LinkFest

Interview with Swensen here, and 2008 update (finally) for the Yale Endowment 2008 fiscal year (ending June 30th, 2008). 

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Lenny Dykstra sounds like a complete disaster.

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Quant approaches to bracketology here and here

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A few interesting stats from Financial Planning magazine:

In 2008, there were 8,020 U.S.-based companies with 12-month returns as of Dec. 31, 2008. The average return of all 8,020 stocks in 2008 was -39.6%. The median return was -52.7%, whereas the market-cap weighted 12-month return was -26.6%.

Of all 8,020 stocks, 89% had a negative return. The median negative return was -58.4%. Only 11% of all U.S. stocks had a positive return in 2008, and the median positive return was 19.9%.

In 1999: The average one-year return of all 6,242 U.S. stocks was 42.7%, but the median return was -3.9%.

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The Banff Film Festival is a must!