There are many different types of risk involved in the portfolio management process. From an overall perspective, we must always take into account the risk of loss. Seth Klarman, who has one of the investment industry’s most enviable track records, once described risk in this way: “Risk is not beta or standard deviation…it is how […]
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Optimal Control
Earlier this week, the Senate held confirmation hearings for Janet Yellen who is set to take over as chairman of the Federal Reserve when Ben Bernanke’s term expires in January. While we do not anticipate major policy shifts under Yellen’s leadership we do think there will be some changes, particularly in the language used to […]
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Good news for the economy is bad news for stocks. What’s up?
Last Thursday U.S. stocks had their worst day in two months, when the Commerce Department released data showing U.S. GDP grew 2.8% in the third quarter, which was much stronger than expected. The next day the BLS released its closely watched employment report, which showed a much stronger than expected 204,000 increase in new jobs […]
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The Changing Face of Technology
Trends in technology spending have been undergoing many changes. According to data from Gartner, Inc., worldwide shipments of devices (PCs, tablets and mobile phones) are forecast to reach 2.32 billion units this year, up 4.5% from 2012. But the growth is concentrated on lower-priced devices. In 2013, global shipments of traditional PCs are projected to […]
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More Disclosure May Be Driving Executive Pay Higher
The gap between what CEOs and the average employee earns is widening. In 1965, the average large-company CEO earned about 20 times as much as their typical employee. Between 1978 and 2011 this gap expanded at a breathtaking pace. According to a study by the Economic Policy Institute, it widened by 876% during that period. In response, […]