It’s a strength, in the same sense that most of the best athletes could do well at a wide number of games.  I follow a wide number of themes in the financial markets and economics.  I like to think that I bring more perspective to a wide umber of issues because:

• I have been trained in neoclassical economic theory, and I reject it.
• I have been trained in modern portfolio theory, and I reject it.
• I’ve worked in most areas of the financial markets, and have seen similar events happen in different markets.
• I have quantitative skills, but I have spent a lot of time of economic history.
• Having practiced as an actuary, I have additional skills analyzing liability structures, which are underanalyzed.

My perspective is different.  I don’t expect you to agree with me, because some of my views are “out there,” and I know that when I write it.  I sometimes write things knowing that there is no way that these will be adopted, absent major changes to society.  I write those, knowing that radical change is not impossible, and when change happens, they will need sensible guidelines.

So what have I written about?  From my categories:

I write about economics, stocks and bonds. That’s me.  I want to describe what is going on and how it affects those holding fixed claims (bonds), and variable claims (stocks).

After that, I write about portfolio management and value investing — how do we manage the assets that we own?

The next group is the guts of the market: how does government and Fed policy affect things?  How do insurance, real estate, and derivatives affect our lives?

Beyond those, I write about many things, and I appreciate that you read me.  Your time is valuable; thanks for reading me.

My Performance

My greatest fear when starting up my firm was that after having a great 10-year run with my own assets (and for an employer), that I would go cold when I started managing assets for others.  That is what has happened, with underperformance of 9%+ versus the S&P 500 over the last 16 months.  This is my worst sustained performance over the last 20 years.

I don’t think my methods are poor, nor am I planning on changing.  Every investment method goes through dry times; I have to live through this.

So what will I do?  I will persist in the strategies that have done so well for me  over the last 20 years.  I will continue to do value investing.

I don’t know that it will work, but I think it will.  Value investing is the reliable weak signal amid a lot of investment noise.

And so I act and invest.  My time is coming, and thanks for reading me.

News at Yahoo Finance is the best free source of finance news that I know of.  If there is a better source of free finance news, please let me know.

My main gripe with Yahoo Finance is that it allows for considerable customization of the news feed, but excludes certain providers, such as:

• Bloomberg
• CNBC
• CNNMoney.com
• Financial Times
• Fortune
• Fox Business
• Investor’s Business Daily
• Morningstar
• Motley Fool
• Seeking Alpha
• The Daily Ticker
• The Wall Street Journal
• Wall St. Cheat Sheet
• Zacks

I have written Yahoo Finance about this issue three times but have not gotten any help from them.  Maybe they get a lot of revenue from those that I don’t want to see.  If that is true, let them tell shareholders about it, and us as well.

The three entities I would like to block occupy 25% of my news feed.  Yahoo, do you think you can allow me to block them?  It makes reading your news feed a lot harder.

PS — yes, it says you can block Motley Fool, and I have unchecked that box, but I still get them.

• Serving on the program committee, lining up speakers as I can — sometimes I find it hard to get well-known friends to do it… surprising to me.  Ask me to speak, I’ll be there.
• Speaking at the International Markets Summit that the Towson University Investment Group put on this Spring
• Writing for the Baltimore Business Review in 2011 and 2012, jointly sponsored by the the Baltimore CFA Society and the Towson University College of Business and Economics.
• Being a judge at the Washington/Baltimore Investment Research Challenge.

But now the program season ends with a bang, with Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley.  What questions would you ask the Governor of one of the bluest states in the US, one that has the advantage of living next door to the money vortex known as Washington, DC?  It’s not as if there aren’t any problems:

• We face a significant budget deficit, and the most likely solution is a special session of the legislature that raises taxes, when taxes are already high.
• The government pension funds are significantly underfunded, and don’t ask about government retiree healthcare…
• Maryland (outside of Montgomery County, and maybe Howard and Baltimore Counties [note to non-Marylanders, Baltimore City is a county, and is different from Baltimore County which is kind of a ring around Baltimore City.]) isn’t the best place to run a public corporation.  Taxes and regulations are high, and it is not a right-to-work state.

