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Weekend reading: The Bit Short edition

Weekend reading

Good reads from around the Web.

Alas I was detained this week by a gentleman from Porlock, as we failed poets say.

Hence this rather late Weekend Reading.

If some of you took matters into your own hands to scavenge for scraps of bloggage or rinds of rant for yourselves, I understand.

I’m hurt. But I understand.

Moving on, I am ridiculously excited about the upcoming cinematic version of The Big Short:

This is our movie!

Well, almost.

If you’ve got no idea why Brad Pitt is dressed as Robert Redford and pontificating about dodgy mortgages, check out The Accumulator’s original review of Michael Lewis’ The Big Short for the skinny. (It includes, as is T.A.’s wont, some advice for everyday investors.)

Right, let’s get into it – we’re running out of weekend! 😉

From the blogs

Making good use of the things that we find…

Passive investing

  • Understanding bond duration and volatility – AWOCS
  • Just buy low-cost index funds – Rick Ferri
  • High-quality bonds are the real diversifiers – Vanguard

Active investing

Other articles

Product of the week: Three of Britain’s so-called Challenger Banks are upping the ante, reports The Telegraph, with each launching new savings bonds within 24 hours of each other. Hampshire Trust Bank has increased its two-year fixed rate to 2.3%. Paragon Bank’s new offerings include a three-year fix paying 2.56%. Finally Charter Savings Bank has launched a table-topping one-year bond paying 2.07%.

Mainstream media money

Some links are Google search results – in PC/desktop view these enable you to click through to read the piece without being a paid subscriber of that site.1

Passive investing

  • Blackrock has launched a new retirement income tool – CoRI

Active investing

  • Could this be Britain’s worst stockbroker? – Telegraph
  • Why bother cooking the books if no-one reads them? [Search result]FT

A word from a broker

  • Should you protect your pension’s Lifetime Allowance? – HL (& Part 1)

Other stuff worth reading

  • London house price differential at 20-year peak – ThisIsMoney
  • The other Generation Rent: Flatsharers in their 40s – Guardian
  • The new Right to Buy solves 1979’s problems – Guardian
  • …still, some say buy-to-let may yet have peaked – ThisIsMoney
  • Paul Lewis: Premium bonds are a winner [Search result]FT
  • Lessons from a failed interview with a hedge fund  – Medium
  • Bali still cheapest for long haul but Tokyo in range – ThisIsMoney

Book of the week: All the excitement about The Big Short movie had me thinking back to how fabulous a Martin Scorsese version of Michael Lewis’ debut Liar’s Poker would be. This tell-all parable about the evils of Wall Street has ironically been one of its best recruiting tools for decades now. However the Wall Street it depicts no longer really exists, replaced instead by the Flash Boys. (After covering all those developments, isn’t it time Michael Lewis sexed up Vanguard’s rise to dominance?)

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  1. Note some articles can only be accessed through the search results if you’re using PC/desktop view (from mobile/tablet view they bring up the firewall/subscription page). To circumvent, switch your mobile browser to use the desktop view. On Chrome for Android: press the menu button followed by “Request Desktop Site”. []
{ 8 comments… add one }
  • 1 Jim McG September 27, 2015, 11:56 am

    Michael Lewis is excellent, although methinks he still admires the City and would really quite like to be back in there, earning squillions. I still love Wall Street as a movie about finance and, of course, Jimmy Stewart being baled out by his community in It’s a Wonderful Life still points the way as to how the system should work. Coming to think of it, isn’t that what happened in 2008, except it was Bob Diamond and Fred the Shred who the community put their hands in their pockets to help? Not that we wanted to. Lasso the moon, Fred!

  • 2 Dorf September 27, 2015, 12:48 pm

    Whoa, I missed you yesterday and was starting to panic today! I need to thank you for a great site which truly makes my weekend!

  • 3 John September 27, 2015, 2:28 pm

    Yeah I kept refreshing my RSS feed app yesterday haha. Anyway I really enjoy reading your blog on Saturdays. Thank you and keep up the good work!

  • 4 Financial Samurai September 27, 2015, 4:40 pm

    Didn’t realize they were making the movie!

    I am kinda bummed though that ONCE AGAIN, the movie industry blames the banks for individuals not paying their mortgage.

    Is this culture of blaming others for one’s mistakes prevalent in the UK too?

  • 5 mike September 27, 2015, 4:50 pm

    The Big Short is an amazing book. I can’t wait for the movie.

  • 6 Julie and Will September 27, 2015, 5:16 pm

    Thanks for letting your readers know about this movie. We looked at the preview you provided and got very excited about the prospect of seeing this movie–and will get the book from the library today.

    It’s true that Brad Pitt looks like a younger Robert Redford, and we were particularly struck by how Ryan Gosling was practically unrecognizable!

    We enjoy these links to other, often like-minded blog posts, and wanted to thank you for providing them.

  • 7 FIREvLondon September 28, 2015, 10:43 pm

    I too am a massive fan of Michael Lewis. The Big Short is a fascinating read; I particularly liked Lewis’ logic about how he personally was responsible for the Global Financial Crisis…

    If you have any interest in a FIRE outing to a (London-based, obviously) cinema in the opening week, then I’m game for helping to organise.

  • 8 The Investor September 29, 2015, 10:13 am

    Interesting idea FvL! Will ponder today.

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