PLEASE ALLOW ME TO WASTE SOME OF MY OWN TIME….
In case you missed it, I recently wrote a piece for NY Magazine which was a follow-up to Michael Osinski’s piece on toxic assets. The gist of the article was that Osinski, who wrote the software that created many of these products, is now very bullish on these so-called toxic assets. I put together a list of various funds that would give investors pseudo exposure to mortgage backed securities and related products. I also expressly described how there is no “pure play” on what Osinski is doing and that most investors would find it impossible to replicate the strategy via their broker or discount broker. The article also expressly says that it is not financial advice and at no point implies that it is appropriate for any investor to try to replicate what a sophisticated investor like Osinski is doing.
Unfortunately, Felix falsely assumes I am providing some sort of financial advice (which the article clearly says it is not), falsely believes these products perfectly replicate Oskinski’s strategy (which I clearly say they do not) and falsely believes that I think toxic assets are appropriate for most investors (which is never said or even remotely implied in the article). Of course it is not financial advice. Of course Osinski, who says his friend “T” is a guru, has better info and access to product than most. Of course these highly complex and sophisticated products aren’t appropriate for everyone. Why these facts even need to be conveyed, when they are so clearly stated, is beyond me.
On the bright side, Felix managed to use less than 600 words to post the most obvious of obvious facts….On the negative side, I just wasted 10 minutes of my life responding….
Does Felix have any real world financial work under his belt? Last I checked he was a professional blogger. He seems to enjoy starting these spats as if he lives in a schoolyard.
Don’t know much about him to be honest with you….
TPC – you’re bigger than this. You don’t even need to reply to such garbage. Anyone who could get thru such dense material as that article likely learned these obvious facts about diversification and appropriate investments when they were in college.
The air should be cleared on things like this. I am sure Felix is a good guy and doesn’t intend to twist my words, but you can’t just start throwing around the whole Advisory thing when an article clearly states it is not financial advice. Anyone who is actually in the industry knows how sensitive this sort of stuff can be.
You read some of the comments TPC? I liked this one:
Anyone reading the article knows Osinski bought the specific bonds. NYM refers to diversified ETFs and funds. Your article implies that I should never consider buying XLF if I see Buffett buying Wells Fargo simply because he knows more or has inside information. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Those ETFs are probably much safer that what Osinski is doing. Whether you want to hold toxic debt in your portfolio is a whole different story, however.
Ha.
Can we make a pact to never mention the name of Felix Salmon here ever again?
TPC, your thoughts on the new Third Avenue Credit Fund? Didn’t see a mention in your article.
Will this be implied as financial advice?
In all seriousness, that requires some serious homework. I am entirely unfamiliar with the fund. Is this the one you’re referring to? http://www.thirdave.com/ta/products-focusedcredit.aspx
Yes that is the one. I listened to the conference call, seems intriguing. Looks like there are some pretty decent safeguards in place. I don’t know enough about the managers reputation. From what I hear, the manager literally wrote the book on distressed debt. I was just curious if you had heard anything about it positive or negative.
I’ll look into it and get back to you. I am very busy today and this weekend.
Felix needs to grow up. I wish someone would shut him up permanently. His blog sucks.
Who the hell does he think he is? Who is he to say that none of those funds are appropriate for investors? The bank ETF’s and REIT ETF’s have been incredible and fairly safe ways to play the toxic asset reflation trade. Most of the closed end funds you mentioned are well diversified and basically income funds. Is this guy a financial advisor? Has he ever managed money? Or does he just spout off making broad accusations?
The Fed is thinking about the possibility of having to by more mortgage backed securities…so I wouldn’t want to be exposed to them./
To each his own. That is an investment principle that I learned in college and a main reason why Felix’s commentary is incorrect.
Of course you’re giving financial advice — why else would you give those ticker symbols, or even write the piece in the first place? Rather than putting words in my mouth, it would be useful if you actually defended the piece: what conceivable purpose does it serve?
Hey Felix,
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I guess the more appropriate question is this: do you believe everything you read on the internet regarding the stock market is “financial advice”? I try to make it pretty clear on my site and in everything that I write that I am not your financial advisor nor am I giving you financial advice.
Of course, we’re getting into the legal realm of things here, but I am quite confident that no regulator would agree with you that I am providing financial advice for NY Magazine or its readers. In fact, they absolutely would not agree with you. Of course you’ll call that semantics, but it’s not semantics from a legal or technical perspective. Tickers and specifics get thrown around on blogs and financial news services all day long. You should certainly know that all of these comments are not financial “advice” but simply ideas that an investor should study and consult with their own financial advisor. The NY Mag piece is no different.
The piece was intended to provide readers with some ideas on how they might attempt to replicate Osinski’s ideas. Of course they can’t exactly replicate what he is doing just as no one can replicate Warren Buffett’s Goldman Sachs purchase last year. Does that mean they have no business buying a financial ETF?
Personally, I think you generalized and that your piece was highly misleading. I provided 8 highly diversified funds. 3 of which are VERY common in any small investors portfolios and 5 of which are essentially growth and income funds. For you to imply that it is inappropriate for any investor to own such things is just flat out wrong. As for replicating Osinski’s ideas – I don’t think anyone in their right mind would assume that they were replicating Osinski’s ideas (something I was pretty clear they could not achieve on their own) by buying a few diversified index funds.
Anyhow, I didn’t mean to raise a stink with you, but I felt like there needed to be some clarifications.
Thanks and have a good evening. I would welcome your response and even be willing to post it on the site here if you’d like to have the last word on the matter.
Best,
TPC
Bravo! Way to take the high road. Felix is a rank amateur compared to you TPC. He has never even worked on Wall Street. He’s a glorified blogger and nothing more. You’re a class act for treating him so kindly for this.
I might add this from the article:
“Well, first of all, let’s make clear that we offer no investment advice or recommendations. That’s not what we know how to do. But so that readers can explore the area further on their OWN”.
This is not you coming into my office and me telling you to buy this, this and that when you have a brokerage account with me. It’s a HUGE difference. I provided some ideas. It’s up to the reader to do their homework and see if these products are appropriate for them or not. If you don’t think those products are good ways of buying into the toxic asset mess then I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree.
Best,
TPC
Could that have been more clear? This idiot thinks everything he reads on the Internet should be labeled as financial advice. How many times a day do we hear the disclaimers that say this sort of stuff is not financial advice and that you should consult your own financial advisor? Sheesh. Salmon really shows his low
level of expertise here.