What we’re reading (5/11)
Catching up after a little hiatus. Big news in the quant world re: Jim Simons. RIP.
“Jim Simons, Billionaire Hedge Fund Founder, Dies At 86” (CNN Business). “Simons, the founder of the hedge fund Renaissance Technologies, helped to pioneer quantitative investing, a market strategy that relies on mathematical and statistical models to identify investing opportunities. Later in life, Simons became a political donor and philanthropist. Simons had a love for math and numbers from an early age, according to his foundation’s website. Born in Newton, Massachusetts, in 1938, Simons earned a mathematics degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a doctorate in math from the University of California, Berkeley.”
“Stubbornly High Rents Prevent Fed From Finishing Inflation Fight” (Wall Street Journal). “Stalled inflation this year hasn’t derailed the Federal Reserve’s plans to eventually cut interest rates. That’s because it expects a slowdown in housing costs to eventually drag inflation close to its 2% target. The problem: It has been waiting for that slowdown for 1½ years now, and it still hasn’t arrived. The slowdown might simply be delayed. But some analysts worry it’s not going to happen because of changing dynamics in the housing market. If so, that would significantly weaken the case for lower rates.”
“Whole Foods CEO Announces Major Changes To Store That’ll Help Customers Save Money And ‘Minimize Impact Of Inflation’” (The U.S. Sun). “Speaking with Yahoo Finance, [Whole Foods CEO Jason] Buechal revealed Whole Foods would be expanding its generic brands to offer more affordable options and ‘minimize’ the impact of inflation.”
“Everything Investors Know About Hedge Funds Is Based On Flawed Data” (Institutional Investor). “If the best performing small-cap companies hadn’t publicly reported their returns for decades, investors would question everything from how much they allocated to these stocks to the validity of academic research showing that small caps outperform large-caps. Well, that’s essentially what has been happening with hedge funds for years.”
“Warren Buffett Is Battling A Bargain Drought — And Pared His Apple Bet Because It’s A 'One-Trick Pony,’ Expert Says” (Insider). “The computing behemoth is a ‘big cash generator,’ but it’s essentially a ‘one-trick pony,’ [Oxbow Advisors partner Ted] Oakley said. ‘They depend on one product when you get down to it.’”
