agencies on the likelihood of them defaulting. Experts typically recommend that investors stick with bonds that have an investment-grade rating, such as AAA, but no lower than BBB. Bonds can be downgraded before they mature, which makes them a riskier option in a portfolio, especially for people seeking income. Also, a company's stock price and corporate bond yield do not always have a correlation.

Government bonds

Government bonds include Treasurys and municipal bonds. They are at risk of interest rates declining. Investors who purchased longer-dated bonds that mature in 15 or 30 years face the most risk. Investors near retirement can avoid interest-rate risk by overweighting short maturity debt, says Derek Horstmeyer, an assistant finance professor at George Mason University. A risk of default should always be assessed by investors before adding a local or state bond to a portfolio. "Treasurys are a good place to invest money that you need better returns than you can get on cash, but also want to minimize the risk of loss," Blonski says.

Types of fixed-income investments:

-- Bond ETFs or mutual funds

-- Short-term bonds

-- Preferred stock

-- Leveraged bond funds

-- Municipal bonds

-- Corporate bonds

-- Government bonds

More From US News & World Report

More here:
7 Types of Fixed-Income Investments - Yahoo Finance