Since I write to a largely anonymous audience, I have no idea what sources of information my collective readership relies on to make informed decisions about the markets. In less than a year of doing this, I find I now rarely bother with the print versions of the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Investor’s Business Daily, etc. Increasingly, I find myself relying on almost 200 blogs, with Bloglines as my feed management tool to filter, sort, rank and present everything I think I might want to think about. I do most of my macro thinking about investments and markets on the weekends, where there is enough white space in my life to worry more about strategy than tactics, planning than execution, and portfolios than individual holdings.
Yes I still read the New York Times business section on the weekend and I pick up a copy of Barron’s from time to time, but there are two blogs that consistently provide exactly what I am looking for each weekend – and a very different fashion. I assume most readers know about these blogs already, but in the event you do not, you owe it to yourself to check them out, weekends or otherwise.
The first blog is Bill Cara’s eponymous blog and it is as comprehensive a look at the investment world as I can manage in one sitting. Every week Bill boils the ocean and provides an excellent commentary and broad set of charts that cover just about every investment nook and cranny. Try his July 28, 2007 Week in Review on for starters, but don’t stop there.
An entirely different approach comes from Declan Fallon, whose work shows up in several locations, including his Fallond Picks blog. Declan surveys the landscape of the top chartists at StockCharts.com and cherry picks what he thinks are the most meaningful charts and associated commentary, covering a wide variety of topics. Check out the July 22 and July 14 installments of his weekly review of what others at StockCharts have been saying about the market.
If you make these two blogs part of your regular weekend reading, you could argue that the better first stop would be the broad brush strokes from Declan, followed by the more intensive drill down with Bill. Heck, go ahead and read Barron’s, IBD and the New York Times too. Just be ready with a plan and a couple of different scenarios to look for when the bell rings on Monday.
I find Bill Cara a vindictive and sour commentator. He always seems to have a bone to pick.
ReplyDeleteAs for Declan Fallon, I once got into an argument with him because he found it 'stupid' (sic) that people paid 90$ for Apple. Not somebody I would trust with my investments...
Bill,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendations! Bill Cara's WIR is mandatory.
While some have a bone to pick with Bill due to his perceived bearishness, his analysis cuts to the core of the markets every weekend. If he is cautious, it is most likely because he has been in this business a long time. You don't last as long as he has in the capital markets by chasing every momo name and being a perma-bull.
I visited Fallond's Picks a few times, but will certainly check his chart reviews and recs. Thanks!
Print newspapers or journals are purely for entertainment purposes only !
ReplyDeleteBill,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation - very much appreciated. The public Stockchart list is a great free resource. It is always interesting to see how different people intrepret the same chart.
As for Phillippe's comment - I am assuming I have a name to my "Anon" poster for the only post I ever made on Apple in my blog; details below (Yes - I got this wrong - not for the first, or likely last time - but at least I didn't hide behind a series of 'reasoned' "Anon" postings to make a point):
http://blog.fallondpicks.com/2006/07/apple-design-by-committee.html#comments
As for his last comment - the only person one should trust with your investments is yourself!
Best wishes,
Declan