Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Industry Analysis, Management Issues, Market Analysis.

Description: Despite plenty of press indicating hedge funds do not beat the broader market, SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci says he can pick winners.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: Oct 18, 2013

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/investing/2013/10/18/investing-hedge-funds-return-anthony-scaramucci-skybridge-baseball.cnnmoney/index.html

Questions for Discussions:

  • What do you think of Anthony Scaramucci’s metaphorical comparison of hedge fund managers to baseball players?
  • Do you think the criticism of hedge fund performance is justified?
  • Explain the large amount of investment in hedge funds.

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Financial analysis, Growth & Valuation.

Description: Google Inc. reported sales that topped estimates during the third quarter as advertisers boosted spending on mobile and video promotions. Jon Erlichman reports on Bloomberg Television’s “Street Smart.” (Source: Bloomberg)

Source: Bloomberg.com – video report

Date: Oct 17, 2013

Link: http://bloom.bg/GSV8Y3

Questions for Discussions:

  • Summarize the financial results for Google.
  • The next day, Google stock jumped 10% – do you think the stock movement was entirely connected to these financials?

Posted by & filed under Economic Analysis, Growth & Valuation, Market Analysis.

Description: Economist and Nobel laureate Robert Shiller thinks human beings are ‘irrational in many ways,’ and sees a number of property bubbles forming around the world right now.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: Oct 15, 2013

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/10/15/n-robert-shiller-nobel-economics-people-irrational-behavioral-finance.cnnmoney/index.html

Questions for discussion:

  • What does Robert Shiller think about human judgement?
  • Do you agree with his assessments?

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Financial analysis, Growth & Valuation.

Description: Google has done something few companies ever do in the stock market: it has joined the $1,000 club.

Source: NYTimes.com

Date: Oct 18, 2013

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/19/technology/google-stock-scales-1000-a-share.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&ref=business&adxnnlx=1382203603-zc642Xuu4AMH4ERvfO7rpg

Questions for Discussions:

  • Explain the rise in Google share value since its inception.
  • Do you think Google and the other Internet businesses mentioned in the article are bubbles?

Posted by & filed under Financial Planning, Growth & Valuation, Uncategorized.

Description: Over the past decade, target-date funds have become a half-trillion-dollar industry by seeming to answer several of a typical investor’s prayers all at once.

Source: Businessweek.com

Date: Oct 17, 2013

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-17/target-date-funds-may-face-losses-when-interest-rates-rise#r=nav-fst

Questions for Discussions:

  • What are target-date funds?
  • Do they remove the necessary financial planning to manage a fund?
  • Do you think the strategies described in the article are sensible, given the goals for these funds?

Posted by & filed under Economic Analysis, Financial analysis, Governments & Regulators, Growth & Valuation, Market Analysis.

Description: Money managers sound off on the shutdown that has clients pulling their money out of the markets.

Source: CNNMoney.com – video report

Date: Oct 09, 2013

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2013/10/09/n-money-managers-shutdown-washington.cnnmoney/index.html

Questions for Discussions:

  • What are the different ways money managers are responding to the concerns over political gridlock?
  • Which strategy has been the most successful thus far?
  • Would you change strategy at this time?

Posted by & filed under Economic Analysis, Financial Planning, Growth & Valuation, Industry Analysis.

Description: In today’s “In The Know” segment, International Wine Critic and Author Jancis Robinson discusses the impact of climate change on wine and where she sees growth with Mark Barton and Anna Edwards on Bloomberg Television’s “Countdown.” (Source: Bloomberg)

Source: Bloomberg.com – video report

Date: Oct 11, 2013

Link: http://bloom.bg/1focQkZ#ooid=t5YnFvZjqLZnyB1P-cNGikcjCxSrBFbn

Questions for Discussions:

  • Summarize the trends in the wine industry that would interest investors?
  • How can investors play these trends?

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Economic Analysis, Financial analysis, Financial Planning, Governments & Regulators, Growth & Valuation, Management Issues.

Description: If you think the JPMorgan and Wells Fargo earnings reports were disappointing, just wait until the fourth quarter if the shutdown continues and a debt default occurs.

Source: Fortune.com

Date: Oct 11, 2013

Link: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/10/11/shutdown-default-banks/?iid=SF_F_River

Questions for discussion:

  • Explain the reason for the dire predictions if the current government shut down continues.
  • What does this say about the fragility of the financial system?

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Financial analysis, Growth & Valuation.

Description: For the first time in nearly 54 years, Alcoa Inc. AA is not part of the Dow. That doesn’t mean it has fallen into oblivion. It is still one of the best – and earliest – quarterly indicators for gauging the health of global manufacturing.

Source: MarketWatch.com

Date: Oct 08, 2013

Link: http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/10/08/what-alcoas-results-say-about-global-manufacturing/

Questions for Discussions:

  • What does Alcoa have to say about global manufacturing?
  • Which other companies do you think should be referenced for projections about global manufacturing economic activity?

Posted by & filed under Company Analysis, Financial analysis, Growth & Valuation, Industry Analysis, Management Issues.

Description: Meredith Whitney, the bank analyst who became famous for identifying problems at Citigroup (C) and other institutions ahead of the financial crisis, has shut down the brokerage and research arms of the firm she founded with her newfound prominence. The news, first reported by Bloomberg’s Max Abelson and Michael J. Moore, comes after a report in the Wall Street Journal earlier this summer that the number of research clients at the Meredith Whitney Advisory Group had fallen by more than half, as Whitney struggled to duplicate the insights that had proved so prescient in 2007.

Source: Businessweek.com

Date: Oct 10, 2013

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-10/meredith-whitney-wants-to-invest-other-peoples-money#r=nav-f-story

Questions for Discussions:

  • What lessons about financial analysts can be learned from this report?
  • What is the most significant point for investors to understand going forward?