Five for the Weekend #55

After being unable to post anything last weekend, let's get right to newest offering of five items for your review.

• Charles De Vaulx worked with Jean-Marie Eveillard and took over the first time Eveillard retired. Then he left First Eagle abruptly, causing Eveillard to come out of retirement. De Vaulx then set up his own shop, International Value Advisors. Bloomberg reports one of his mutual funds has raised $1.7 billion over the past 10 months, the most of any fund.

• This Canadian story considers focused stock portfolios and their potential for greater rewards and greater risks. Tim McElvaine is quoted: "I might expand to 20 securities," said Mr. McElvaine, who was once chief investment officer at Cundill Investment Research. He also ran what is now Mackenzie Cundill Canadian Security Fund with 20 stocks from 1991 to 1999. "When I started the Trust in 1996, our position sizes tended to be 5 to 10 per cent, but over the last couple of years, my position sizes got to be more than 10 per cent," he said. "I think our performance was better when we had 20 stocks."

• Matthew Lynn profiles the very public spat Paul Krugman and Niall Ferguson have been having over inflation (HT: LewRockwell.com).

• And speaking of economists, Bloomberg runs a column by John Taylor, who explains the Taylor Rule: "There are three reasons people are asking about the Taylor Rule now. First, it helps determine when the Fed will start to move its interest-rate target above zero. Second, it’s a gauge for how many unorthodox actions the Fed should take. Third, a big deviation from the Taylor Rule is viewed by many, including me, as a primary cause of the financial crisis and people want to avoid another one."

• The greatest American reporter of the last half century died last week: Robert Novak. I started reading the Evans and Novak column in the early-to-mid 1970s (Rowland Evans eventually retired and died in 2001). Anyone interested in American politics and how political power interacts with the media (print and increasingly cable) should check out Novak's 2007 autobiography, The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years Reporting in Washington. It's must reading. R.I.P., Mr. Novak.

Have a wonderful weekend. See you next week.