Dan Amoss, CFA, is managing editor for Strategic Short Report and a contributing editor to Whiskey and Gunpowder. Dan joined Agora Financial from Investment Counselors of Maryland, investment adviser for one of the top small-cap value mutual funds over the past 15 years. As a buy-side analyst, Dan refined his value investing approach by meeting with corporate executives and sell-side analysts and writing proprietary research for the fund’s management team. Dan has made appearances on MarketWatch, and was quoted in Corporate Finance Review, a Thomson Reuters publication.
THINK OF THE LAST TIME YOU BOUGHT A HOUSE or refinanced a mortgage. How did you decide on where to get your mortgage? Many mortgage shoppers who compare quotes online discover a stunning array of choices.
This development has placed consumers in the driver’s seat when it comes to choosing a ...read more
PEOPLE ARE AMAZED BY NUMBERS. Benchmarks and records can have huge psychological effects on the way people view a problem. So why are people so slow to react to this new milestone?
Oil has finally reached $100 per barrel, yet few people on the distant end of oil supply lines are ...read more
BANKS AND OTHER FINANCIAL COMPANIES OPERATE with lots of leverage. This is good for bank shareholders when times are good, but very bad when loan losses start impairing assets.
If a bank were to invest its capital 6% in mortgages on an “unlevered” basis, its return on equity would be 6% ...read more
A LITTLE GIRL SITS IN A MOVIE THEATER chomping on a piece of bubble gum. She begins to blow a bubble, bigger and bigger, eventually eclipsing her view of the screen. Lost in the fantasy and action on screen, the girl continues to expand the bubble oblivious to the consequence ...read more
IMAGINE THAT YOU RECENTLY borrowed your friend’s car and now you can’t seem to find it. It wasn’t stolen, it wasn’t towed, you’ve simply misplaced it. You’re in trouble, and your friend is definitely going to be angry. Isn’t now the best time to also tell him any other bad ...read more
Like a scene out of a Hollywood blockbuster, picture Fed chairman Ben Bernanke hovered over two giant red buttons. With sweat pouring from his brow and a giant clock ticking away, our hero must make a decision with the fate of the entire world holding in the balance. He could ...read more
In early August, a major storm swept across Wall Street credit markets, leaving hedge fund implosions and fear of undisclosed losses in its wake.
Bloomberg warns that "The worst U.S. housing slump in 16 years may lead mortgage companies to eliminate almost 100,000 jobs, more than double the number already cut ...read more
Earlier this month the front page of the Wall Street Journal reports that the Bush administration is going forward with yet another attempt to solve Iraq's problems. These problems are rooted in cultural, religious and territorial issues, and in my view, they cannot be resolved by free elections and big ...read more
The ability to create credit now extends far beyond the reach of the traditional banking system. A revolution is transforming the credit markets, establishing links among borrowers and lenders that previously would have been impossible.
Every imaginable stream of future cash flow — from car and mortgage payments to the loans ...read more
Offshore drilling stocks are cheap. At least that’s what the management teams of Transocean (RIG) and GlobalSantaFe (GSF) think. Last week, the two agreed to merge in a deal that will create a company with a combined market capitalization of about $48 billion.
There are lots of good reasons for this ...read more
