Capitalogix’s Blog – Page 115 – Thoughts about the markets, automated trading algorithms, technical analysis, and lots of other stuff.

Thoughts about the markets, automated trading algorithms, artificial intelligence, and lots of other stuff

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading – June 24th, 2018
Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links
Why Blockchain Isn't a Revolution. (Knowledge)

Daniel Kahneman: Four Keys to Better Decision Making.(CFAInstitute)

Mr. Rogers Had a Simple Set of Rules for Talking to Children. (The Atlantic)

Rise of the Machines: Has Technology Evolved beyond Our Control? (The Guardian)

Leader Schedules; 72% Meeting Time; 43% Priority Time; 3% Customer Time; ExO Course next Week. (Verne Harnish)
Trading Links
4 Horsemen of the Recession and Stock Market Apocalypse. (SeekingAlpha)

Blockchain beyond the Hype: What is the Strategic Business Value? (McKinsey)

Cryptocurrency Will Become a $20 Trillion Market: Billionaire Bull Mike Novogratz. (Finance)

Top Banking Takeaways from the 2018 Internet Trends Report. (TheFinancialBrand)

How Amazon Became One of Washington's Most Powerful Players. (Wall Street Journal)
June 24, 2018
Understanding the VIX

Regardless what you're trading, the VIX can be a helpful index to monitor.

The VIX is an index that's commonly known as the "fear gauge." It tracks how quickly asset prices move (or, in other words, their "volatility").

While you can't invest in it directly, you can invest in derivative products like VIX futures, ETFs, inverse ETFs and more.

The infographic below is a good primer, and you can download RCM's full whitepaper here.

VIX trading volume is increasing nicely. Meanwhile, it is also a valuable data source.

I'd love to hear how you use it.

June 24, 2018
Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading – June 17th, 2018
Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links
How to Succeed in High-Stress Situations. (Tim)

This 95-Year Stanford Study Reveals 1 Secret to Living a Longer, More Fulfilling Life. (Inc)

Robots Behaving Badly. (DataScienceCentral)

Very Stable Genius Delivers Thousands of Flamethrowers to Adoring Fans. (BGR)

Scientists Just Ranked All 50 States by Life Expectancy. the Results are Truly Stunning. (Inc)
Trading Links
U.S. Charitable Giving Hits Record at $410 Billion.(Washington Post)

The Market that Still Believes in Global Growth. (Wall Street Journal)

Cramer Tries to Decode Trump's Trade Strategies with 5 New Theories. (CNBC)

How Security Tokens are Going to Disrupt Venture Capital.(VentureBeat)

Bitcoin is Slipping after Study Claims Its 2017 Bull Run Was Driven by Market Manipulation. (BusinessInsider)
June 17, 2018
Mr. Kim Jong Un, Give Up Those Nukes!

Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un met last week in Singapore. At the meeting, Donald shared a four-minute movie trailer called "A Story of Opportunity for North Korea"

I was a little surprised by the video clip that Trump brought with him. I don't normally think about diplomacy and videos. But, it is a new world.

It depicts a brighter future for North Korea in the event of a nuclear deal. It also presents a stark choice to Kim … trade in your nuclear weapons for a peace deal with the U.S., or don't and you'll be decimated.

Was it me, or does the video seem strangely reminiscent of a pitch you might receive for a real estate deal or a timeshare?

It's worth a watch.

Was the intended audience Kim Jong Un, American voters, or the World?

Did it remind you of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev?

It will be interesting to see the results of the movie … and this meeting.

What did you think?

June 17, 2018
Some Father’s Day Weekend Reflections

My adult son took me to see a Pixar movie and for a Philly Cheesesteak (in Texas) today for Father's Day.

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.

In addition, this weekend, I spent some time thinking about my father and what a terrific influence he had 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.

June 17, 2018
The Value of Traditional Education: A Brutally Honest Graduation Speech

It seems like more and more of my peers have found paths to their success in the unconventional routes. The zeitgeist is shifting away from traditional education and it has many people doubting the need for a secondary degree.

