Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Streets' Alpha Hunters at war with Beta Builders -- that's you - MarketWatch

I have not yet read the book, but I just ordered it (Bernstein's Capital Market's Evolving) thanks to Mark's emailing of the following from CBS:

Streets' Alpha Hunters at war with Beta Builders -- that's you - MarketWatch:
"Wall Street's high-tech "Alpha Hunters" (benchmark beaters) are in an aggressive psychological war with America's 95 million Main Street investors, the "Beta Builders," average folks who are happy with portfolios that match the market averages....Every day the Alpha Hunters go into battle, and you are their enemy in a cunning psychological battle that targets your mind; distracting, misleading, softening, disarming you. Alpha Hunters want you defenseless, the better to control your behavior, get you acting against your best economic interests.
Know your enemy: This book has no defensive strategies to help you Beta Builders protect yourselves against Alpha Hunters. No, it was written for Wall Street's Alpha Hunters on the attack. But you'll be better able to defend yourself knowing your enemy's strategies and weapons"
Looks interesting!

1 comment:

andrewctmbaclu-riskwhizzmba said...

The best defence one has in the market is, I think, fundamental analysis. An informed review of the financials (read the footnotes, boring as they are, and pay attention to euphemisms & things left unsaid), a review of the sector and industry, and then some well-done Excel models, and you'll have a better idea than most.
Hedge funds make a lot of their gains off of momentum trading and transactions - riding coattails up and down. Gain a good understanding of what you're investing in and you'll have a far better chance of finding alpha than some "two and twenty" speculator!