Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The Quants by Scott Patterson

Always hearing about this book yet never picking it up was a big mistake.  I picked up the book this morning and started reading The Quants by Scott Patterson. I'm halfway through the book and I'm having a hard time putting it down. 

I quickly realized that many people in the investment industry are mere imposters.  Many who want to go into the investment field don't have the knowledge, the passion or the desire to work long hours like some of the legends which we always hear about.  It's not about just learning the basics in class, but about going above and beyond to learn the skills needed to compete with the best.  It's about going out and creating something which could potentially revolutionize the way things are being done in the investment industry. 
To each their own.....I'm sticking my head back into the book.  It seems like I need to drastically beef up my math and computer programming skills.  Just tacked that on to my to-do list.

Seriously, pick up this book.

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Note: This was first posted on: http://investmentsinsight.blogspot.com/
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Saliq  

Saturday, August 6, 2011

United States Downgraded to AA+

Take a look at this: http://www.cnbc.com//id/44043776

With the recent downgrade of the United States credit rating from AAA to AA+, government officials are bashing S&P, but I believe that it's a knee-jerk reaction to the downgrade.  While the downgrade shouldn't be looked at as a catastrophe, this is the worst time for something like this to occur.  With the ongoing battle of working towards taming the unemployment rate, stabilizing the housing market, correcting the issues in Europe, and the ongoing fears in the global economy, a downgrade of the United States only adds fuel to the fire.

S&P's ethics should not be in question and I am aware of the political games which will now be played in an effort to discredit the rating agency.  We're now going to see the Republicans blame the Democrats, the Democrats blame the Republicans, the White House blame S&P, and everyone blame Europe.  S&P had told the government officials a while back that the debt ceiling needed to be raised by $4 trillion or else the United States could be at risk of a downgrade.  Apparently, politicians and lawmakers didn't take that very seriously....no surprise there.




The coming few weeks will be volatile and will come with changes from Europe to the United States.  I intend to sit tight and let the market drop and stabilize before I jump back in and start buying again.


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Note: This was first posted on: http://investmentsinsight.blogspot.com/
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Saliq 

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Bank of America (BAC) - Getting Crushed

 I bought BAC at an average price of $9.88 while realizing that the PE ratio was negative, PEG non-existent, Beta at 2.21, etc.  Nothing good to say about this stock except that I had presumed that the mortgage related litigation's were behind them and that investors were selling the stock without realizing the upside.  It looks as if that isn't the case.  Now at $9.40 and the firm is slapped with another lawsuit.  I'm not ready to give up on this stock just yet because the valuations still seem very cheap and the stock is trading below its 50 day SMA with the signals all pointing to the fact that the stock is oversold.

With the debt crisis fear on top of us and the rating agency in China downgrading the U.S., while the rating firms in the U.S. putting the country on a negative outlook, investors are running away from equities and finding shelter in fixed income products.  This can prove to be a great buying opportunity for those that are seeking beaten up stocks which may have good upside.



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Note: This was first posted on: http://investmentsinsight.blogspot.com/
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Saliq