Just about every other blogger has written a “7 links” post where they choose posts in 7 categories, including most beautiful, most popular, etc. I have resisted this for some time because I knew I would agonize over which of my posts to choose in each category. Thanks to Tripbase and The Blunt Bean Counter for being the most recent to push me to stop procrastinating. On with the 7 links.
My most beautiful post
Market Timing in Pictures takes you from fantasy to reality.
My most popular post
My most popular post as judged by the number of comments was where I observed that preferred shares offer a 2% higher return than the interest rate on 3-year closed mortgages. But how large is the hidden risk in this potential arbitrage?
My most controversial post
In Understanding Ontario’s Switch to the HST, I explained that the HST is not all bad compared to GST plus PST. Some unhappy readers weren’t in the mood for hearing anything positive about the HST.
My most helpful post
A post that has the potential to be my most helpful is where I tried to popularize the measure MERQ (Management Expense Ratio per Quarter century). Investment costs are much more meaningful when they are viewed over a lifetime of investing rather than for a single year. One problem here is that many people simply don’t believe that mutual fund fees can consume half of their portfolios in 25 years.
A post whose success surprised me
I told the story of how my hot water heater blew up and I decided to buy a new one rather than continue renting. It seems that many people agonize over this rent vs. buy decision.
A post I feel didn’t get the attention it deserved
In the depths of the 2008-2009 stock market crash, I asked Do You Have the Nerve to Rebalance Right Now? Judging by the cricket chirps in response, I’m guessing that few people had the nerve to follow their financial plans by selling some bonds and buying stocks to restore their portfolio to its target asset allocation.
The post I am most proud of
One post that I particularly liked was A Market Timing Experiment, where I used simulations to generate a chart showing that market timers have to be right more than half of the time just to break even.
Blogs I nominate for 7 Links
Because this is the last blog in the universe to have a 7 links post, I get to close the door and turn off the lights :-)
To quote the late great Don Meredith, "Turn our the lights, the party's over!"
ReplyDeleteHey I particularly liked your rebalancing post (and even linked to it) because it led me to make a post of my own that makes my lucky guess seem very smart in hindsight.
ReplyDelete@Big Cajun Man: For the Patriots, anyway :-)
ReplyDelete@Patrick: Looking back, I see that I didn't miss the bottom by much, not that I was trying to pick the bottom. Maybe I should start a new career as a talking head making nonsense predictions.