Joe Sheehan

The ‘No Direction’ Portfolio: S&P 500 Outperformance With Lower Volatility

Would this hold up in other bear markets? I believe the analysis is thorough, but isn't it always possible to just find a portfolio that would have worked in the most recent bear market? I would interested in what sort this would have done in 1980, 1987, and 1971 markets. I doubt an exact portfolio would work, but a similar one could possibly be constructed.

Also, what is it (besides strong brands and sector diversification) that explains why this portfolio is so strong? There has got to be some other fundamentals at work here. Maybe there isn't... i dunno... but I'd be curious as to what other aspects of a stock screen these stocks would all qualify for?

Yahoo's Reorganization: Where's David Filo?

The Yahoo website quotes:

<i>He is currently on a leave of absence from Stanford's electrical engineering Ph.D. program.</i>

My guess is that he's fully submerged in that program, and also, he'll probably be involved in another start-up effort, since so many come out of Stanford's graduate engineering school. So while he's not gone officially, I bet he isn't very likely to come back.