Elderly Poor?
There will be elderly poor. Look at page 26 of this PDF. I interpret those that don’t know or declined as being well below $50K in assets. That means 60% of those reaching “retirement age” will have less than two years income stored up. That said I feel more sorry for younger workers who have...
The Best of the Aleph Blog, Part 15
This stretches from August 2010 to October 2010: The Education of a Corporate Bond Manager, Part VII On the value of credit analysts. The Education of a Corporate Bond Manager, Part VIII On price discovery in dealer markets, and auctions gone wrong. I never knew that I could haggle so well. The Education of a...
Book Review: The Little Book of Bull’s Eye Investing
Before I start this evening, if you like my reviews generally, please go to Amazon and tell them that my reviews are helpful. From this link, it does not take long to do so. Thanks. This was one of those books that grew on me. The author, the well-known John Mauldin, strings together a bunch...
Correlating Risky Assets
Asset allocation is tough, because the correlations are not stable. Here’s an example: in the 90s, at many conferences that I went to, I was told that one of the smartest moves you could make was to invest heavily in every new class of Asset Backed Security [ABS] created, because they all tighten in yield...
On Distribution Formulas
Before I get started this evening, I would like to offer an apology to those that read my recent piece, Simple Retirement Calculator. I didn’t define all of the terms in the piece, and so here are the definitions: DB plan — defined benefit plan, a pension plan that offers a certain benefit, and the...
Book Review: Abnormal Returns
I consider Tadas Viskanta to be a friend of mine. I write my eclectic blog, and Tadas occasionally features me on his daily curation of the economics/finance/investment blogosphere. But it is not friendship that leads me to write the following: this is a really good book. Why? Every day, Tadas curates the best thoughts in...
Sorted Weekly Tweets
Busy week last week. Here’s the economic and other news: =-=-=-=-=-=–=-=-==-=-=-==-=-=-=-=–==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- China Bloomberg: Inflated Notions http://t.co/hvMoIFH6 Patrick Chovanec questions whether Chinese economic statistics are correct. $$ Apr 22, 2012 China’s Political Stability Questioned, while Deposit Withdrawals Accelerate http://t.co/X9kJ9oZb Deposits exit China’s banks; many worry $$ Apr 22, 2012 Asia dominates new treasury purchases http://t.co/BXvgGQRi...
On Book Reviewing, Part 2 (What not to write if you want a good review from me)
Most of the time, when a book is bad, I don’t write a review. Sometimes it will inspire me write a screed against a certain topic that the book was about, and occasionally a negative review. But most often I say nothing. What to avoid if writing a finance/investments/economics book? 1) Don’t claim you are...
Sorted Weekly Tweets
Valuations High Yield Closed End Funds 68% over NAV, 3% avg premium. Loan Participation CEFs 40% over NAV, -1% avg discount. Conditions r medium hot $$ Apr 07, 2012 Why Stocks Look Too Pricey http://t.co/TWqZzGg3 Various Indicators Suggest the Market Is No Longer a Bargain, at best fairly valued $$ Apr 07, 2012 Contra:...
Gold does Nothing
Gold does nothing, and as Warren Buffett said in his recent annual report: Today the world’s gold stock is about 170,000 metric tons. If all of this gold were melded together, it would form a cube of about 68 feet per side. (Picture it fitting comfortably within a baseball infield.) At $1,750 per ounce –...
Book Review: The Indomitable Investor
Most books that I don’t ask for are lousy. This one isn’t, and I love the title, because it indicates the long hard slog that it is to persevere in investing. IT IS A BUSINESS!! Without hard work it will not yield good results. Indomitable means persistence, and a lack of persistence will give a...
When Correlations Rhyme
Before I start this piece let me give you a blast from the past, the columnist conversation comment that I most frequently reprint, from this post: David Merkel Make the Money Sweat, Man! We Got Retirements to Fund, and Little Time to do it! 3/28/2006 10:23 AM EST What prompts this post was a bit...
