It’s been exactly a decade since I attended my first QuantMinds event. At the time, it was called Global Derivatives, and as the name suggests, it was very much focused towards option pricing and its associated areas. It was held for a number of years in Amsterdam, at the Okura Hotel (whilst I can’t remember…
Category: General
Events, General, Macro
Takeaways from FILS 2023 in Barcelona
by Saeed Amen •
Think of Barcelona, and maybe you think of Gaudi, and his (still) unfinished masterpiece the Sagrada Familia or perhaps you think of Picasso, who lived in Barcelona for a period of time. And of course there’s the Olympics, football and Messi. Its history stretches back a long time, and was originally founded by the Romans…
Events, Foreign Exchange, General
Takeaways from TradeTech FX in Paris
by Saeed Amen •
I’ve been in markets for close to twenty years. What has been my persistent takeaway, aside from the fact that there’s always more to learn about markets, is that whilst markets do change, themes do reoccur. It’s been nearly a decade since I first spoke at a TradeTech FX event. I thought it would be…
Data, General
How to judge a forecast
by Saeed Amen •
Let’s say I go to a burger joint, and want to forecast how good the burger will be. First, I need to use a bunch of input data. This can include observations derived from questions, such as how many people are in the restaurant? How much is the burger? What are the ingredients of the…
General
A decade of working independently
by Saeed Amen •
A decade once seemed like an insurmountable stretch of time to me. Yet as the years have raced by, a decade has become far more tangible. It was with a certain sense of shock, that I realised it has been exactly a decade since I quit my last “proper” job, at Nomura. So I thought…
Data, Events, General
Thoughts from Lisbon LxMLS on ML, LLMs/ChatGPT and more
by Saeed Amen •
Lisbon will forever be associated with exploration given its position and history. Cabo da Roca nearby is the last land you’ll see in mainland Europe before you head across ocean, as countless Portuguese explorers have done so in the past. The sea also impacts the diet: Bacelhau, salted cod is the national dish of Portugal.…
General
Trend following and VCs
by Saeed Amen •
There’s a trend with burgers. Go into some burger joints, and they’ll be offering a “wagyu” burger. This is generally code for charging you more for a burger. Wagyu steak tends to be prohibitively expensive. The difficulty with a burger, is that the meat gets minced, so even if what you are getting served really…
Data, General, Macro
Why forecasting economic data is so hard
by Saeed Amen •
I like burgers and I also like to try new burger joints. There’s always a risk to trying new a place. Maybe the burger won’t be cooked in the same way, maybe the patty won’t be quite as good quality, maybe the chips will be soggy etc. In some cases, it could be a factor…
Events, General
Berkshire Hathaway Meeting in Omaha
by Saeed Amen •
The Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting returned in person for the second time after COVID this weekend in Omaha. As noted by Warren Buffett, there was somewhat of a clash in the calendar with the Coronation over the Atlantic, although he did quip that they had their own King Charles here at the meeting, in the…
Data, General
Clean data and Twitter blue ticks
by Saeed Amen •
I’m not a very good cook, although I can make a good burger, and this opinion is obviously in no way biased! One of the few things I do know, is that you need to make sure that before preparing the vegetables from your burger, like lettuce and tomato, you need to clean them first…