That said, aside from proximity to DC, Maryland has a number of things going for it:

• An educated workforce
• The biotechnology industry, aided by the NIH & Johns Hopkins
• The REIT and Hotel industries have a large presence here

So, if you want to, and can make it, there are a limited number of seats to come and hear Martin O’Malley speak.  Please come.  If you can’t come, and you would have a question for the Governor, list it in the comments below.  I will take the best question, and ask the Governor that.

Following this is the press release for our meeting:

Center Club 100 Light Street, Baltimore, MD 16th Floor, Harbor Room

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley Speaks to the Baltimore CFA Society: Maryland’s Jobs, Economy, and Innovation

Baltimore, MD, April 26, 2012:  In a time when the economy is under stress and the economies of many states are depressed, Martin O’Malley, Governor of Maryland, comes to speak to the Baltimore CFA Society at Noon on May 3^rd, on Maryland’s Jobs, Economy and Innovation.  The meeting will be at the Center Club in Downtown Baltimore.

Though seating is limited, the event is open to the public and registration is available at this web address: Register & Pay.   Check-in starts at 11:45 AM.

In particular, Governor O’Malley will discuss the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in strengthening Maryland’s economy. Financial services play a key role in Maryland’s economy. How will the Invest MD program build on recent success?

Join us for a lively talk and discussion with the current Governor of the great State of Maryland.

BALTIMORE CFA SOCIETY

The Baltimore CFA Society was founded in 1948.  Its mission is to facilitate the exchange of ideas, networking and professional development while adhering to a Code of Ethical Standards.  The Baltimore CFA Society has promoted Baltimore and Maryland businesses through the Baltimore Business Review (www.baltimorebusinessreview.org).  The society’s diverse membership represents over 600 financial service professionals from across the State of Maryland. 

-End-

Second, MetLife should not have to undergo the stress tests that banks do.  Banks borrow short and lend long; they are inherently unstable.  Insurance companies generally match assets and liabilities, and are stable.  The only insurer of consequence to fail in the crisis was AIG, and it was because of derivatives and securities lending issues, areas that other insurance companies do not touch, or handle differently.

Third, why does an institutional investor use an investment bank?

When I was a corporate bond manager, we used everyone.  We wanted access to deals, and if you don’t deal with all of the majors, you are shut out.  Of course every manager deals with Goldman Sachs even if they don’t trust them.  The big guys know this and keep their brokers at arm’s length.

If you are a reporter, that is why managers will not speak on record.  If the syndicate desks on Wall Street don’t like you, they won’t give you good allocations on contested deals.

Bond managers are wise to use Goldman.  They are wiser to realize that Goldman does not act in their interests, and so, be cautious.  And to the degree that you are a smart manager, you can lessen your dependence on the big guys, and work with the hungry second tier, who know that money can be made by implementing the ideas of smart investors, so find ways to buy cheap bonds for smart investors from dumb investors, and sell rich bonds from smart investors to dumb investors.  After all, brokers only make money when assets are bought or sold.

There are few friends on Wall Street.  Big institutions know that, retail investors should learn that.  But the guy who resigned from Goldman should be aware that not all clients were muppets.  Firms I was with would avoid derivatives unless we were the ones structuring them.  If we have control, derivatives are good.  If we don’t have control, derivatives are bad.  Control is good….

You should always be thinking that those who you deal with may not be acting in your interest, and often, it is because of forces beyond their control.  I was pinned with $10MM face of Teleglobe bonds and the main broker dealing in them held (unknown to me at the time) $100MM+ of the bonds.  My efforts to sell the bonds failed because the broker had a larger position, and there was no active market.

Fourth, just because you live in America, it doesn’t mean you should get a high wage.  Particularly for manufacturing wages are declining, and why shouldn’t they decline, because productivity is not rapidly advancing.  It’s like my article on comparable worth.  Most Americans are going to have to get used to being poorer, because there are many others who can do what they do for less.  And, that partly explains the 1% vs 99% argument, because as the rest of the world grows, and the US doesn’t, it has impact on those in the US that earn too much relative to their productivity.

