The bizGlow Technologies positions its platform as enabling podcasters to build media businesses, initially through tools to let them generate revenue directly from listeners. (variety.com)Spotify is going to give podcasters listener data they can’t get anywhere else. (theverge.com)Did you know there is a search engine, Listen Notes, just for podcasts? (fastcompany.com)Non-financeThe research shows active bond managers CAN outperform, but it is for this simple reason. (aqr.com)Tobias Carlisle talks with blogger turned ETF manager Eddy Elfenbein. (podcasts.apple.com)Nate Geraci talks with Lawrence Hamtil about unique ETF ideas. (etfstore.com)Dasarte Yarnway talks ‘life’s emotional roller coaster’ with Daniel Crosby. (soundcloud.com)Jerremy Newsome talks with polymath Howard Lindzon. (reallifetrading.com)Ted Seides talks crypto with Mike Novogratz is the CEO of merchant bank Galaxy Digital. … [Read More...]

MarketsNews travels faster than ever before, but to what effect? (theirrelevantinvestor.com)You don’t have to follow every wiggle in the stock market. (blairbellecurve.com)StrategyWhy the four-decade bull market in bonds is so remarkable. (awealthofcommonsense.com)CryptoCoinbase is diving deeper into the custody business. (news.crunchbase.com)CloudflareCloudFlare ($NET) is coming public. You may not know the name but you use the product. (news.crunchbase.com)CloudFlare ($NET) keeps on hiring. (media.thinknum.com)FinanceClosed accounts at Wells Fargo ($WFC) are not all that closed. (nytimes.com)FundsWhy 1 and 30 is a better hedge fund fee model. (rcmalternatives.com)RegionsMore American states are facing a population shortage. (washingtonpost.com)States are granting tax abatements to startups. Good luck taking them back if the company is acquired by a Silicon Valley giant. (msn.com)The 25 cheapest cities … [Read More...]

MarketsTrend following CTAs are having a good YTD. (mrzepczynski.blogspot.com)StrategyInvestment lessons learned from new parenthood. (bpsandpieces.com)How your portfolio is like a herd of goats. (rivershedge.blogspot.com)Intellectual property as a company moat. (signalee.com)CompaniesAmazon’s ($AMZN) acquisition of Ring has a positive side-effect: catching porch pirates. (vox.com)ViacomCBS can’t compete based solely on increased scale. (redef.com)FundsMorningstar’s latest research on the return gap is out. (morningstar.com)GlobalCentral bank moves are going in only one direction. (nytimes.com)Japan’s big corporations are being “asked” to sponsor the Tokyo Olympics whether they want to or not. (ft.com)The uncertainty unleashed by Brexit is really beginning to bite. (economist.com)TradeThe trade war is now crimping investment plans. (economist.com)The WSJ editorial board cries Uncle over tariff-mania. (thereformedbroker.com)The … [Read More...]

Yield curve inversionEddy Elfenbein, “A 2/10 inversion is not a good thing, but it’s not exactly a tripwire. ” (crossingwallstreet.com)How young investors should think about the yield curve inversion. (thereformedbroker.com)Markets40 years ago Businessweek ran its infamous “Death of Equities” issue. (ritholtz.com)The world is not as bad as you think. (retirementfieldguide.com)StrategyWhy our brains yearn for coherent narrative when it comes to the markets. (behaviouralinvestment.com)What we can learn from financial history with Jamie Catherwood. (blog.validea.com)22 rules of the virtuous investor. (klementoninvesting.substack.com)WeWorkThe WeWork S-1 is finally here. (axios.com)WeWork by the numbers. (news.crunchbase.com)Some quick WeWork observations. (ftalphaville.ft.com)Berkshire HathawayBerkshire Hathaway ($BRK.B) is as cheap as it has been in awhile. (morningstar.com)Berkshire Hathaway ($BRK.B) holds over $100 … [Read More...]

