Notes from the Diamond

Notes From The Diamond

In this series kicked off in October 2018, long-time friend and subscriber David Salem explores the many similarities between money management and America's national pastime.

Notes from the Diamond #9: How About Never

By David Salem | February 3, 2020 | 4 Comments

Axioms to live by in baseball and in investing!

1) Outsiders to an organization can never know in real time what goes on inside it.

2) Human labors can never be gauged fully and dispositively in real time.

3) Chains are never stronger than their weakest links.

Notes from the Diamond #8: Room For Doubt

By David Salem | September 1, 2019 | 4 Comments

In both baseball and in investing, we need an all-purpose test of excellence, not just for identifying MVPs like Mike Trout, but for seeing how all of us mere mortals stack up.

ET contributor David Salem makes the case for an investing corollary to baseball’s Wins Above Replacement (WAR). It’s a defense of value investing, but with a twist.

Notes from the Diamond #7: Hittin ‘Em Where They Ain’t (Part 2)

By David Salem | April 25, 2019 | 20 Comments

ET contributor David Salem is back with five core tenets for achieving 5+% real returns over the next few decades.

It’s all a must-read, but I’m gonna highlight #4: “Favor equity investments in companies employing or serving primarily people with abundance as distinct from scarcity mindsets.”

This is the foundation for behavioral economics on a macro scale.

Notes from the Diamond #6: Hittin’ ‘Em Where They Ain’t (Part 1)

By David Salem | February 14, 2019 | 0 Comments

In baseball and in investing, how do we distinguish truly great practitioners from merely good ones? Let’s start by looking at two greats who revolutionized how the game is played – Branch Rickey in baseball and David Swensen in investing.

Notes from the Diamond #5: Wannabes Beware

By David Salem | December 16, 2018 | 1 Comment

Imitation is not only the sincerest form of flattery, it’s also the engine behind so much of what we do in both professional baseball and professional investing. The trick, of course, is not to get beaned in the process!

Notes from the Diamond #4: Less Is More

By David Salem | November 10, 2018 | 2 Comments

Peer group comparisons are the primary measuring stick of both baseball GMs and investment PMs. Here’s how they are used and (more often) abused.

Notes from the Diamond #3: Everything Has Its Price

By David Salem | October 26, 2018 | 7 Comments

Allocators and investors can learn a lot from professional baseball about how to structure incentives and compensation for portfolio managers. And how NOT to do it.

Notes from the Diamond #2: Until the Truth Comes Out

By David Salem | October 11, 2018 | 2 Comments

Part 2 of a multi-part series that seeks to enhance readers’ deployment of both human and financial capital through the exploration of parallels between money management and professional baseball.

Notes from the Diamond #1: Always Something New to Learn

By David Salem | September 26, 2018 | 0 Comments
Yazstremski waits for the bounce.

Part 1 of a multi-part series that seeks to enhance readers’ deployment of both human and financial capital through the exploration of parallels between money management and professional baseball.