Ultimately, many of my peers would argue that traditional education methods currently prioritize memorization and performance on standardized tests degree functional real-world knowledge that helps you make and keep a living.

You'd expect a valedictorian to disagree or defend his education, but this 2016 Valedictorian went a different route.

His speech starts:

"As much as I would like to say that I was chosen because of my hard work, dedication, and intellect … I would be far from truthful in doing so, as I have met and studied alongside individuals more diligent and talented than myself in the past 4 years.

Here is the full speech:

Unfortunately, today, the climb towards the upper quartiles of education is more like playing a game than striving to learn, and lower quartile students have very little reason to apply and better themselves. For teachers, funding is based on grades and standardized tests, which encourages rote memorization. For students, success is meeting or exceeding minimum standards.

I loved my college experience and felt I learned a lot, but did I learn because of the educational system or because I'm someone who is passionate about learning?

In the past, universities were the only path to knowledge, but online educational methods like Youtube, Udemy, Coursera, etc. make information and education accessible to everyone.

Degrees aren't as helpful in obtaining jobs and they're not the only path to being successful or educated … so what role do they play?

Personally, I still believe a College degree is valuable – especially as you talk about B.S. and graduate degrees. I also feel it's less of a necessity, today, than ever before. I don't doubt the value of education as an ideal – and think everyone would benefit from being more educated – but there's a difference between "education" and "an education."

What do you think it would take to increase the value of "an education" both to students and to the workforce?

June 10, 2018
The Most Iconic Job In Your State Is …

Howmuch gathered data from the Occupational Employment Statistics Survey and compiled it into a list of iconic jobs per state. It also tells you the average pay for that position and what percentage of those jobs that state holds. Their analysis uses something called the location quotient to capture how common something is in a given location.

For example – 50% of jobs in Texas aren't Petroleum Engineers, but Texas does contain over 50% of America's Petroleum Engineers.

via HowMuch

New Jersey's iconic job is Shampooer ($19,440) … kinda sad. Hopefully, your state's iconic job was better.

June 10, 2018
Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading – June 10th, 2018
Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links
These are the Most Polarizing Presidents (And How Donald Trump Compares). (Cheatsheet)

Taking a Photo of Something Impairs Your Memory of It, but the Reasons Remain Largely Mysterious. (Digest)

This is the Most Expensive Reason People Go to the Hospital in the U.S. (Cheatsheet)

Ontario Judge Finds Woman Guilty of Distracted Driving for Looking at Apple Watch. (MacRumors)

FBI Agent Loses His Gun during Dance-floor Backflip, Accidentally Shoots Bar Patron. (CNN)
Trading Links
World's Biggest AI Startup Raises $1.2 Billion in Mere Months. (Bloomberg)

How Jeff Bezos Became the Richest Person in the World.(Thegadgetflow)

Will Microsoft Buy Netflix? (Fool)

Uber Turned down a $3 Billion Investment from Warren Buffett. That's Good News for UberReally. (Fortune)

12 New Tech Trends that VC Investors Say Will Completely Change Life and Business in the next Four Years.(BusinessInsider)
June 10, 2018
Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading – June 3rd, 2018
Here are some of the posts that caught my eye recently. Hope you find something interesting.

Lighter Links
Trading Links
- RANKED: the 10 Biggest Hedge Funds in the US.(BusinessInsider)
- The Finance to Value Framework. (AVC)
- Is Google an (Illegal) Monopoly? (Ritholtz)
- Behavioral Economics from Nuts to Nudges'. (Review)
- Welcome to the Automated Warehouse of the Future.(TheVerge)
June 3, 2018
A Night in New York With Dr. Doom

I made a quick trip to New York this week.

As much as I travel, the uniqueness of the city still caught my eye. It almost looked like a movie set.

It is the beginning of summer. Throngs of people were out and about. The outfits were different and trendier. There is just a different pace and pulse here. