Economist: Special Report on the Money Management Industry

The Economist has a special report on the money management industry in its latest issue

Here are links to the relevant columns:

Money For Old Hope
Trillion Dollar Baby
Fund-management fundamentals
Managers and their skills
Funding alternatives
Polishing their image
Diversifying investments
The benefits of specialising
The future of fund management
Audio interview

Buffett's Annual Shareholder Letter for Berkshire

Berkshire Hathaway published its annual shareholder report, which includes Buffett's closely watched letter to shareholders. See the letter here.

The biggest thing to come out of the letter: that Buffett has four people in mind to that would be the next successor for managing Berkshire's investments once Warren retires. Thoughts on who will be on the short list of four candidates? Eddie Lampert makes sense? Others?

Walter Schloss Interview

There is a pretty good interview with renowned investor Walter Schloss that has been circulating around. Check out the video here.

Global Credit Card Graphics

Foreign Policy had an interesting post discussing global credit card use that should bode well for the growth story behind the Visa IPO and perhaps the success of MasterCard's IPO. Check out the link here.

NYT: Markets Need Someone to Act

The NYTimes published an interesting article on the current crisis' lack of a leader that can step in and try to bring calm to the storm. Past meltdowns have been met with collective action by a small group or even a single person that has brought buyers and sellers and rationality back to the market, but a brave soul has yet to step-up in the current market.

A Litmus Test for VC Investments?

The New York Times had an interesting article out about two Oxford students that have developed a site called Younoodle.com that apparently uses an algorithm to determine if a prospective VC investment idea will be a sound investment. Check out the article here.

"YouNoodle’s financial backers include Paypal co-founders Max Levchin and Peter Thiel, and the Founders Fund, a venture capital firm. YouNoodle has not disclosed the amount of its seed financing."

New Yorker Covers Steve Schwarzman

I meant to post this earlier, but didn't get around to it. Check out the New Yorker's profile of Blackstone chairman Steve Schwarzman.

The End of the Road?

A NYTimes columnist wrote an interesting Op-Ed a few days ago that discussed what has driven the recent years of decadence into the looming recession.

"The problem lies deeper. It is the culmination of three decades during which American consumers have spent beyond their means. That era is now coming to an end. Consumers have run out of ways to keep the spending binge going."

See the article here.

Questioning Prediction Markets

NYTimes tracks several instances that call into question the accuracy of prediction markets.