Financial illiteracy and the role of the blogosphere. One of the topics we touch on in our book is the abysmal state of financial literacy in America. The fact of the matter is that some of the most basic financial decisions facing Americans are beyond their abilities. There are any number of explanations for this but to say that there is an obvious solution belies the complexity of problem. Tim Richards at the excellent Psy-Fi Blog has a post up talking about this very issue of numeracy. Numeracy, or the the ability to reason with numbers and other mathematical concepts, is important for the development of a capable workforce but also plays in their ability to deal with the many oftentimes complex financial decisions we all face in our lifetime. The problem is that it is not entirely clear that additional education will magically make individuals better decision makers.
Richards writes: Richards rightly notes that we as a society continue to push more financial decisions down to the individual level. It is a great question. Les plateformes de communiqués de presse et le référencement en 2012. Depuis quelques années maintenant, les plateformes de contenus (souvent nommées sites de communiqués de presse alors qu’aucun journaliste n’y a jamais mis les pieds) sont devenues un incontournable du SEO en France. Aymeric Bouillat attirait notre attention sur celles-ci dans cet article CP, Digg Like, etc. Et l’utilisateur ? À quoi servent ces plateformes ? Quels sont leurs défauts et qualités ? Comment s’en servir ? À quoi sont-elles utiles ? « À choper du lien ma bonne dame ».
Ces sites doivent leur succès à la baisse de popularité constatée sur certains annuaires qui ont pris des claques successives par Google durant les années passées. Alors, plateformes de contenus ou annuaires ? Pour ma part, je dirais les deux. Mais depuis, bon nombre d’annuaires proposent les mêmes fonctionnalités, la différence n’est donc plus aussi marquée. Qualités des plateformes de communiqués. Une des premières qualités est de pouvoir systématiquement placer des liens complètement intégrés à l’éditorial. The euro crisis: Europe's half-depression. Beyond ETF Expense Ratios. Since ETF investors can’t own indexes directly, the next best thing is to choose a fund that has the smallest tracking error. Generally, expense ratios are good indicators—all else being equal, smaller management fees usually give investors more returns. However, holding down costs, even in plain-vanilla ETFs, doesn’t necessarily translate into minimizing the difference between fund and index performance.
What can help explain the differences between management fees and tracking error are two things: first, portfolio turnover; and second, securities lending. Let’s tackle portfolio turnover first. During rebalances, some funds are more efficient than others, whether that’s due to lower turnovers or better manager skill. For example, the table below compares three funds that track the S&P MidCap 400 Index: iShares S&P 400 MidCap (NYSEArca: IJH)SPDR S&P MidCap 400 (NYSEArca: MDY)Vanguard S&P Mid-Cap 400 (NYSEArca: IVOO) This can be partially explained by the turnover frequency. Consumer Still Doubts Bull Market | Dynamic Hedge. Below is the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index overlaid on the S&P 500. There are many criticisms of the Consumer Sentiment Index and I am aware of all of them but it’s still a very good proxy for overall sentiment and has a long historical history. We’ve got to work with what we’ve got.
Regardless of what the short-term sentiment indicators say, the public at large is still not bullish on the stock market. This is classic wall of worry. Note: I have drawn the most recent data in red, some of which is still subject to revision. Disclaimer: Nothing on this site should ever be considered to be advice, research or an invitation to buy or sell any securities, please click here for a full disclaimer. <a href=" VIX At Multiyear Lows: What's Next? - MarketBeat. By Kaitlyn Kiernan and Chris Dieterich A jump in option activity in the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s Volatility index suggests some investors are betting on a rocky road this quarter.
After stocks completed their best first quarter ever by some metrics, options traders today have snapped up upside bets in the VIX — known as the market’s fear gauge — on the first day of the second quarter. The VIX typically moves higher when stocks fall. June 55 call options traded 30,000 times early Monday, a bet that only profits should the VIX soar 260% over the next three months. The VIX, down 2.1% at 15.17 at last glance, last moved above 55 in December 2008 amid the depths of the financial crisis. June 42.50 calls are also active, being bought 15,000 times.
Despite some of these big bets, market watchers in general are searching for meaning as the VIX remains around multiyear lows. Others point to low VIX readings as signs of complacency. You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet - Part One. Submitted by Jim Quinn of The Burning Platform You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet - Part One “Human history seems logical in afterthought but a mystery in forethought. Writers of history have a way of describing interwar societies as coursing from postwar to prewar as though people alive at the time knew when that transition occurred.” – Strauss & Howe - The Fourth Turning Watching pompous politicians, egotistical economists, arrogant investment geniuses, clueless media pundits, and self- proclaimed experts on the Great Depression predict an economic recovery and a return to normalcy would be amusing if it wasn’t so pathetic.
Hope is not an option. “Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed.” – Friedrich Nietzsche Entire populations taking comfort in their illusions transcends centuries. “The next Fourth Turning is due to begin shortly after the new millennium, midway through the Oh-Oh decade. “I believe the catalyst occurred in 2008. Three Sources of Alpha: Informational, Analytical & Behavioral. We're compiling more articles on the timeless educational aspects of investing and thought this was worth highlighting. The three sources of alpha is a concept explained in a paper by Russell Fuller of the asset management firm, Fuller & Thaler. In an old interview with Morningstar, Pat Dorsey of Sanibel Captiva Trust talked about the three sources of alpha and provides a brief overview. 1. Informational: "Knowing more than the other guy" (legally, of course) can provide quite an advantage.
He references small caps where sell side coverage is scarce as a prime example. In the digital age of quickly disseminated information, these advantages are harder to come by outside of lesser known companies. 2. 3. For more on this topic, be sure to check out hedge fund Blue Ridge Capital's recommended reading on behavioral finance. The video interview on the three sources of alpha is embedded below: H/T PragCap.