Tools

Below is a list of the twelve best financial blogs.

1. Abnormal Returns – going since 2005 this daily email contains a delightful smorgasbord of links to articles, podcasts and posts across the financial web. Always a gem to be found for those who like to dig.
2. The Browser – arguably the only non-finance resource you will ever need. A daily curation of the best five articles from the man who reads 1,000 per day. The resource is paid but worth every penny for those looking to broaden their horizons (something all investors should do).
3. 361 Capital Weekly Research Briefings – a weekly tour of the US financial markets with charts, articles and more. Always something to ponder.
4. FT Alphaville – the godfather of financial blogs and what got me interested in finance in the first place. The writers always deliver the most interesting and contrarian morsels of analysis on the major financial topics of the day. The further reading posts are also a rich seam of fascinating articles.
5. Daily Shot – They say a picture paints a thousand words, so can you imagine what 80-120 charts a day can do*. This is a paid daily email that consist of charts covering global markets and economic trends. The broad coverage is a great way to survey everything, as certain markets (e.g. credit) or geographies (e.g. Asia) tend to see trends unfold faster than others. [*for the geeks out there a weeks worth of Daily Shot will get you just about a War and Peace worth of words].
6. The Bear Cave – written by fintwit powerhouse Edwin Dorsey this letter is full of useful analyst resources and short ideas. The free version has a great list of management resignations and short reports.
7. TheMarketEar – As market structures have changed, paying attention to technicals is becoming even more important. This site provides a supercharged twitter-like feed of charts, indicators and snippets from sell-side that does a pretty good job of surveying the short term market direction (and calling it at that). Although the service is now paid you can still get a free daily email.
8. SITAL Week – written weekly by Brad Slingerlend of NZS Capital this site has been my favourite recent discovery. Like Snippet, Brad finds interesting topics/articles, especially from non run-of-the-mill sources (like academia) and adds a lot of fascinating insights when discussing them.
9. Marginal Revolution – another old kid on the block this site, written by professor Tyler Cowen, is regarded as the best economics blog out there. Yet it is so much more than that. Like Snippet, I feel the interests are very broad and there is always something insightful to be found. Their assorted links posts are also some of the best out there.
10. The Diff – reading Byrne Hobart just makes you automatically smarter. His real magic is akin to mathematics – he observes businesses, generalises their features as concepts, and then works with these concepts to build useful theories. It is a paid newsletter but the return on investment is outstanding.
11. Glimpse – I look forward to this monthly most of all. Glimpse gives you exploding trends before everyone else discovers them (not boring ones; think alcohol gummies, limb extension surgery and veneers). The way they are described is my favourite part – I always learn something new and surprising. If you sign up you get a few glimpses for free but their value, especially for investors, makes it worth paying.
12. Snippet Finance – That is this blog. What I do is read all the above and a lot more. I then curate the best bits (a decade of investing really sharpens one’s information processing skills) into short easy to digest Snippets. So save yourself time and subscribe – two emails per week, 3-4 snippets. There will always be something to inform and inspire.