Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Links

Michael Mauboussin and Dan Callahan: Min(d)ing the Opportunity - Excess Returns Require the Chance to Apply Skill (LINK)

David Einhorn talks to the Hackley School (LINK)

James Surowiecki: In Praise of Short Sellers (LINK)

Claudio Borio's remarks in the BIS Quarterly Review are always worth checking out (LINK)
As bond markets show us day after day, the boundaries of the unthinkable are exceptionally elastic. At the end of February, around $2.4 trillion worth of global long-term sovereign debt was trading at negative yields. Of that total, more than $1.9 trillion had been issued by euro area sovereigns alone. And since then, the sinking trend has continued. The latest figures indicate that French, German and Swiss sovereign yields are negative up to four, six and 10 years, respectively. 
In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain tells us that the essence of good management is to have your friends paint the fence and pay you for the privilege. By that yardstick, some sovereigns have surpassed the master.
Jim Grant: Here's why Fed won't remove 'patient' (LINK)

Andrew Smithers: Current errors of conventional wisdom (LINK)

You Can Now Send Money on Facebook. What's in It for Them? (LINK)

David Brooks: Skills in Flux (LINK)

Book of the day [H/T @vitaliyk]: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind [The audiobook also has good reviews. The author's Talk at Google on the book is available HERE. And his TEDx talk looks interesting as well, HERE.]