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

Nasdaq credit rating junked.

S&P cut Nasdaq's credit rating to junk status citing debt burdens and its questionable strategy to buy a controlling interest in the London Stock Exchange. Financial Times reported that the exchange's counterparty credit & bank loan rating were lowered fromm BBB- (lowest investment grade rating) to BB+. The change will increase Nasdaq's borrowing costs should it wish to pursue aquisition targets. For an earlier look at the exchange consolidation trend that brought about Nasdaq's push for a stake in the LSE, please see "Exchange fever" .

Jesse Livermore: How to Trade in Stocks (1940 Ed. E-book)

If you've been around markets for any length of time, you've probably heard of 20th century supertrader, Jesse Livermore . Today we're highlighting his rare 1940 work, How to Trade in Stocks (ebook, pdf). But first, a brief overview of Livermore's life and trading career (bio from Jesse Livermore's Wikipedia entry). "During his lifetime, Livermore gained and lost several multi-million dollar fortunes. Most notably, he was worth $3 million and $100 million after the 1907 and 1929 market crashes, respectively. He subsequently lost both fortunes. Apart from his success as a securities speculator, Livermore left traders a working philosophy for trading securities that emphasizes increasing the size of one's position as it goes in the right direction and cutting losses quickly. Ironically, Livermore sometimes did not follow his rules strictly. He claimed that lack of adherence to his own rules was the main reason for his losses after making his 1907 and...

Finance Trends 2019 Mid-Year Markets Review

Email subscribers of the Finance Trends Newsletter receive the first look at new articles and market updates, such as the following piece, sent out to our email list on Sunday (6/14).   Hello and welcome, everyone! If you received our last email notice over the July 4th holiday, you'll know that this weekend's newsletter will serve as a mid-year market update and a follow-up to issue #29, " How to Reinvest in a Rising Market ".   Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, let's start the show...  Finance Trends Newsletter: Our Mid-Year Market Review When we last spoke, back in February, the U.S. stock market was rallying off its December-January lows. As the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reclaimed their 200 day moving averages in February and March, it became increasingly apparent that a lot of retail investors (and perhaps some institutional investors) were left under-invested while watching this recovery move from the sidelines.  The U.S. stock ...