Comments on: On Watchlists

By: mhargra

mhargra — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 19:20:57 +0000

That would be pretty cool if we could track recent performance vs. long-term. We do that to some degree – on a quarterly basis – and on a limited basis focusing on long only positions. http://www.insidermonkey.com/hedge-fund/best-performing-hedge-funds

By: Process - Derek Hernquist | Derek Hernquist

Process - Derek Hernquist | Derek Hernquist — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 16:29:41 +0000

[...] nothing with David Merkel in terms of timeframe and strategy, but respect his process and the words regular, incremental improvements remind me that doing the little things over time adds up to a big thing. Joe Fahmy trades high [...]

By: Wednesday links: Japan's end game - Abnormal Returns | Abnormal Returns

Wednesday links: Japan's end game - Abnormal Returns | Abnormal Returns — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 17:38:54 +0000

[...] On building a watch list. (Aleph Blog) [...]

By: David Merkel

David Merkel — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 17:24:40 +0000

This is also worth writing about. Expect to see something over the next two weeks. Thanks, David

By: mediocrepat

mediocrepat — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 16:20:42 +0000

David-

Love the blog, and really appreciate each new submission you create.

I’d love to hear more about “valuation metrics, sentiment variables, and other factors.” Are these quantitative formulas that I could adopt for myself? I like the idea of ranking your current and prospective holdings. What method do you use to assign a value to each company for grouping?

Thanks again,
Pat

By: David Merkel

David Merkel — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 15:00:56 +0000

This is worth writing about. Expect to see something over the next two weeks. Thanks, David

By: hippoicthus

hippoicthus — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 14:18:15 +0000

A bit off topic, David, but something I’ve been thinking about:

Given your comments about incremental improvements, what do you think about the idea that investment manager performance should be judged not by the returns of the portfolio, but by the returns of the new ideas and sold ideas versus the static portfolio? i.e. measure the value of the decisions made recently versus those made in the past?

Given the wide availability of 13-Ds and our ability to copycat others with low-turnover strategies, might this not be a better measure of the value investors are getting for the fees they’re paying?