Only recently has art investing been viewed through the lens of modern portfolio theory and considered as a potential alternative investment in a portfolio of assets. Though research continues to shed more light on what has been historically an opaque market, studies show that art can offer long-term return potential that is uncorrelated with other asset classes.
Category: Economics
A Man in the Mirror
Bill Gross on our relationship to success, the heydays of investing and Michael Jackson :
Since the early 1970s when the dollar was released from gold and credit began its incredible, liquefying, total return journey to the present day, an investor that took marginal risk, levered it wisely and was conveniently sheltered from periodic bouts of deleveraging or asset withdrawals could, and in some cases, was rewarded with the crown of “greatness.” Perhaps, however, it was the epoch that made the man as opposed to the man that made the epoch.
Inside The Biggest-Ever Hedge-Fund Scandal
Hint : S.A.C.
The tactics echoed the approach the F.B.I. had used to dismantle the New York Mob. The plan was to arrest low-level soldiers, threaten them with lengthy jail terms, and then flip them, gathering information that could lead to arrests farther up the criminal hierarchy.
Over time, agents produced an organizational chart with names and faces, just as they had with La Cosa Nostra.
At the top of the pyramid was Steven Cohen.
It took me quite some time to read this gigantic piece, but as always, The New Yorker delivered a brilliant investigation. Here is another one from Vanity Fair.
UBS Comparing Hedge Funds to Box Trees
Fast Traders Are Getting Data From SEC Seconds Early
The SEC uses Tradeworx datas to analyze the market and causes of flashcrashes, while high-frequency traders get a prime access to the SEC’s datas to place bets. Fair trade.
Hedge funds and other rapid-fire investors can get access to market-moving documents ahead of other users of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s system for distributing company filings, giving them a potential edge on the rest of the market.
