If nothing else, A Random Walkwould deserve recognition for a post last week which explained in layman's terms the roots of the current financial crisis which has riven the markets with fear.
Still not quite sure why sub-prime lending has wiped a fortune off your pension fund? Don't know your mezzanine from your senior debt?
In that case A Random Walk is the blog for you. It is penned by the semi- anonymous Keith who likes to obfuscate his identity because he works for an Irish financial institution and wants to keep his personal views separate from his professional ones.
The blog has only been in existence since March this year but, purely based on the amount of comments it receives, Keith seems to be filling a need with Irish web users. In addition to providing an easy-to-follow commentary on the financial markets (which has given him plenty of material this summer), Keith also discusses personal finance, the Irish property and rental markets, and provides general good money advice in language that is not intimidating for the financially challenged among us.
Of course, as he is at pains to point out in his prominently displayed disclaimer: "Treat this blog as a source of ideas, but not advice."
Not that he doesn't ever stray into financial jargon speak, particularly on his shorter posts which seem to be written on the fly from his Blackberry, or "crackberry" as he refers to it himself.
Like many in the financial sector, he doesn't have much time for mainstream media's often over-simplistic analysis of financial matters. (In the interests of full disclosure, he includes Business This Week as one Irish financial media outlet that tends to get the big picture most of the time.)
A link in the sidebar to online bookstore Amazon, seems to suggest the name of the blog is inspired by A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel, a popular tome which outlines a "strategy for successful investing".
Netscape co-founder and serial entrepreneur Marc Andreessen has been blogging heavily about the financial markets lately and has argued that anyone interested in the tech industry or running their own firm should be doing the same.
Considering he just sold his latest venture OpsWare to HP for $1.6 billion, it is advice worth listening to.
In an Irish context, this blog would seem to fit the bill perfectly as it is unique in providing an insider's view that outsiders can easily digest.
A Random Walk - Irish Financial Blogarandomwalk.com
