Supporters of real estate investing usually start with a simple argument: prices don’t change every day, therefore the risk must be lower than in public markets. There is some truth to this. Real estate is not marked to market every minute. But the conclusion that follows is often wrong. The absence of daily pricing does not mean the absence of volatility. It simply means that volatility manifests differently — less frequently, more abruptly, and often at the worst possible moment. ...

Some assets are bought for income, others for status. But there is a rare category of assets that people buy for the feeling of becoming part of history. In the high-performance and luxury car segment, the rules are different. The number of wealthy buyers globally is growing. And while the mass market stagnates, the top price tiers continue to expand at rates of 8–14% per year. Margins here are often measured not in single digits, but in tens of percent. ...

There are instruments in the market designed to generate passive income. There are instruments for preserving capital, and others for growing it. Each of them has its place — but they serve very different purposes. You can hammer nails with a saw, of course, but it’s probably better to use it for cutting. When capital is not structured, there is no system that connects different assets into a coherent whole. As a result, different objectives — preservation, growth, and income — start to compete with each other. I describe what such a system looks like in practice here . ...

The best stories in the market are rarely accompanied by bold headlines with tickers and daily coverage on TV. More often, they are “footnotes on the back pages.” Today, I’d like to talk about one such footnote. Last year, Vietnam’s economy grew by around 7%. The target is 8% and above. The population exceeds 100 million people, nearly 70% of whom are of working age. The country exports close to $400 billion worth of goods annually and has maintained a trade surplus for nine consecutive years. ...

It’s interesting to observe how the market underestimates and overestimates the future at the same time. Most of the attention today is focused on technologies with immediate economic impact. That’s understandable: in a world where global growth remains subdued and uncertainty hasn’t gone anywhere, investors gravitate toward what can be measured here and now. At the same time, another layer of change is unfolding in parallel. Less visible, but potentially more fundamental. ...

Once upon a time, there were markets. Big, complex, noisy ones. And among them lived one simple but sturdy sector – not flashy, not hyped, but hardworking. It wasn’t built from fairy tales, but from steel and concrete, from engines and airplanes, from trains, factories, and roads. It was mixed with orders, contracts, and long cycles, tempered by economic growth, and cooled on the windowsill of investor expectations. It sat there for a while… and then it rolled on. ...

Here you go – the market’s logic. Saturday. Another war. This time in the Middle East. Regular investors: – Oh my God… I knew I should’ve sold everything on Friday! Monday’s going to be a bloodbath! “Rational” investors: – Right. Everything’s about to crash. Perfect. I’ll buy the dip. Non-investors: – Serves them right, those stock market speculators! All these games only last so long. Good thing I own real estate. ...

There’s a problem with verifying investment reports like mine, they say. After all, you can “draw” whatever you like in Excel. Sure, you can. But why would you? If you’re investing your own money – as I do – you probably want to measure how effective your activity really is, to understand whether it makes sense at all… or whether you’d be better off just buying an ETF. At least you should want that. It’s your capital. ...