"Narrow slice" article topics are better
An article that covers a topic exhaustively can exhaust the reader. Writing about a narrow slice of that topic can be much more engaging. This quote by New York Times health columnist Tara Parker-Pope, in Maura Casey’s “Tips, Tricks & Rewards of Writing Short,” makes a similar point: “Kitchen sink stories do too much…. If […]
Pick young, small hedge funds for better returns?
If you face a choice between two hedge funds with equally attractive performance records, you should pick the younger, smaller fund. At least, that’s what I took away from “Hedge Fund Performance Persistence: A New Approach,” an article by Nicole M. Boyson, an assistant professor of finance at Northeastern University, in the Nov./Dec. 2008 issue […]
Access 342 hiring investment research analysts, says Integrity Research
Access 342, a new kind of investment research firm, is hiring research analysts, according to Integrity Research’s “Who is Hiring in the Current Environment?“ That’s the good news. The bad news: not many analysts will fit the Access 342 mold. The bar to entry is high. You must be “identified as highly valuable by the […]
When it’s okay to break the rules
You can break the rules of grammar and punctuation that you learned as a kid. I know this intuitively. But I’ve had a hard time coming up with guidelines for when to break the rules. Until now. I like what Susan Gunelius said in her Entrepreneur.com article, “Copywriting Grammar Ain’t Perfect.” In simplest terms, you […]
Dan Ariely on "The Financial Markets and the Neurospsychology of Trust"
Individuals have lost their trust in financial institutions, says Dan Ariely in “The Financial Markets and the Neurospsychology of Trust.” Everyone knows that. But Ariely also asserts that our stock market problems can’t be resolved until trust is restored–something that bailout efforts don’t address. Ariely says: I don’t have much faith in the legislation, but […]