I remember bringing in my parents' mail, opening the holding statements. My parents bought into the Telstra float. I have absolutely no idea how my parents ended up with these. They have been an absolute basket case IMHO. "They pay a good dividend" - at what cost? My capital, no thanks.

Just as you thought the stock market couldn't possibly throw any more surprises at you, the S&P 500 (US stock market) literally just notched up a 100% return from it's March 2020 low. In fact, the doubling of the S&P 500 just took 353 days, the fastest the market had doubled since World War II. A couple of other fun facts:

Like stock prices, property prices are such fodder - everyone has an opinion on them. Unlike open heart surgery or anesthesiology, it's one of those things that doesn't require one to be an expert. Whether you're an expert or novice, you probably have an opinion on how it should be. Paul Roos and I spoke about this in episode 11 of the Masters in Investing podcast.

I was fortunate enough to grow up and catch a little glimpse into the world of whispering stock tips, ego, greed and speculation - the late 90's and leading up to and including the GFC. I never really got it, but as a young kid, what did I know? All these experts must know more than me. I mean, look at them, in their blue pin stripe suits, driving around in their flashy cars. So I hired a stock broker to help me - I was no expert.

Last week I wrote about why the stock market is hitting all time highs (ATH), beyond factors such as low interest rates and central bank intervention.

People forget the stock market is basically a bunch of businesses operating like any other private business. They sell stuff, a product or a service, they make money, they incur expenses, all the pursuit of making a profit. Profit that can either be reinvested back into the business to help it grow, or profit that can be distributed to it's shareholders - this is the return on the money someone invested in the business.