MartinInvest

“All I want to know is where I’m going to die, so I’ll never go there.” – Charlie Munger Munger says that you need to “identify the main stupidities that do bright people in and then organize your patterns for thinking and developments, so you don’t stumble into those stupidities . ” Simply put, what not to do is more important than what to do. To come up with the most rational decisions, one must also eliminate their own irrational behaviours and preconceived notions in the light of new information. The mental model that describes Munger’s specific attitude towards investing is via negativa or ‘the negative way . ’ Although the concept references a philosophical approach towards theology, which asserts that the only way to describe God is to state what he is not, its application in investing is nonetheless parallel. As a mental model in investing, it emphasizes the importance of outlining all the things that can go wrong and the probability of those occurrences.     ...

Nick Scali is an Australian business that imports and retails household furniture. Nick Scali’s product suite is catered towards those between the ages of 35 and 55, concentrated in the middle to upper income bracket. Primary economic factors that influence the companies in the furniture business include the real estate market, interest rates and GDP growth. Nick Scali's business model is underpinned by the network of its physical showrooms. Showrooms are  strategically beneficial as it gives customers a tangible experience with the available product suite. Showrooms invite customers to test the furniture, where they can quickly assign their level of personal comfort and gauge aspects of price to quality. Customers are also less inclined to return their purchased furniture after testing them. This is particularly important to those in Nick Scali’s target market: customers who are updating, upgrading or purchasing their furniture for their own optimal enjoyment. In terms of working ...