This post provides links to a number of thought-provoking articles I have read over the past few days that you may also find of interest.

• Dan Holland (RealClearMarkets): An interview with Doug Kass, September 21, 2009. Hedge fund manager Doug Kass has been called many different names over the course of his storied and successful, nearly forty-year investing career. Names like the “Bear of Boca”; “The Peerless Prognosticator of Palm Beach”; as well as the “Anti-Cramer.” He’s earned them all. As a noted short seller unafraid to swim against the tide of consensus, he seems to relish his self-appointed role bucking Wall Street groupthink and profiting handsomely from betting against the crowd.

• Intelligent Investing Transcript (Forbes): Jean-Marie Eveillard, September 14, 2009. An interview by Steve Forbes of Jean-Marie Eveillard, is senior adviser of First Eagle Funds.

• Peter Boone and Simon

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Another of our favorite underground investors Whitney Tilson of T2 Partners is sounding the alarm on US Treasurys. He is also pessimistic about retail investors beating the market on their own.

This from a recent interview with Steve Forbes, which you can watch in full on Forbes.com

But then even buying Treasuries, you have the risk of under-performing inflation at today’s rate that you’re getting on Treasuries, right? Certainly with today’s yield, relative to the stock market, I would think Treasuries would be a terrible investment. In fact, we’re short an ETF that owns 20-year Treasuries because we think rates are going up. My point, though, is you can do one of two things.

Generally speaking, to the extent that you can, you can own bonds and stocks, and then within stocks you can pick stocks on your own or you can own a mutual fund or an index fund. I think that

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If you’ll forgive the indulgence, today I’d like to respond to an interesting – and personal – reader inquiry. The question may not have been intended as personal, but it wound up inspiring a fair bit of reflection. Here it is:

Mr. Litle,

I find your opinions on the world and U.S. economies very fascinating, to say the least. What I will like to read more of, if you can, is your opinions on some potential solution to these problems, or are you just good at highlighting problem but no solutions?

Thanks for your time in advance.

– TD Reader “Chuck”

Thanks, Chuck! (I think…)

If you want all the solutions you can stomach, here’s what I suggest. First, subscribe to Forbes and The Economist (two highly respected financial rags). Then make sure to catch Steve

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Dollar rallies on N. Korea warning…  Emerging Markets decouple…  A debt upgrade for New Zealand…  Swiss francs rise despite SNB warnings… And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Well… The dollar came back with some vengeance yesterday pushing the Big Dog, euro, back well within the 1.38 handle, and all the other little dogs, other currencies, followed. There wasn’t data to speak of yesterday to push the dollar higher, it was simply a case of fright, as safe haven flows went the dollar’s way after the news of a N. Korea attack warning spread throughout the markets.

Funny thing… I get a daily email

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As the financial markets await the bank stress test results in the US, a potpourri of video clips was produced. Although the discussions were varied, a golden thread prevailed: the duration of the financial crisis and the economic recession, and whether stock markets have hit bottom.

Needless to say, the plight of the beleaguered automakers and fears of an escalation in the number of swine flu cases also captured the attention of battle-weary investors. However, the S&P 500 Index rallied to a gain of 9.4% for April - representing its best monthly advance since March 2000 - and US Treasury yields jumped to levels last seen in November as investors “looked past the valley”.

Commentators featured on camera in this post include Simon Johnson, Michael Perino, Jim Walker, Steve Forbes, Christopher Whalen, Joseph Stiglitz, Marc Faber, Bill Ackman, Paul Kasriel, James Galbraith, Paul

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Notes from the Investment Underground Monday, April 27, 2009 Palermo Viejo, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Welcome to Sopranos USA… Can the “junk-stock” rally last? Credit to get worse before it gets better… Feds’ “hair of the dog” recovery plan… Shockwave coming… Jim Rogers on why he’s not buying stocks… Introducing your new Notes tax expert, Raife Neuman… And more!

*** What kind of men have we entrusted to manage our economy? And whose interests do they serve? Get the answer to either of these questions wrong and you’re in for a rough ride as an investor.

*** Consider the facts surrounding the Bank of America’s takeover of Merrill Lynch.

Thanks to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, we know that former Treasury secretary Hank “The Hammer” Paulson and Fed chief Benny “Two Fingers” Bernanke violated U.S. securities law by keeping the huge losses sustained by

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The video clips below come via my hotel room at Dana Point, California, where I am attending a conference hosted by Rob Arnott’s Research Affiliates. Also present are financial luminaries such as Peter Bernstein, Burton Malkiel, Harry Markowitz and Jack Treynor. It will be fascinating to hear whether these gentlemen see any signs of the economy starting to bottom, and how they are investing at this juncture.

On the video front, the IMF upped its forecast of total global credit crisis-related losses to $4.1 trillion by the end of 2010 and the Congressional Oversight Panel on Tarp conducted a hearing on Capitol Hill, whereas a host of commentators - including Martin Feldstein, Joseph Stiglitz, Nouriel Roubini, Frederic Mishkin, Paul McCulley and John Mauldin - weighed in with a combination of gloomy and “bottom-in-sight” economic forecasts, as well as comments on the imminent results of the

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Last week, Forbes magazine released its annual list of billionaires. No surprise, the rolls shrank.

“[In 2007], there were 1,125 billionaires. This year, it’s down to 793,” says CEO Steve Forbes.

An NPR broadcast tried to put an optimistic spin on the news suggesting, “All those empty spots… mean more room for the rest of us to move up.” In good fun, it even provided five secrets to do so, based upon the business activities that propelled 38 new billionaires into this year’s rankings.

But in all fairness, I don’t think a single one of us stands a chance of becoming a billionaire in the next year. So let’s put the Forbes list to better use than invoking a fanciful daydream about joining the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

Turns out, by focusing on the 10 biggest losers - who lost a combined $238 billion - the list contains

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Forbes’ 10 Biggest Losers: 4 Wealth Protection Lessons From Bankrupt Billionaires

by Louis Basenese, Advisory Panelist Senior Analyst, The Oxford Club

Last week, Forbes magazine released its annual list of billionaires. No surprise, the rolls shrank.

“[In 2007], there were 1,125 billionaires. This year, it’s down to 793,” says CEO Steve Forbes.

An NPR broadcast tried to put an optimistic spin on the news suggesting, “All those empty spots… mean more room for the rest of us to move up.” In good fun, it even provided five secrets to do so, based upon the business activities that propelled 38 new billionaires into this year’s rankings.

But in all fairness, I don’t think a single one of us stands a chance of becoming a billionaire in the next year. So let’s put the Forbes list to better use than invoking a fanciful daydream about joining the lifestyles of the rich

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There is a lot of buzz about a Congressional hearing on mark-to-market accounting, scheduled for Thursday.  Much of the information is inaccurate or misleading.  Astute investors should understand the purpose of the hearing and what might happen. Background When Congress passed the original TARP legislation it required the SEC to study the  possible link between accounting rules and bank failures, reporting within 90 days.  They complied with a series of round tables, public commentary and a report.  This was the last action of the Christopher Cox Chairmanship, with Cox and senior staffers leaving immediately thereafter.  The recommendation was to keep the rule and do minor tweaks.  This is not what Congress expected or hoped for. The Obama Administration We have watched closely for a sign of interest from the Obama team concerning this issue, but there has not been much.  Paul Volcker, a senior advisor, favors a change, but there is no sign ...