I woke this morning to gale force winds and sideways rain slapping my bedroom window. Yuk I thought, as I crawled out of bed to check the markets, the same way I start every week day. What I could not have known was the shock and awe about to greet me! The weather outside was [...]
April 11, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Ladies and Gentleman – Grab your “Coats”
That I had to be educated as to who Coats Inc are is a shameful disgrace… But then I’m used to being ashamed and disgraced, I like tomato and peanut butter sandwiches, and THAT my lovely wife tells me is shameful, AND a disgrace. So who is Coats Inc.? A recently closed CPAN deal of [...]
April 2, 2013 By 1 Comment
“Pre-emptive Rights” and “Anti-dilution Provisions” – In Language Anyone Can Understand
After recent discussions with some of our subscribers it occurred to me that many of our readers may find some very common industry terminology daunting and/or confusing. Mark and I recently participated along with our CPAN members in a deal whereby we had the opportunity to take up pre-emptive rights, which is what brought the [...]
February 28, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Changes at the Margin – How to Prepare for a Disorderly Move
In a past life, while still in the clutches of the investment banking world, I’d made a few friends in the “trading fraternity” and visited them on a regular basis for work and social reasons. When it came to markets, opinions varied little within the group. Traders were unanimously bullish or bearish on any given [...]
February 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment
How to Invest Tax Free Into Private Equity
We get a lot of questions from American readers who are looking at the best ways to minimize the taxes they pay on their investments, especially when it comes to esoteric investments like private equity. After all, no one except Warren Buffet wants to pay more than they have to! While we could argue the [...]
February 5, 2013 By 4 Comments
The Efficient Market Hypothesis: Misconceptions and Implications
A few months back I received an email from a reader who called me to task on my comment that the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) was complete bullshit. I was referring to the public markets in general, and the ill-conceived comment was made based on my opinion that the market is rigged, and therefore there [...]
