I like the idea of aggregators, and considered building one with Bloggerator. The problem with the ones like RealClear Markets is that they are 1) poorly designed 2) have too much information/links 3) not edited with useful value added information.
A much better model is any of the below sites:
Abnormal Returns
Kottke
Instapundit
Value Investing News (which actually shares revenue with the users).
IMO, for the site to work you either need to have value added editing, or user based participation where it gets rewarded. . .Seeking Alpha works because they have a nice (edited) layout, and were first movers. They will lose out to the next best designed competitor that either 1)does a better job of sending traffic to the blog’s site, or 2) shares revenue with the bloggers. Rempel had a good couple posts on the business of blogging here and here.
Forbes had a shot but is doing their best to muck it up. Take 60% of your revenue then just run ads for the Forbes blog network for two months? Ridiculous.
What are some other good examples of aggregators that I have missed? Any that share revenue with users?
(Edit: As soon as I posted this I received an email from Newsflashr. Good idea, terrible design. World Beta is ranked 24th best business blog. )
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Re-read this great paper this morning: The Rewards of Multi-Asset-Class Investing. The paper begins with this quote. If you extrapolate land=real assets, business=stocks, and reserve=bonds, then that is pretty close to the endowment allocation:
“Let every man divide his money into three parts, and invest a third in land, a third in business, and a third let him keep in reserve.” —Talmud Circa 1200 BC–500 AD
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Lone Pine, Blue Ridge, Tiger, and Viking all hold Mastercard (MA) – at all time highs here.
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The first active ETF begins trading today, the Bear Stearns Current Yield Fund (YYY). Yawn.
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Lots of Ibbotson Charts here (nod reader SF).
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Do you think the folks at FUNDX / Dal Investments read my paper? A new offering (nod to reader RD). Sounds interesting, although their FUNDX fund basically pegs the MSCI World Index:
FundX Tactical Upgrader Fund (TACTX)
The FundX Tactical Upgrader Fund (TACTX – Inception 2/29/08) uses the NoLoad FundX Upgrading Strategy to select funds and ETFs that are top ranked by our performance-based ranking system.
The Fund also overlays a quantitative, disciplined methodology for moving in and out of a fully invested position. The Fund will – at times – take deliberate action to possibly reduce exposure to market risk.
Under normal market conditions, FundX Tactical Upgrader Fund will typically hold core equity mutual funds and ETFs, as well as some more concentrated funds and ETFs. When the Fund’s tactical model indicates a more defensive portfolio, a substantial portion of the Fund’s portfolio will be invested in money market instruments and ETFs that short the market (move inversely to broad market indexes), providing a hedge against the remaining long positions. When the tactical model indicators turn positive again, the portfolio will return to a fully invested position.
This Fund may not be appropriate for investors seeking regular income, for those pursuing a short-term goal, or for taxable investors interested in limiting their exposure to taxable gains or losses from a mutual fund.
