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.
The Irrelevant Investor
JANUARY 16, 2018
On a monthly closing basis, it hasn't been more than 5% away from its all-time high since 2011. Here's the math: Assuming bonds give you 3% for the next decade, then stocks have to give you more than 16% a year to match the returns of the last nine years. Which all begs the question, are the best days of the 60/40 portfolio behind us?
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The Irrelevant Investor
SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
The S&P 500 just experienced its worst month since September 2011, falling 6.3% The math tells us that. With such a steep decline, the investor in a classic sixty/forty portfolio might have expected bonds to provide protection to their portfolio. The average return for bonds over these 100 different periods was 8.13%.
The Better Letter
MARCH 18, 2025
Six 11 seeds have made it to the Final Four: LSU in 1986, George Mason in 2006, VCU in 2011, Loyola Chicago in 2018, UCLA in 2021, and NC State last year. However, since 2011, at least one seven seed or lower has made it to the Final Four every year except 2019. The 11 and 10 seeds win about four times in ten. quintillion. trillion.
Midstream Marketing
DECEMBER 5, 2019
We all remember the great Google PANDA algorithm update of 2011… and the chaos that unfolded in the immediate aftermath. As I begin to hear more and more about Google’s algorithm update in early October, naturally I was worried that we may be in for a repeat of 2011. The BERT Algorithm Update: Breaking Things Down.
Random Roger's Retirement Planning
DECEMBER 1, 2023
Part of the math that determines options premiums is the risk free rate of return from T-bills. The way circuit breakers work has made a 1987 one day 20% crash almost impossible (it would play out differently) but a repeat of the Flash Crash of 2011 or 2016 would probably smack the hell out of QQQY.
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.
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