I have been writing about the blogosphere growing and evolving to draw in more smart people with interesting things to say whom we can learn from.
Information Arbitrage is one such new blog. It is written by Roger Ehrenberg. Roger has been around almost forever, has an excellent background and if you read some posts it will be very clear you can learn from him.
Another enthusiastic entrant is Justin Lenaric who has started a site called Portable Alpha. Justin also has a service that assembles stock, ETF and OEF portfolios based on what appears to be a quantitative method that has had outstanding results. The blog posts are informative and cover various topics.
Trader's Narrative is another new (to me) site that seems to have a lot going for it. Topics here include foreign stocks, technical analysis and the bond market. The site seems like it has a lot of readers judging by the number of comments.
I hope you check these out and feel free to leave comments here about what you think.
All three asked for my opinion, they seem useful but your opinions matter too.
Wikinvest Wire
13 comments:
New to your blog...and to other blogs. I checked out Barry R. Wow. Smart and opinonated readers. Like a foreign accent, I wonder if just because I don't understand do I erroneously assume the wow factor. Concepts that are hot--deflation and stagflation as it all relates to monetary policy and the equity and bond mkts. If you can dumb it down for me I might be albe to follow better.My shot at it. Stagflation is where we are now. Inflation and low growth. Now there are too many moving parts going off in my head. I'll have to wait until it gels, if ever. Nice to have your blog to help keep it simple and practical.
For portable alpa, i just see such short term information that it would not be helpful. His ytd info on model portfolio's is not real useful either. It is not current and it does not begin at the beginning of the year.When stuff like this is not straightforward, i loose interest. And my pet peeve: his benchmark is large cap growth index. Defenselss when claimng sector stle investing strategies. Or, with diversified invsting. Roger, as much as I like your blog and respeoct your opinon I wish you would use a broader benchmakr. Could it be that you are restrained by others, i was thinking of your place of business.
Hi Roger,
Thank you very much for including my blog in your post this morning. I hope you had a great vacation by the way!
In response to "anonymous," the short-term nature of our information is due to S&P switching from Barra to Citigroup last September. When such a significant change occurs in the underlying index, its nearly impossible to combine historical information inside portfolio analytics. We could take the analysis back ten or fifteen years if need be, but the performance comparison wouldn't be that relevant to today's benchmark.
We're also in the process of updating our performance through the second quarter, so the YTD number will be more relevant then. The stock portfolio has already been updated, and despite the loss occuring in May, the portfolio is up 10.10% YTD through June 30th.
In terms of using the large-cap benchmark, I suppose we could use the S&P 1500, but the message doesn't change all that much. We use the S&P 500 mostly because its the industry standard, for better or for worse. What benchmark do you suggest?
I get some fair feedback about benchmarking and I hear you.
If you look at the Total Market ETF for five years the return has been ever so slightly more than the SPX but it is very difficult to see a difference.
An issue that comes up with benchmarking is picking something that turns out to give a low hurdle to clear. I would have exepcted Total Market to have done much better than it has becuase the cap size is a little smaller.
If I switch today and then Total Market lags badly I get accused of picking a low hurdle meaning it is tough for any advisor to win on this point (damned if you do damned if you don't).
Justin makes a fair point in questioning the difference that might be made by a switch. Both sides are valid but I don't see my making a switch.
Clients, so we think, like to be able to compare to a market they can relate to. Whether ideal or not it is easy to compare to an index you have watched for years.
Keep in mind we are talking about benchmarking not portfolio construction.
roger, thanks for the mention. i really like the spirit and content of your blog, and hopefully your readers will view mine in the same light. best, the other roger
Roger, I appreciate your open mindedness and zen attitude..non adversarial(no sarcasm implied) but the industry is changing with regard to benchmarks. Morningstar routinely compares a fund to its category and the sp500. And, many or possbily most prospecti of funds do similarly.If I use a comparison chart, like at stockcharts.com the sp500 varies a signficant amount from vanguard's total mkt viper..whether ytd or one year. I undertand the low bar issue, and this year, so far, it would look worse to have a total mkt etf as the benchmark. What counts is a more accurate perspective. Clients, like the readers here, want to be educated. If you were your client, what would you want? Speech over. I'll refrain from harping on this again.
"Benchmarks" are for managers who are Relative Performance oriented.
---Style boxes and such. Markawitz and his balony.
These are for the academics to ponder over late a night.
I think people want Absolute Performance. They just want to make money in the good years, and not lose it in the bad.
George,
you actually pretty-up one point, benchmarks are for marketing. When a manager builds in a big spread he can ride that forever, presented properly in the sales literature.
Darn it Roger, You're dodging this one. I side with absolute return goals. My preference, but who was it that wrote, "just be close to the market?" By George, now he's onto something.
I don't think I fully follow that last one. I absolutely believe in just being close to the market but a lot of do it yoursefers cannot embrace that notion.
If I somehow created the impression that I was whistling a differnt tune about staying close, I apologize.
Staying close is great for the longterm which is why i believe in it but it does very little for people that worry about short term declines
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/JubaksJournal/StagflationANewPerilForStocks.aspx
I thought this was a good article on stagflation, which evidently you have mentioned. Are we back to the 70's or in 1994 when I think tech stocks melted down just before melting up?
reply to request to dumb down stagflation--his words not mine.
In response to hot growth the Fed will raise rates. This is usually because hot growth might lead to inflation and the Fed wants to stifle inflation.
It is this action by the Fed that creates visibility for the end of the economic cycle. All normal stuff.
Stagflation is when GDP shrinks but there is still inflation. This could lead to the Fed raising rates during a recession which is bad news, really bad.
Growth slowing down, as it is now, and inflation still persistant creates teh concern that true stagflation could come.
FWIW - My ratings are based on the frequency assigned to checking in on the blogs, i.e. Monthly, Weekly, or Daily. It is based on the apparent usefulness of their content to my style of investing - I am not a trader.
I put them in these blog folders:
Information Arbitrage - Monthly
Portable Alpha - Weekly
Traders Narrative - Monthly
I limit myself to 25 Dailies, the three new ones did not provide acceptable content to replace any of them.
OG
Post a Comment