Blogs to watch (part 7): Crossing Wall Street

By the time I'm done with this series, my readers will have learned about 40 to 50 investment-related blogs. That's the approximate number of high-quality finance blogs I believe currently exist around the globe.

Taken together, these blogs provide a lot of my daily reading material.

One of my long-time favourites among them is Crossing Wall Street.

I have never met or spoken to its author, Eddy Elfenbein. Still, I feel like I know him personally - a sentiment that many of his tens of thousands of readers will share. Eddy is a veteran who has been publishing his blog since 2006. While in the US, his readership is considerable, he is less known elsewhere.

Here are eight reasons why I love reading Crossing Wall Street:

1. A clearly-defined list of specific stock recommendations

At the beginning of each year, Eddy publishes a list of 25 stock recommendations.

About half of these stocks are widely-known blue chips, the other half are small- and mid-caps. All of them are US stocks.

The list makes for concrete, actionable advice. It always consists of a large number of stocks from the previous year, plus newly added ones.

Here is the 2020 list, which also explains the methodology behind it.

You can assume that Eddy is invested in those stocks.

Undervalued-Shares.com doesn't provide such an overview, for good reason. That's not to say that I don't appreciate someone else providing a quasi-portfolio for their readers.

If this is what you are looking for, then Eddy's blog will be superbly useful for you.

2. A window into the US market

I do like keeping an eye on the US market, but it's not the primary focus of my research (at least not right now).

Instead, I mainly follow this market through the eyes of a few other bloggers, such as Crossing Wall Street.

The day-to-day commentary which Eddy provides through Twitter is also very valuable.

3. A different way of seeing the world

It's imperative to read content from people who do NOT share your worldview and your methodology.

Eddy looks at a lot of material that I wouldn't usually consider myself. Reading his output challenges me and broadens my outlook.

4. Humour

My own readers have requested it, but I have so far failed miserably at it. I should sprinkle more humour into my writing, and memes. Memes!

Eddy isn't a meme king, but he does circulate the occasional fun meme.

Especially at times when there is nothing else to laugh about (as during the March 2020 crash), an investment blogger who still keeps his sense of humour goes a long way.

You will find his occasional humorous side on Twitter.

Eddy's Twitter feed is a fun way to follow current market events.

5. You can beat the market for free

Over the past 14 years, Eddy's annual list of 25 stocks has gained 309%.

In comparison, the S&P 500, which is his benchmark, has only gained 247%.

Eddy's blog is free – which means that you could have beaten the market without paying a dime.

How amazing is that?

6. No ideology, no politics

Politics is currently all-permeating, and it's difficult to find publications that do not take one or the other side. I myself am guilty of that, being the active participant in the culture war that I am.

When it's not politics, it's ever-repeating themes of a similar nature. Many investment blogs are OBSESSED with the Fed, gold, or the coming depression to end all depressions.

Crossing Wall Street is almost entirely free of that.

The occasional snarky comment that is made about anything relating to politics usually fits under point #4 (humour).

7. Interesting charts

In an ideal world, I'd love to spend much more time looking at the world through charts. But my day, too, only has 24 hours.

I usually get access to (and awareness of) the most amazing charts through a bunch of people I follow. Eddy is among them, through his Twitter feed. Getting the right kinds of chart put in front of you is also a valuable service.

8. A list of oldie-but-goldie articles

Eddy keeps a list of his most popular articles. Many of them contain general investment wisdom, of the kind that you should re-read every now and again.

He also keeps a list of articles that he has written about exciting personalities from the world of investment, such as the legendary Sir John Templeton.

You can see a quick overview of these articles in the "Top Posts" section.

9. A beacon of brevity

On the whole, Crossing Wall Street errs on the side of brevity. When my telephone book-style research reports get too tedious for you, here's an alternative for you!

How to follow Crossing Wall Street

Besides his Twitter account, Eddy maintains a free weekly newsletter.

I wish there were more blogs of this kind to cover countries other than the US! Can we please have Eddy Elfenbeins for countries like the UK, France, Japan, China, Australia, and South Africa? If any young, aspiring bloggers are reading about this, do take it as your call to action.

If you don't want to invest the time and effort of following and executing Eddy's recommendations, you can let him take care of that. Eddy also needs to earn a living, and he makes fees off an ETF fund that he manages. The AdvisorShares Focused Equity ETF (ticker symbol "CWS") emulates Eddy's annual stock recommendations and currently has about USD 20m in assets. For more information, visit the fund's website or download its factsheet.

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