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October 08, 2008

Blogonomics 101: Some of Us New Media Journalists Might Know What Were Doing...
by Reggie Middleton

I was chided as a "journalist" who didn't have a clue in a comment from an armchair investor over on Seeking Alpha. That got me to thinking that either the populace does not expect the acumen of those that blog, or they overestimate the name brands whose moniker resides beside the term hedge fund. On that note, here is an article from Bloomberg:

Hedge Funds Fell 4.68% in September, Biggest Drop in 10 Years Oct.... Hedge funds worldwide in September recorded their biggest drop since August 1998, hurt by losses in commodities and fixed-income convertible arbitrage securities.

The HFRI Weighted Composite Index fell 4.68 percent in September, marking the fourth consecutive monthly decline and extending the loss this year to 9.41 percent, according to Chicago-based Hedge Fund Research Inc. The worst monthly performance since the firm began tracking the industry in 1990 was an 8.7 percent decline in August 1998.

"In 1998, there was the liquidation of Long Term Capital Management, which created a systemic financial situation that resulted in steep declines at a lot of funds," said Ken Heinz, president of Hedge Fund Research, in a telephone interview. "There are a lot of similarities and parallels during that period of time and this one."

...

Funds investing in energy and basic materials lost the most in September, falling an average of 13 percent, while the fixed- income convertible arbitrage funds dropped 12 percent, the researcher said.

Lee Ainslie's Maverick Capital Ltd., David Einhorn's Greenlight Capital LLC and The Children's Investment Fund Management LLP fell more than 12 percent in September as stock hedge funds posted record monthly losses and braced for client defections.

Stephen Mandel's main Lone Cypress fund in Greenwich, Connecticut, fell 14.7 percent, while New York-based Third Point LLC, run by Daniel Loeb, dropped 11 percent.

These are the latest results for the BoomBustBlog research model.

I'm considering modifying my entrepenurial pursuits, which will give me the freedom to share my proprietary trading acocunt results with blog. (as opposed to a staid "buy and hold" model without risk and cash managment and trading. I think you may be impresed.

Reggie Middleton
Reggie Middleton, LLC
Perpetual Interests, LLCTM
http://boombustblog.com/

Who am I?

Well, I fancy myself the personification of the free thinking maverick, the ultimate non-conformist as it applies to investment and analysis. I am definitively outside the box - not your typical or stereotypical Wall Street investor. I work out of my home, not a Manhattan office. I build my own technology and perform my own research - in lieu of buying it or following the crowd. I create and follow my own macro strategies and am by definition, a contrarian to the nth degree.

Since I use my research as a tool for my own investing to actually put food on my table, I can stand behind it as doing what it is supposed too - educate, illustrate and elucidate. I do not sell advice, I am not a reporter hence do not sell stories, and I do not sell research. I am an entrepreneur who exists just outside of mainstream corporate America and Wall Street. This allows me freedom to do things that many can not. For instance, I pride myself on developing some of the highest quality research available, regardless of price. No conflicts of interest, no corporate politics, no special favors. Just the hard truth as I have found it - and believe me, my team and I do find it! I welcome any and all to peruse my blog, use my custom hacked collaborative social tools, read the articles, download the files, and make a critical comparison of the opinion referencing the situation at hand and the time stamp on the blog post to the reality both at the time of the post and the present. Hopefully, you will be as impressed with the Boom Bust as I am and our constituency.

I pay for significant information and data, and am well aware of the value of quality research. I find most currently available research lacking, in both quality and quantity. The reason why I had to create my own research staff was due to my dissatisfaction with what was currently available - to both individuals and institutions.

So here I am, creating my own research for my own investment activity. What really sets my actions apart is that I offer much of what I produce to the public without charge - free to distribute and redistribute, as long as it is left unaltered and full attribution is given to the author and owner. Why would I do such a thing when others easily charge 5 and 6 digits annually for what some may consider a lesser product? It is akin to open source analysis! My ideas and implementations are actually improved and fine tuned when bounced off of the collective intellect of the many, in lieu of that of the few - no matter how smart those few may believe themselves to be.

Very recently, I have started charging for the forensics portion of my work, which has freed up the resources to develop the site to deliver even more research for free, particularly on the global macro and opinion front. This move has allowed me to serve an more diverse constituency, which now includes the institutional consumer (ie., investment turned consumer banks, hedge funds, pensions, etc,) as well as the newbie individual investor who is just getting started - basically the two polar opposites of the investing spectrum. I am proud to announce major banks as paying clients, and brand new investors who take my book recommendations and opinions on true wealth and success to heart.

So, this is how I use my background and knowledge in new media, distributed computing, risk management, insurance, financial engineering, real estate, corporate valuation and financial analysis to pursue, analyze and capitalize on global macroeconomic opportunities. I have included a more in depth bio at the bottom of the page for those who really, really need to know more about me.

Visit his blog Boom Bust Blog.

Copyright © 2007-2008 Reggie Middleton

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