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More on Name Brands
by Reggie Middleton

This is a message from a commenter on another site. Thought I'd pass it on:

Dear Reggie:

Ignore the naysayers and the bashers. They are everywhere. As the saying goes "Dogs bark but the heaven doesn't care!'

I do have a question fo you. What I am interested right now is charting a course of investment action in this very difficult marketplace. When Warren Buffett picked up sizeable investments in GE and GS I figured here is a reknowned investor trying to tell us it is OK to invest in this market for high future returns. And then I watch Jim Rogers who wants to hang all our Fed officials and politicians for destroyong our economy and one who predicts end of the U.S. economy and U.S. dominance of world market and predicts runaway hyper inflation. Buffett is saying "Go ahead, invest in equities.." and Jim Rogers saying "Buy tons of gold and secure foreign currencies and short everything U.S..."

Where in the blog have you given direction to investors with regards to this conficiting scenario? Appreciate your help.

Reply:

Thanks. I have tried to shy away from actually giving investment advice, with the specter of the hedge fund being part of the cause. Since that is no longer an issue, I may be freer of tongue, but I am still no giver of advice. I try to encourage everyone to do their own homework, using my blog as a giant cheat sheet, so to say.

Doing your own homework is quite important, for although quoting name brands makes for profitable media fodder, it doesn't do well for investors - contrary to popular opinion. See the links at the bottom of this post and be sure to read the comments as well.

Name brands are just that, name brands. Some are good investors who make a lot of money investing, others are good marketers who make a lot of money marketing. Buffet's last investment banking foray cost him a fortune in headaches, money and resources. His track record in that arena is not good. Now if he took the big stake in an industrial...

There are many unknown investors who have trounced the name brands for a decade or more (I won't say more on this), you just wouldn't know who they are because they are unknown.

Taking investment advice from Rogers or Buffet, or the media darlings without empirically quantifying their risk adjusted success is the same as paying $215 for name brand sneakers - you are being hoodwinked by the marketing machine.I am not saying who is a good investor or who is not, but following blindly due to name branding will put you in the poor house, whether it is buying sneakers, stocks or commodities.

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.