For Father's Day, my youngest son took me to see Top Gun 2 in DFX. It's been a while since I've been in a movie theatre, and this was a movie worth doing the right way. It lived up to the hype.
He also took me to brunch and invited his girlfriend - a rare occasion that I hope becomes more common.
It's been ten years since he started working with me at Capitalogix. Here's his first professional pic and his most recent. Time flies while you are getting older!
As a father, having great kids is a double blessing. On one hand, it's nice to be proud of who your kids are and the things they do. On the other hand, it's also nice to feel proud of the small part you played in helping them become who they are. It's also my first Father's Day as a grandfather. After decades of messing with my kids, now I get to mess with a new generation!
Of course, I also look back ... and spent some time thinking about my father and his terrific influence on so many lives.
My Dad was incredibly loving. Yet, he was also incredibly demanding.
For example, after winning the State Championship in the shot put, I watched him run down from the stands. I figured he was coming down to celebrate. Instead, he looked deeply into my eyes and asked whether I was disappointed that I did not throw a personal best that day? I replied: "But Dad, I won." He smiled and recognized that winning was important too ... then he reminded me that the other throwers were not the real competition. In life, to be and do your best, the competition is really with yourself; and we both knew I could do better.
My Dad believed in setting high standards. He explained that most people's lives are defined by their minimum standards. Why? Because once those standards get met, it is easy to get distracted by other things and meeting the minimum standards for them as well.
Here is something else worth sharing; it was one of his favorite sayings. "The difference between good and great is infinitesimal." This applies to many things. For example, people who are good take advantage of opportunities; people who are great create them. The point is to set a higher standard and to have a better life.
Well, that should explain a little of the dysfunction ... but, if you can't mess up your own kids, whose kids can you mess up?
Hopefully, you had a happy Father's Day weekend.
Visualizing Oil Prices in Response to Economic Events
In the past, I've talked about where America gets its oil, and how data is more than just "the new oil".
During the worst of the pandemic, oil prices dropped almost 40%. They've now risen 216% from that pandemic low. With gas prices skyrocketing, it's probably time to look at historical oil prices.
Visual Capitalist put together a simple infographic.
So why are prices so high? Unfortunately, large portions of the world's oil reserves are in regions prone to political conflict.
Currently, the Russia-Ukraine conflict is leading to supply uncertainty and rising prices.
Meanwhile, oil companies are bringing in record profits.
Oil prices are a complicated topic because supply and demand aren't particularly responsive to price changes in the short term. Regardless of price, people need to drive. And, regardless of demand, it takes time and money to drill new oil wells.
As a result, you can see mismatches, like today, where uncertainty has raised prices, but oil companies are doing tremendously well.
The question now becomes ... where does it end? Does it take a resolution to the current conflict? Or, will prices reach a ceiling and fall back down based on other factors?
Posted at 08:17 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Ideas, Market Commentary, Trading, Trading Tools | Permalink | Comments (0)
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