Ritholtz: TechTicker Guest of the Year for 2009

Not 24 hours after MartinKronicle.com listed Bailout Nation as one if it’s best reads for 2009, the “Henry and Aaron Show” tried to steal my thunder by naming Barry Ritholtz TechTicker Guest of the Year for 2009.

Mozels Barry, and thank you for taking the time to speak with me and my humble operation this year here in Los Angeles.

For the traders reading, you should have an understanding of the political economy, how the Fed works, and some fundamentals.

There are only a few Fed watchers who are very good IMHO…but they are not traders. Yet, there are one or two worth listening to. Kathleen Hayes comes to mind as probably the best non-trader Fed watcher. But for insight from a guy who manages risk, I suggest you read Ritholtz and his blog (link below). He lays it out in common, plain English.

Question: Why should I need to know about the FOMC, the Fed, and economic fundamentals?

Answer: Try and meet with a prospective client and start telling them how “you buy 20 day breakouts and have a 10 day trailing stop and never have more than 8% portfolio heat with no more than 3 correlated directional positions…” and watch their eyes glaze over. For all the BS chatter that you don’t need to know fundamentals to be a great trader, ultimately you need to have an understanding of such to hold a conversation with your clients and potential clients, if nothing else.

To get to the point where you can do that, I recommend you do two things:

–Read The Big Picture

–Read The Economist

You can get syndicated RSS feeds from both or join the mailing list. If you’re hardcore, get the print copy of The Economist and read it at the gym. If you’re a savvy marketer, buy a subscription for your best clients…every week they’ll be thinking of you, and you’ll have plenty of talking points.

Happy New Year and may all your losses be small and manageable losses!