Cool finance blog I found: The Zen of Investing

If found this new blog (the Zen of Investing) that seems very interesting from the two articles I've read so far (thanks to Investorial for the link):

1-Ten reasons why US dollar denominated bonds are not as safe as you think.

It gives a good idea of why the US economy will be under pressure.

Some interesting quotes:

At some point and time, the U.S. Federal Reserve will try to block global flight from the U.S. dollar by propping up interest rates, not cutting them. Here you suffer twice. Once from a loss of purchasing power and twice, from a devaluation of the face value

with U.S. President Bush poised to send more U.S. troops to Iraq in 2007, the war will have an even heavier toll on the U.S. economy in 2007.

2-How Understanding the Success of the Mixed Martial Arts Champions will Make You a Much Better Investor.

Being a martial arts practitioner myself, I enjoyed the parallel being made between mastering martial art styles and investment techniques.

Here's an awesome quote (I hope it's not too long of a quote!):

It is just not possible to master 10 completely different techniques brilliantly in even a span as long as ten years. In fact, many martial artists of legendary folklore status spent decades mastering just ONE technique which they would use to defeat opponents of all different styles. Miyamoto Musashi, widely heralded as the greatest swordsman ever, stated that he didn’t see the point of learning the many different sword techniques that existed, because after all, there are only a limited number of ways to deliver a fatal blow with a sword.

This very concept of keeping your strategies simple is one that large investment firms have mastered. For the last half of a century, investment houses all over the world have convinced tens of millions of people that diversification through Modern Portfolio Theory is the best, safest and only way to invest your money. This is rubbish.

Go visit this site as it is worth your time ...