The Mood of Wall Street

Interesting piece from the NY mag about the current mood on Wall Street. I am perhaps less inclined to pronounce the beast dead than the article is. Broking in Australia was pronounced dead when fixed rate commissions were abolished in the early 1980’s – it was supposed to be the end of broking yet firms…

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Bridgewater

Bridgewater is the worlds largest hedge fund managing a staggering $94 billion and as with many such successful things it is considered to be a bit odd. If you want to understand Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest and indisputably weirdest hedge fund, you might start with the story of the peas. It goes like this:…

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How to fail

Interesting piece by Seth Godin on failure. As a trader failure is part of our day to day existence and a fear of failure is one of the reasons many cannot trade. Trading is unique in that you effectively fail your way to success – something that would be impossible in most other professions. The…

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One for the gold nuts

This is a link to an interactive graphic on what is perceived to be driving the price of gold. Who cares? Below I have attached a chart of gold with a 15 and 30 week moving average attached – nothing complicated just nice and simple trend following. You would have been long from about $900

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Delusions

I came across an interesting paper the other day that look at the changing nature of delusions within populations presenting at US psychiatric hospitals. The researchers found something very interesting but fairly obvious. The nature of delusions is changing in that it is reflective of the culture at the time. The authors found that –…

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India

Having watched the energetic expansion of the Indian economy over the past few years I have often wondered whether the inherent racism of the caste system and the inefficiencies of a colonial bureaucracy would eventual lead to structural problems that might bring the entire expansion phase undone. Apparently it is – BANGALORE, India—Call-center company 24/7…

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