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Investment Research Since 1978

Is Mikaela Shiffrin the World’s Best Athlete?

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As Barry Svrluga writes in The Washington Post, there comes a time in each great athlete's career where they become so dominant they must be compared across time rather than to their same-sport contemporaries. I’ve written about Mikaela Shiffrin before. Then, as now, I agree with Bode Miller--I’m not sure we’ve ever seen anyone better in the sport of skiing, male or female. At a certain point, the manner in which the best in any field evaluate themselves can’t be against other practitioners of that same pursuit. LeBron isn’t measured against his contemporaries; he’s measured against … [Read more...]

Fidelity is Boston and Boston is Fidelity

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When you’re an intern at a start-up, you have certain responsibilities. For me, it was to go pick-up lunch when the founders ordered out. But what was cool about being the intern was that I had a seat at the table. I was privy to all their war stories. It was fun (for them) to talk about how hard it was when they were my age—broke, jobless and about to graduate from college. As they looked back it was the road not the destination. Easy for them to say. One of the stories I liked best was when the CEO would talk about how he decided to work in Boston. He said, “I knew it was going to be hard … [Read more...]

Babson College Announces New President

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"Babson College, which marks its centennial next year, has tapped a familiar face to replace Kerry Healey, its outgoing president and the first woman to lead the Wellesley business school," reports the Boston Globe. "Stephen Spinelli Jr., a cofounder of Jiffy Lube International, Inc. who worked at Babson from 1993 to 2007, will become the college’s 14th president in July, the school said Friday." Laura Crimaldi writes: Spinelli, 63, is returning to the school after spending 11 years in Pennsylvania, where he served as president of Philadelphia University and negotiated the school’s merger … [Read more...]

McDonald’s Fights Overuse of Antibiotics in Beef

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Deena Shanker writes for Bloomberg that McDonald's is fighting the overuse of antibiotics by implementing new guidelines for its beef suppliers. McDonald's is such a large buyer of beef, its new policies could affect the entire beef industry. Shanker writes: As consumers have grown increasingly concerned with how their food is made, they have demanded a number of changes, including antibiotic-free meat and poultry. Scientists say the overuse of antibiotics in agriculture is behind the growing global problem of antimicrobial resistance. The chain has been on a mission to clean up its … [Read more...]

Even Your Broker Knows this is a Conflict of Interest

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The brokerage industry seems incapable of looking out for their clients’ best interests. If it isn’t dumping the most recently issued IPO on investors, it is encouraging clients to go further into debt. According to the WSJ, some 15,000 financial advisors at Merrill have complained to management about a pay structure that encourages customers to take on more debt. If your money is still at one of the big brokerage firms, isn’t it time you made a change to a financial advisor who will look out for you best interest? Boutique fee-only investment counsel firms are held to a fiduciary … [Read more...]

Fidelity Investments: Why it’s #1

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You don’t build a company such as Fidelity Investments, with more than $2 trillion in assets, overnight. It takes constant focus and improvement, day by day, or kaizen—a Japanese philosophy of daily improvement espoused by former chairman Edward C. “Ned” Johnson III. When I worked at Fidelity, back in the mid-90s, Mr. Johnson encouraged us, through his memos, to apply the philosophy of kaizen to all aspects of our lives. Mr. Johnson paid particular attention to kaizen as it related to the firm’s investment in technology. He wanted to make sure Fidelity was second to none. That … [Read more...]

This Can’t Happen Soon Enough

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Some of America’s largest businesses that have a major impact on almost every U.S. citizen and billions more internationally, are now governed by a dual-class structure that gives all of the voting power to the likes of Mark Zuckerberg. Google and Facebook are the fourth and sixth biggest companies in the U.S. Both firms have share class structures with unequal voting rights. No way public companies this big and influential should be controlled by young founders without adult supervision. Because the dual-class prevents shareholders from changing the structure though regular voting, big … [Read more...]

Your Retirement Life: Columbus Day in Newport, RI

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Early October is a wonderful time to visit Newport, Rhode Island especially Columbus Day weekend. Discover Newport is a great place to find out what's happening each week. Here's what Brittany Lauro wrote about Columbus Day weekend: Columbus Day weekend on the Classic Coast brings with it all the fall feels as festival season kicks into full gear with seven (yup, seven!) fairs, festivals and major events taking over. Stroll cobblestone byways and enjoy special deals at the annual Columbus Day sidewalk sale on Bowen's Wharf where you'll find great deals on unique items from area shops; … [Read more...]