Weekend Reads for Investors: Navigating the Noise

As the second quarter comes to a close, equity markets around the globe continue to fixate on the prospects for ongoing central bank intervention. Looking ahead, quarterly earnings reports will likely reflect ongoing economic sluggishness. Whether these amount to anything more than a temporary distraction for investors remains to be seen, though Oppenheimer’s Chief Market Technician Carter Worth may have summed up current investor sentiment best with his recent research note advising, “We have no new thoughts. Sell.” Charts aside, investors are best advised to look through the noise and focus on the underlying fundamentals.

Here are some worthwhile reads you may have missed over the past month or so.

Navigating the Noise

• David Rosenberg says the Fed has turned markets upside down. (Financial Times)
• A call to focus on quality in times of rising rates. (Context)
• Aswath Damodaran, in “The Fed and Interest Rates: Lessons from Oz,” says Ben Bernanke is not all-powerful. (Musings on Markets)
• Mohamed A. El-Erian on the upside of current market turbulence. (Fortune)
• Gavyn Davies on the real underpinning for equities. (Financial Times)
• Larry Siegel offers a bullish, and greener, forecast for the long run. (Morningstar)

Sharing the Wealth

• When it comes to dividends, is Warren Buffett being hypocritical? (Inside Investing)
• Evidence suggests that share buybacks often disappoint investors. (Institutional Investor)

Active vs. Passive Debate

• In “Actively Managed Funds Versus Passive Index Funds,” Vanguard argues for active management. (WealthTrack)

Shareholder Values

• The quarterly earnings obsession is considered in “The Next 90 Days.” (The Conference Board Review)
• “How Shareholders Are Ruining American Business” addresses the mismatch between shareholder interests and those of society. (The Atlantic)
• Gretchen Morgenson on a safety valve (of sorts) for Dell shareholders. (New York Times)
• A history of deal-making is chronicled in this swan song from “Mini-Berkshire.” (Leucadia National Corporation, PDF)

Out of the Shadows

• “Will ‘Shadow Insurance’ Shock the System?” is a neat summary of a report, recently released by New York State regulators, on the use of captive reinsurance. (CFO)

Big Data

• Is it possible to google for stock market profits? (Nature)

Bad Acting

• Matt Taibbi takes aim at the ratings agencies in “The Last Mystery of the Financial Crisis.” (Rolling Stone)
• Floyd Norris calls attention to the practice of going dark, and putting blindfolds on investors. (New York Times)
• Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling gets his sentence reduced. (Wall Street Journal)
• The piper is calling MF Global’s former Chairman and CEO Jon Corzine. (Bloomberg)

Please note that the content of this site should not be construed as investment advice, nor do the opinions expressed necessarily reflect the views of CFA Institute.

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