ResearchSix common misconceptions about factor-based strategies. (blog.validea.com)How to construct a long-only bond risk premium factor. (blog.thinknewfound.com)Some support for the idea of putting more into equities with a long time horizon. (alphaarchitect.com)Why low rates (and returns) may be here to stay. (awealthofcommonsense.com)High active share is irrelevant if you don’t have any actual skill. (alphaarchitect.com)Hedge fund managers with a lot of ‘skin in the game’ tend to keep their funds smaller. (institutionalinvestor.com)Companies with an extroverted CEO have a higher cost of equity capital. (wsj.com) [Read More...]

Markets7 of 10 S&P 500 industry sectors yield more than the 10-year US Treasury. (wsj.com)Investors are reluctantly becoming used to negative bond yields. (ft.com)Greece is the best performing stock market in Europe YTD. (wsj.com)StrategyIt’s not the Fed’s job to provide adequate returns to savers. (theirrelevantinvestor.com)Why it’s easy to fool yourself into thinking you are smarter than the market. (ofdollarsanddata.com)Are bonds enough of a portfolio diversifier? (monevator.com)On the importance of surrounding yourself with people who think differently than you. (etf.com)CompaniesBig Tech is playing the patriotism card. (nytimes.com)Softbank wants to build closer ties between its portfolio companies. (ft.com)Is a combined Viacom-CBS big enough to compete with the big boys? (vox.com)There are more than a billion iPhones. This is the … [Read More...]

MarketsWhy markets have volatility feedback loops. (mrzepczynski.blogspot.com)Mike Dariano, “Something is always happening.” (thewaiterspad.com)StrategyAsset allocation is an exercise in decision making under uncertainty. (demonetizedblog.com)Recency bias and the run-up in US stocks relative to the world. (institutionalinvestor.com)CompaniesIs Facebook ($FB) integrating WhatsApp and Instagram for legit business reasons or to avoid an anti-trust break-up? (nytimes.com)What the Apple ($AAPL) Card is and isn’t. (wsj.com)RegulationIs the CFP Board going to step up its enforcement actions? (wsj.com)Insurance company lobbyists own the 403(b) legislative space. (tonyisola.com)FinanceInvestment banking is NOT a growth industry. (ft.com)Blackrock ($BLK) just made its first big investment out of its long-term PE fund. (institutionalinvestor.com)Dirt Capital Partners is investing in fledgling farms. (modernfarmer.com)GlobalLuxembourg is a … [Read More...]

The bizNow retailers are getting into the podcasting game. (modernretail.co)Google ($GOOGL) will start surfacing individual podcast episodes in search results. (theverge.com)Entercom ($ETM) is buying two independent podcasting producers. (wsj.com)iHeartMedia is betting there is an overseas market for US-produced podcasts. (nytimes.com)Three good reasons to start a podcast that have nothing to do with money. (seths.blog)FinanceCameron Passmore and Benjamin Felix talk pretty much everything with Barry Ritholtz. (ritholtz.com)Phil Bak talks with Phil Huber about factor investing, blogging and more. (podcasts.apple.com)Patrick O’Shaughnessy talks with Chris Bloomstran, the president and chief investment officer of Semper Augustus Investments Group. (investorfieldguide.com)Barry Ritholtz talked global macro with Rajiv Jain, Founder and CIO of GQG Partners. (ritholtz.com)Jeff Carter talks with JC Parets about technical … [Read More...]

StrategyPros focus on their games, not the game itself. (traderfeed.blogspot.com)Going all-in or all-out is not investing. (dashofinsight.com)BlogosphereCongrats to FTH on a year of blogging! (fattailedandhappy.com)On the importance of (writing) streaks. (seths.blog)Want to be an informed citizen? Read these 7 blogs. (medium.com)CompaniesWhy hasn’t LinkedIn, owned by Microsoft ($MSFT), turned into a cesspool like every other social site? (nytimes.com)iHeartMedia ($IHRT) came out of bankruptcy slimmed down. (barrons.com)UPS ($UPS) is not giving up Amazon ($AMZN) yet. (wsj.com)FinanceJP Morgan Chase ($JPM) just wiped away the debt of its Canadian credit card customers. (nytimes.com)All signs point to Saudi Aramco going ahead with an IPO. (nytimes.com)PolicyThe former Fed chairs are none too happy with Trump. (wsj.com)Is payroll processing time an … [Read More...]

