Hot Links & Fractured Fairy Tales

I’m often asked about the utility of Twitter and similar “newsfeed” type services. I have to admit that I was extremely skeptical about 140 character blasts and an endless stream back when I first started exploring but I rapidly discovered that Twitter can be a path to discovering and sharing information.

Favorite “Follows” by @ManifestInvest

At Twitter you “follow” people that you’d like to hear from. For me, this includes a number of friends, and it also includes investing-related thought leaders and information providers. I also subscribe to (follow) sources like the various Fed research departments (Minneapolis & St. Louis rock) and companies that I follow. Some of my favorites:

• @ritholtz — http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/
• @eddyelfenbein — http://www.crossingwallstreet.com
• @StovallSPCAPIQ — Sam Stovall (Standard & Poor’s)
• @BobBrinker
• @SelenaMaranjian — writer for www.fool.com (also Brothers Gardner via @TomGardnerFool & @DavidGFool)
• @lecreative — Amy Buttell, colleague and Better Investing alum, writes on “all things financial.”
• @TMFHousel — not just another Fool
• @NateSilver538
• @ReformedBroker — Joshua Brown

As an example, let’s take a look at a recent reading list shared by Josh. I generally find 2-3 things to scan whether it’s Eddy, Barry or Josh laying out the smorgasbord.

Here’s the link: http://thereformedbroker.com/2015/11/17/hot-links-fairy-tales/

What I’m reading this morning:

• US dollar screams to a 7 year high (Bloomberg)
• Stocks: Top 10 High-Conviction and New-Money Purchases (Morningstar)
• Soros lightens up his bet against the S&P 500 (MoneyBeat)
  …and he joins Icahn in a bet on PayPal (Business Insider) — [… one for Kim Butcher and Round Table followers]
• Alphabet, Amazon Lead A.I. Charge as Machines Take Over, Says UBS (Barron’s)
• CEO of Alerian Index admits that MLPs are sensitive to oil prices. So much for the “toll collector” fairy tale (ETF.com)
• Investment banks’ revenue set to decline again in 2015 (Reuters) — probably explains down draft in stock prices of asset managers
• Home Depot continues to crush it. Another flawless quarter. (Business Insider)
• Cliff Asness: Good investing is not about genius, it’s about fortitude (Business Insider)
• Retailers hate those new credit card chips (New York Times)
• Children born today will most likely live on average to their late 80’s (Upshot) — … one of our favorite themes