The Long and Short of China
Chinese closed-end funds are getting to some pretty fat discounts. CAF -28%CHN -20%JFC -19%GCH -16%A simple strategy would be to buy this basket and short the China ETF (FXI). Or, one could buy the new double short China ETF (FXP) with the knowledge that it is a double short rebalanced daily.And my favorite poster child for closed-end...
Stock Screening
Might stock screening prove the key to your investment success?(Photo from Chema Madoz.)I read Jack Hough's new book Your Next Great Stockon the plane ride back from Chicago. I enjoyed the book, and he did a good job of presenting a very basic introduction to stock screening. He reviews the screeners on the market as well as...
Evolutionary Psych
I don't agree with all of this article, but it's a fun read nonetheless. "Why most suicide bombers are Muslim and beautiful people have more daughters: Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature". It is an excerpt from the book "Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters". For some other opinions of the article check out 3quarksdaily.
What I am Reading
How smart do you have to be to read this blog? I thought I wrote in a breezy and accessible manner, but apparently not. Here is a list of other financial blogs and their rankings. --Soros and Rogers are bearish, while Dreman likes Bank of America and Freddie Mac.--More market statistics than you could ever want...
What I’m Reading
Feeling bullish or bearish today? Emotions have ruined many well intentioned investment plans. . .--What's up with all the biotech hedge funds closing their doors? Merlin Biomed Group, Cooper Hill Partners, and Panacea Asset Management are all closing shop. A bullish contrarian sign?--Boston based HarbourVest, one of the biggest private equity fund of funds, is planning a...
Monthly Asset Class Update
(Note: Lest you misread my intentions and failed attempt at sarcasm(as the first comment did), I posted this under the category of what not to pay attention to. . .this gets filed with the spam stock touting emails.)I have been traveling so just got the chance to update the monthly asset class tables. Before the tables, here...
"Fooling Some of The People All of the Time"
Here is a speech given by David Einhorn at the 17th annual Graham and Dodd breakfast (via NakedShorts).Even more interesting, it looks like Einhorn has a book coming out this Spring titled "Fooling Some of The People All of the Time".--Speaking of books, has anyone read the new book on activist investing titled, "Extreme Value Hedging"? From...
Hedge Fund Best Ideas
Price of tracking the top value hedge funds: freeMastercard stock performance: Priceless (well, more like 20%)(GOOG too, > $700)I'll be updating the performance and holdings of the consensus and best ideas portfolios in the next two weeks.--It's nice that you can clone the Renaissance Institutional Equities Fund, but I wish it was this easy to clone Medallion. I once...
1st Blogiversary
November 1st is the one-year anniversary of World Beta. I thought I would list some links to some of my favorite 15 posts over the past year for those new to the blog (oldest to newest). Cross Market MomentumMean ReversionWhen Congress Goes to Work, It's Time to SellBeating the Dow with Dogs, Fliers, Bonds, and DarlingsShow Me...
What I’m Reading
I often post links to books I am currently reading, and readers have emailed me with suggestions that I review or at least comment on my opinion of the books (which I will do in the future.) I added up all of the books I ordered on Amazon.com and Half.com so far this year, and it totals 76....