Comments on: Book Review: When Markets Collide

By: Weekly Blog Reviews April 27- Announcements and Giveaways | Financial Highway

Fri, 01 May 2009 04:30:37 +0000

[...] Canadian Capitalist reviews Mohamed El-Erian’s ”When the Markets Collide” [...]

By: Finance Matters

Finance Matters — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:25:33 +0000

I read this and Peter Shiff’s books. Both made good points but somehow left me wanting for more practical advice. Also, f these guys are so smart, why didn’t their respective firms investments make out like bandits through the “crisis” they saw coming?

By: Ranger

Ranger — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:51:17 +0000

I am intrigued by his ideas re: asset allocation.
I know you have probably gone over this a million times but do you or anyone see benefits or more pains in trying to diversify some equities over a few different sectors such as energy, materials, agriculture, infrastructure, REITS, etc?

By: Four Pillars

Four Pillars — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:42:44 +0000

I thought this book was “ok”. He has a lot of interesting thoughts but it is a bit hard to read and there is nothing “practical” to be learned from it.

If you are a real keener then you might really like this book.

By: sherin

sherin — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 09:51:05 +0000

When I have read the book, I felt it basically focused to trade than investing. The criticism found in the said two blogs seems exactly due to the nature of contents. Even though, he tried to focus on some points that is useful for all not considering whether he is a trader or investor.

By: Phil S

Phil S — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 08:38:43 +0000

I used to hold a significant investment in the PIMCO Emerging Markets Bonds Fund managed by Mohamed El-Erian. I sold off my holdings in that fund when he converted almost all of the Top 10 holdings over to credit default swaps and currency derivatives.
After all, I originally bought the fund because I wanted to hold government bonds issued by countries like Brazil, Russia, Chile, Turkey, etc. When those Top 10 holdings all but disappeared and were replaced with stuff that you would normally associate with hedge funds, I “voted with my feet” and got the heck out of that fund! If I wanted to invest in a hedge fund, I would have bought a hedge fund. I wanted to hold Emerging Market Government Bonds and his fund ceased to hold those securities even though it was still called that by name.