A gaggle of links: which way now?

I initially started this blog to share interesting links I was reading and it was a way for me to force myself read and write more. But instead, all the posts I’ve sporadically published have been longwinded rants 😐 But since we’ve all been imprisoned at home like in a bad zombie movie, we do have some extra time on our hands.

And given the tons of garbage published every day some really good stuff tends to get lost in the noise. The idea with these posts is to share interesting and timeless articles, podcasts, videos, research papers, and tweets on all things finance that I or we can find. I or we aren’t going to share breaking news or some nonsensical, flash in the pan idiotic news items. Not just me, I’ve enlisted the support of Anish and others to share things they find interesting. If you share something interesting, please hit me up (don’t beat me up) and I’ll share it here 🙂 Hopefully, this becomes a place for people to discover interesting things to read and share elsewhere.

That’s it, nothing more, nothing less. So, here’s the first edition of A Gaggle Of Links awesome name, right? 😛


We need your help

Peeps, we also publish Indexheads – a newsletter dedicated to spreading the word about low-cost index funds. We also run an active Facebook group to discuss similar topics. But we think that people may not be really comfortable using Facebook or that Facebook groups might not really be a good place to have discussions anymore. We’ve been thinking for a long time to create a Slack group which allows for more structured and discoverable conversations and discussions and we need your help in deciding if we should. What do you think? We’d appreciate if you let us know your view by answering this poll. We want to build a space where you can learn from the smartest and the brightest.


Anish’s links

Not so tough now, are you? Time to respect Momma Nature, you puny homo sapien by Pravin Palande/ET Prime

Seduction of Pessimism by Morgan Housel/Collaborative Fund blog 

Dead Cat Bounce by Michael Batnick/The irrelevant Investor     

When Dollar Cost Averaging Matters the Most by Ben Carlson/A Wealth of Common Sense

Which Way Now? by Howard Marks 

What would Jack Bogle Tell Us Now? by Allan Roth/Validea 

Research

Equity Styles and the Spanish Flu by Pim van Vliet and Guido Baltussen

Mr. Boiling Frog’s links

Coronavirus Response Shows the World Is Not Ready for Climate-Induced Pandemics by Jennifer Zhang

COVID-19’s catastrophic impact on all walks of life critically demonstrates that the world is woefully unprepared for managing pandemics. This has dire implications for our ability to respond to emerging infectious diseases that are expected to spread more frequently due to climate change.

An important but indecent question that has to arise by Manu Joseph/Livemint

As often, US President Donald Trump has articulated a thought that is on the minds of people who run businesses but are too polite to say it: “We can’t let the cure be worse than the problem.” He announced that he will open the US for business in a matter of days. A familiar lament followed.

Fool’s links

A couple of days ago I went on a lenghty Twitter rant about why investing based on stories almost always gets retail investors into trouble. A few interesting links I had saved when I was writing the thread.

Why You Should (Probably) Avoid Story Stocks and Don’t “Disrupt” Your Investing by Nicholas Vardy

Investment Stories vs. Facts – Mastersinvest

Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling by Paul Zak/HBR

How Epidemics of the Past Changed the Way Americans Lived by Katherine Foss/Smithsonian Mag

As morose as it sounds, pandemics have been responsible for some of the most important changes in the way we live.

Ken Griffin’s Virus Plan Now Includes Emergency Trading Site in Florida by Liz McCormick/Bloomberg

Citadel is one of the largest liquidity providers in the US markets, not to be confused with Citadel the hedge fund. This piece gives an idea of how some of the most important actors in capital markets are adapting to life in the times of corona. Similarly:

‘We are not going to go back’: Tradeweb’s CEO explains why working from home is a game changer for the $1 trillion-a-day marketplace by Dan DeFrancesco/Business Insider

Another piece of how Tradeweb, one of the biggest bond trading platforms is adapting toe times. If you are one of those idiots asking for the Indian markets to be shut down, you should read these pieces and learn why it is important that the capital markets function even during these unprecedented times.

The Fed goes brrrrrr

BRRR UNITED STATES RESERVE FEDERAL SYSTEM

The US Federal Reserve is pumping trillions of dollars in relief and stimulus measures to stop the US economy from seizing up. The scale of the programs makes the 2008 QE programs look like child’s play. As Jim Bianco describes it – the Fed has nationalized large swathes of the US financial markets. As a macro tourist, this is fascinating stuff and although the mainstream interpretation of Fed’s actions is limited to the usage of terms like Quantitative Easing, Stimulus etc, what’s happening is far more complex and astounding. Here are some links and resources that I am currently reading and listening to understand the true scale of the Fed’s actions.

Nathun Tankus’ newsletter is just brilliant. I highly recommend reading every single post and yhat you follow him on Twitter too. He covers all angles right from stimulus packages, bailouts, platinum coins to the need for dollar swap lines!

Speaking of swap line, check out this conversation with Adam Tooze who wrote the book Crashed, a magisterial assessment of how the 2008 crisis shaped our world.

Podcasts

Jim Bianco on Alpha Trader

George Selgin on Hidden Forces

I think, given what we are going through, it pays to understand what really went on during 2008. It was just a housing crisis, what really transpired is far more complex that the “housing bubble” narrative. The central banks are pretty much using the same playbook of 2008 but on steroids. I highly recommend listening to this loooong podcast of Adam Tooze.


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By Passivefool

A passive investor at present who was actively scammed once. Seduced by the humble beta, preaching to the choir now.

1 comment

  1. Thanks a lot for this and many more articles to come. There’s so much value and wisdom. Keep up the good work.

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