Hottest links for Tuesday August 27th, 2013 (see Monday‘s edition of hottest links here). Top stories for the day include; Is long treasuries the ultimate contrarian trade right now? O.J. Simpson is in trouble with JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM); The new age of hedge fund activism is upon us; Private equity, hedge funds, real estate and infrastructure, guess which investors are the happiest?; Lone Pine has acquired a stake in a bunch of companies; The role which dividends play in small cap value stocks; A list of finance books which are not meant to bore the reader to death; John Keynes evolution as an investor; The full list of people Donald Trump has fought with; Macro tourists enter the world of banking; Bad investor decisions throughout the ages; Whitney Tilson says to stop the press!!; Third Avenue PM on his investment style; Is housing now a bubble? That and much more below.
Hottest Links: Stories
Is the Treasury Sell-off Overdone?
ETF Trends recently published an article called “Treasury ETFs. Investors have become increasing bearish on treasuries, and going long could be the ultimate contrarian trade right now. [Sober Look, PragCap]
Infrastructure exceeding return expectations
A recent survey was taken with institutional investors’ current attitudes toward private equity, hedge funds, real estate and infrastructure. In terms of overall satisfaction with returns, the majority of investors said that all four asset classes have either met or exceeded return expectations over the last 12 months, but infrastructure was the biggest winner using a different measurement. [Timothy Pollard, Pionline]
Dividends: A Crucial Component of Our Long-Term Investment Approach
Royce Funds has some interesting comments and research about dividends specifically in the small cap value universe. [Royce Funds]
Stop The Press!!!
It is REALLY big news when a” rockstar ed reform warrior is appointed superintendent, especially of a well-known city (Camden, NJ) that is infamous for poverty, crime, and a horrific school system, which Gov. Christie has rightly called “a human catastrophe”, says Whitney Tilson on his education reform blog. See more details…. [Whitney Tilson, Edreform]
Activists Step Up to Revamp C Suite at Microsoft to J.C. Penney
Activist investors from Carl Icahn to Daniel Loeb and Bill Ackman are increasingly targeting America’s biggest companies and seeking the ouster of CEOs. Some names include, Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) and NutriSystem Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRI) [Jeff Green & Beth Jinks, Bloomberg]
How Much Has America’s Net Worth Recovered?
After collapsing in the financial crisis, net worth has surpassed the peak reached in 2007. A generous take on this is that the dollar value of wealth has now fully recovered; a more realistic interpretation is that wealth as a share of income has been flat over the last 14 years. [Barry Ritholtz, Big Picture]
What Are Your Favorite “Non-Boring” Business Books?
Ten business books that are not boring according to Barry Ritholtz include, Lords of Finance by Liaquat Ahamed, The Big Short by Michael Lewis, Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises by Charles P. Kindleberger, When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management by Roger Lowenstein, The Myth of the Rational Market by Justin Fox, Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, The Quants by Scott Patterson, Griftopia by Matt Taibbi, The Success Equation: Untangling Skill and Luck in Business, Sports, and Investing: by Michael J. Mauboussin and Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefèvre. [Barry Ritholtz, Big Picture]
Why Bad Decisions Happen to Good People
Why do investors make poor decisions? A look at the evolution of behavioral finance from Adam Smith to the present. [Scott Clemons, Advisor Perspectives]
Five Essential Lessons from the Author of “Seven Habits”
Ken Blanchard (One Minute Manager), Stephen Covey (Seven Habits of Highly Effective People), Tom Peters (In Search of Excellence), Tony Robbins (Personal Power series) and Alvin Toffler (Future Shock), These five (along with Jim Collins of Built to Last and Good to Great fame) all made practical business concepts accessible to the average reader. [Dan Richards, Adivsor Perspectives]
How a Stock Market Shock Changed Keynes’ Investment Strategy
John Maynard Keynes, one of the most famous economists, was also a great investor. A look at an event, which helped Keynes become one of the greatest investors ever. [Elizabeth Pfeuti, Ai-Cio]
Get the very best stock picking fund managers cheap
One reason passive investing feels wrong to new investors is because people don’t want to “give all their money to a computer”. [The Investor, Monevator]
Lone Pine Capital Adds to B/E Aerospace, Dollar General & DSW
Lone Pine Capital has been pretty active lately. Yesterday, the hedge fund managed by Steve Mandel disclosed a 5 percent% ownership stake in B/E Aerospace Inc (NASDAQ:BEAV) with 5,285,850 shares. The hedge fund also bought Dollar General Corp. (NYSE:DG) and DSW Inc. (NYSE:DSW). More details from Jay… [Market Folly]
When Non-banking Experts Become Overnight Banking Experts
Non banking experts dabble into the world of banking as macro tourism increases. Economists tend to downplay the role of banks, argues Cullen. [Cullen Roche, PragCap]
New Bubble in the Housing Market?
The last few weeks have seen a variety of breathless stories announcing a new U.S. housing bubble. Really? Let’s turn a sober eye on the facts. [Steven Carroll, Alpha Now]
Third Avenue’s Focus on Stable Companies, Cheaply Priced
Curtis Jensen, the portfolio manager of the Third Avenue Small-Cap Value Fund Investor Class (MUTF:TVSVX), discusses his philosophy and investment process. [Oliver Mihaljevic, Beyond Proxy]
Donald Trump: #FEUDWHORE (Digitally Remastered)
Donald Trump is facing a lawsuit over his university, but regardless of whether the allegations are true or false, Trump has made a lot of enemies. Hilary Sargent of Chart Girl has all the info you need in her latest masterpiece. [Chart Girl]
Not the Onion
JPMorgan forecloses on O.J. Simpson
A Florida judge has ruled that JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) can foreclose on O.J. Simpson’s mansion, the New York Post reports. [Tom Bemis, Market Watch]