Fifth, imagine for a moment that you are in charge of an organization that is going to play a baseball game against the winners of the World Series.  You can choose any people to be players that have not been employed in MLB for the last five years.  How well do you think you will do?

Duh. You know you are going to lose.  Well, the same thing applies for those that are arguing that the 99% can dominate the 1%.  Short of Soviet tyranny, it won’t work.  The 1%, should it really exist as a stable organization, is too smart, and will beat the 99% nine times out of ten.

We talk a lot about democracy, though our government thwarts it when it can.  Government typically boils down to aristocracy — the rich rule, and it can’t be otherwise, unless we want Communism, like China under Mao.  In the Eurozone, under the “socialism,” the wealthy happily rule.  Only societies that are wiling to destroy wealth are willing to deny power to the wealthy.  And China is a great example here, as the wealthy increasingly dominate their government, to a greater degree than is true in the US.

Money talks, losers walk, and I never give money to politicians; it is all too corrupt.  Just realize that the deck is stacked against you.  Money finds a way to win in the process eventually.

Sixth, California will suffer for making retiree healthcare unchangeable.  Retiree healthcare in its present form is not affordable by almost everyone.  Why destroy your state by making  promises that can’t be upheld?

Seventh, after you read this, explain why you might trust Chinese statistics.  I reminds me of AIG where bad news had a hard time traveling to the top.

I’m interested in the range of stuff you are reading and thinking about.     Would also be interested in a catalog of what, how, and why for “information sources you get pushed to” you and “information sources you pull/poll” on a daily or weekly basis.

This is a struggle, and it changes over time.  I have a category in my Bookmarks called “startup” which contains:

• My portfolio tickers at Yahoo Finance, and the news thereof
• The Wall Street Journal
• Bloomberg.com
• And my RSS reader

The last one varies the most but contains:

There are many other bloggers I like a lot, but I typically run into them through linkfests from the above.  I favor bloggers that tend to post less frequently; I used to have those that post more frequently, but I could not keep up with the flow.

Occasionally Twitter and email will give me ideas, but I try to limit my time on Twitter.  I use Tweetdeck as my main Twitter client, and Buffer as my secondary client, but once I have Tweeted, I turn it off, because it is too much of a distraction.

With email, I am fascinated at the number of parties that think that I might promote their cause.  Because I respect my readers, I am really choosy about:

• What articles I will point to
• What infographics I will post (none so far)
• What types of advertising I will do (and I have turned down a lot of deals)
• Most things

I will send back comments to the PR folks, and I will often unsubscribe, or ask to be removed.  I am not a media outlet in the traditional sense.  (And why many Atheist organizations think I will publish their cause floors me, but I don’t unsubscribe, I just quote the Bible to them.  Fun! )

But the truth is, I probably spend too much time in data-gathering / analysis.  I go through cycles where I pare down my sources… I’ve done it probably a dozen times over the last 5-8 years, and then like topsy/kudzu it grows back.  That’s the battle.

But, now you know the basics of my reading lists.  If it helps you, good.  If not, as with all of my posts, I thank you for reading me.  Your time is valuable, and I am very sorry to have wasted your time.  I hope to do better next time, but I understand when people unsubscribe because:

• Needs change over time, and no one is perpetually relevant
• I sometimes say controversial things, and offense leads people to leave
• I occasionally write boring things, and I don’t blame you for leaving — I’m not always Chrysostom (golden-mouthed)
• There are really good writers out there on investing & finance, and I try to be one, but the competition is very good.  On the bright side, Aleph Blog is still an independent blog of the old school, where one person does it all, and has his own site.

When I was at the recent Investment Research Challenge, a number of the students came up to me and said, “Oh you’re *that* David Merkel.  I read you all the time.”  That was humbling.  I write primarily to give something back.  Yes, I get a little out of advertising and book reviews.  Yes, it gains clients for me indirectly.  But that’s not why I write.

