This is a short book that in some ways is a summary of Reinhart and Rogoff's greater work This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly. Think of it as an executive summary in book form. How short is it? Less than 160 pages, but in terms...
I'm here this evening to review another excellent book on risk control by David X Martin.This is a difficult book to review, because if I describe what happens, I end up spoiling the book. This is a small book, and I read it in less than an hour.This...
I am going to say something that I rarely say: I am grateful that this book was written. Why am I grateful?It highlights the idea that people, even really bright people, do not behave rationally, but imitatively -- they follow recent price action --...
There was an academic article published recently on the investing of Warren Buffett. Afterward, I thought I saw a few articles reflecting on it, but here is the only one I see now: There's Warren Buffett -- and then there's the rest of us. Buffett is...
What does Washington, DC care about more -- people or corporations? Do you have to ask? DC favors corporations, and all three branches of the government support this. Both parties favor this. Why is this so?The corporations, and those that own them...
Politics Bernanke Letter Defends Fed Actions http://t.co/COYtCtzg Hope the election brings enough change that we end up w/a fresh Fed Chairman $$ Aug 25, 2012Private equity tax questions for Mitt Romney http://t.co/hXaAu0sR 1) Carried interest 2)...
This occurred to me today, and so I want to toss it out as an idea, even if I never get to work with it. What percentage of stocks are covered by 13F filings? I bet it is pretty high.Here's my idea: using the 13F filings, we segment holders into...
When Gary Schilling presented to the Baltimore CFA Society, he made the comment about how much bonds beat stocks by. His proxy for bonds was 25-year zero coupon bonds. Invest in those from 1980 to the present, rolling to the new 25-year regularly, and...
I have wanted to write this article for some time, but decided to sit on it in order to consider the matter more closely. What caused the financial crisis of 2008? In my writings at RealMoney, I anticipated much of the crisis, though not all of it, and...
I've finished the book "Bailout" and will review it next week. I am in the midst of the book "The Crisis of Crowding," and will likely review it next week. What I write this evening is a bit of an experiment, and preparatory to what I write on "The...
My last point on investment advice is to think long-term and treat it as a business. You are trying to buy underpriced cash flow streams.Because it is a business, you must focus on the long term, and downplay short cycle information. Don't let the...
The next aspect of using investment advice is understanding your own capabilities. It comes down to what you understand, and what you have time for.Some investment advice requires constant attention, even assuming that it is right. Does your job afford...
Part two is understanding the advice. A large part of the problem is that many aspects of the advice are unsaid. For example, with a "buy" recommendation:What time horizon does this recommendation require?How likely is it that this investment will...
A reader asked me the following: When I know that you are trained as an actuary it got me curious. They say that actuary assess the risks of insurance products to find value for consumers, at the same time evaluate the probable risks of the product. What...
If you have a subscription at RealMoney, you should read these articles:Using Investment Advice, Part 1Using Investment Advice, Part 2Using Investment Advice, Part 3Tread Warily on Media Stock TipsI didn't say it at the time, but I wrote those with...