Here are some stories that caught my eye this week:
· A Dozen Lessons on Investing from Ed Thorp – 25iq:
Thorp’s book, A Man for All Markets is out, bringing a ton of attention to, in my opinion, one of the smartest people of all time. After all, who else has conquered Vegas and Wall Street? The book is a must read and one of my favorites so far this year.
· How to Play Defense with your Portfolio – Wall Street Journal:
3 simple things you can do today to help prepare you for when markets inevitably turn volatile once again.
· 10,000 hours with Claude Shannon – Medium:
Written by the authors of the new biography on Claude Shannon; A Mind at Play. 6 months ago I had never heard of Claude Shannon, but he kept appearing in books I was reading. I am just starting the bio (book review coming soon), but what did the authors learn from studying him as they wrote their book?
· Betting on Things that Never Change – Collaborative Fund, Morgan Housel.
It is easy to get sucked into investing in the newest, latest and greatest. But sometimes investing in what will last is a much better, and even easier, route.
· What the Work Habits of Geniuses Can Teach Us – Quora
Written by the author of Mind at Play – a few more observations on how geniuses came about.
· The Biggest Stocks – A Wealth of Common Sense
Are we in a stock market bubble? I don’t think anyone can say for sure. But what is not unusual about today is the fact that a few large companies make up a very large portion of the stock market. Ben Carlson takes a look.
· Return on Equity (ROE) Near an All Time Low – Ritholtz
Return on Equity, a measure of how much income companies are making based on their book value, is at an all time low. Is that a sign the market top is near?
· Also from Ritholtz – How Active is Your Passive?
“Passive” may not mean exactly what you think.
· Short Selling Levels are at Their Lowest in 4 years – WSJ
Are you a contrarian investor? Then maybe you should think about going short the market.
That’s all I have – What did I miss?