I write because there is so much garbage that average investors are fed, and believe, and my self-appointed job is to fight it.  I tell my kids that there is a loose organization of bloggers that I notionally call “The Good Guys.”  I am one of them, and we are out to expose:

• Deceptive products
• Fraudulent stocks
• General bad ideas in investing
• Occasionally, bad advisors
• Crummy but well-known economists
• Self-serving politicians, and those that aid them
• And more

Don’t get me wrong, I know I have my own problems, and I accept correction from others.

But that describes how I interact with the Internet, and the vortex of data that it delivers.

Writing for RealMoney, I always felt a little odd.  As I do at Aleph Blog, it is my goal to help you think better, not shovel “buy this now” ideas at you.  I wrote more comments relative to articles than any other writer; I was told that I was RealMoney’s most profitable writer, because people re-read my articles & comments.  Oddly, I had less feedback from Cramer than when I was an e-mailer.  That said, if I ever e-mailed him, which I did rarely 1-2 times/year, he would always give me a short gracious response.  Long before I actually did so, he encouraged me to start my own asset management shop, when I asked his advice in the matter.

Roughly one year before I left RealMoney (which I did unceremoniously, never said goodbye), I started Aleph Blog.  I did it for greater freedom of expression.  I also never read RealMoney anymore, and as such, did not feel the compulsion to contribute to a publication that I had loved.

I wanted to write more article-length pieces about issues that were deeper to investing, and not simple buy/sell this asset pieces.  So, beginning with the Shanghai Market crisis in February 2007, we were off and running.  Most of my initial pieces were shorter; I would write two per evening, six days a week.  That morphed into one longer piece once an evening.

It was my goal to try to take my generalist experiences and turn them into something valuable for the general public.  I did not want to be an “all crisis, all the time” blog.  When the crisis was hot, or promising to be so, I would write.  And though I have distinct views on how economic policy should be done, that is not what defines me.  We have to act and live in the face of suboptimal policies.

There are many pieces and series that I could never have done at RealMoney that I have done at Aleph Blog.  As a sampler:

• Education of a Corporate Bond Manager (12 parts)
• Flavors of Insurance (12 parts)
• The Rules (30 parts so far, and may go to 60 if I do them all)
• A Day in the Life of John Davidson (my one attempt at fiction, 8 parts)
• Most of my articles dealing with flaws in institutional investment strategies, accounting rules, etc.
• My occasional rants on how I thank neoclassical economics is wrong, and sometimes, very wrong.
• Articles on accounting rules and the effect on investing.  In some circles, this is (wide eyes here) an accounting blog. (I’ve never taken an accounting course in my life.  I’ve had to create accounting statements for 12-18 years of my life corporately.  I have read through accounting standards, and theories on accounting polices repeatedly.)
• Many of my quantitative posts they would have blinked at, and said, “Uh, who will benefit from that?”  My view is, you may not get any initial benefit from such a piece, but if you get some idea into how the markets interact, you may be better prepared when things get weird.
• All of the book reviews. That was not an early goal of the blog, but has become 10% of what I do.
• The interactions I have had with agencies of the US Government.
• The (7 part) first blogger summit at the US Treasury.  It was a pleasure to meet Steven Randy Waldman, Yves Smith, Kid Dynamite, Accrued Interest, John Jansen, Michael Panzner, and Tyler Cowen.

That said, RealMoney gave me more room to run than most columnists.  They rarely turned down my ideas, but they did want me to become more “practical,” and crank out more investment ideas.  The hard thing for me was/is, I have no lack of investment ideas/opinions, but the response I get to giving them is far less civil than sharing ideas on how to think about investing.  To that end, I appreciate Tom Brakke, who does that in a very structured way.  We had tea together last June or so, and I started to write about it but could never get it out.

In late summer of last year, Josh Brown came through the area, and we had lunch together.  Great guy; a ton of fun and ideas.  A man like him in some ways is my pal Cody Willard, who is a fountain of ideas and connections.  Add in James Altucher, who is prolific, and has been willing to give me time on two occasions.

