There have been many unfortunate stories about investors being lied by some unethical investment managers managing other people's money (OPM) (e.g.: the biggest example is, of course, Madoff fraud) for the past few years especially last year. As a result, US government these days are moving toward creating and implementing more stringent regulations to various types of investment companies especially hedge funds. In our view, US government is moving to the right direction (as long as it does not go too far.) However, even without enforcements of regulations, investors should, can and need to protect themselves and reduce risks of frauds. 

According to Wall Street Journal today, Steve Jobs had a liver transplant 2 months ago in Tennessee. He is recovering well according to the paper and plan to return to work later this month. Here is the link to the source: WSJ (06/20/2009)

Steve Jobs is known for being very workaholic & innovative entrepreneur co-founding & running two hugely successful technology companies, Apple and Pixar (bought later by Disney). He is an expert innovator and very passionate on innovation and technology advancements. His work ethics and visions are legendary. Unfortunately, health of a human being is never certain no matter how much success and money a human has. We all should be grateful for his huge contribution so far to the technology & media landscape and wish him a great and sustainable health recovery. Steve Jobs' life story is inspirational. He came from a humble beginning. He was an orphan and a dropped-out college student. Read more...

US Treasury recently proposed highly anticipated Financial Regulatory Reform: A New Foundation. Here is the paper. New era is coming to Wall Street.

People love to play games for the sake of excitement. Hence, it is not surprising that many individuals (especially the ones who think they are smart) generally like to manage their own investments thinking they can outperform key market indexes year after year. Unfortunately, many tried and failed. Many more are still trying without meaningful results. Hence, majority of them finally (after multiple trials & errors & failures) and eventually hire qualified investment managers whom they trust to manage their investment assets. They invest in mutual funds, hedge funds, and separately managed funds. Read more...

Warren Buffett once said "Most people get interested in stocks when everyone else is. The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can't buy what is popular and do well." We read this quote again and again, and now even more convinced that the US and global markets are on the road of true recovery (albeit a slow one in the developed countries). The US market bottoms have been reached twice in October 2008 and March 2009 (appears to be double bottoms already.) Unless traders and investors are waiting for tripe or quadruple bottoms (unlikely in our view), we are already in early recovery phase (at least from stock markets level since markets are discounting mechanism). The economy is also getting a bit better. Read more...

We continue to be cautiously positive on the US households' ability and resiliency to withstand the current size and level of their debts. Here is why...

Source: CNN

Consumer confidence and investor confidence are key indicators to watch. Both have been increasing for the past few months. This trend can cause positive feed-back loop cycle that is beneficial to the markets. No wonder, the markets have been increasing for the past few months. There are no strong reasons why this bullish mode cannot continue. And more importantly, even after multi-months increase, the level of consumer confidence is still low and has plenty of upside. The recovery surely will not be a smooth ride, but it is clearly in-progress. Read more...

 

Are there such rules? Although we don't believe in academic formula of measuring risks, we do believe in practicing sound investment principles.

Recently, in April 2009, McKinsey interviewed Robert Sutton, management expert from the Stanford Graduate School of Engineering, noted author and specialist on management and organizations. He shares lessons on how to be a good boss in today's difficult climate and on handling layoffs and teams in crisis.


We are generally in agreement with his insights; however, we believe the following leadership actions are even more critical during economic downturn...read more.