This post provides links to a number of interesting articles I have read over the past few days that you may also enjoy.
• Doug Kass (TheStreet.com): A force in motion, October 20, 2009.
Arguably, the market has begun to decouple from fundamentals; instead, liquidity has overcome almost any other influence as every little setback has been countered with an avalanche of buying. It has fed upon itself, and it has contained corrections as many money managers play catch-up and chase strength.
• Dan Holland (RealClearMarkets): An interview with Jason Trennert, Ocober 20, 2009.
Jason Trennert is the chief investment strategist at Strategas Research Partners, a Manhattan-based advisor to institutional investors, which he co-founded three years ago. Institutional Investor magazine has consistently ranked Trennert one of the top strategists on Wall Street.
• Martin Wolf (Financial Times): How to manage the gigantic financial cuckoo in our nest, October 20, 2009.
This recovery has been no accident. When central bank money is almost free, prices of risky assets are recovering, competitors have disappeared or are weakened, and making money is a relatively simple matter for the strong survivors.
• Brian Wesbury & Robert Stein (Forbes): Rational exhuberance, October 20, 2009.
Very early this year, when the consensus was predicting a 1% real economic growth rate for the third quarter, we were forecasting 3%. Now the consensus is up to 3%, and we are at 4%. Meanwhile, our forecast for the fourth quarter has jumped to a super-charged 5.5%.
• Daniel Yergin (Financial Times): A crisis in search of a narrative, October 20, 2009.
Will the Great Recession be followed by the New Caution, changing saving and spending habits, and lowering future growth? Will prudence loom larger in financial markets?
• Charlie Gasparino (The Daily Beast): What Obama should tell Wall Street, October 20, 2009.
Neil Weinberg (Forbes): How dirty are hedge funds?, October 20, 2009.
• How dirty is the hedge fund business? Filthy would be a fair assessment. Not that this should come as a surprise to Forbes readers. After all, a 2004 cover story, titled “The Sleaziest Show On Earth“, profiled the industry’s many transgressions – from bogus performance figures and nonexistent audits to outrageous fees and outright theft.
