Category Archives: Markets

Rules of Investing

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Sam Kornstein

Barry Ritholtz has a great list of investing rules, originally posted in two parts with descriptions in the Washington Post here and here. He recently reposted the consolidated list on his blog, The Big Picture, and it’s too good not … Continue reading →


Posted in Markets | Tagged | Leave a comment

Great Investing Advice

Posted on October 6, 2012 by Sam Kornstein

Many people often ask me for investment advice, usually with questions about individual securities. I generally don’t like to respond to these questions for two reasons. First, I believe asset allocation is the single most important decision in the portfolio … Continue reading →


Posted in Markets | Leave a comment

Shades of Green

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Sam Kornstein

TripAdvisor has gone public: Eleven years after it began life above Kosta’s Pizza in Needham, and seven years after it was acquired by Barry Diller’s InterActive Corp. for about $200 million, TripAdvisor is finally gaining a NASDAQ listing of its … Continue reading →


Posted in Current Events, Markets | Tagged , | Leave a comment

S&P Goofs Up Again

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Sam Kornstein

Via Kid Dynamite: Just in case you missed the most ridiculous story of the day – the BBC has the details: “Standard & Poor’s accidentally released a message to some of its subscribers on Thursday saying that it had downgraded French … Continue reading →


Posted in Current Events, Markets | Leave a comment

My Favorite Economic Dashboard

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Sam Kornstein

An update of one of the simplest and most useful economic dashboards I’ve seen. You need to click through, but take a quick look: I would still love to see a dynamic version of this, updated daily. It’s not quite … Continue reading →


Posted in Charts & Data, Current Events, Economics, Markets | Leave a comment

MIT C-Bonds!

Posted on May 14, 2011 by Sam Kornstein

MIT Issues Rare 100-Year Bond: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology came to market Wednesday with a $750 million taxable bond offering maturing in 100 years, according to people familiar with the deal. Bonds of that length are extremely rare, although … Continue reading →


Posted in Markets | Leave a comment

Back of the Envelope Thoughts on Silver

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Sam Kornstein

I need to start this post with a disclaimer. I’m far from an expert on the precious metals markets. But I am long silver, and have been for over three years. I’ve been along for the roller coaster ride through … Continue reading →


Posted in Markets | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Additional Thoughts on US Debt and Treasury Shorting

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Sam Kornstein

To add to my prior posts on the S&P “Downgrade” and treasury shorting, here are a few additional thoughts and links: Via Ezra Klein, more on why the end of quantitative easing is bad for treasury prices: The dominant view … Continue reading →


Posted in Markets | Leave a comment

Well? Why Are You Short Treasuries?

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Sam Kornstein

In response to my last post on the S&P “downgrade,” Matt asks, “Well?  Why are you short treasuries?” Fair question. A couple very simple reasons (with slightly detailed explanations). First off, this is not investment advice! Now that I really think it … Continue reading →


Posted in Markets | 1 Comment