This period of the Aleph Blog covers May through July of 2010. The one big series that I started in that era was “The Education of a Corporate Bond Manager” series. The idea was to describe how a neophyte was thrust into an unusual position and thrived, after some difficulties.
The Education of a Corporate Bond Manager, Part I
How I learned the basics, and survived 9/11.
The Education of a Corporate Bond Manager, Part II
How I learned to trade bonds, and engage in intelligent price discovery.
The Education of a Corporate Bond Manager, Part III
What is the new issue bond allocation process like, and what games get played around it?
The Education of a Corporate Bond Manager, Part IV
On the games that can be played in dealing with brokers.
The Education of a Corporate Bond Manager, Part V
On selling hot sectors, and dealing with the dirty details of unusual bonds.
The Education of a Corporate Bond Manager, Part VI
On dealing with ignorant clients, and taking out-of-consensus risks.
Then there was the continuation of “The Rules” series:
The Rules, Part XIII, subpart A
On the biases the come from yield-seeking.
The Rules, Part XIII, subpart B
Repeat after me, “Yield is not free.”
The Rules, Part XIII, subpart C
Reaching for yield always has risks, but the penalties are most intense at the top of the cycle, when credit spreads are tight, and the Fed’s loosening cycle is nearing its end. It is at that point that a good bond manager tosses as much risk as he can overboard without bringing yield so low that his client screams.
Securitization segments a security into liquid and illiquid components.
“Governments are smaller than markets; markets are smaller than cultures.“
A fundamental rule of mine, but one with a lot of punch.
On the differences between panics and booms.
The Journal of Failed Finance Research
Much research fails quietly, but other researchers don’t learn about the dead ends. Better that they should learn of the failures, and avoid the dead ends.
How I Minimize Taxes on my Stock Investing
Sell low tax cost lots and donate appreciated stock to charities.
Place Political Limits on Overly Compliant Central Banks
Gives a simple rule to control central banks so that they avoid the present troubles.
Yield, the Oldest Scam in the Books
Yes, offering yield is the oldest way to trick people into handing over their money.
A Summary of my Writings on Analyzing Insurance Stocks
A good place to get started if one wants to get up to speed on insurance stocks, but there is a lot there.
Economics is Hard; the Bad Assumptions of Economists Makes it Harder