BusinessA profile of Amherst Holdings CEO Sean Dobson who is building a single family home rental empire using big data. (fortune.com)The GateHouse-Gannett deal is betting on scale for newspaper survival. (washingtonpost.com)How Chick-fil-A became the powerhouse it is today. (businessinsider.com)SportsWhy most American kids quit youth sports by age 11. (aspenprojectplay.org)Anna Nicolaou, “Although the overall sums spent on esports advertising today are minuscule by the standards of regular sports, it presents a tantalising opportunity for marketers.” (ft.com)Christian Pulisic is the best American soccer player. With Chelsea he will be playing on the biggest stage. (espn.com)The story behind the mud used to treat every baseball in MLB. (si.com)Book excerptsAn excerpt from “Talking to Robots: Tales From Our Human-Robot Futures” … [Read More...]

AutosElectric cars are finally showing up on used car lots in respectable numbers. (wired.com)Tesla’s ($TSLA) reliability has faded over time. (ftalphaville.ft.com)Europe will soon be awash in EV options. (ritholtz.com)Level one and two automation are already here. (nytimes.com)EnergyWood pellets are no more carbon-friendly than coal. (wsj.com)US natural gas producers have a big methane problem. (wsj.com)TreesEthiopia planted 350 million trees in one day. (bloomberg.com)The Empress tree is the best hope for rapid carbon capture. (bloomberg.com)WaterUrban flooding is becoming much more common. (slate.com)Some coastal towns in Honduras are getting eaten up by the sea. (theguardian.com)Mapping out where ‘water stress’ is an issue in the US. (washingtonpost.com)HeatJuly was the hottest month in recorded history. (scientificamerican.com)Why is Europe so … [Read More...]

MortgagesThe refi boom is on! 30-year mortgage rates are at a 3-year low. (wsj.com)Don’t mess around. The time is now to refinance. (thebasispoint.com)StrategyWe diversify because we DON’T know what the future holds. (evidenceinvestor.com)Our personal investing journeys often go from complexity to simplicity and back again. (alphaarchitect.com)We are constantly telling ourselves stories. (epsilontheory.com)AppleApple ($AAPL) wants wide distribution of its new Apple Card. (cnbc.com)Apple ($AAPL) deserves more credit for wearables. (aboveavalon.com)ZillowHow Zillow ($Z) plans to make money buying (and selling) houses. (thebasispoint.com)Zillow’s ($Z) transition is not going to happen without a few bumps along the way. (msn.com)CompaniesNetflix ($NFLX) is now under attack from all sides. (hollywoodreporter.com)Uber ($UBER) loses a LOT of money. (ftalphaville.ft.com)Is 5G an investable sector … [Read More...]

MarketsRecent volatility has scared individual investors. (disciplinedinvesting.blogspot.com)Americans love their houses…as investments. (marketwatch.com)Negative ratesYou have to think about bonds differently in a negative interest rate world. (awealthofcommonsense.com)The increase in the amount of negative yield bonds in Europe is striking. (economist.com)Don’t laugh. Negative rates could happen in the US. (thereformedbroker.com)Stock buybacksStock buybacks in 2019 are trending at a lower rate than in 2018. (axios.com)FAQs on share buybacks for politicians and journalists. (mebfaber.com)FinanceZillow ($Z) wants to be THE place you buy/sell homes. (cnn.com)The battle to provide favorable credit ratings on structured debt securities has a familiar feel to it. (wsj.com)Bank interns be crazy. (news.efinancialcareers.com)FundsWhy hasn’t Google ($GOOGL) done more on the fund management side of things? (investmentnews.com)Six … [Read More...]

