AlephBlog.com
Filed Under Investments, Blogging, Business, Economics, Wall Street, Personal Finance | 2 Comments
AlephBlog.com is David Merkel’s investment blog. If you read TheStreet.com or Realmoney.com you probably recognize his name. He has been a contributor since 2003. He primarily writes about stock and bond portfolio management. He started the blog so that he could do have more one on one interaction with readers and do less structured writing. So while he mainly cover equity and bond portfolios he can now talk about anything he wishes.
If you click on his investment books from which I have benefited page you will notice right off the bat that he is primarily a value investor. The Intelligent Investor, The Aggressive Conservative Investor, Value Investing, and Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits are books that are and should be on every serious investors bookshelf.
Looking at his categories the top four things that he writes about are Stocks, Macro Economics, Portfolio Management, and Bonds. His writing style is easy going and not very confrontational. He lays out valid points for almost everything he writes and figures that if you like it you will keep reading and if you don’t you will move on. In this reviewers opinion his blog is a nice break from all of the (absolutely no shame at all) self promoters out there.
If you want common sense investment advice and wisdom then you should make the AlephBlog.com a regular stop and add it to your RSS reader. David Merkel is a investor that happens to be a good writer and is worth listening to.
Happy Blogging,
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TheFloat.typepad.com
Filed Under Investments, Blogging, Business, Economics, Wall Street | Leave a Comment
TheFloat.com is a blog written by some of the people at Interlake Capital Management. While we don’t know much about the money management firm we do that they are smart. Their blog entries are insightful and over time you kind of get a feel for what they look at. They are also skeptical which pays in the investment world. They question stupid statements like this one that the heard on CNBC. They also do mini Linkfests every few days. Most of their commentary is useful for perspective if not always actionable.
One nice feature is that because they are also out trying to get more money to manage they sometimes post things regarding presentation that they have done such as this on on 401K’s.
Basically if you read this blog regularly you will find all kinds of interesting and useful information regardless of where your investment knowledge stands. As we state quite frequently here at BlogRaters you should add this blog to your feed reader and read it often.
Happy Blogging,
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DailySpeculations.com
Filed Under Investments, Blogging, Sports, Politics, Venture Capital, Technology, Telecom, Music, Instruments, Economics, Speculating, Relationships, Fitness, Wall Street, Education, Entertainment, Globalization | 3 Comments
DailySpeculations.com is Victor Niederhoffers blog. It started because he has long had an e-mail list named “the spec list.” He is the man who runs it but everyone from the spec list contributes to it. So what do they talk about? You might think that because it is called Daily Speculations and the owner of the site runs a hedge fund that it only deals with stocks and other tradeable securities but you would be wrong. DailySpeculations deals in stocks, bonds, futures, options, statistics, software, philosophy, literature, history, people. world events, etc. Basically Victor has a bunch of really intelligent people contribute whatever they feel like. The result for the most part a very insightful blog where you can learn something or at least get a different perspective on something almost every day.
So who is Victor Niederhoffer? If you have been trading for a long time you have heard of him. He was one of the most successful hedge fund managers for about 15 years ending in 1998 when he had a series of unfortunate events and a case of overleverage leading to his fund “blowing up” and the saying goes. He then came back and had a wonderful three year run but once again getting hit very hard back in August. A lot of people do not like listening to him because they don’t want to hear anything from someone who has blown up twice but there are a few reasons to read his writings. First if you have read his two books “Education Of A Speculator” and “Practical Speculation” you have learned a lot. You have learned to question and test everything if nothing else (and I would venture to say you have learned a lot more). Second is that you can look at the other fruits of his labor, namely that his shop has helped produce such trader legends as Monroe Trout, Toby Crabel, Roy Niederhoffer, and several other successful traders. So why has he blown up twice you might ask. I am not totally sure but I think it is probably the psychological aspect of trading that has gotten him and not his processes for finding trades. Basically a little overconfidence now and then when you are leveraged can wipe you out in a short time. Enough about Vic and back to the blog.
