Raising Financially Responsible Children
By working with kids from an early age in nurturing an understanding of the value of money, engaged parents help them develop a future ability to manage it properly.
Davide Accomazzo, Adjunct Professor of Finance
Blog Posts
Thalassa Blog – Of Long Term Success, Short Term Temptations and German Novelists
Short-termism is affecting many areas of our lives but it is certainly most apparent in financial matters.
Gold: A Solution for Zero-Beta Satellites
Only a few strategies seem to be providers of crisis alpha or outperformance in time of significant stress in traditional betas: gold seems to fit that definition.
The Importance of Market Structure
Future successful investing will require active political analysis and an increased level of stakeholder activism to be part of the rule-making process.
Are Financial Markets Doomed? MF Global Bankruptcy Strikes at the Core of Markets
If our financial markets cannot guarantee safety of funds deposited with brokers or banks, our economic system will fall into a dark medieval state.
Stop the Madness!
Markets are dysfunctional because they mirror dysfunctional political systems and political players and dysfunctional monetary policies.
The Inefficient Market Advantage
The world is messy and a more pro-active approach than the Market Portfolio Theory of the 60s is needed to build portfolios that can stand the stress of our times.
Currency Wars and the Future of Money
When in 1992 Francis Fukuyama published his best-seller The End of History and the Last Man, he made the case that the success of Western Liberal Democracy was going to sign the end of man’s evolution toward its final form of government and so mark the end of history. The book made me chuckle then … Continued
The 10 Essential Investment Rules
At the end of 14 grueling weeks in my Portfolio Management class, I wrap it up with this 10-rule list. After all the fancy formulas and complex graphs we review in class, the art of investing comes down to common sense and risk management. Based on my many years in the trenches, managing money for … Continued
“A New Kind of Capitalism:” Panel Discussion with Pepperdine Faculty
Can’t view this video? Click here to open in new window. “We are living through extraordinary economic times; many of the accepted market conventions have disintegrated in the last two years. Is there a new kind of capitalism in our future and what are the most important areas of intervention?” This is the question that … Continued
Wall Street Flash Crash Brings Re-evaluation of the Dangers of High Frequency Trading
In a recent blog post, adjunct finance professor Davide Accomazzo discussed the serious structural deficiencies that exist in our financial markets, and the liquidity vacuum that may result. On May 6, 2010, the stock market took a drastic dive, resulting in the second largest point swing and the biggest one-day point decline in Dow Jones … Continued
The Future of the Global Currency Imbalance
Can’t see the above video? Click this link to watch. In this video, Davide Accomazzo, adjunct professor of finance, discusses the global currency imbalance and what implications it carries. Questions for Professor Accomazzo: 1. What is the “global savings glut?” 2. How has the United States tried to reverse current account deficits in the past? … Continued
Beta(ful) Market Hypotheses
In my many years as a derivative trader and hedge fund manager, I forged a solid and long-lasting relationship with risk. Like a beautiful but dangerous woman, risk permeated my professional life—a constant courtship leading me to many attempts at fully understanding its mysterious ways. A never-ending effort! The theoretical foundations of risk analysis were … Continued
Welcome to a New “Normal” in Commodities?
Davide Accomazzo, MBA The telegraphed day of reckoning has finally arrived and many commodity exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) are now finding themselves in the regulatory line of fire. I have been on the record with my MBA students and with many of my colleagues in the investment business for quite some time … Continued
The Danger with High Frequency Trading
Can’t see the video above? Click here to watch or read the transcript. In this video interview, Davide Accomazzo, MBA, Adjunct Professor of Finance at the Graziadio School of Business and Management, discusses the dangers of high frequency trading. This interview is a follow-up to Professor Accomazzo’s essay for the GBR blog on the same … Continued
High Frequency Trading: The Rise of the Machines
Davide Accomazzo, MBA As a professional trader, you are confronted daily with all kinds of dynamics and situations that require a flexible and adaptive mind. You are faced with multiple variables constantly interacting with each other and your task is to process ever-changing information quickly and profitably. Valuations arbitrage, reflexive supply-and-demand dynamics, and structural changes … Continued
Of Alphas, Betas, and Predetermined Rates of Returns
Davide Accomazzo, MBA In the ongoing social debate on what kind of an economic system we should build on top of the rubble of the present financial mess, we as investors should focus less on the philosophical nuances and more on how to adjust our investment framework, expectations, and tactics. As the work of free-market … Continued
The Basics of a Balanced Personal Financial Strategy
The results of the second GBR poll on debt vs. savings are in! All participants said they have changed their personal financial approach due to the current economic instability 60% say they are working harder to pay down all their debt. The GBR Blog asked Davide Accomazzo, Adjunct Professor of Finance at the Graziadio School … Continued
The Future of US Capitalism
Davide Accomazzo, MBA The financial turmoil of the last eighteen months has brought to everyone’s attention the problems and dichotomy of our present monetary and financial systems. While we are now dealing with the consequences of too much credit, it is also important to note that a system without credit (and—much to the delight of … Continued
A New Qualitative Capitalism Part II
Davide Accomazzo, MBA This is the second of two posts on changes I think need to be made for a new, more sustainable economic and social system. Click here to read Part I. The full article exploring these interventions was first published in August 2008 on Goldmau.com. Since the early part of the last decade, … Continued
A New Qualitative Capitalism Part I
This is the first of two posts on changes I think need to be made for a new, more sustainable economic and social system. The full article exploring these interventions was published in August 2008 on Goldmau.com. Davide Accomazzo, MBA Last year, I wrote an article titled The End of Capitalism as We Know It. … Continued
U.S. Economic Recovery May Not Be So Soon in Coming
Davide Accomazzo, MBA Economic forecasting is never an easy task but admittedly this year is harder than usual. The deep financial and social dislocations we suffered in the last 12 months have set in motion dynamics we hardly understand in their full ramifications. Most forecasts seem to point to a difficult first half followed by … Continued