Diary of a Hedgehog

The late BARTON BIGGS was as familiar a figure in the investment world as John Bogle, Warren Buffett, George Soros, or Mario Gabelli. He spent thirty years as a senior partner at Morgan Stanley, during which time he formed Morgan Stanley's #1-ranked research department, built its investment management business, was chairman of the investment management firm, and then became the firm's leading global strategist. After Morgan Stanley merged with Dean Witter in 1996, Biggs was a member of the five-man executive committee that ran the firm. In 2003, Biggs left Morgan Stanley and, with two other partners, formed Traxis Partners, a multibillion-dollar hedge fund. Biggs was named by Institutional Investor magazine to its "All-America Research Team" ten times, spoke frequently at forums around the globe, and appeared on CNBC and other programs on more than 300 occasions.

• Acknowledgments xvIntroduction xviiMid-2010FDR’s Fiscal Policy Redux 3Staying Close to the Shore 11Stay Long but Watch the Ticks 15This Is No Time to Get Wobbly, George! 18Make No Mistake: More QE Is Big Stuff 21The Best and the Brightest Are Still Licking Their Wounds 25Nobody Can See His Own Backswing 29Fire and Ice 31Miss at Least One Meeting a Day 38Stick to Your Guns 43Stage Two of a Cyclical Bull Market 45The First Word in Analyst Is Anal 492011Be Long Term but Watch the Ticks 57Shake Well Before Using 63Fancy Dinner and Candlelight 68Stevie Cohen Tells a Good Story 71The Canary in the Coal Mine? 73Still Hanging in There 79The Market Is a Discounting Mechanism 82The Madness of Crowds 86Earthquakes and Equities 89The Riddle of Japan 93Start Buying the Dips 101Babbling Away 104Swensen and Yale 107The “Atlantic Crisis” 113Turn Off Your Bloomberg and Tune Out the Babel 116The New Face of China 119Harvesting the “Grapes of Our Own Wrath” 125No More Water, the Fire Next Time 128The Valley of Death 130Lest We Forget 133“If You’re Going through Hell, Keep Going!” 136Begin Thinking about Buying 140Agnostic Optimist 144My Bet Is that the Rally Is Still a Work in Process 148The Truth Will Set You Free but Chardonnay Isn’t Bad Either 152Investing in a World Lit Only by Fire 155Private Equity 158Another Tsunami 1682012A Tough Call 175No Bull 179The Elderly Kid Goes to a Tech Conference 185Positive Change at the Margin Continues 190Simpson Bowles Forever 194Shake Well Before Using 198This Business Is Getting More Complicated 201Conclusion 207

"The legendary and late Barton Briggs provides readers with key advice on how to protect their assets and survive even the worst of times in this diary format." (Pensions World, February 2013)