Last fall I had a late dinner with Miguel Barbosa of Simoleon Sense.  Very bright guy; great conversation.  During the same trip to Chicago, got to talk with Eric Falkenstein for a few hours.  Wish I could have met up with Tadas Viskanta then; maybe another time.

Yet that reminds me of those I interact with.  Though I have never physically met them, I appreciate Barry Ritholtz, Jeff Miller, Felix Salmon, Bruce Krasting, Howard Simons, Roger Nusbaum, Gonzalo Lira, Michael Pettis, Victor Shih, Carl Walter, jck at Alea, the crew at FT Alphaville, and more.

There was the Aleph Blog lunch in late 2010, and the relationships that engendered.  I am very grateful for all of the relationships that blogging has created for me, whether close or distant.

And, with all of the virtuality of blogging, the relationships are what make it for me.  I am happy to write bits on the sites of others, and give them content.  I appreciate those that I read and comment on.

And to the many who have written me, though I may have never responded, thanks for writing me.  I get fifty+ messages per day and can’t keep up.  So, thanks to all have interacted with me, that’s what has made it valuable to me.

PS — If I forgot you, my apologies, I have so many interactions that it is difficult to keep track of them all.

Economics

• If you look in the back, it seems that there were 58 respondents. From page 13: Methodology & Panel Selection Invi… http://t.co/p8sVZl9g Feb 06, 2012
• Will the great interest rate gamble pay off? http://t.co/hgj5XSKc People want to believe that you can get something for nothing; ain’t true. Feb 05, 2012
• Central Planning at the Federal Reserve http://t.co/X8qmqU6C Fed: we can create prosperity by holding interest rates down, right? $$ #wishes Feb 05, 2012
• Labor Force Participation Rate: 28-year Low http://t.co/kLgQ61iK Everyone still happy about the lower unemployment rate? $$ Feb 05, 2012
• Bill Gross: Free Money Ain’t Really Free http://t.co/LXWxpxp5 It will lead to stagflation, IMO, depending on what fiscal policy does $$ Feb 05, 2012
• Life & Death Proposition http://t.co/XuZS5Snn Where does credit go when it dies? Back where it came. It delevers, slows & inhibits ec growth Feb 02, 2012
• US unemployment “progress” http://t.co/WoIVZPGp If you add back the discoraged workers, all of the improvement in U-3 goes away $$ Feb 02, 2012
• The Perniciousness of ZIRP http://t.co/dYlFMbLe Gonzalo Lira on how ZIRP loses effectiveness b/c people think it’ll b there a long time $$ Feb 01, 2012
• Why Neoclassical Economics Doesn’t Work In The Age Of Deleveraging http://t.co/D3IAhTyv Steve Keen explains y Krugman & others r wrong $$ Feb 01, 2012
• Warning: Goat Rodeo http://t.co/JQ2FV9LS Hussman makes his case that equities are overvalued and could pull back 25% $$ Feb 01, 2012
• Who Owns World’s Financial Assets? & Why R US Households So Fascinated W/Stocks? http://t.co/5rp52OM4 American Exceptionalism in investing Feb 01, 2012
• As an aside, that is one reason why the US net foreign debt hasn’t spiraled up. We own equities abroad & they own our debt. $$ declines + Feb 01, 2012
• $$ declines reduce the value of our debts, but not the value of r foreign holdings. I think the US will come out of this crisis rel well $$ Feb 01, 2012

Housing

• Home Prices Tumble http://t.co/N1gdNslr No surprise here with all of the dark supply; houses come onto mkt when ppl can bear loss $$ Feb 01, 2012
• Too lazy to be knowns http://t.co/flXRR6fM I know many who understood what would happen if home RE prices fell, but none who got the size $$ Feb 01, 2012
• Freddie Mac’s “inverse floater” allowed more loan origination http://t.co/5devKZ17 Other side to the Propublica story http://t.co/KjXJHU1x Feb 01, 2012
• I’m no fan of the GSEs; I think they should be abolished, but the GSEs have always made a variety of bets on prepayment over time. $$ Feb 01, 2012

