- The program Nova on PBS featured a documentary called Mind Over Markets this week. The subject: the raging battle between the proponents of efficient markets and the behavioral school that holds that markets are driven by emotions. Grab a bowl of popcorn and watch the video here. (Unfortunately, the video seems to be accessible only from US-based IP addresses).
- On a more depressing note, a reader wanted to highlight a documentary called Food Inc. that was recently featured on CBC’s The Passionate Eye. Let’s just say that you won’t see vegetables and meat arranged neatly in the local supermarket in the same light again. The entire movie (93 min. long) is available here. You may want to skip the popcorn for this one though.
- Goldman Sachs is in the hot seat over SEC allegations that the firm withheld material information from investors. Knowledge @ Wharton takes a look at the financial, legal and ethical issues raised by the SEC case.
- Larry MacDonald highlighted a recent report that found that the cost to prepare and file personal income tax returns works out to $215 per Canadian. On a related note, don’t forget that April 30th is the deadline to file your taxes.
- Canadian Couch Potato weighs in on why international index funds and ETFs have such large tracking errors. Part 2 is available here.
- Jon Chevreau highlighted a recent talk by Odlum Brown’s Murray Leith who believes the best stock returns for the next decade could come from the biggest and bluest U.S. companies.
- I use Microsoft Money to track spending but an ordinary spreadsheet should do just fine. Squawk Fox has a budget spreadsheet available for download.
- I keep important financial documents copied in a thumb drive in our safe deposit box. Another option for those not too worried about security is backing up data to online storage says a guest blogger on Million Dollar Journey.
- I once almost bought a penny stock called Valdo Technology International (VTI on the Venture Exchange), which has the same ticker symbol as Vanguard Total Market ETF (VTI on NYSE Arca). Preet says a mistake like this is called a fat finger trade.
- Michael James offers an unflattering thousand-foot view of hedge funds. For me, poor disclosure and limited oversight alone makes me want to stay away.
I’m unable to highlight all the articles worth checking out in my weekly roundup but you can check them out through my Twitter feed. Have a great weekend everyone!