Here are some fairly recent insightful posts.
Vic on Practice
Levered ETF’s
Fired
Capitalism In Schools
These are illustrative of the types of writings you will find over at DailySpeculations.com It is a treasure trove of insights into all sorts of things. Go and read it and then go and read more of it. There is a lot of content and lot of good content.
Happy Blogging,
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TheMacroTrader.com
Filed Under Investments, Blogging, Business, Politics, Economics, Speculating, Make Money, Wall Street, Personal Finance, Globalization | 1 Comment
TheMacroTrader.comTheMacroTrader.com is the blog to the newsletter of the same name. Macro trading as explained in this post is basically looking at any asset class, in any country, using a variety of strategies looking for the best risk to reward opportunities in the globe. They are trying to fill the void in good global research. We all hear about George Soros, Paul Tudor Jones, Bruce Kovner, and several other legendary Macro Managers but we never get to see research reports that explain what global markets to invest in or why precious metals should go up or why emerging market bonds are a good buy. TheMacroTrader.comis aiming to narrow that gap with their newsletter and blog.
One of the more recent posts Global Watch List gives charts of the countries currently passing their proprietary liquidity/trend screens. They have also shown us some of the criteria they look for when investing in foreign markets here with this post on the Singapore EWS etf.
We have found that with a few exceptions the majority of investment or stock blogs out there cater almost exclusively to the US stock market and while there is nothing wrong with that there are several other opportunities out there to exploit and profit from. TheMacroTrader.com focuses on every market that they can. So far their posts have covered global stock indexes, junk bond/high yield bond trading models, and systematic vs discretionary trading.
Basically if you want a glimpse into what global macro is all about and more specifically you want to see some examples of the type of trading a global manager does you would be well advised to stop by TheMacroTrader.com often and add it to your feed reader.
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InstaPundit.com
Filed Under Uncategorized, Blogging, Politics, Economics, Legal | Leave a Comment
With a PageRank 7 all of you bloggers out there can tell that InstaPundit is a big blog. Glenn Reynolds started this blog the way a lot of people do, just to express his views. It appears as though the views of the UT (University if Tennessee) law professor are very popular. He is very big into technology and individual liberties.
His views definitely lean conservative but he is very active in commenting on politics, religion, war, etc. Many of his posts highlight the good things happening in Iraq helping to balance out the mainstream liberal medias views and opinions. In fact today he has a post showing a Muslim in Iraq restoring the cross to a Christian church that has been there for several years. The Iraqis are quoted as appreciating the help that America has given them. Regardless of your views on the war it is nice to know that some good has come of this whole thing.
Anyways for up to the minute commentary on world events, law, and politics you would be well advised to visit Glenn and his InstaPundit.com blog.
Happy Blogging,
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RGE Monitor.com
Filed Under Investments, Blogging, Business, Politics, Economics, Speculating, Wall Street, Globalization | Leave a Comment
RGE Monitor.com Setser
Are you one of those type of people that not only want to sound informed and sound smart but actually be better informed and understand what you are talking about? Well if you do and you like talking investments than this is one of the better blogs to read. These guys run a subscription based service that is known on the street as a great piece of research. They pump out timely economic advice and discuss different perceptions on a wide array of topics. Well lucky for all of us they also have two great blogs. Nouriel Roubini and Brad Setser are both excellent analysts and economists. Lately they have covered a lot of topics regarding energy, oil, and all things Asia.
Want to know all about Level 3 mark to model? Do you even know what that is? Well if the answers to those questions go Yes, but No, then you will want to read this Level 3 If you have read about it anywhere else then they probably got there info from these guys.
They aren’t perfect but if you want to be far better informed then anyone you know. Or just like knowledge for knowledge sake you can’t miss making RGE Monitor a regular stop in your RSS reader.