International

• On China, Henry Kissinger and Fareed Zakaria see Domestic Tension and Risk of Geopolitical Conflict http://t.co/1bhvrI3U Ferguson is wrong. Feb 05, 2012
• Tightening lending standards vary materially across the Eurozone http://t.co/ciWUK9cm Conditions tight in Italy & France, but not Germany $$ Feb 02, 2012
• Japan Auto Sales Notch Record Jump http://t.co/0VzF4WST Another small bright spot. Of course, bouncing back from a low level $$ Feb 02, 2012
• Socialist Hollande, Who Wants Full European Treaty Renegotiation, Increases Lead Over Sarkozy http://t.co/J3qCpZZ3 Eurozone Wild Card $$ Feb 01, 2012
• Hong Kong Homes Face 25% Drop as Loans Fall in Year of Dragon http://t.co/ifg1146H And this is with wealthy mainlanders fleeing China. $$ Feb 01, 2012

Markets

• RBC Takes On High Frequency Predators http://t.co/MfA5qdxm Where there is offense, there will b defense; nothing goes unanswered in the mkts Feb 05, 2012
• Global Strategists Abandoning Bearish Views http://t.co/dOXCUMA7 Makes me think we r getting close to a turning point. Feb 02, 2012
• Dividend stocks: Buyer beware http://t.co/SvMCHtCj Makes the valid & missed point: high qual div paying stocks r stocks & can lose $$ #yeah Feb 01, 2012

Credit

• 6 High-Yield Canaries-in-the-Coalmine http://t.co/4pz6SSQc 6 reasons y high yield is overheated http://t.co/fKnHmBqD & http://t.co/UPVev0iD Feb 02, 2012
• QOTD: Regulators Watching Aggressive Yield Chasing http://t.co/iWimo3eg FINRA warns of undue risk in income seeking. Advisors take note $$ Feb 02, 2012
• Contra: The Safest 7% Yield in America http://t.co/VrXoLEFH Poor analysis does not take into account the highish leverage on mtge repo $$ Feb 02, 2012
• Shipping Loans Go Bad for European Banks http://t.co/y5Z0wt3R Highly glutted area w/many dead firms walking; how far down will the losses go Feb 02, 2012

Politics

• Group lists top stock investments by members of Congress http://t.co/CarxUCjS Top 50 hldgs -> in top 100 cos by mkt cap. Hard2manipulate $$ Feb 05, 2012
• Obama Re-Election Odds Versus the Stock Market http://t.co/F5EETcve Example of 2 variables that r correlated b/c they anticipate GDP changes Feb 05, 2012
• RE: @abnormalreturns Gold is mostly political philosophy. How much control do you want the government to have over mo… http://t.co/hRxIkaoo Feb 03, 2012
• Getting back to the gold standard http://t.co/pCk8Ij6j Gingrich & Ron Paul have said they would like to appoint James Grant as Fed Chairman Feb 02, 2012

Companies

• Carlyle’s proposed IPO disaster http://t.co/OqGke8eN So there’s no board. Most boards don’t do much. Mgmt will have no board 2 shield them Feb 05, 2012
• For These Fans, a Day With Buffett Offers Wealth of Photo Opportunities http://t.co/UpcwVKe7 I think Buffett is enjoying life more now. Feb 05, 2012
• Buffett Railroad Boosts Capital Plan to $3.9B http://t.co/9XEw2gyT Buffett changes; organic investment in capital-intensive biz $$ #olddog Feb 01, 2012
• Pep Boys Seen Gaining 27% as Cheapest Value Lures Bids http://t.co/GyfH7qRL Could a bidding war start? Company is undermanaged $$ Feb 01, 2012
• Jefferies Allows Bonus Recipients to Swap Stock 4 Cash With 25% Discount http://t.co/pfGB3Vmc Fair way2 let employees disconnect from $JEF Feb 01, 2012

