Hottest links for Thursday August 29th, 2013 (see Wednesday‘s edition of hottest links here). Top stories for the day include; Nassim Taleb offers some life advice on the topic of how to have a great day; BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) should NOT spin off BBM; Bruce Berkowitz attacked by Kiplinger’s; Will this stock experience a take-under or a DOA Chapter 11, see below for the details; Some great advice on how to detect whether a hedge fund is a fraud, and is this big name fund suspect?; How bad was the bond sell off over the past few months? The data might surprise you; Where the value is in Europe, hint its not in the big cap stocks; ETF firm attacks the Fed over a research paper; Why is Kazakhstan losing soccer games? Look no further than the ban on sheep slaughter before games, say fans; BAML lists five catalysts which could cause a crash in the month of September; Albert Edwards is back and he is still bearish in case you are wondering; That and much more below!
Hottest Links: Stories
Nassim Taleb Offers 5 Ways To Have A Great Day
Nassim Taleb, author of The Black Sawn and Antifragile, offers five different ways to have a great day. He does not mention trying to talk to him on Twitter (assuming he has not blocked you). [Shane Parrish, Farnam Street]
Has 2013 Really Been a Bond Market “Slaughter”?
Everyone is acting as if the sell off in bonds was a slaughter. However, when looked it in percentage terms, the losses have actually been much lower then you might believe. [Cullen Roche, PragCap]
Spinning Off Blackberry Messenger Solves Nothing
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is considering a spin-off of BBM instead of an outright sale. Ivey’s blog gives some reasons why this likely will not work too well. [Liam Boluk, Ivey Business Review]
Words Have Consequences
Words have consequences, if only people were held accountable for their words in the financial media, the world might be a much better place. [Josh Brown, Abnormal Returns]
Bond ETF Trading Profits?
An interesting analysis of ETFs trading at discounts and premiums and what happens the next 30 days afterwards. [Wesley R. Grey, TurnkeyAnalyst]
Stock Market Selection Strategies
Some great screens from Meb Faber on the AAII, predicting what future returns will be, volatility and much more, check it out. [Mebane Faber]
Datawatch Continues to Impress
Today Datawatch announced the completion for the acquisition of Panopticon. This acquisition provides Datawatch customers real-time Visual Data Discovery against the largest variety of data sources. Additionally positives there was a significant insider purchases reported of stocks such as Breeze-Eastern Corp (NYSEMKT:BZC), Datawatch Corporation (NASDAQ:DWCH), Kronos Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:KRO) and Navarre Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVR). [Shadow Stocks]
Funds Gone Wild: ETF Firm Attacks Fed Economist
Hector McNeil, co-CEO of the U.K.-based leveraged ETF maker Boost ETP, last night slammed a research paper by Federal Reserve economist Tugkan Tuzun as ”a head-line grabber,” as if to suggest insincerity. Tuzun, authored a paper which said that leveraged ETFs’ could accelerate a stock market crash. [Brendan Conway, Barron’s]
Cambium Learning: A Stealth Take-under or a DOA Chapter 11 story?
I’ve painfully been involved as an investor in Cambium Learning Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:ABCD) since it merged with Voyager Learning in 2009. Due to the small size and small float, this was an investment I only held in my PA. [ROICblog]
Don’t Get Sucked in by Fairholme Fund’s Great Long-Term Record
Bruce Berkowitz just re-opened his Fairholme Fund (MUTF:FAIRX) to investors and while his returns are great, this article cautions investors from buying [Steven Goldberg, Kiplinger]
Five things that could shake markets, starting in September
BAML CEO Michael Hartnett says that he is a big believer in the great rotation, but gives five events which could cause equity markets to tank this coming month. [Barbara Kollmeyer, Market Watch]
Positioning for a European Recovery with Small Caps
European stocks have been performing well, and they might have more upside. Here is why investors should look at some small caps in the Euro-Zone. [Christopher Gannatti, Wisdom Tree]
How To Spot A Hedge Fund Fraudster
Hoyder Asia is a hedge fund firm based in Shanghai, with offices in Hong Kong and London and some $4.6 billion in assets. There is not evidence that these funds exist. Is the fund a fraud? An inside look from an expert on the topic, which provides some good insights on how investors can determine hedge fund fraud. [Institutional Investor’s Alpha, Amanda Cantrell]
Albert Edwards: EM rout is final tweet of the canary in the coal mine
Albert Edwards is everyone’s favorite bear. The famous SocGen analyst is out with a new report and he thinks bad things will happen in the coming months. His advice? Buy gold which is headed up to $10,000 an ounce. [Value Walk]
Not The Onion
Kazakhstan Football Fans Blame Loss on Sheep-Slaughter Ban
Soccer fans in Kazakhstan are blaming a animal rights groups for not making it into the UEFA Champions League. The fans allege that a ban on sheep slaughter is the cause of losses (maybe Borat has more material for next film)? [Murat Sadykov, Eurasianet]