This is an odd book.? It runs through the year highlighting the US economy data releases week-by-week in 2011.? It describes ways in which the data releases affect the behavior of markets on average.
There are many interesting articles in the book, but there is little in the way of an overarching theme, or anything that might say, “And here is how it could work for you,” even though quants typically only trot out only their formulas that have weakened, while keeping their potent ideas private.
I found it disappointing.? Hey, but maybe someone else will love it.
Quibbles
This book is useless to the average investor, who does not trade futures.? Personally, I have experienced that trading around data releases is usually a zero-sum game.? Part of that is due to the inaccuracy in the data.
Who would benefit from this book:
If you run a quantitative hedge fund, and aren’t aware of the government data news flow each week, or how it can be used for profit, then this is the book for you.
If you want to learn about some obscure quantitative strategies just for fun, this could be a good book for you.
If you want to, you can buy it here: The Quant Investor’s Almanac 2011: A Roadmap to Investing.
Full disclosure: I was mailed a copy of the book without asking for it.
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Just checked this out with Amazon’s “look inside” feature. I agree, disappointing and strange. Who do they think is their target market? The quant stuff in here is very basic and adding the calendar/almanac format is a bizarre choice.