QOTD: The Rise of Ello

You may or may not have heard about Vermont-based Ello yet, but I guarantee you will. The ad-free social network is growing by 50,000 new users PER HOUR as we speak. Click on the above link to read Recode’s Q&A with the site’s founder, Paul Budnitz.

Another Shoe Drops

The MidCap 400 index dropped below its 200-day moving average for the first time since November of 2012, almost two full years ago. It only stayed below for two trading sessions at that time and quickly rebounded. But the point is, this is a large swathe of the market joining the Russell 2000 into a…

Did Lehman Need to Die?

Six years ago, Lehman Brothers was allowed to become the largest bankruptcy in history. I say “allowed” because it definitely could’ve been stopped. The quote above comes from a very interesting piece at the New York Times that reconstructs what led to the decision. And yes, it was a decision. Not a force of nature…

Yeah I said it.

Flowchart: Is my stock going up? pic.twitter.com/scjFv5kaqG — Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) September 30, 2014 Yes, this is basically what the “rally” has come to. Change is due in one direction or the other, the present condition is unsustainable.

Hedge Funds Embracing the Web

My friend Chris Gillick at Peppercomm sent this over. It depicts the nascent trend of hedge funds taking to the web and socializing with the public. Some interesting data here: By the way, if you’re in finance and interested in PR representation, Chris is your guy. Source: WalekPeppercomm

Best of Times, Worst of Times

The bad news is that there are very few areas of the US stock market that are particularly cheap right now.  The good news is that a) investors aren’t limited to just US stocks and b) there’s always something dropping so that expected returns are actually growing rather than shrinking. My friend Meb Faber sees the global…