Recent Additions to my Blogroll ... July/August 2007

It is time once again to do some blurbing here at Alpha.Sources. Now, last time I did this I realize that I managed to make a complete mess out of it with too many blogs and rubbish text formatting, for that I apologize. This time around however I am only blurbing four new blogs/sites which should make the whole thing more neat.

First off we have blog from Latvia or, more precisely perhaps, a blog written by a Latvian situated at the 'other' side of Atlantic as he puts it. I thus present you Latvian Abroad which takes an outside view on all things Latvian with particular focus on the economy and political life. The recent writings have especially been concerned with the rampant growth rates in Latvia and the potential of overheating. Notable mention should be directed towards the series of posts denominated Latvian Housing Bubble part 1-4.

Furthermore I should mention that the author of Latvian Abroad is already a regular and most welcome visitor in the comments sections over at Demography.Matters where you can enjoy his insight not only on Latvia but on the CEE economies in general. In short, well worth a look and a blogroll addition. 

The second blog entitled to some blurbing is a recently opened economics and FX trading weblog named Econocator. The blog has been running only since June this year but already it is clear that it must be considered a force to be reckoned with amongts the big econblogs out there. This is how the blog is introduced by the authors ... 

Welcome to Econocator.com, a site passionate about economics and fx trading. Our aim is to share interesting, forward-looking market analysis, to assist readers in generating ideas and developing their own thesis on the markets.

Most of the content on Econocator.com comprises of summaries of the fundamental research that floats across our desks and screens. You will also find the occasional spot of punditry from ourselves, for which we’ll apologise for in advance (please read our disclaimer).

Content on the site broadly falls into two categories: intraday (morning note summaries, data commentary, etc) and thematic (analysis of the prevailing themes in the markets). Our focus is on the economies and currencies of the US, UK, the Euro area, and Japan, with a secondary interest in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Wishing you an interesting stay.

There are already many noteworthy entries on site but in particular I would emphasize these two notes on Oil and the USD; great stuff.  

The third kid on the blurb-blog this time around is actually quite a veteran since he has been blogging on economics since July 2005. Stefan Karlsson is the name and 'Hard-Hitting Economics Commentary' is the game over at this 28 year old Swedish free market oriented economist's place. Needless to say that the blog already contains a myriad of interesting notes and entries. Of recent notes however I would emphasize Stefan's observations on the US economy as well as a rant on farm subsidies.

The last one on this edition of blogroll additions is actually more of an econ/finance ressource site than a blog. I thus present you Capital Markets Lab which is a new finance and econ news/research hub (see also The Investment Office). In fact, it was the site's creator Ronald Weber who drew this site to my attention in a mail and only a few clicks thoroughly convinced me that it should go on Alpha.Sources' blogroll. I would actually go as far as to say that this site has real potential to become an allstar in the realms of economic and finance news/research. This remains however a potential at this point and I will be looking for some RSS feeds which Ronald has assured me will feature in the near future. Here is how the site is presented ...

The Capital Markets Lab is a web-based infromation service that helps you monitor, filter and structure evidence-based financial publications. Whether you are a financial consultant, a trader, an individual investor, a hedge fund, a mutual fund manager or a pension fund manager, our objective is to help you improve your investment decisions.

Abstracts are sourced and selected from academic journals and working papers on a monthly basis. They are then sorted and structured according to topics of interest. You'll find the main topics on the left-side navigation, where you can directly access the abstracts. Our selection process is based on the practical relevance and on the originality of the papers. The full text version of the journals' abstracts can be ordered at a cost trough an external library or via the journal website; Working papers' full-text articles are already accessible free of charge. 

Well worth a closer look!