Investment Thoughts

Investment Office

Selecting relevant market observations

Investment Thoughts

Macro Observations

Investment Thoughts

Non-Linear Observations on Financial Markets and the Economy

articles 551-560 / 673		«	page 56 of 68	»

I Am a Strange Loop

I Am a Strange Loop argues that the key to understanding selves and consciousness is the "strange loop"--a special kind of abstract feedback loop inhabiting our brains.
Perseus Publishing, March 2007 , Douglas R. Hofstadter

Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement

Libertarianism-the simple but radical idea that the only purpose of government is to protect its citizens and their property against direct violence and threat-has become an extremely influential strain of thought. But while many books talk about libertarian ideas, none until now has explored the history of this uniquely American movement-where and who it came from, how it evolved, and what impact it has had on our country.
PublicAffairs (February 12, 2007) , Brian Doherty

Patterns of Speculation: A Study in Observational Econophysics

Roehner (physics, U. of Paris VII, France) applies statistical methodologies from physics to empirical economic phenomena, building a theoretical framework for the explanation of how stock bubbles grow. He argues that there are common patterns in speculative periods from the past couple centuries and attempts to discover qualitative and quantitative regularities in the organization and evolution of speculative markets.
Cambridge University Press, July 2005 , Bertrand M. Roehner

Balance Sheet Recession : Japan's Struggle with Uncharted Economics and its Global Implications

Economists and business commentators have always assumed that the majority of companies in any economy are forward looking and are trying to maximize profits. They never considered the possibility that a vast majority of companies may be placing their highest priorities on minimizing debt in order to repair their balance sheets.
Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated, May 2003 , Richard C. Koo

Is it a Bull, Bear or Cowardly Lion Market?

For the next dozen years or so the US broad stock markets will be a wild roller-coaster ride. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index will go up and down (and in the process will set all-time highs and multiyear lows), stagnate, and trade in a tight range. At some point during the ride, index investors and buy and hold stock collectors will realize that their portfolios aren't showing much of a return.
Thoughts from the Frontline Weekly Newsletter, April 11, 2008 , John Mauldin

Oil, Pension Funds and the Fallacy of Composition

In fact, Index Speculators have now stockpiled, via the futures market, the equivalent of 1.1 billion barrels of petroleum, effectively adding eight times as much oil to their own stockpile as the United States has added to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over the last five years.
Testimony of Michael W. Masters before the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, United States Senate

Close, beneficial associations between creatures of different species are nothing unusual

These pretty little fish lead lives of enviable indolence. As their name suggests, they live with shrimp (often, a pair). The shrimp build and maintain a burrow, which the goby and shrimp live in together (...) The goby just sits in the entrance of the burrow, keeping guard and warning the shrimp, which is nearly blind, of danger.
The New York Times, April 8, 2008 , Olivia Judson

Random thoughts on professional investors

"Increasingly, professional investors are well trained. They all went to good schools and studied the same textbooks."
Managing Your Investment Manager: Complete Guide to Selection, Measurement, and Control (Hardcover), Irwin Professional Pub; 3 Sub edition, January 1, 1992 , Arthur Williams III

The "New" "Old Economy"

"We began to focus a lot less on manufacturing apparel and a lot more on building brands."
Fortune, April 21, 2008 , Eric Wiesman, CEO of VF

Vietnam: Next to Go!

...or what happens when liquidity runs out...
Investments Office, 04.04.08 , Ronald Weber