Separately Managed Account

A Separately Managed Account, or SMA, is an investment account offered typically by a fund of funds and managed by a money manager. SMAs have varying fee structures.

An SMA is a great tool for traders, investors, and algorithm designers to bridge conception of trading strategy (sandbox) to launch of a hedge fund entity. It is a natural step since it allows you to employ your strategy in the market with fresh money over a full investment cycle (trough to crest to trough) and to build a track record you can market. It takes all the complications of starting a fund out of the equation and allows you to focus on trading the strategy. Funds of funds are more comfortable investing with emerging managers if they have control over the money. Therefore, fundraising is simplified and setting up an SMA is a breeze compared to setting up a hedge fund.

People interested in managing SMAs should start by talking to some of the SMA providers. I have created a list of providers in an open Google document. Feel free to use this information. Also, you are welcome to contribute to the document. You can find the document at http://bit.ly/6Qkr0m.

Great Looking Crocs Shoe. Sick! $CROX

A picture is worth a thousand words.

What Seth Godin can teach investors and traders. My Thougths about The Dip, Purple Cow, and Tribes from a Trading Perspective #seth $$

Seth Godin is my favorite blogger. I religiously read each and every one of his blog posts. Recently, I read three of his books and here is my take on them from an investing and trading perspective.

The Dip: “If it is worth doing there’s probably a dip.” A dip is the effort and price you pay for success. “It’s the incredibly difficult challenges (the Dips) that give you the opportunity to pull ahead.” If you are developing a trading algorithm, it may take a few years of playing in the sandbox to discover your winning formula. When I designed my first algorithm, I managed to cross the dip and I am now enjoying the results. It was hard work and therefore very hard for anyone else to replicate. Are you ready to pay the price?

You want to become a successful investor? Are you ready to pay the price Eddie Lampert, WarrenBuffet, John Paulson, and other successful investors have paid to conquer their respective dips? (Amazon links: http://bit.ly/8VtcgV )

Purple Cow: The financial world is serviced by conventional providers! Do you remember the Morgan Stanley TV ad where the advisor wept at the wedding? That clip sounded hypocritical to me. Differentiate yourself from the nonsense. Be customer focused, lower financial transaction costs, embrace new technologies to connect with your customers, and increase transparency. The financial world needs new leaders. It needs Purple Cows! (Amazon Link: http://bit.ly/8U6Xfx )

Tribes: Build tribes in the financial world. Tribes need leaders. Go lead a financial tribe. Conventional Wall Street services its customers on the one way street. They don’t build communities. Howard Lindzon with his StockTwits movement has created a hugely vigorous tribe. Seeking Alpha is another one. Check them out and learn how they are leading. (Amazon link: http://bit.ly/6ALffJ )

Crocs Climbs on India Expansion. $CROX

Growth written all over it! http://bit.ly/4Zn0eE

Very Good Vibes From John Duerden, CEO of Crocs. $CROX

The CEO made a presentation at the 12^thAnnual ICR XChange Conference on January 13. He sounded very upbeat. You can access the presentation at http://bit.ly/6YrbcO. Here is the pdf version http://bit.ly/6UwpDY. I have the audio file for anyone interested. Let me know

Here are some of my Crocs tweets:

Gerald Rubin, CEO of Helen of Troy, Said this $hele

This is what Gerald Rubin, CEO of Helen of Troy (HELE) had to say during the earning conference call (full transcript: Source Seeking Alpha:  bit.ly/8hh1ZD )

"Looking ahead to next year [we believe] may be the best year for sales and earnings in our 42-year history. I now would like to turn our conference call over to Thomas Benson, our CFO, for the financial results."

"December actually turned out to be a very good month for us."

"If you look back at our history several years back we did have earnings of $2.35 per share and sales were certainly a little lower. They were in the $500 million level. We are doing much better than that and as I mentioned we expect to beat the $2.35 in order to have the best year ever."

When you add these comments to this chart, it is starting to look like HELE might break out finally: Larger image @ http://bit.ly/64n8jv

Managed Accounts Providers List in an Open Google Document

Here is an open Google Document that contains a list of Managed Account Providers. Feel free to use the file as you wish. You are welcome to edit this file and add other providers.

The Value of Building a Broadcast Station for Investors and Traders #trading $$

Yesterday, I had an interesting exchange with Jim Gobetz, a trader, who runs a terrific show on StockTwits TV at 8:30am Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He tweeted that he had been wrong regarding $UNG. I replied to his post that I had been making money trading $UNG back and forth using the acc/dist algorithm from Interactive Brokers. That led him to my blog. While reading my blog he reported that it was unclear as to when I launched Bigger Capital. Since I am French Canadian with poor English writing skills that feedback is priceless. I quickly corrected this issue and thanked him for the input. Connecting with smart and generous individuals like Jim is very valuable.

This story leads to the value investors and traders might gain by building their own broadcast station.

Broadcast Station: There are some pretty smart analysts, investors, and traders out there. Some of these folks are downright generous when it comes to sharing ideas, discussing issues, and reporting events and breaking news. They think out loud. Wouldn’t be cool and profitable if you could connect with them and expand your financial knowledge and market intelligence?

You can bond with these individuals using social media tools. One smart way to get started is to broadcast to the world what you have to say that is relevant and worthwhile. Think out loud. Like ants finding the pheromone path to the source of food, smart people using web listening tools will pick up your messages and want to connect with you.

Here is a sampler of the tools Bigger Capital uses to initiate conversations with like-minded individuals:

Twitter: Tweet your short messages. Add a $ in front of any ticker you discuss or a # (hashtag) in front of a topic. Develop a valuable group of followers.

StockTwits: stocktwits.com is a community of traders tweeting in real time about stocks, currencies, commodities, etc. StockTwits TV showcases some smart traders discussing trading strategies. Listen to them and learn how they go about it. Follow the ones you find interesting on Twitter and start a conversation with them.

Blog: You are media. Start a blog today using WordPress or Google’s Blogger. It is free and it only takes a few minutes to set up. Initially, if in doubt, view your blog as a scrapbook where you save ideas, etc. If your posts offer value, people will read them.

Facebook: You are most likely using this application. Join financial groups, write status messages relating to the market, etc.

Communities: Google “Financial Forums” and join the ones focused on a topic of interest. Get involved, participate, and start discussions.

Go out there and broadcast your insights to the world. Remember, it works both ways. Broadcast, listen, and initiate conversations.

UPS and Fedex Cockroach Theory: Tweets Recap $UPS $FDX

Barnes and Noble's Pathetic Online Results $BKS #Nook #Kindle

"Barnes & Noble.com sales increased 17% for the holiday selling season and totaled $134 million. Barnes & Noble.com sales include nook™ revenues recognized since the product began shipping after Thanksgiving." Source: BKS' press release 1/7/2010

17% growth on a $115 million sales base and all that while the company introduced its supposedly hot e-reader. That is pathetic. But management is pleased. You must be kidding me. BKS can do much better but I doubt it can. Am I wrong on BKS? If so tell me why.