Financial Services

• I’ve just started “Acts of God and Man,” by Michael Powers. In the intro, he goes through the various meanings of th… http://t.co/tX7uAlWl Feb 05, 2012
• When evaluating Investment Funds, use Dollar-weighted Returns http://t.co/N5g7PI0d This is a neglcted concept that is enjoying a rebirth $$ Feb 02, 2012
• After a Delay, MF Global’s Missing Money Is Traced http://t.co/4s6U8yOe Investigation moves to how to recover the $$ and who is at fault. Feb 01, 2012
• http://t.co/wBbJTe3D FINRA Alert: Do you use complex products? What additional work do you do 2 assure that they are being used properly? $$ Feb 01, 2012
• Banks Need Higher Interest Rates to Start Making Money http://t.co/SneRACCi Flat front end of yield curve squishes bank interest margins $$ Feb 01, 2012
• 401(k) Plans Step Into the Sunshine http://t.co/fvKeup2L But as with DB plans, as costs rise, companies will offer them less. $$ Jan 31, 2012

Value Investing

• The SEC’s “90% Convergence” Fantasy http://t.co/bkWaAS5S US GAAP has many flaws, but we know them. IFRS will introduce abusable flexibility Feb 02, 2012
• But on the bright side, value investors may do relatively better as financials become less trustworthy; the accruals anomaly will sing $$ Feb 02, 2012
• Need to consider (Cost of goods sold)/user $$ RT @ErikSchatzker: Facebook gets $4.39/yr of revenue per user. ESPN gets $4.69/mo. Feb 02, 2012
• Berkowitz: Fund Plunge ‘Makes Little Sense’ http://t.co/pcoPLahW BB, appoint someone in your group 2 seek out opinions contrary 2 yours $$ Feb 01, 2012
• @ADayforRabbit I have argued in the past that BB is not paying attention to the delevering, which is a real headwind for the banks. $$ Feb 02, 2012
• New Fund Hopes to Prove Outspoken Analyst’s Thesis http://t.co/cuVpRzvO I bet @rcwhalen does well like my friends @ Hovde or M3 Partners $$ Feb 01, 2012

Hedge Funds

• Are Hedge Funds Worthwhile Investments? http://t.co/Lw2EhRPr Yet another “Hedge Fund Mirage” citation; the book is having a lot of influence Feb 02, 2012
• Are the hedge fund and private equity boys pulling a fast one? http://t.co/TNXFJo62 Beginning 2c the args of “Hedge Fund Mirage” everywhere Feb 02, 2012
• Did Hedge Funds Trigger the Financial Crisis? http://t.co/lNIb2dgF Secured asset classes can be overlevered; when they collapse, big mess $$ Feb 01, 2012

Miscellaneous

• Do the Job You’re Meant to Do http://t.co/wR3OX20N LIfe is too short to work with people you don’t respect, or tasks unfit for you $$ Feb 02, 2012
• Millionaire adopts girlfriend as daughter http://t.co/zffGCWbu Asset shelter. Does incest rely on consanguinity or on legal relationship? Feb 02, 2012
• Charles Murray Reiterates Willpower http://t.co/smeXZKNh Lack of self-control can destroy relationships, jobs, firms & lives $$ Feb 02, 2012
• I ran into @twitalyzer today. Lots of interesting analytics for tweeting. Here are some for me: http://t.co/HDdcFYaU & http://t.co/8uFFOMuP Feb 01, 2012
• At the first blogger summit at the UST, I recommended to the powers that be that they issue floaters. I also recommen… http://t.co/R3U8OHSi Feb 01, 2012
• California Faces Cash Shortfall by March on Low Receipts, Controller Says http://t.co/QxH1a6Re Could be interesting given the elections $$ Feb 01, 2012

Anyway, I thought about what the book might look like, and to do so, I went through the entirety of my Value Investing category, and my page called Major Article List,  which described my best articles from my RealMoney days.

