What We Are Reading
Our investment views and strategies are shaped by the quality of our information sources and the amount of time we spend at work on them. We invest significantly in investment research and financial planning information but, we also rely frequently on certain online sources for consistently good analysis, data, or news. The links below are ones we tend to read most frequently, some daily. We are happy to share them as an aid to greater market awareness and understanding. This is what we are reading:
Live Market Data
Wall Street Journal Financial Markets
An overview of market news and numbers from equity and fixed income markets around the world.
Bloomberg Bond Markets
Up-to-date fixed income market data, including Treasuries, Corporates, Munis and Foreign rates from around the world.
Bloomberg Markets
Global stock indices, commmodities, currencies, rates, futures and a launching point for all other live market data.
Bloomberg Economic Calendar
Calendar list of significant economic reporting events that are on tap.
Analysis and News
Minyanville Market Page
One of the best sources of balanced market and financial analysis available in a single site – without the financial media skew.
Bloomberg Markets News
News on all markets: emerging, frontier, develeped, commodities, foreign exchange, fixed income, and the launching point for all other economic and financial categories of news updated 24/7 from around the world.
Barrons Online
No longer just a weekly journal of market analysis and data, Barrons Online offers useful daily content in addition to the Saturday morning edition.
Morningstar Reports
A source for information on mutual funds, ETFs and stocks. If you want a quick review of funds in your portfolio, this will provide it. Just ask us for more detailed information and analysis.
Berkshire Hathaway Web Site
The shareholder letters and annual reports of the “Sage of Omaha,” none other than Warren Buffet, offer useful insight.
Link to John Mauldin’s Newsletter
Mauldin is a thought leader on diverse market topics and always provides cogent analysis and excellent cross-referenced research links. The analysis is delivered to your email box with a no cost subscription, if you choose.
Hedge Fund Tracker – Market Folly.com
The site provides downloadable pdf files of the shareholder reports of many of the top hedge funds.
Market Indicators and “Reads”
Market “Tells” Portfolio
A sortable hypothetical portfolio of key indices and global company equity prices that we regard as “tells” or “reads” on market direction.
Put-Call Ratios and other key market data from the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE)
CBOE Daily Market Statistics – Data we use to gauge market pyschology, including equity and index put-call ratios and volatility indices. Internal market data can offer hints about future direction. Put-call ratios are a contrarian signal. When equity ratios move below 0.55 or above 0.70, the ratio provides context to potentially more bearish or bullish market pyschology, respectively.
Spreads on Sovereign and Corporate Credit Default Swaps
The state of the debt markets and global economic perceptions can be measured by the spreads on sovereign and corporate debt – whether spreads are widening (bearish credit conditions) or narrowing (positive). Take a look at the countries and companies with the highest default probabilities or conversely, those whose credit conditions are strengthening.
Market and Macroeconomic Data and Charts
Helpful visuals on inflation, unemployment, home prices, S&P 500 earnings, and more information we want to have a handle on.
Emerging Market and other Foreign News and Analysis Sources
Chinese English Language Business Daily
We need to be right on China and global markets linked to China to succeed in 21st century global investing. We use this site along with a few others to keep a pulse on Chinese business and market news and issues.
Valor Investe – English Edition
Brazilian-sourced financial and business news.
Business News Americas
A source for broad business news spanning Latin America and organized by sector and country.
Peruvian Times Business Section
Peru’s on-going economic and social transformation is representative of some of the more robust investment developments in Latin America. This site provides articles and data related to Peru’s business and investment prospects.
Emerging and Frontier Markets Commentary
From high profile Templeton fund manager, Mark Mobius.
Chinavestor.com
An investment site focusing on China-based, US-listed stocks.
Reference and Other Useful Sites
CIA World Factbook
We use this for checking demographic data and emerging market investable trends.
ETF Database
Searchable database of all categories of ETFs. ETFs can offer tax, risk management, and cost advantages over mutual funds and we use them as appropriate.
ETF Portal
A centralized site for information on all exchange traded funds (ETFs).
Financial Glossary and Dictionary
A useful site for brushing up on financial terms and topics ranging from “Accumulation/Distribution” to “Managed Futures” to “Zero Coupon Bonds.”
Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha is an open source collection of analysis by individual contributors. You can find useful analysis and data here if you’re selective.
The National Futures Association Investor Website
Managed futures can offer an important, uncorrelated, diversification balance to risk-managed portfolios. This site and the Altegris site (see below) offer helpful investor information on futures and their role in a diversified portfolio.
Altegris Resources Page
Altegris is a leading provider of managed futures and other alternative investment solutions for institutional and sophisticated investors.
Google Finance
Google’s Finance page is a surprisingly robust site for market news and data.
Yahoo Finance
We also use Yahoo Finance for news and concise market information.