Finance Trends Letter

Found these excellent comments on trading from Fullcarry and had to favorite and share these tweets: One of the best traders I ever met was never right. — Ed Bradford (@Fullcarry) February 18, 2011 It was one of the few woman traders I ever worked with. She just new how to trade and manage positions, but was terrible at calling things. — Ed Bradford (@Fullcarry) February 18, 2011 Amazing how quickly these pearls of wisdom can dissipate in the real-time information ocean of Twitter if you don't happen to spot them at the right time. Incidentally, this is why I try to favorite (Twitter's bookmark function) tweets and check up on my favorite Twitter lists. You never know what you'll find, or what you might have missed if you didn't happen to catch it in your stream. Wish Twitter would improve its archived search features so users could easily uncover more great information like this, but that's a topic for another day.  Back to Fullcarry's notes

Watch coach Leak's instructions to pitcher, Carmen Ronzonni. Sometimes we make things harder than they need to be. Simplify.

Russia Forum 2011 , which recently took place in Moscow, featured a global investing outlook panel discussion which included famed investors and commentators, Nassim Taleb, Marc Faber, and Hugh Hendry. Also on hand at the forum were economist, Nouriel Roubini, strategist, Russell Napier, and a panoply of international investors and business leaders. You'll find Roubini and Napier adding their thoughts in the outlook panel video above. There was also a rather interesting panel, featuring Faber and Taleb, entitled, "Is Russia the Best or Worst in BRIC?" . As you'll surmise from the title, it's a panel debate on the strengths and weaknesses of each of the large BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) nations, with added focus on host country, Russia. So is there a strong case for investment in Russia at this time? This conversation is worthwhile not only for the contributions from the aforementioned panel stars, but also due to the comments from other panelists and

If you caught our last post on Steve Cohen's ISI chat with Paul Tudor Jones (coverage courtesy of Dealbook), it's highly likely that you clicked through to read the details of Steven's interview. Here's one item from that discussion that really grabbed my attention, Steve Cohen talking global macro : " ...Mr. Cohen, who said probably 25 percent of his investments were made outside the United States, has been emphasizing to his traders that global macro themes are more important than ever in investing. For this reason he went to Davos, Switzerland, last month for the World Economic Forum and said that he found “the development of the next phase of the consumer economy in China is very intriguing.” He recognized that there “could be more situations like Egypt” and “you have something going on here that could be a tinderbox.” ". This piece of info really jumped out at me for a few reasons. Firstly, as far as I know, Cohen has not been identified as a glo

SAC Capital chief, Steve Cohen opens up to fellow hedge fund legend Paul Tudor Jones in an ISI conference chat that was closed to the media, but reported on by Dealbook. Here's the 411 from Dealbook: " The founder of SAC Capital Advisers, the $12 billion hedge fund in Stamford, Conn., sat for a rare wide-ranging interview with Paul Tudor Jones, another hedge fund manager, where he discussed his favorite stocks and a whole lot more. The interview was part of a two-day conference at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Midtown Manhattan sponsored by ISI, the Wall Street research firm... Other than complaining about his bad back, Mr. Cohen is said to have appeared at ease during the hourlong conversation before a packed crowd. Mr. Jones, who joked that he was playing the role of Charlie Rose , pressed Mr. Cohen on a variety of topics but did not — no surprise — ask questions about the government’s insider trading charges against two of his former traders. Mr. Cohen talked abou

In case you missed it, Brian Shannon's weekly market wrap from February 11 was a very worthwhile lesson in markets indeed. Check out Brian's video and pay special attention to the comments on the market's reaction to geopolitical events, headline noise, and managing your risk in trading. A must see segment for all traders and investors. Related articles and posts: 1. Howard Lindzon interviews James Altucher - StockTwits TV.

It's been a while since we compiled a Friday Features linkfest, but we've got some great posts and news items to share with you today. Set a spell and enjoy our "Features of the Week". 1. Wikileaks confirms what we already know: Saudi oil reserves are overstated . (Al Jazeera). 2. Egypt unrest: how Mubarak's end came . (BBC News). 3. Mubarak resigns, but will he hold on to his estimated $70 billion stash? (FP blog ). 4. The Perils of Intervention and a humbler American foreign policy. (C4Liberty ). 5. An interview with Pimco CEO Mohamed El-Erian . (Der Spiegel). 6. Inflation is so much worse than we're told: Chris Martenson. (Financial Sense). 7. Q&A: Michael Lewis on the politicians that sank Ireland. (Vanity Fair). 8. Shades of 2006? Exchange fever takes hold as LSE-TMX merger followed quickly by NYSE- Deutsche B orse d eal. (FT.com) 9. G.C. Selden trading psychology : hunches and gut feelings. (Tischendorf Letter). 10. Howard Lindzon interviews re

P/E multiple expansion, cheap money via QE, bullish psychology & social mood...whatever it is that's driving the market, US stocks continue to climb higher. Today the SPX is down a bit midday, but as you can see from the weekly chart posted above, we're seeing a fresh weekly high in the S&P 500 as the index moves above its August 2008 resistance at the 1313 level. Your take on the continued bullish action?

Is the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing policy fueling inflation in asset prices, including the price of commodities and foodstuffs? That seems to be the big question in recent days, as civil unrest in Egypt and in other parts of the Middle East and Asia demonstrate how long-simmering tensions can quickly boil over when grain prices rise and the spectre of food shortages looms over a population. The recent situation recalls the commodity and grain price surges of 2007-2008 , when food stocks were diminishing and shortages and worries over food riots were a global phenomenon (and news item). Then, as now, grain ethanol and "excess speculation" were offered up as contributing causes to rising food prices. Image via: FAO Food Price Index . So what about the role of quantitative easing and increased money creation by the Fed and other central banks? Might that sort of liquidity operation be fueling a rise in asset prices across the globe? Or are prices rising due to

  Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies gives a talk at MIT about his background in mathematics, how he got his start in business, and the "secret sauce" of running a hedge fund with a quantitative bent. As Paul Kedrosky notes on his blog, it's not often that you get to hear from Simons, so have a look at this video and hear what he has to say about his work, the importance of getting young people involved in math and science, and following your entrepreneurial drive.