What you will see after this is less than a first draft of chapters.  I plan on categorizing it and simplifying, but here it is for now:

1. Bonds
2. Use of cash – buybacks, dividends, strategic use, delay
3. Valuation
4. Cycles
5. On being wrong – planning for failure
6. On financial companies
7. Growth expectations
8. Following leaders vs surfacing your own ideas; who are you playing with/against?
9. Weighing vs Voting
10. Use of free cash by management
11. Avoid buggy whips
12. Industry analysis and economic sensitivity
13. Embrace trends, resist trends
14. Take prudent risks
15. Three year horizon
16. Understand balance sheets; quality, anomalies
17. Management incentives
18. Discipline: tie your hands, do something, but don’t react; you are you own worst enemy
19. Risks, not risk
20. Markets are mostly, but not entirely efficient
21. Margin of safety
22. Diversify, but not too much
23. Safe assets and Risk assets
24. Avoid complexity; embrace complexity
25. Sum of the parts
26. Realistic expectations
27. On shorting
28. Ask the opposite question
29. Rank your ideas
30. No, macroeconomics *does* matter

This could be one, two or three books depending on me and the goals of the publisher.  As I read through my blog, I realized that I wrote a lot more about value investing at the beginning of this blog.  I think the crisis caused me to shift.

But as I went through what the book could look like, I got more excited about it — there is a lot of potential here to explain value investing in a comprehensive  way to readers.

PS — Any publisher contacts that you want to share are appreciated.  Thanks to those who have given me advice so far.

So, where have we been?

• Discussing finding jobs in the shrinking field of finance (one, two)
• Analyzing Gross Domestic Purchases
• Controversial articles — The Retirement Bubble, Occupy Your Time Productively, A Large Middle Class Isn’t Necessarily Normal
• On failed asset managers — We Eat Dollar-Weighted Return, Another article on IRR in investing (here)
• Posts on social media — (one, two)
• Value investing (One, two, three, four, five, six, seven)
• Debunking myths on the crisis, Understanding the crisis better, 2011 Financial Report of the US Government
• Bubbles (here)
• Went to the Cato Institute’s Monetary Conference, and blogged for them. More on monetary policy: On Opaque Transparency
• Pension issues (here)
• Dropping in on high pressure sales pitches.
• Dissing penny stocks (one, two)
• Behemoth investing (one, two)
• The Gold Medal Gold Model, and related (one , two, three)
• My entry in the Baltimore Business Review — Returns on Equity Amid the Financial Crisis, Redux & Returns on Equity Amid the Financial Crisis
• Posts in the “Rules” series. (28, 29, 30)
• Reverse-engineering ECRI’s Weekly Leading Index — On Predicting the Future
• On the need for financial intermediation

In the long run, I think willingness to cover a wide number of investing issues is an advantage my blog has, though if I were in the shoes of my readers, perhaps I would want more predictability.  Not all of my articles interest all of my readers.

And, sometimes I write stuff that angers others.  That’s not my intent.  That happens every now and then because I write about controversial topics that are currently disputed.  I don’t aim for this sort of thing.  I could write a blog that always focuses on the crisis — many blogs do that, good for them, but I want have a broader range of expression.  There is danger, but there is also opportunity.  Both need to be written about.

After all, what if things go right, even if it is not due to government policy, but in spite of it?  We need to be open-minded enough to accept and understand when something good is happening.

So, I try to write about a wide number of things that interest people who care about economics, finance, and investing.  I would rather be a teacher than a tout.  I do not enjoy articles that tout stocks.  I assume by now that my readership is that way as well.

In the next few months, a website for my business, Aleph Investments, LLC, should be operational.  I will let you know when it is up, but people wanting information about what I do in investing can simply e-mail me here.

Thanks to all who read me.  I appreciate that you take your time to read what I write.  I personally know that my writings are not all stellar, and so I thank for bearing with stuff that is drivel.  Drivel is not my goal, but if you want to write 5-7 times a week, you will write some drivel.

Constructive criticism is invited here, as well as advice on what areas you would like me to cover.  Let me know, and I will factor it in.  May the LORD bless us all in 2012.