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RealMeme.com
Filed Under Blogging, Business, Internet, Politics, Technology, Telecom, Economics | 1 Comment
You may have missed the memo on what a meme is but this site does a great job showing what is popular and how to gauge it. It also is an interesting window into internet search and what is relevant. Here is a perfect post that shows how they look at traffic and search to see where there is growth and what is there Facebook, is it sustainable? Read it and it will start to make sense.
Another good post to illustrate the concept is this one regarding recessions. He shows how search and interest in a topic can be an indicator of the likely hood of that event happening or being successful.
If you study the writings on RealMeme.com you will come away smarter about uses for the internet. If you are like a lot of visitors to this site you probably have a blog and if you want to quantify any of what you do then studying Meme’s can help you target current relevant material for your readers.
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Greg Mankiw’s Blog
Filed Under Blogging, Business, Economics | 1 Comment
Greg Mankiw is a Harvard professor of economics. He has also authored a text that several economics departments use (I used his book when I took Econ 101) and from 2003-2005 he was chairman of President Bush’s council of economic advisors. Basically he is a very respected economist and overall smart guy.
Blograters isn’t reviewing this blog because we own the book, we are reviewing it because it really is a good blog to learn about economics in a relatively simple way. He talks about current events and how they are affected or how they effect the economy.
If you want to get smarter, act accordingly, or at least sound smarter you should read this blog. If you are into the economy (and technically we are all part of the world economy) you will enjoy his writings. If you aren’t so into the economy then you can still learn a lot of practical things at his blog. Todays post is a perfect example Who Pays How Much In Taxes. You hear politicians talk about who pays what but we know that they all have big agendas. Another good post on correlation vs causation which is a far more relevant topic to most people lives than they think (basically we think a lot of things happen because of something when in fact it is just by chance that the other thing happened at the same time. Not everything we think is cause and effect is true.).
And to end this review on a topic that at least half of the readers of this blog can be happy about here is a post on the narrowing of the pay gap between men and women.
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TheLongTail.com
Filed Under Blogging, Business, Internet, Technology, Economics, Education | 1 Comment
TheLongTail.com is a wonderful blog that discusses long tails. What are long tails? The concept is described very well here. Basically it is that with the costs of a storefront coming down thanks to the internet it is easier and easier to target small niches that otherwise don’t get much attention. When that happens we end up with not only more choices but the amount of small niches may be as big or even bigger than the main old school categories.
If you have ever seen a normal distribution or “bell curve” there is the middle which encompasses about 80% of the data and then the two tails on both sides that have less and less. Well the long tail is all about discussing how in our free electronic markets the tails are growing larger and larger. Obviously not a normal bell curve.
Anyways the blog discusses the long tail and its effects in several areas of the market as well as other aspects of life.
The blogs writer is Chris Anderson editor in chief of Wired Magazine. If you are reading this you have no doubt heard of Wired. It is a magazine focused on technology. He started the blog as a companion to his book “The Long Tail” and it has taken on a life of its own.
If you want to learn how the marketplace of the future is being shaped and how to find where you are in it you should add this blog to your RSS reader and read it often. Chris is an engaging writer and does a good job explaining his views.
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TheKirkReport.com
Filed Under Investments, Blogging, Business, Economics, Speculating, Wall Street, Personal Finance | Leave a Comment
TheKirkReport.comThe Kirk Report is one of the deans of investment blogs. Kirk was there pretty much from the beginning and he continues to provide excellent information in his posts. He posts on everything from trading/investing strategies to trader psychology. He also has regular LinkFests where he discusses market related news. There are a lot of sites out there that do this but he is definitely one of the best.
One of the nice things about Kirk is that his posts are very useful and sometimes even actionable. What do I mean buy “actionable?” Basically that you not only learn something but if you trade you could implement what you learned today. On many blogs they provide a lot of info on different topics but when you can actually do something with the info the true value really comes through.
If you invest/trade, would like to, or just like learningThe Kirk Report.com should be on your regularly read list and if you use RSS you should be subscribed. It is definitely worth yout time.
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