Earlier this week news leaked out about the fantastic year Bridgewater Associates was having.  At that time there was little indication how they had achieved their returns.  Today there is a little more light being shed on the subject.  I think it is interesting to note how a really big hedge fund like Bridgewater can outperform so dramatically.  Their thesis of a deflationary scenario played out perfectly this year with bets on higher Treasury prices, the Japanese yen and gold.  In today’s screencast we try and tease some (early) lessons from the year that was at Bridgewater.

Items mentioned in the above screencast:

Some more detail on how Bridgewater Associates killed it this year.  (WSJ)

World’s largest hedge funds.  (Market Folly)

More on Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates. (Deal Journal)

How understanding economic history paid off for Bridgewater.  (Curious Capitalist)

How does one bet on the “d-process“?  (Pragmatic Capitalism)

YTD relative performance chart of Treasuries, gold and the Japanese yen.  (StockCharts)

YTD relative performance chart of the SPY and FXI.  (StockCharts)