April 14, 2011
Four hundred years ago today Galileo Galilei brought forth a new instrument. On 1611 April 14 Galileo did a demo of his telescope in Rome. That bit of glass [...]
April 13, 2011
It is common practice to have portfolio constraints like: wi ≤ 0.05 That is, the weight of each asset can be no more than 5%. Proxy for risk We [...]
April 4, 2011
Friday was a day to fool others. Every day is a day to fool ourselves. Primed to know The video gives a great example of how knowing what to [...]
March 14, 2011
In the Aymara language the past is in front and the future is behind. It is rare for languages (at least existing ones) to have the metaphor turned this [...]
February 28, 2011
Can fund managers capture money that is now gambled away? Investing versus gambling A clean, though imperfect, distinction between investing and gambling is: if the expected return is positive, [...]
February 25, 2011
There is a deep connection between political mechanisms and economic mechanisms, at least according to Ajay Shah. Price flexibility Ajay Shah has a post called Jittery regimes fix prices. [...]
February 17, 2011
High volatility stocks are, in general, nonsensical. Who's to blame? The high vol gamble Theory says that investors demand higher returns for higher volatility assets. Reality says that the [...]
February 4, 2011
The Super Bowl will take place on Sunday. This is the final game for American Football (if you have to ask, then: "No, not real football"). Not only is [...]
February 1, 2011
February 2nd is Groundhog Day. If Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, then he goes back into his burrow and hibernates for six more weeks. Otherwise he predicts an early [...]
January 31, 2011
Thinking of the market as having a personality can be fun and educational. But it has a dark side as well. Benjamin Graham The idea of Mr Market was [...]