Albert Ling

International ETFs: 2009 Returns

this can't be right, EWZ hasn't appreciated 196% in 2009, only if you get data since its lows. YTD the figure is +117%

Mind the Gap: Are Equities Now Looking Cheap?

why would anyone want to buy corporate debt right now...
if I ever ventured into bonds, it would obv. be country debt wich has practically the same yields.. risk premia is so low for debt its a joke.
very very small upside and large downside

Apple, Qualcomm, Microsoft Supercharge Most Popular Hedge Fund Technology Clone

So.. buy information tech in general or just these 3 names atm?

RiskMetrics' Going Corporate Is a Sad Affair

Investing in "socially conscious" companies achieves the liberal lefty's wet dream - getting the self-rightious feeling of moral superiority, being "ahead of the curve" and being better than those "ignorant people" who should "know better" whilst at the same time bearing little or no personal cost. Well, the good news is that at least this time its with their own money and not with their usual funds (the "people's" money).

Renaming the Rebalance Method on Popularity Fund Clones

how does alphaclone gain aceess to what these gurus are buying? out of public announcements?

Recession Is Over; Depression Has Just Begun

Given this macroeconomic outlook, what are the portfolio implications in terms of asset allocation?

If the FED is commited to keeping money cheap, it penalizes traditional "safe havens" such as cash/treasuries...

Is gold a good cash substitute? how about foreign assets?
How about real assets (forestry, oil, commodities)?
Instead of holding USD paper bills that pay zero intrest, why not hold contracts for barrels of oil, wich also pay zero intrest, but represent a claim on a real asset wich you can take delivery.

Ten Reasons for an Imminent Stock Market Crash

A stock market crash does not necessarily imply that holding cash or shorting the market is good. Maybe they print so much money, the stock market rises in nominal terms and everyone who shorted goes broke. You have to compare DOW/oil index, DOW/gold index, DOW,crb index, etc, then you have a true gouge of the value of "the market" and know a crash when you see one.

Walmart: A Growing Giant

Not being a US citizen, I didnt even know Walmart.com existed... I'd be very interested in knowing how much of total revenue does online sales contribute?

Recent History Proves Western Investors Should Avoid Putin's Blandishments

And to a lesser extent Argentina... they are falling apart.

Apple: Set to Double Again

So if the rest of the market moves sideways, by 1 year's time apple will be the world's largest publicly traded company by market cap?

But Cash Is Earning Zero

Cash today has negative yield, because government inflation numbers are tweaked to the downside.

So TIPS are useless also, cause they track the CPI indicator.

On normal times, cash is a lousy asset class, on times of distress and uncertainty such as now, contrary to popular opinion, asset is a horrible asset class. Look at what happened in the Weimar Republic

Gold Stocks on Short, Intermediate and Long Term Buy Signals

Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold!
Bright and yellow, hard and cold,
Molten, graven, hammered and rolled,
Heavy to get and light to hold,
Hoarded, bartered, bought and sold,
Stolen, borrowed, quandered, doled,
Spurned by the young, but hugged by the old,
To the verge of the chuarch yard mold;
Price of many a crime untold.
Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold!

Is the U.S. Dollar Finished?

The dollar is still more expensive than early 08, before trillions of dollars were printed!!! how can you say its undervalued? This is called being a contrarian just for the sake of being a contrarian. Things only "revert to the mean" when no paradigm shift has been broken, but we just had unprecedented quantitative easing, fiscal and monetary stimulus, etc. I think the dollar is going much lower. I mean, It's gotta get at LEAST at an all time low (and a bit more) before we start calling it oversold.

Petrobras: Still a Sure Thing?

I live in Brazil and own a considerable sum in PBR. I think PBR has a powerfull lobbying force and will be able to reap excess returns from this find. I was also worried a few weeks ago but I've spoken to people who understand the situation better and they reassured me that the leftists re-nationalizing parts of PBR or anything like that is very imbrobable, despite all the rhetoric and demagoguery.

Why Bet on a Black Swan?

Taleb states the opposite of what Falkenstein states. His strategy is long 90% on risk-free-rate and 10% on lottery tickets (out of money calls) because he thinks really risky options are underpriced cause extreme events happen all the time, when in fact everyone thinks the way he does, and likes to gamble, and they are actually overpriced.. while the "risk-free" treasuries he advocates owning dont really take into account the debasement of the USD by bernanke.

I'm long safe quality stocks + commodity plays that are inflation-proof, but I started off my investing life by buying super risky stocks and in my first 2 years lost 90% of my capital.. just watched Falkenstein's vids and was really impressed with his insights. Keep up the good work.