Skip to main content

Features of the week

We have a lot of great stuff to share with you in this weekend's edition of, "Features of the week".

From the high price of platinum, to a sit down with investment author and historian Peter Bernstein, you're sure to find something of interest here. So read, watch, and enjoy!

1. Warren Buffett's bid for municipal bond contracts guaranteed by MBIA, Ambac, and FGIC was one of the biggest business news stories this week. Some say the plan will save the muni market, and doom MBIA & Ambac.

2. Jim Chanos talks to Bloomberg News about regulations constraining investment managers in the midst of the ongoing credit crisis.

3. Investor, author, and historian, Peter Bernstein is interviewed for FT's View from the Markets program.

4. Will the UK housing market follow the US? UK house prices have surpassed US prices both in absolute terms and relative to income.

5. China spurs coal-price surge. Yes, this is likely to affect Europe and the US; some background info on this topic.

6. New era dawns for rail building, at least in America.

7. The Frightful Face of Stimulus. The return of populism and New Deal politics.

8. Essential texts on Austrian economics? Ten books to read, for free.

9. Did you miss part of the recent 2008 Barron's Roundtable series? No sweat, we've got you covered, courtesy of Barron's Online.

10. Very high quality gems and diamonds continue to bring high prices from rich buyers in Asia, Middle East, Russia, and the West.

Fears of inflation and a preference for tangible assets have driven the trend in recent years, much like the diamond boom of the late 1970's and early 80's.

Still, many say would-be investors should beware. For instance, take this 1982 article in The Atlantic, entitled, "Have you ever tried to sell a diamond?".

11. Platinum hits a new record high. Platinum keeps outpacing palladium in terms of price gains.

12. Jim Rogers interview with Resource Investor: Where to Put Your Money. Hat tip to Kaspar's Market Insights.

13. A profile of the renowned trader and forecaster, W.D. Gann, published in 1909 by "The Ticker and Investment Digest" (later known as the Wall Street Journal).

14. Dumb and dumber: are Americans hostile to knowledge?

15. Is college a waste of time and money? Fascinating discussion of James Altucher's recent FT column at Controlled Greed.

16. Who am I? The Financial Philosopher on emotional intelligence and learning.

Thanks for reading Finance Trends Matter. If you've enjoyed this week's posts, why not share our blog link with a couple of friends?

You can also subscribe to our site feed, or bookmark this site for future visits.

Do you have any comments or suggestions regarding the site? Let us know; we're listening.

Enjoy your weekend.

Popular posts from this blog

Seth Klarman: Margin of Safety (pdf)

Welcome, readers! Signup for free email updates at the Finance Trends Newsletter . Update: PDF links removed due to DMCA notice. Please see our extensive Klarman book notes below. New visitors, please check the Finance Trends home page for all new posts. Here's something for anyone who has been trying to get a look at Seth Klarman's now famous, and out of print, 1991 investment book, Margin of Safety .  My knowledge of value investing is pretty much limited to what I've read in Ben Graham's The Intelligent Investor (the book which originally popularized the investment concept of a "Margin of Safety"), so check out the wisdom from Seth Klarman and other investing greats in our related posts below. You can also go straight to Ronald Redfield's Margin of Safety book notes .    Related posts: 1. Seth Klarman interviews and Margin of Safety notes     2. Seth Klarman: Lessons from 2008 3. Investing Lessons from Sir John Templeton 4.

Slate profiles Victor Niederhoffer

Slate's recent profile of writer/speculator, Vic Niederhoffer has been getting some attention from traders and finance types in recent days. I thought we'd take a look at it here too, to offer up some possible educational value from Vic's experiences with trading and loss. Here's an excerpt from Slate's profile of Victor Niederhoffer : " I've enjoyed getting your e-mails. It sounds like you've thought a lot about being wrong. Well, the reason you contacted me, to call a spade a spade, is that I'm sort of infamous for having made a big, notorious, terrible error not once but twice in my market career. Let's talk about those errors. The first was your investment in the Thai baht, which pretty much wiped you out when the Thai stock market crashed in 1997. I made so many errors there it's pathetic. I made one of my favorite errors: "The mouse with one hole is quickly cornered." That is key. There are certain decisions you make in li

William O'Neil Interview: How to Buy Winning Stocks

Investor's B usiness Daily founder and veteran stock trader, William O'Neil share d his trading methods and insights on buying winning stocks in an in-depth IBD radio interview. Here are some highlights from William O'Neil's interview with IBD: William O'Neil's interest in the stock market began when he started working as a young adult.  "I say many times that I didn't get that much out of college. I didn't have much interest in the stock market until I graduated from college. When I got married, I had to look out into the future and get more serious. The investment world had some appeal and that's when I started studying it. I became a stock broker after I got out of the Air Force."    He moved to Los Angeles and started work in a stock broker's office with twenty other guys. When their phone leads from ads didn't pan out, O'Neil would take the leads and drive down to visit the prospective customers in person.