Portfolio Optimization: Carl Icahn Vs. T Boone Pickens Vs. Warren Buffett

By Maurice Chia:It has been raised now and then in various articles if Warren Buffett's success as an investor has been all due to skill or whether luck was involved. I like to think of Mr. Buffett as being able to manage luck skillfully. Let me illustrate what I mean. According to warren-buffett-portfolio.com, these were Mr. Buffett's security holdings as at 4 January 2012:

By Maurice Chia: Apart from tax and transaction cost advantages, ETFs can be a useful security for those who have little time for analysis and wish to have some diversification. However, it may be interesting to see how using the top 10 holdings in an ETF, such as the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI), would perform on an optimized basis.

By Maurice Chia:Optimization is about getting a better portfolio, in terms of volatility and return, given your investment universe.

By Qineqt: T Boone Pickens on Oil & Gas The Event T Boone Pickens, in a recent interview with Bloomberg, shared his projection that the price of oil (Brent) and natural gas will reach $115/barrel and $3.75/mmbtu by the year end.

Texas oil magnate T. Boone Pickens may have postponed his plans to build the world's largest wind farm in Texas, but he's come closer to accomplishing another goal: Pickens visited the nation's capitol last week to help Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), and Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) introduce a bipartisan bill designed to bring natural gas vehicles to the mainstream American market.

By Osman Gulseven: By Siraj Sarwar

By Zecco: By Paul Quintaro In recent years, many commentators have been predicting a natural gas boom in the United States. The country has frequently been called the “Saudi Arabia” of natural gas—a reference to the fact that Saudi Arabia contains a significant percentage of the world’s known oil reserves. Texas oil magnate T. Boone Pickens has been pushing to implement a national policy aimed at increased natural gas usage as far back as mid-2008.