“Blogging is proof that not everyone should be taught how to write”
I will briefly attempt to address the issue of informing oneself in the financial blogosphere, an issue I continue to contend with. Through my surfing adventures I have come across a small number of consistently reliable and informative blogs which stimulate and inform my perspectives on the global economy and financial markets. There are probably another 30 blog sites I follow on a regular basis, but these are crucial. Use the blogrolls on these sites to find your own favorites.
The Markets: There is a plethora of easily available information on the very public stock markets, including real time price feeds. Forex content is also quite easy to find, so I will focus more here on fixed income, an opaque but crucial market.
Macro Man – Clear and well reasoned commentary from a big picture perspective, with the occasional gem of a poem or Sherlock Holmes story. It’s just a shame he no longer posts his trading book.
Alea – In reference to Ceasar’s quote “the dice are thrown” on crossing the Rubicon, concise look at the fixed income market, a market which tends to be ignored by mainstream pundits.
Across the Curve – Daily market colour on all US fixed income (ABS to Corporate spreads through swaps and treasuries) from a Treasury trading veteran, valuable.
Dealbreaker – The preeminent Wall Street tabloid, come for the acerbic commentary and refreshing reporting, stay for the insane and often hilarious (if very NYC) comment strings.
Alphaville – FT blog covering relevant news and incisive financial posts, their running commentary on the fed’s money market interventions is without parallel. The UK equivalent of Dealbreaker, so naturally more sober and reserved, but both have their merits and are arguably big enough to not need mentioning.
LSO – Pure banker satire, hilarious.
Economics: Often a personal choice, many well respected academics publicly air their views and open them for debate. Again there is too much commentary for any one person to meaningfully follow but I will pick a few I think add value.
Brad Sester – Used to work with Roubini the sage of doom on his RGE Monitor, now at the CFR continuing to dig below published numbers and look for the real goings on. Especially good on tracking China’s doings.
macroblog – Dave Altig and others from the Atlanta Fed do nuts and bolts analysis of the evolving US economic picture.
Krugman – Couldn’t afford to ignore this year’s laureate.
nakedcapitalism – Yves Smith straddles both the markets and the economy, but I put him here because the length and depth of his posts is similar to that of the mainstream economists.
Also worth noting are SSRN and VoxEU which publish free academic papers for those hungry for more punishment, sorry, information.
Happy reading.
