jmann83

The Truth About Goldman and AIG Becomes Clearer

If Goldman has such an unfair advantage and will always come out on top, why don't their critics just buy their stock GS as that's how the top 30 executives are being compensated, it's the old saying ''if you can't beat them, join them'' so buy some GS stock and shut the hell up.

Transaction Tax: What's in It for Buffett?

Everything that comes out of buffet's mouth is talking up his own interests, nothing more.

Paulson Makes His Biggest Bet on Gold, Inflation Yet

Doesn't matter what gold does, yeah for sure it has the right ingrediants for a bull run, but what Paulson recognises is that it's an easy sell to raise billions, he is a clever businessman aswell trader.

A Leverage-Wary Partridge in a Pair Tree

I think your spot on with the fundamentals which gives you a tail wind when trading, you just gotta use the technical's to nail an entry point and then of course have an exit strategy.

Why the Stock Market Should Crash

Its the old saying ''markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain rational'' and price often goes further for longer than we think, it's the classic carry trade on again with Ben's helicopter money, the US government has no choice but to inflate away it's issues, deflation would be the worse of the two evils, buying anything priced in USD is the trade right now and could be for several or more years, the yen carry trade lasted almost a decade before imploding last year. Risk assets could go a lot higher before coming back, as it would take a major pyschlogical market shift for a USD rally and selloff in everything else.

The New Merger Arbitrage ETF Is Likely to Fail

It is an arbitrage in a sense they are betting on the spread between the target and the relative index to widen, and to a degree there would be a statisical correlation between those stocks and the index, but I agree why wouldn't they short the acquirer or a basket of potential acquire's, the volatility would probably be lower as the portfolio would be more sector neutral.

Spotlight on the Sharpe Ratio: Part I

Sharpe ratio is more of a holistic measure of performance, I think it's always better to think in relative terms, the return and volatility relative to the underlying benchmark, for long only strategies you would compare against the SP500, and even for the more exotic strategies they have their own industry benchmarks which you can score yourself against, this takes the above issue of a implied normal distribution in a Sharpe ratio out of the equation as your comparing apples with apples.

Schwab's Commission-Free ETFs: A Watershed Event

What about the liquidity in these new ETF's? no one has commented on that? if there is very low volume the spreads will be that much higher than say the relative SPY which would take away some of the benefits of no commissions.

Property Values Set to Fall 43% from Current Depressed Levels

40% decline in US real estate would essentially make China the number 1 economic superpower assuming their real estate doesn't dive 40% as well. That chart does look pretty scary and shows a lot of potential downside, US real estate probably won't be a good place to invest for another generation. Now to find a way to long china real estate vs short US real estate, that should make for a good pair trade...

Understanding Liquidity and Modern Market Volatility

Some good points indeed, however at the end of the day we investors/traders are paying less to the market maker/specialist than 10 yrs ago when the avg spread on a listed stock was 28cents, now days its 1.4cents, they only make more because of the sheer volume put through the exchanges which is a result of deregulation, globalization and compulsory pension schemes which has brought more of the middle market into stocks. Market makers are the same as what real estate brokers are in the property market, they facilitate the transaction between buyer and seller to keep a fair and orderly market. They can help you profit from trading if you know what your doing.

Contrarians Denninger, Dent, Faber and Hoye Looking for Dollar Rebound

These guys put out so many ''recommendations'' that statistically speaking some of them are going to come correct, Ive seen Faber on CNBC one day, and he must of gave out no less than 10 different recommendations, yes some of them came true the others not, they will be sure to let you know which one's came correct, obviously, however when it comes to showing a long term track record of investment returns things go a little quiet.

A Cautious Look at Where Markets Are Headed

The last comment was interesting, if markets corrected that it could make the FED hold off raising rates, which is a big positive for equities, as we are right in the sweet spot; strong momentum, low inflation, low rates, replenishing of inventories, coming off a deep bottom, still massive amounts of money on the sidelines looking for a home, and seasonally speaking the best time to invest is Nov 1 - Mar 1. Any pullback will be shallow as those under-invested will use it as a chance to get back into the market. My bet is that equities will trade sideways for a soft pullback at some point soon enough, everyone is calling for markets to either go higher or lower, no one is expecting sideways, and like Mark Twain once said ''Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect''

Paul Tudor Jones: Gold's Undervalued and Bonds Are a Curve Flattener Play

I agree with Paul and I think the Aussie dollar will go to $1.10 within 12 months I think, the central bank governor there said it could go to $1.10 which means they won't step in to support it until then, plus Australia is importing capital at the fastest rate, not to mention digging up heaps of their backyard to sell to China, the only developed nation not to technically go into recession plus the first to raise rates and futures markets pricing in more rates to come soon, the carry trade, massive amounts of liquidity looking for a home, risk taking back in fashion plus strong technical momentum all bode well for the Aussie battler. If your a trend trader, AUD/USD has been your best friend this year.

George Soros: The Guru Outlook

George is different from the rest, instead of giving sugar coated, politically correct views and opinions typically heard from everyone else, he tells it how it is, plain and simple and more times than not he is correct, and even though he is long term bearish he can still position his portfolio to take advantage of a bear market rally, very very smart guy.

Icahn Should Give Up Running Other People's Money

I find so amazing guys like Icahn can so dramatically stuff up their risk management and still pull in the billions to manage, why is his fund even called a hedge fund if he doesn't ''hedge'' his positions, his fund should be called the ''loose cannon - take a punt - long only fund'' which probably replicates the SP500 with 2:1 leverage minus fees.