the September commentary is posted

David_Snowball

Hi, guys.

On the road now, chatting with folks at the Ultimus Fund Services conference. Some interesting stuff, another windy presentation on my part and one speaker I wanted to slug. Not a bad average, overall. Scheduled to hear from a Morningstar guy about how they decided who to cover. That should be fascinating.

In any case, reading the September issue will be good for your blood pressure. Put on some New Age music and browse. I offered some suggestions for dealing with the media. Ed was Ed. Charles looked at the performance of Great Owls; that is, how the first set of GOs performed subsequently. And we introduced two new members of the community. Sam Lee, exMoringstar, wrote an AQR fund profile; stylistics it's somewhere between Charles's approach and mine, and probably better than either. Two fund profiles beyond Sam's, plus an introduction to Leigh Walzer who'll be joining our gang in October and the usual good stuff from DailyAlts and FundFox.

Just fyi. Back to being an attentive and appreciative audience member.

David

PRESSmUP

Nicely done as always...and welcome to Messrs. Lee and Walzer.

VintageFreak

I just wanted to say I didn't do anything "Emotionally Satisfying or Financially Idiotic". I did something "Emotionally Necessary and Financially Sound".



Now I totally agree about ETFs. I keep saying the next biggest scam will be surrounding ETFs. You just know when ETFs open down 20-30%, someone made some money at someone else's expense.

JohnChisum

Thanks for the commentary this month.

Regarding naming storms, it used to be only hurricanes and typhoons got names. Now every gust of wind on the oceans gets a name. To keep us always scared and afraid?

As for the Cubs winning the World Series, I wanted to correct that prediction. They will almost win the WS sometime in the future. With two out in the bottom of the 9th and Cubs up by 4 runs, that is when the asteroid will hit the earth, ending civilization and ending the Cubs chance of ever winning again.

davidrmoran

Can anyone explain what the heck this means? (Ed S):

\\\ One of the other guests raised the question as to whether any of us ever thought about what things would have been like for the country if Al Gore, rather than George W. Bush, had won the presidential election. My immediate response was that I didn’t think about such things as it was just far too painful to contemplate.
\\\ In like vein, ... I have been forced to contemplate what it would have meant for the country if President-elect Barack Obama had actually followed through with the recommendations of his transition advisors and appointed his “A” Economic Team. Think about it – Paul Volcker as Secretary of the Treasury, the resurrection of Glass-Steagall, the break-up of the big investment banks – it too is just too painful to contemplate.

Sorry to be a dense reader, but wtf is he saying here?

BenWP

@davidmoran: I agree entirely. The comments were so obscure as to leave the reader more puzzled than before picking up the piece. AllI know about the 2000 elections is that my faith in the electoral system took a massive body blow.

VintageFreak

davidrmoran said:

Can anyone explain what the heck this means? (Ed S):

\\\ One of the other guests raised the question as to whether any of us ever thought about what things would have been like for the country if Al Gore, rather than George W. Bush, had won the presidential election. My immediate response was that I didn’t think about such things as it was just far too painful to contemplate.
\\\ In like vein, ... I have been forced to contemplate what it would have meant for the country if President-elect Barack Obama had actually followed through with the recommendations of his transition advisors and appointed his “A” Economic Team. Think about it – Paul Volcker as Secretary of the Treasury, the resurrection of Glass-Steagall, the break-up of the big investment banks – it too is just too painful to contemplate.

Sorry to be a dense reader, but wtf is he saying here?

Err...maybe we are simply trying to read a little too much into it? What I think is being said, is that some what-if scenarios are just too hard to contemplate and not a good waste of one's time. An analogy is being provided using "if Al Gore would have won the election...". In one's mind, one can form any other analogy, over one's life if that helps.

For instance, I can tell myself "WTF if I had taken the job offer at Cisco instead of declining and going to grad school?". I'll tell you what, I would be living in Hawaii instead of typing this message, but it's still freaking too hard to contemplate.

Kapische?

BobC

David, your market commentary was just terrific. We, too, looked at the average balanced portfolio, down a whopping 4.3%. The clients who call us during increased market volatility are the ones who have Fox, CNN, CNBC on all day, or listen to Glen Beck & Rush Limbaugh. No wonder these people think the world is coming to an end. We remind clients not to confuse entertainment with facts, but for many that is difficult. "If it's on TV or the radio, it must be true." Thanks for another dose of reality.

davidrmoran

It was Ed's word 'painful' that baffles me.

JohnChisum

Probably the Bobby Kennedy effect.

Dex

When will the Cliff Notes be published?