Tag Archive for: economy

"Is It Different This Time?" by DFA’s Weston Wellington

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For a reassuring take on financial markets’ resilience and the future of diversified portfolios, watch “Is It Different This Time?” by Weston Wellington of Dimensional Fund Advisors.

As an editor, I was impressed by how Wellington used images of magazine and newspaper headlines to convey how wrong alarmists have been on many occasions.

Thank you, Russell Wild, for pointing out this presentation.
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Susan B. Weiner, CFA

Check out my website at www.InvestmentWriting.com or sign up for my free monthly e-newsletter.

Copyright 2008 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved

Do financial blogs make a difference?

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Financial blogs have multiplied like crazy. But are they worth reading?

When I researched “Investment Strategy Blogs Slow to Influence Advisors,” I found that financial advisors aren’t paying much attention to blogs. However, in some cases, investment strategy blogs affect advisors’ buy and sell decisions or help them refine their thinking or their client communications.

You’ll find a list of financial and economic blogs visited by my interviewees in the box on page two of my article.

Meanwhile, an upcoming BlogWorld panel will tackle “How Financial Blogs Influence the Markets,” according to a post on Content Matters. Panelists include Paul Kedrosky, whose Infectious Greed blog appeared in my article’s blog list.

As Content Matters blogger Barry Graubart sees it, “Financial blogging is one of the more interesting segments of the blogging space. Despite the huge financial news presence of companies like Bloomberg, Dow Jones, Reuters and various newspapers, blogs frequently are ahead of the mainstream media in grasping the significance of key trends.”

Thanks to Bob Leonard of Bolen Communications for pointing me to Graubart’s post. 

Obama vs. McCain on tax policy

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Looking for an analysis of Obama vs. McCain on tax policy?

The Tax Policy Center offers a “A Preliminary Analysis of the 2008 Presidential Candidates’ Tax Plans.”

Having written about the alternative minimum tax (AMT), I was interested to see that both candidates would make the AMT “patch” permanent. By the way, I developed a lot of respect for the Tax Policy Center as a resource when I did research on the AMT. The center pulls together information that’s not available elsewhere.

OECD Economic Outlook as a resource for your investment commentary

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If you haven’t finished writing your second quarter investment commentary, check out the website of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development for some useful statistics. The OECD publishes its economic outlook twice a year.

Its June 2008 outlook predicts weak growth and high inflation. Real GDP growth for the total OECD (see page 2) is estimated to run 1.8% in 2008 and 1.7% in 2009. Estimates are broken out for the U.S., Japan, and the Euro area.

The June outlook also discusses:

  • How deep is the impact of the recent oil and credit shocks on the productive potential of OECD economies? To what extent can structrual reforms help to soften it?
  • How should economic policies respond to the uncertainty created by these shocks?

Podcasts from CFA Institute Annual Conference

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The CFA Institute’s Annual Conference in Vancouver attracted record attendance. Now, you can listen to podcasts of some of the speakers, if you’ve paid for a Total Access membership in the CFA Institute.

As of May 29, you can listen to:

  • Building a Global Equity Portfolio by Lawrence S. Speidell
  • Prediction Markets: The Collective Knowledge of Market Participants by Justin Wolfers
  • From Beta to Exotic Beta to Alpha Behavioral Finance: What Good Is it? by Meir Statman, Arnold S. Wood, and Jason Zweig
  • Investment Opportunities in Energy by Henry Groppe
  • Investment Strategies to Exploit the Growth of China by Burton Malkiel
  • The Neuroeconomics of Surprise: How the Investing Brain Handles the Unexpected by Jason Zweig
  • Economic Prospects for the U.S. Economy from a Monetary Policymaker’s Perspective by Janet L. Yellen
  • Nurturing Innovation in an Asset Management Firm by Blake R. Grossman