Bitcoin: What is the Value of Hot Air?

Let self-interested promoters and their acolytes in the Media invest their hard-earned savings in a bit of (hot) air, or better: some digits in a far-away computer that nobody controls. Shares (hopefully) pay dividends, bonds pay interest, land can be rented out, but bitcoins and the like? Nothing but the hope of finding a Greater Fool down the road.
And Bitstamp, a 'digital currency exchange', should it not be banned from calling itself as an exchange by the SEC and fellow regulators? No surprise that its chairman sings the praises of 'crypto' 'currencies' (their are neither crypto nor currencies, you might as well start paying your groceries with some rare shells)
CNBC

Russia Launches $100 Million Bitcoin-Mining Operation

I may be too old, or just plain stupid, but can ANYONE really make a rational case for Bitcoin, or is it just the chain letter re-invented for the Internet Age and the 'Social' media crowd hosted by quasi-monopolistic neo-feudal lords?
Russia Launches $100 Million Bitcoin-Mining Operation

Smart Beta - Old Wine in new Bottles

Be careful not to be taken in by fashionable slogans. Smart Beta is currently pushed by Asset Managers but basically it is nothing else than Style Investing - and that idea has been around for decades! The problem is of course that you still have to select the right style/strategy.

Masters of the Universe or Men of Clay?

Do not get seduced by glamorous names or 'sexy' investment stories. The recent implosion of the much hyped Valeant should be a warning.

Tweets - a better mousetrap or another hype?

Trying to outrun other market participants with quicker access to news may be the Holy Grail to investment success ever since Rothschild reputedly scored a major investment coup when he got information about the outcome of the Battle of Waterloo before others. So it comes as no surprise that someone would try to mine Twitter for useful and timely investment signals. But be under no illusion - SOME tweets may contain useful information, but which ones, that is the question. This may well be just another momentum-chasing fad - it will be interesting to test the performance record of this approach after a number of years....in the meantime let us remember the old adage: There is a sucker born every minute!