Here at “A Dash” we like the comparisons between analyzing sports and analyzing markets.  There is much more data in sports, and the risk/reward calculations are similar.

When it comes to the NBA, we are zeroed in on the Michael Jordan era.  To celebrate a birthday party for a famed Chicago options trader, one of our friends sent invitations to a party — dinner and Bulls tickets for a playoff game that night.  Attendance was excellent!

Can We Learn from the NBA?

Shrugging off the current Bulls record, we try to remain open to new information.  In particular, is there any relevance for investors?

Investment experts are weighing in on the Shane Battier article by Michael Lewis.  In a reprise of Moneyball, Lewis shows how Battier is more valuable than his obvious stats indicate.  Briefly put, he makes everyone on his team better — …

The quest for performance sometimes drives a rapid shift from one market sector to another.  This can come from major hedge fund reallocations, but also due to marginal changes from large mutual funds.  Our TCA-ETF model shows us the direction of these moves by capturing recent trends.  It also includes some sectors that we expect to return to favor on a cyclical basis. Even for those not interested in trading based upon a sector program, looking at the changes in ratings paints a picture of overall market interest and activity.  Based upon a reader's suggestion (Thanks, TT!) we recently added a "prior week" rating to our report.  It is interesting information. This week we see that the most favored sectors have moved quite rapidly from much lower positions.  This reflects a decline in some recent high rankings, as well as recent strength ...

Readers of “A Dash” know that we are not attempting to describe or explain every zig and zag of the market.  It is not that we lack opinions; it is just not our purpose.  By way of contrast, each day we write a market commentary for our clients on our private blog.  For our investors, we discuss what is currently happening with special attention to the positions we own.

Background:  Explaining the Daily Market

This daily exercise puts us in the position of the journalist, looking at the blank page and needing to write something intelligent to describe market action.  The journalist has no choice.  Something must be written.  Tomorrow’s readers need an definitive explanation.

Financial blogs are expanding in significance.  The number is increasing and so is the readership.  This is a trend that is early in its development, so there is fluidity in the definition of the group and the role of blogs versus mainstream media.

At “A Dash” we are writing a book, one page at a time.  The audience for the book will be the individual investor, most of whom have not yet returned to the stock market.  As they do, they will naturally consider various financial websites, including the most popular blogs.

How will these new readers navigate this crowded and growing space?  We hope to develop a readers’ guide to various sites, describing what to expect from each.

Anyone putting money at risk in financial markets needs a system.  It can be very complex or as simple as buying an index fund or a collection of ETF’s.  Whatever the method there should be some consistent and rational basis