Five for the Weekend #72 -- Christmas Edition

With markets closing early today, and Christmas Friday, most of us are enjoying a very long weekend. So here are five items you might check out between now and Monday. Hopefully one or two of these little chestnuts will add just a little to your holiday cheer. Let's see.

• Jim Grant and the gang at Grant's Interest Rate Observer are giving away their first annual "Grant's Winter Resort & Ski" issue -- a compilation of vintage articles from 2009. It's 33 pages of great stuff, and you can download it from Grant's homepage here.

• Here's a good profile of Joe Lewis, the billionaire who lost a lot with his Bear Stearns investment, but has otherwise racked up huge sums with his currency bets and real estate developments. The 72-year-old started out in London as an "East End geezer" to living in Lyford Cay.

• Paul Kangas is stepping down from hosting the Nightly Business Report on PBS. I discovered NBR in the mid-1980s, the same time I started watching Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser. The Miami Herald has a good profile of Kangas. I especially liked the story of Kangas being in the Coast Guard when JFK was killed. His admiral told him when the news broke, "Call my stock broker, immediately." He describes how the move made $600,000.

• Randall Forsyth writes on Barron's Online about what he learned in 2009. And then speculates what we all may find in 2010: "The Federal Reserve is widely expected to begin tightening monetary policy, which may mean relearning the lessons of 1937, when reversing easy money led to the second down-leg of the Depression. Meantime, risk perceptions, as encompassed in the VIX, have continued to fall. That implies a large level of complacency. In which case, cash -- the worst asset class of 2009 -- might end up the winner of 2010."

• Now for some fun. The Mark Steyn Christmas Show is two hours of great conversation and holiday music. I'm not big on Steyn's views on interventionist foreign policy. But he's a fine writer, true wit, and possesses vast knowledge of musicals and old standards. He also pens the best obits of anyone these days (a skill little appreciated in the US, I'm afraid). And he used to write The Spectator's movie reviews (why he no longer does is beyond me). Anyway, enjoy.

I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and happy holiday. And I hope this season can be a time of great joy and fellowship for all those you care about. Take care and thanks for reading.

Comments

[David]

Excellent collection, John. Will have to check these out this weekend. Hope your Christmas holiday was a good one, have a Happy New Year!

[John]

Thanks, David. Here's wishing you all the best in the New Year as well, my friend.