What caught my eye this week.
Out of sympathy with those who can take no more of the national pantomime, I decided to run my Brexit-themed introduction as a separate article [1] this week.
(There’s a pretty good conversation developing in the comments, so you might take a look [2] if you only tend to read us via email.)
Fewer than six weeks to Christmas!
From Monevator
House prices, mental accounting, and leaky buckets – Monevator [3]
Navigating the #BrexitShambles – Monevator [1]
From the archive-ator: Rich friends, poor friends [4]
News
Note: Some links are Google search results – in PC/desktop view you can click to read the piece without being a paid subscriber. Try privacy/incognito mode to avoid cookies. Consider subscribing if you read them a lot!1 [5]
Warning over property peer-to-peer defaults [Search result] – FT [6]
Bellwether estate agent Foxtons closes six branches in ‘challenging’ London market… – Guardian [7]
…but prices in the Midlands are rising 6% a year – ThisIsMoney [8]
Tesco and WWF partner to halve environmental impact of UK food shopping – Which? [9]
Banks urged to justify ‘staggering’ level of branch closures [Er, smartphones and the Internet?] – Guardian [10]
Beware this TV licensing email scam – ThisIsMoney [11]
Austerity has inflicted ‘great misery’ on UK citizens, says UN – Guardian [12]
[13]
Most people give up on non-fiction books halfway through [PDF] – Kobo Report [14] (h/t Michael Batnick [15])
Products and services
Megatrends: How to align your ETF portfolio with global developments – JustETF [16]
Should taking out 50 Wonga loans make getting a mortgage difficult? [Um…] – ThisIsMoney [17]
Investment trusts see beauty in small companies [Search result] – FT [18]
Ratesetter will pay you £100 [and me a bonus] if you invest £1,000 with it for a year – Ratesetter [19]
New investors increasingly look to robo advisers [Search result] – FT [20]
Many popular Black Friday products are cheaper at other times of the year – ThisIsMoney [21]
Homes in former train stations [Gallery] – Guardian [22]
Comment and opinion
A brief history of investors being duped by market manipulators – Jamie Catherwood [23]
How I track my investment returns [Very pretty spreadsheet!] – Young FI Guy [24]
The secret of marital bliss? Credit Scores. – Humble Dollar [25]
12 investment contradictions – Behavioural Investment [26]
What FIRE gets right – Rad Reads [27] (h/t Abnormal Returns [28])
A Corbyn government, unlike New Labour, would tax the rich properly – Guardian [29]
We’ve known for 85 years that financial forecasters can’t forecast – Evidence-based Investor [30]
Fund managers are holding a lot of cash right now [I read it as they are more bearish about bonds than shares] – The Fat Pitch [31]
Expensive businesses and high debt combined is a cause for concern – The Value Perspective [32]
Why WH Smith could be a buy for dividend growth [PDF] – UK Value Investor [33]
Once the world’s most valuable company, does smashed-up General Electric have a future? – Musings on Markets [34]
Brexit
Gordon Brown: To calm the Brexit storm, we must listen to the UK’s views again [Search result] – FT [35]
New Brexit divide line is between pragmatists and players – CapX [36]
Jo Johnson: the inside story of Brexit and where it all went wrong [Search result] – FT [37]
The Brexit wreckers are slinking away from the rancid mess they’ve made – Guardian [38]
Kindle book bargains
Why You? 101 Interview Questions You’ll Never Fear Again by James Reed – £1.99 on Kindle [39]
The Spider Network: The Wild Story of a Maths Genius and One of the Greatest Scams in Financial History by David Enrich – £1.99 on Kindle [40]
Tiny Budget Cooking: Saving Money Never Tasted So Good by Limahl Asmall – £1.09 on Kindle [41]
The Strategist: Be the Leader Your Business Needs by Cynthia Montgomery – £0.99 on Kindle [42]
Off our beat
Study warns we’re headed towards a humanity killing 5-degree rise by 2100 – Clean Technica [43]
Everything on Amazon is Amazon – New York Times [44]
The old gods and the new – Of Dollars and Data [45]
Are we really in the middle of a global sex recession? – The Guardian [46]
And finally…
“Be aware that the market does not turn when it sees light at the end of the tunnel. It turns when all looks black, but just a subtle shade less black than the day before.”
– James Montier, The Little Book of Behavioral Investing [47]
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- 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”. [↩ [52]]