How to Become the Vice President of the World Bank Written By: Eben Esterhuizen 2008-02-07 21:25:21 Photo:bbaltimore, Creative Commons, Flickr
Ever wanted to know more about "Financial Engineering" and "Leverage"? The following story captures the essence of these disciplines:
Three factors will keep the cash register ringing for investment banks: 1. Demographics of baby-boomers saving for retirement. 2. The cheaper dollar, meaning that foreign firms will be on a shopping spree for U.S. companies, which will help M&A advisory. 3. Mortgage portfolios that have been marked to market. When liquidity retuns to this market, portfolios of mortgages will start to show profits.
It would seem that Wall Street also hasn't forgotten that it is the second most regulated industry in the U.S. (after nucular energy) and that it needs to keep track of where its bread is buttered. Banks are betting that the butter will be spread by a Democrat in 2009.
On the next pullback, which I think is coming once all the shorts are done covering, I'll be looking to buy the investment banks cheap again. Look out for U.S. firms like Goldman Sachs (GS - $179.63), Lehman (LEH - $48.65), Morgan Stanley (MS - $49.67) and Merill Lynch (MER - $46.71) to continue to do well. I own the investment banks directly, but rather than pick individuals, the Exchange traded fund (IAI - $39.43) works well as a proxy.
Is Testosterone Bad for Traders? Written By: David Neubert 2008-04-15 11:12:51 Zubin Jelveh at Portfolio.com combines research on the disadvantages of testosterone in traders. He goes as far as to suggest that traders take female hormones to become better risk managers. It looks like he's never been a trader.
I, for one, can attest to all the disadvantages of testosterone in my life. Premature baldness, extreme aggressiveness, attraction to competition and likely and early death are all things I worry about in relation to my overproduction of testosterone.