MarketsBig market drops always bring out attention-seekers. (tonyisola.com)American investors are clamoring for more muni bonds. (wsj.com)Don’t get too attached to today’s (high) money market yields. (msn.com)Fidelity”Fidelity Investments on Wednesday said it will automatically sweep cash in new client brokerage and retirement accounts into a government money market fund, yielding 1.91%—far higher than competitors.” (advisorhub.com)Fidelity is shifting from domestic to international equities in their target-date funds. (reuters.com)Financial blogosphereCongrats to Bob Seawright on eight years of blogging at Above the Market. (rpseawright.wordpress.com)Congrats to Douglas Boneparth on one year in the blogging game. (bonefidewealth.com)CryptoWho would a Bitcoin ETF be for? (etf.com)RetailWalgreen’s ($WBA) is closing 200 stores in the US. (finance.yahoo.com)Amazon’s ($AMZN) Pillpack is in dispute with CVS … [Read More...]

Low volLow vol has a lot of residual factor risk you need to take into account. (factorresearch.com)Can low vol strategies be improved? (alphaarchitect.com)On the upside of combining low vol with momentum. (blog.validea.com)AlternativesBreaking down the risk profiles of endowment funds. (markovprocesses.com)Alternative mutual funds have been a big nothing burger for portfolios. (morningstar.com)What can investors do to hedge the risk in their private equity holdings? (man.com)Corporate stuffWhen in doubt, invest in companies whose earnings calls are a laugh riot. (papers.ssrn.com)Data show female CEOs are much more likely to face an activist challenge. (wsj.com)Quantifying innovationA big research piece showing that corporate innovation, i.e. patents, are mispriced by the market. (osam.com)Passive institutional ownership leads to more corporate innovation measured … [Read More...]

StrategyThere is no stock market without fear. (thereformedbroker.com)The stock market operates like a “super volatile long-term bond because it doesn’t have any fixed or guaranteed return stream.” (pragcap.com)Three steps to overcome a fear of failure in trading. (traderfeed.blogspot.com)CryptoBitcoin is not a ‘safe haven’ asset. (thereformedbroker.com)FinanceBlackstone Group Inc. ($BX) is taking a stake in Euro-focused buyout firm BC Partners. (wsj.com)Robo-adviceWho is willing to pay for robo-advice? (klementoninvesting.substack.com)Betterment is reversing the game by now pushing into banking. (thebasispoint.com)Fund managementJP Morgan Asset Management is the first foreign firm to take a controlling 51% stake in a mainland China-based fund management company. (pionline.com)If you can’t have an analysts on site, new research providers are the … [Read More...]

MarketsWhat typically happens after a $VIX spike? (thereformedbroker.com)Changes in consumer sentiment tell us nothing about the stock market going forward. (cxoadvisory.com)The best analysts will soon be out on their own, not on Wall Street. (scheplick.com)StrategyHoward Marks aims to make as few mistakes as possible investing. (novelinvestor.com)Why you should find excitement outside of your investment portfolio. (ritholtz.com)CompaniesHow Snap ($SNAP) has turned its ad business around. (cnbc.com)Sunday delivery for UPS ($UPS) and Fedex ($FDX) sounds a bit like a cluster. (wsj.com)Retail and the ‘experience economy’ are becoming intertwined. (fastcompany.com)TradingThe NYSE is rolling out a crucial stock trading upgrade. (wsj.com)Another firms wants to jump into the commission-free options trading space. (pitchbook.com)Private equityBig pension funds are cutting their expectations for … [Read More...]

Green bondsThere is no shortage of demand for investment grade “green” bonds. (barrons.com)What exactly constitutes a ‘green bond’ is in the eye of the beholder. (ft.com)Goldman Sachs ($GS) is launching the Sustainable Finance Group to facilitate sustainability and impact investing. (citywireusa.com)Credit riskCountries that perform well on ESG metrics are viewed by investors as less likely to default. (ft.com)Credit ratings agencies are focusing more on climate-related risks at insurers. (ft.com)With a recent acquisition, Moody’s ($MCO) is focused even more on the risks of climate change. (finance.yahoo.com)ESG fundsA look under the hood of current ESG funds. (msci.com)ESG portfolios have very specific sector biases. (factorresearch.com)Why quant is a good fit for ESG. (institutionalinvestor.com)ETFsETFs with a “gender lens” are growing … [Read More...]