The United States and Iran spent the last day trading strikes around the Strait of Hormuz again. Tankers have been hit. Washington hit IRGC targets. Tehran answered against U.S. sites in the region. First real exchange in weeks, not a brand-new war. Enough to shove oil higher. Again. Brent was around $95.40 this morning, with … Continue reading Of Course I Launched the Trading Bot on a Hormuz Day
Portfolio & Investments
The bot has its own cage. I kept the rest of the keys.
I opened an ISK with an Irish-based broker and handed my little Grok bot the keys to that account only. There are a few reasons I did not park this experiment at one of the Swedish platforms I already use. The main one is BankID. I am not giving a bot full access to the … Continue reading The bot has its own cage. I kept the rest of the keys.
My portfolio fell in 2025. We still did everything “right.”
That sentence has been sitting in my spreadsheet like a bad houseguest. Today I finally sat down and lined up the year-end values from December 31, 2017 through December 31, 2025, plus the snapshot from August 31, 2026. All numbers in SEK. Digital records make this possible. They do not make it pleasant. The only … Continue reading My portfolio fell in 2025. We still did everything “right.”
The Chart Finally Looks Decent. Now Comes the Ugly Spreadsheet Work.
The chart I started on December 31, 2025 just hit its best reading so far. All holdings combined sit +21.83% versus that starting point. Left: 31 Dec 2025Right: 31 Aug 2026 +21.83% YTD I am not calling that “performance” with a straight face. We reinvest every dividend, often several times a month, and money has … Continue reading The Chart Finally Looks Decent. Now Comes the Ugly Spreadsheet Work.
Enough is enough. Brussels just called European household savings lazy.
Last Thursday in Paris, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told French business leaders that Europe has savings — “unfortunately,” she said in French, “cette épargne est paresseuse.” Lazy. She pointed to roughly €10 trillion sitting in bank accounts, and to the large share of European savings invested outside the continent. Then came the punchline: … Continue reading Enough is enough. Brussels just called European household savings lazy.
A perfect storm that refuses to pick a lane
The G20 circus starts today in Asheville, North Carolina. Overnight, the United States hit two Iranian launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz after IRGC forces were seen preparing to fire sea-mine rockets into the shipping lane. Iran answered by striking U.S. bases in Jordan. First real exchange of fire in weeks. Add … Continue reading A perfect storm that refuses to pick a lane
A Million-Dollar Lunch and a 10,000 SEK Experiment
I still remember the line. April 8, 1996. Chicago is a mess. Farmer and Packard walk out for lunch. When they come back, they look at the P&L screen. “That was a million-dollar lunch.” Thomas A. Bass wrote it down in The New Yorker three years later, in “Black Box.” I saw that story on … Continue reading A Million-Dollar Lunch and a 10,000 SEK Experiment
Why a Swede Can’t Just Buy VOO
I can buy a new car that starts losing money the second I drive it off the lot. I can buy individual stocks I barely understand. What I cannot do, as an ordinary EU retail investor, is tap “buy” on VOO, VTI, SPY or QQQ. That is not a glitch. It is PRIIPs. The rule … Continue reading Why a Swede Can’t Just Buy VOO
He Promised He’d Buy Realty Income at the Open. He Came Home at 1 a.m.
As a birthday present, the Little Man received 11,500 SEK from all of us. His grandparents are only arriving today, but they sent the money yesterday anyway. Of that 11,500, he transferred 7,500 straight into his endowment insurance at Montrose — almost exactly 65 percent. Same account he used when he put 45 percent of … Continue reading He Promised He’d Buy Realty Income at the Open. He Came Home at 1 a.m.
Sold SPG. Watched it drop. Still not buying it back.
We sold our entire position in Simon Property Group (SPG) on August 20 around $219.70. Friday it closed at $214.56 — roughly 2.3% lower since we got out. I still think it has further to fall. Depending on where it actually finds a floor, we might buy it back. Not now. The rest of the … Continue reading Sold SPG. Watched it drop. Still not buying it back.