Finance Trends Letter

Newsy: Marc Faber talks to Bloomberg TV about Davos, the disastrous 1st term of our dishonest President Obama, the illusion of deficit spending prosperity, and more. If you're a regular here, you already know how much we love the straight-shooting Dr. Faber. This latest chat is one more example of Faber's natural ability to cut through the propaganda and nonsense and get straight to the heart of matters. Have a listen and catch Marc's latest thoughts on the US and emerging markets, the "global agenda setters" of Davos, bonds, inflation, and gold. Enjoy. Related articles and posts: 1. Marc Faber: final crisis yet to come - Finance Trends. 2. Jim Rogers at Reuters 2011 Outlook Summit - Finance Trends.

Speculation, in all its forms, is what drives human progress. This is the core message behind Michael Bigger's recent post, "The Desire to Speculate" . An excerpt from Michael's essay: " It is said that the desire to speculate is very strong in the American people. That is why our country has made greater progress than any other country in the world, because progress is the result of speculation . We are not referring merely to stock speculations, but to the word in its broadest sense. Every new undertaking is a speculation. An inventor speculates on what he is going to invent. Often such speculations result in losses, because many inventors, or would-be-inventors, never accomplish very much. They spend their money, time, and efforts, and probably live years in poverty, and then if the invention is not profitable, they are heavy losers. It is the same thing with every new business. It is purely a speculation... " This is a great point, and one that

A few weeks ago on Twitter, we shared this interview with Sebastian Mallaby , who speaks to UC Berkeley about the future of the hedge fund industry for their "Conversations with History" series. For those who may not know, Mallaby is the author of a recent book on hedge funds and the financial crisis called, More Money Than G-d: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite .  One point that really caught my interest early on in the interview is an anecdote Mallaby shares regarding Paul Tudor Jones and the factors he attributed to his own success as a trader and hedge fund manager. As Mallaby tells it, PTJ's explanation for his success is not at all the real reason why he is successful, but it is part of a common theme of professionals misattributing causes to explain their colleagues' and their own successes. Enjoy the discussion; it should prove especially interesting to those who are in the business or watching the hedge fund space closely. Related articles and pos

"The things I've done in my life have required a lot of years of effort before they took off." - Steve Jobs $AAPL Tue Jan 18 20:16:32 via web David Shvartsman FinanceTrends Just a cool quote from Apple CEO, Steve Jobs. Found it while reading O'Neil's How to Make Money In Stocks , of all things. Sometimes people forget that there is an unseen foundation of hard work (and earlier failures) that lies beneath any great success.

Inflation or deflation ahead? Why, after the bursting of a massive credit bubble, do losses from defaulted debt go unrecognized? How is that we simply continue to hum right along? Chris Martenson explains in, "Don't worry, they'll just change the rules" : " Suppose, for the sake of argument, that there is a world in which banks are allowed by their regulators to pretend their default losses simply do not exist. And, even more outlandishly, some of these banks are allowed to sell heavily damaged loans to their central bank at nearly their full original price. What does "deflation" mean in such a world? Not much, as it turns out. At least from a monetary perspective, because money is not being destroyed at nearly the rate that would be expected or predicted by the size and rate of the defaults. This is the world in which we currently live. Trillions in probable and provable losses quietly exist, out of sight, on the balance sheets of the

Does blogging provide any real value for market participants, students of the markets, or blog readers? I recently came across a few posts and discussions that speak directly to this question, and seem to answer back with an emphatic "yes" on all counts. First, let's take a quick look at Michael Bigger's recent post in which he states that 99 percent of traders are missing out on the benefits of blogging. Michael highlights a short clip of Seth Godin speaking about the advantages of writing a blog and how the act of writing helps to sharpen one's thinking and understanding of the subject at hand. He adds that a trader's blog is his home base, and that everyone should think of blogging as their "thinking out loud" platform. I could not agree more with his visualization of the blog as an idea scrapbook or journal, as this was the initial purpose for Finance Trends Matter, but check out Michael's post and hear his (and Seth's) view on the subje

There's a lot of truth to this scene from Trainspotting , in which Sick Boy explains his unifying theory of life to his friend, Mark . It's a very universal phenomenon: you get a bit of success (or maybe a lot of it) and then, as you get older and more comfortable, you tend to become complacent and less aware. Maybe you don't push the envelope as much as you did before, or maybe you just get to a point where you're more easily satisfied and content to rest on your laurels. It doesn't have to be an age-specific thing either, it may just be a lack of enthusiasm or vitality. That old hunger you once felt is nearly gone. Be cognizant of this reality and its tendency to creep up on your life. Don't become complacent . Or as Paul Tudor Jones once said: "Don’t have an ego. Always question yourself and your ability. Don’t ever feel that you are very good. The second you do, you are dead." Capisce? Related articles and posts : 1. Lessons

The price of gold took a big hit today, something we noticed while having an interesting conversation about the dollar index and US dollar's recent strength (as measured by said index) earlier today on Twitter. Still, we have to keep our eye on the big picture here. The long-term trajectory of the US dollar and its purchasing power , as measured against a constant store of value (such as gold), is down. Conversely, the longer-term trajectory of the dollar price of gold is up. Food for thought. Related articles and posts : 1. Bloomberg: weak dollar, inflation "illusory" - Finance Trends. 2. Dollar's purchasing power annihilated - Zero Hedge at Seeking Alpha.