Good question to ask management teams...

From the book The Investment Checklist by Michael Shearn:

“If you were away for one year, which key metrics would best tell you how the business was doing?”

This Is Not a Profile of Nassim Taleb

Taleb is in the university but not of it. He spent the first couple decades of his career as a derivatives trader before turning to scholarship and essay writing in his mid-40s. Taleb is a professor of risk engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University. Despite his wall of degrees (he has an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and a doctorate from the University of Paris), he believes that universities propagate "touristification," another term he coined, a phenomenon that occurs when what should be an exciting exploration turns into a programmatic exercise. It's better to be an adventurer than a tourist. Education isn't the only result of this modern sin; gym machines and "the electronic calendar" fall short as well. 

Taleb has a low opinion of most professors. He titles one section of the new book "The Charlatan, the Academic, and the Showman." In a chart, Taleb divides professions into three categories: fragile, robust, and antifragile. It's bad to be fragile, better to be robust, best to be antifragile. Artists and writers are antifragile. Postal employees and truck drivers are robust. Academics, bureaucrats, and the pope are fragile. Benedict, beware. 

Most of Taleb's ire is directed at business schools, specifically the one at Harvard. At Harvard they "lecture birds to fly," then arrogantly claim credit when the fledglings become airborne. He rails against the "Soviet-Harvard delusion," linking an institution that's graduated thousands with a state that killed millions. What is the delusion, exactly? It is a belief in a top-down system that tries to control and protect, purportedly for mankind's benefit, thereby eliminating the natural stressors and necessary randomness that create strength and encourage enterprise. Dekulakization and course catalogs are symptoms of the same ailment. 

Taleb has no patience for so-called structured learning. "Only the autodidacts are free," he writes in the book. He pursued his real education in his spare time, doing only as much as was required to pass his courses. At 13, he set himself a goal of reading for 30 to 60 hours a week, pretty much a full-time job. 

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Related book: Antifragile

Bill Ackman on CNBC: Why I Am Shorting Herbalife

Link

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UPDATE: The presentation (over 300 slides) is available HERE.

Spider That Builds Its Own Spider Decoys Discovered

A spider that builds elaborate, fake spiders and hangs them in its web has been discovered in the Peruvian Amazon. 

Believed to be a new species in the genus Cyclosa, the arachnid crafts the larger spider from leaves, debris and dead insects. Though Cyclosa includes other sculpting arachnids, this is the first one observed to build a replica with multiple, spidery legs. 

Scientists suspect the fake spiders serve as decoys, part of a defense mechanism meant to confuse or distract predators. “It seems like a really well evolved and very specialized behavior,” said Phil Torres, who described the find in a blog entry written for Rainforest Expeditions. Torres, a biologist and science educator, divides his time between Southern California and Peru, where he’s involved in research and education projects. 

“Considering that spiders can already make really impressive geometric designs with their webs, it’s no surprise that they can take that leap to make an impressive design with debris and other things,” he said. 

Pershing Square's Ackman shorts Herbalife; stock skids

Ackman's presentation will also be streamed live at 9:30am today, HERE. 

(Reuters) - Activist investor William Ackman confirmed on Wednesday that he is betting against the stock of Herbalife Ltd (HLF.N) in a move that sent shares of the weight management product company reeling and sparked a caustic rebuke from its chief executive officer. 

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On Thursday, the fund manager is scheduled to lay out his argument for the move at a hastily arranged investment presentation in New York. But Wall Street was already abuzz with the move on Wednesday afternoon when his position became public. 

The move is particularly noteworthy because Pershing Square became the first hedge fund to publicly acknowledge its short position in Herbalife, with some investors beginning to question its business strategy.

Kyle Bass' Keynote at AmerCatalyst 2012

Found via ValueWalk.

Link to: Kyle Bass' AC2012 Keynote

Don't Fall for the Shale Boom Hype - Chris Martenson Interview with OilPrice.com

We are in the midst of an amazing energy boom, but by sweeping the idea of peak oil under the rug we are ignoring a significant fact: the relationship between hydrocarbon reserves and flow rates are not the same as they used to be—reserves have increased but flow rates are not as high or sustainable. 

Perhaps the most important thing we need to pay attention to is net energy returns, on which we run society. Massive new discoveries are only netting a fraction of the returns compared to earlier decades. 

While we must proceed into the energy future with caution—and the knowledge that analysts may be overselling the shale boom—there are also, as always, major opportunities in this story and they can be found in the wider trends related to improving energy efficiency. 

Looking at our energy future in more detail we were fortunate to speak with the well known economist and author of the Crash Course Chris Martenson. You can find out more about Chris and the Crash course at his website Peak Prosperity.

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UPDATE: Link to Part 2

Meredith Whitney: Why I'm Now Bullish on Banks

Earlier this year she didn't like the BAC and C when the prices were lower, but now she says it is the best opportunity in 4 or 5 years. I don't know enough about the banks to tell if things are a lot different and more clear than they were then, but I thought it was something worth pointing out.


Link

Bill Gates' Top Reads of 2012

Link to: Bill Gates' Top Reads of 2012 

The Bribery Aisle: How Wal-Mart Got Its Way in Mexico

Wal-Mart de Mexico was an aggressive and creative corrupter, offering large payoffs to get what the law otherwise prohibited, an examination by The New York Times found.