Storm Clouds on the Horizon?

A pretty cool shot from my sabbatical in Mexcio right before a big storm. . .

Might as well rename Elon Musk “Midas”. Do you know anyone else who has built three (4 if you count Paypal) world changing companies? We are right down the road in El Segundo – if a perk includes a new Tesla, maybe I’ll apply for the open CEO job.

—

Pretty good money to be made as a quant these days. Here is a ranking from 2004 of the top master degree programs in Financial Engineering. No surprise, but Berkeley, NYU, and Coumbia are at the top.

—

Dorsey has a new book out on Commodity Strategies, as does Balarie – Commodities for Every Portfolio. I have not read either – any readers looked at either of these books? As usual, I have ordered both.

I can’t remember if I mentioned this already or not, but Trader Vic (creator of the S&P DTI and CTI Indexes) also has a new commodities book out in Feb 08.

Trader Vic on Commodities: What’s Unknown, Misunderstood, and Too Good to Be True

Gibson also has a new 4th edition of his classic “Asset Allocation” coming out in a few weeks. Rounding out the top five asset allocation books IMO are:

Mastering the Art of Asset Allocation – Darst
The Intelligent Asset Allocator – Bernstein
Unconventional Success – Swensen
Triumph of the Optimists – Dimson, Marsh, Staunton (ok, maybe not quite an asset allocation book but great for some perspective).

—

I’ve always wondered how the IRS could ever regulate this wash sale loophole (Basically exchanging one ETF for a near identical ETF, but based on separate indexes – thus no violation.)

—

Is there anyone as amazing as Bo Jackson?

—