My reach back in time to a blast from the past on Trend Following Radio.
Howard Marks is an investor, writer and author of “Mastering the Market Cycle: Getting the Odds on Your Side.” After working in senior positions at Citibank early in his career, Howard joined The TCW Group, Inc. in 1985. He led groups within the company responsible for investments in distressed debt, high yield bonds, and convertible securities. After 10 years at The TCW Group, Inc. he co-founded Oaktree Capital Management.
Howard got into high yield bonds in August of 1978. This was a turning point in financial history because up until this moment only good companies could borrow money. High yield bonds opened the market to more risky companies and also showed Howard a different way of looking at markets. The first company he worked for had a strategy of buying stock in the 50 most successful companies in hopes they would continue to go up forever. With the advent of the high yield market he saw himself making good and steady money off of the worst/most risky companies–turning everything he had been previously been taught upside down.
Howard has lived through over 50 years of financial history and with his new book he has gone back hundreds of years to examine and study cycles. So how does Howard define a cycle? There are many different cycles–cycles in science, speed, people inhabited, etc. Cycles in the financial world are produced by people and are created by their feelings. The cycle represents a fluctuation in something around a mid-point, but time-frames and reasons for fluctuations do not repeat themselves–except for in human behavior. Looking back hundreds of years there are a few things that are underlying in every financial boom–too much optimism, too much money chasing, and too much risk aversion.
In this episode of Trend Following Radio:
High yield bonds
Financial cycles
Sub prime bubble
Dot-com crash
Continued learning by reading
Risk management
Decision making
Run Rabbit with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio.
Allison Shapira is founder and CEO of Global Public Speaking LLC and author of “Speak with Impact: How to Command the Room and Influence Others.” She teaches at the Harvard Kennedy School and offers keynote speeches, workshops, and executive coaching for Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and nonprofits around the world.
What was the process for pulling research together for her new book? Conducting interviews? Pulling from personal experience? Allison has been teaching on public speaking for over 15 years. She has hundreds of stories spanning across just about every industry – giving her the depth of knowledge needed for this book. Allison saw trends of what worked, didn’t work and how to apply that information to the real world and real people. Public speaking is a critical skill in the professional world and it is a skill that needs training and coaching to become good at. Having knowledge and expertise on a subject alone does not make you a good speaker. Speaking clearly and concisely is a craft that demands hours of practice to feel comfortable.
Allison has had some brilliant and academically distinguished mentors, however the people she has learned from and been inspired by the most are in workshops. She is inspired by getting people “over the hump” and seeing scenarios that prove that public speaking is a skill that everyone can execute.
How does she get students over that “hump?” Vocal variety, eye contact and body language are three non-verbal communication elements that are key in giving an engaging presentation. Also, when people believe in what they are speaking on and are passionate about it, they seem to be less nervous and have less anxiety. A good presentation should feel like a conversation with the audience. With that being said, there is no such thing as perfection when it comes to public speaking. There is always room for improvement – Practice, practice, practice.
In this episode of Trend Following Radio:
Authenticity
Public speaking
Karaoke singing
Vocal variety
Eye contact
Body language
Las Vegas Roundtrip with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio.
Jeffrey Gitomer is an author, professional speaker, and business trainer, who writes and lectures internationally on sales, customer loyalty, and personal development. He is best known for “The Little Red Book of Selling” and his newest book, coming out at the end of October, is “Truthful Living: The First Writings of Napoleon Hill.”
Jeffrey was introduced to the Napolean Hill Foundation about 10 years ago and volunteered to start writing for their newsletter with an article every Friday. Napoleon Hill was the founding father of positive attitudes. In 1917 he had a course in advertising and selling. At the end of every course he would lay out positive thinking. When the Napolean Hill Foundation found these writings, what they call “After the Lesson Visits by Napolean Hill,” the foundation approach Jeffrey about writing a book outlining his teachings. Jeffrey did not hesitate to say yes – and after years of pining over these lecture notes, his newest book was formed.
What energizes Jeffrey and motivates him to write? He loves what he does. Every day is a great day for him. He doesn’t have two days that are alike, or two books alike, or two speeches alike. He is most excited about “What is next?”. Jeffrey lives in the moment but is ready for tomorrow and his ideas, strategies, and connections – they are all in place to set him up for success in the present day and the next.
In this episode of Trend Following Radio:
Personalization
Service as the foundation of success
Truthful living
Communication
Tom Basso is back for episode 700. Tom is featured across Jack Schwager’s “Market Wizard” series and most famously known as “Mr. Serenity.” He was featured on episode 400 of Trend Following Radio with a mega 4 ½ hour episode, and today he is back for this new episode. Now retired from managing client money, Tom was president and founder of Trendstat Capital Management. He became a registered investment advisor in 1980, a registered commodities advisor in 1984, and was elected to the board of the National Futures Association in 1998.
Although Tom has been retired for over 15 years he still gets emails daily from aspiring traders. While on vacation with his wife, they came up with a more efficient solution to answering all these emails. Tom decided to start an educational platform that he more candidly describes as a “Tom Basso brain dump into a website.” He has had 28 years of experience managing money and over 40 years of managing his own money. With all that knowledge, his new website addresses what he feels new and old traders alike struggle with. All content on his website will be free aside from his personal training videos and a narrated version of his book “Panic-Proof Investing.”
What is it about the individual that is so important in trading? How do you become the best trader you can be? How does exercise and diet play into trading? How do you separate self worth from your net worth? How do you stay young in your energy? Michael and Tom keep their conversation on trading today more philosophical rather than technical.
In this episode of Trend Following Radio:
Trend following philosophy
Separation of net worth from self worth
How to view winning trades vs. losing trades
Staying mentally young
Brooks Koepka vs. Tiger Woods
Dealing with stress in the markets
Social media stressors
Tiffani Bova is author of “Growth IQ: Get Smarter About the Choices that Will Make or Break Your Business.” She has a unique background, with 20 years of experience spread between start-ups and fortune 500 companies. Tiffani has put together a first hand look at what it takes to start and run a successful business as an entrepreneur.
How did Tiffani get her start in business? Early in her career she would ask executives and CEO’s constantly for little tid-bits of knowledge–she wasn’t afraid to step out of her comfort zone and ask for help. That feedback and confidence building was the cornerstone to becoming who she is today. What gave Tiffani the courage to talk to these leaders and say “please help and give me some advice?” Sports played a huge role. Win or lose, she learned how to conduct herself and hold her head high no mater what the turnout of a game was.
Growth IQ is a dense book with many case studies. Tiffani researched about 30 companies from all backgrounds including Kylie Cosmetics, Honest Co., and Under Armor–using them as examples to show how to build and sustain successful businesses. She also shows companies hitting forks in the road and how they overcame. Every case study may not be useful to everyone but there are lessons to be learned from all.
Tiffani stresses that it is sometimes the little changes made that make all the difference between a failed venture or a successful one. What are some good questions to reflect on if your business is not where you think it should be?: Is the order you are presenting your product off? Are you selling to the wrong demographic? Are you giving customers the wrong experience?
In this episode of Trend Following Radio:
Flexing your confidence muscle
The power of now
Selling to your demographic
Buddhism
Growing a business
The Whipsaw Guy with Michael Covel on Trend Following Radio.