Tradestreaming Cascade: All the news you need to know (Week of October 30, 2011)
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Every week, I send out an email (free) to my subscribers summarizing the must-see events of the past week. It’s everything about the intersection of technology, social media and investing.
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Investment Products
Personal Capital ventures into online advice arena (Investment News)
Posted October 30, 2011
Personal capital is taking the traditional advisory model and delivering through the online channel. Taking aim at the technology-empowered hybrid of DIY investor looking for professional advice.
Eliminate leveraged ETFs (Aleph Blog)
Posted October 29, 2011
Part of a growing trend rejecting leveraged ETF products, David Merkel believes they should be banned because they don’t provide any long term value.
I have never pushed a taxi medallions…on anyone (Metafilter)
Posted October 24, 2011
Two taxi medallions sold for over $1m a piece this week. This posting has links to the current flurry of activity surrounding an asset that’s returned 16% a year for the past 60 years.
Social Media, Technology and Investing
Bloomberg begins streaming to the iPad (Mashable)
Posted October 27, 2011
Bloomberg continues its push into the consumer space with new distribution channels and products. Unlike CNN’s app, this stream is free and open to anyone with an iPad. Ballsy move.
Example covered-call portfolio (Born to Sell)
Posted October 28, 2011
Research as a service (RAAS — just made that up, actually) provider, Born to Sell, does one thing really well: covered call research. The site recently posted a model portfolio to their library.
Teach Siri to manage your finances (Bundle)
Posted October 25, 2011
Technology is enabling new technologies to shoulder the burden of much of our financial lives. Apple’s new voice control can be taught to do some interesting things. What’s next — iPortfolios?
Think Finance debuts consumer electronics site for the unbanked (TechCrunch)
Posted October 20, 2011
There’s still a huge opportunity out there for companies and services to target those millions of Americans without bank accounts. This one provides financing to those without formal bank accounts. What do I know but loading up the unbanked with more debt doesn’t sound like such a good idea (but probably a good biz).
Bringing trading into the cloud (Corporate Insight)
Posted October 24, 2011
More than just a buzzword, the cloud provides real advantages for companies looking to scale and specialize. Schwab and TD Ameritrade are already testing the waters.
Here comes fixed income electronic trading (Xignite)
Posted October 21, 2011
It’s been in the works for a while now but it looks like the last hold out in electronic trading is manning up to the 21st century. Fixed income has been opaque for a long time — look to get new insight into the data/analytics in fixed income land.
Introducing Football Freakonomics (Freakonomics)
Posted October 25 2011
The data feedback loop is becoming more integrated into our decision making. Freakonomics takes its approach has Moneyball-izes it to look at the science of football.
Give automated investing some thought (Vanguard)
Posted October 21, 2011
Most investors never take the time to sort through their 401k options at work. This can mean real money left on the table. This article looks at an automated way to grow your nest egg that requires a little thought and effort along the way.
Investment Strategies and Research
What the buy side wants (Integrity Research)
Posted October 31, 2011
Integrity takes a look at the recent Institutional Investor survey of buy side analysts. Integrity and knowledge lead the way but some interesting data here.
An autopsy of the U.S. financial system: accident, suicide, or negligent homicide (research paper) [.pdf]
Brown’s Ross Levine doesn’t buy that the Great Recession was caused by a popping of the housing bubble and herding behavior by investors. He wants policy makers tried for financial homicide.
Are ‘safe’ withdrawal rates really safe? (FinancialMentor.com)
Posted October 22, 2011
Todd Tresidder does an exhaustive overview of research and theory into withdrawal rates. Common assumptions are just wrong. Todd recommends customizing withdrawal rates based on longetivity and market valuations. Check it out.
Shorting the Magic Formula (Turnkey Analyst)
Posted October 19, 2011
Instead of coming home from the Value Investor Conference worshipping everything that comes out of The Magic Formula’s Joel Greenblatt, Wes isn’t convinced. And when he runs the numbers, it looks like shorting the MF may make the most sense.
How to invest like the Canadian pension plan (Financial Post)
Posted October 26, 2011
Via an interview with a portfolio manager, this article does a pretty good job showing the inner workings of the $153 billion fund. Index replication plays a big role.
The Financial Advisory Business
What’s your X factor? (AdvisorGo)
Posted: October 27, 2011
Stephanie Sammons and I shoot some valuable breeze on our new podcast to help financial advisors with marketing. This episode is all about distinguishing yourself with a unique value proposition. We look at Rick Ferri’s model.
The value of a financial advisor (RIABiz)
Posted: October 28, 2011
Stockbrokers and advisors are different and it’s important to understand the differences in the motivation behind their advice, their incentives. I don’t totally buy it that the RIA culture is necessarily better (many of these guys are brokers, just with a different license) but the fiduciary designation is important.
How investors choose financial advisors (Byallaccounts)
Posted: October 28, 2011
Looking at behavioral data, this article breaks down two different approaches that clients use to decide on working with a financial advisor. Are you positioned to win business from the differing approaches?
The financial advisor’s #1 objection to online marketing (New Rules of Investing)
Posted: November 2, 2011
Financial advisors are getting excited about the prospects of prospecting online. Few are doing it really effectively. My article examines one thing holding them back — learning how to do it.
There’s a bull market in investment advice (Financial Planning)
Posted October 21, 2011
At the recent Money Management Institute conference, a keynote speaker described the current environment in financial services: envisioning the investment management industry bringing capital to the markets, replacing what’s been lost by the investment banks.
Investor Behavior
4 strategies to teach kids about money (Citi)
Posted: October 31, 2011
Jonathan Clements could tell me to store my money in a trash dumpster and I’d listen. The previous personal finance columnist for the WSJ has some practical advice for teaching kids about kesef. Check out my interview with Clements here.
The Millionaire Teacher – How to begin saving and start building wealth (Tradestreaming)
Posted October 31, 2011
Andrew Hallam is a smart guy and has the formula down for saving and building a long-term portfolio. He’s also a really good story-teller and author. We discuss his new book, Millionaire Teacher.
The Moneyless Man (Green Prophet)
Posted September 23, 2011
The Occupy movement may be run by fringe elements but people are definitely reconsidering the value of money. This guy is fighting for the right to live without possessions — how do governments tax people like this?
Occupy Harvard (Planet Money)
Posted November 2, 2011
Back when we were undergrads, we would never have…Blah blah. The #occupy movement has entered the hallowed economic halls of Harvard. Ironically, students walked out on Mankiw’s Ec 10 class when he was scheduled to talk about income disparity.
Can self-talk influence your investing performance? (Trader Pyches)
Posted October 25, 2011
This article looks at how the voices in our head influence our decision making when it comes to investing. If pros have a hard go of it, how can individual investors overcome our biases? Dunno.
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