Preface: Welcome to Introduction to Investments

“It is a gloomy moment in history. Never has the future seemed so dark and incalculable. The United States is beset with racial, industrial and commercial chaos, drifting we know not where. Of our troubles, no one can see the end.”

You have heard the predictions. The End of the World is Nigh! Doom and Gloom Await the Human Race! Global warming! Climate change! Rising sea levels! Pollution! Totalitarianism! Nuclear annihilation! Economic inequality! Earthquakes! Fires! Droughts! Tsunamis! Pestilence! Disco returning! Pretty scary stuff, eh? All you have to do is turn on the tele and watch the talking heads on Skunk News, ah, wait, Weasel News, no, I know, Fox News! When you ask people when they believe the above quote was said or written, they will often say, “Great Depression,” or, “World War II,” or maybe even, “9/11,” or “2008.” This famous quote is actually from Harper’s Weekly, the nation’s oldest magazine. It was written in 1847. (A few sources claim it was actually 1857. So here is your first research assignment. See if you can determine which is the actual year. Have fun!)

Did the United States face tremendous problems in the 1840’s and 1850’s? Yes, indeed it did. The nation was about to tear itself apart over the issue of slavery, our original sin. Do we have tremendous problems now? Yes, indeed we do. The nation is still tearing itself apart over issues similar to those fought during the Civil War along with a host of other problems we are facing, locally, nationally and globally. However, so far, equating serious with fatal has been a bad choice. In fact, the last 200 years have been the most prosperous years in the history of recorded civilization. The last 100 years, the last 50 years, the last 20 years, all of these have seen the global standard of living rise to levels never before seen by humankind. According to some sources, the global middle class reached over 50% in 2018 and is predicted to swell to over 5.5 billion people by 2030. Of course, there is much, much more that we need to do to bring all the people in the world into the global middle class so they have access to food, clothing, and shelter ... and Internet access.

So what does this mean for those of us who want to become prudent, long-term oriented, successful investors? It means that the news is good! As hundreds of millions of people enter the global middle class for the first time, they want many of the same things that we in the West have taken for granted for a hundred years. They want clean water, healthy food, safe housing, shoes, toothpaste, diapers, electronics, entertainment, bicycles, scooters, cars, etc. This will create many new and tremendous opportunities for companies to profit from this rise in the standard of living and for us investors who want to partake in that success.

Oh, by the way, you won’t see this very good news on the nightly disasters, oops!, I mean, the nightly news. That is why it is a good idea to resolve to never again get your news from television. Start reading. You know what I am talking about, newspapers, magazines, books, libraries. You can download and read books, articles, and the news on your mobile phone. It’s cool, really. You will feel better. And you will live longer, too. Trust me.

So are you ready to learn how to partake in the future success of the human race? We hope so. We will do our best to make you prudent, long-term oriented, successful investors. We want you to become the best investors the world has ever seen and become very wealthy! We also will do our best to make this class the best class you have ever taken! (I know. I know. This all sounds a bit over the top but it is sincere.) We want to emphasize that you don’t need any previous investment experience. In fact, the less exposure to the talking heads in the media or the latest get rich quick schemes from your brother-in-law, the self-proclaimed investment expert, the better. So let’s get started with chapter 1. We start with a very simple question: What is an investment?

"Welcome" by WaywardShinobi is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0