Wall Street Financier: Notes from High Altitude©
He who makes a beast out of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.
A friend texted me today excited that Showtime’ Billions Season 2 is on this weekend. I replied that I was privileged to have seen another show, days earlier, better than “Billions”. The show I watched you bet it’s going to cost billions. I don’t think Bobby Axelrod is half that… …
In Japan the tradition is for women to give gifts and chocolates to men on Valentines Day (USA Today). Men get a chance to reciprocate one month later, on White Day, a more recently established tradition. How is a Wall Street veteran to weight in the battle of the sexes …
What’s the SINGLE most important interview question a job seeker needs to know the answer to ? The question the job seeker-you- should, without fault, know the answer to before getting the job ? How much are you worth ? That’s the most important question in a job interview for …
This month Cambridge Associates (CA) introduced some nuanced Investment-Level Benchmark by vintage years, Gross/Net IRR quartiles and sector analysis. CA is also making a breakdown between “Gross IRRs” and “Net IRRs”looking for the lowest “fee drag”. CA is gauging the effect of fees on LP returns: ” fund-level fees cost …
I take a lot of pride in our file and rank folk that fight the good fight in finance and that have proven themselves. I hurt to see veterans getting booted and replaced with 24-year old paper boys with Harvard degrees for whom a bad day is a day fighting …
This is a nice overview of where we are and maybe where we are heading. Remember what I often said: watch what your competitors are doing, but not necessary do what they do. Here are some stick points that resonated with me: “Many people are bullish for rate sensitive financial …
A lot of people have read Tim Feriss’s best seller book, Tools of the Titans, and found practical advice from Tim’s guests, which are some of the world’s top class performers. I think an important issue to those interviewed was answering the question of how to deal with the information …
The snake came in today dapper as always dressed in his expensive navy suit. What are we doing today ? Listening to this big CEO and his “United States of ME.” He puts everyone on emotional quicksand. Perfunctory management of human capital. Guy is great in the waste management department. …
Today was Inauguration Day: The greatest strategist alive, Max Cantor, was sworn in (just kidding, the Inauguration was that of the 45th President of the United States). I can draw a parallel between the victory of Donald Trump and the disorientation felt by the global elites at the World Economic …
Greenlight Capital (GC) Q4 letter, is a good read-always and especially now. Einhorn has remarkable prescience and he didn’t do too badly either. GC generated 9% of gross alpha for 2016. He has lost money on shorts, shorting tobacco firm Reynolds American (RAI). Shorting tobacco “can be hazardous to portfolio …
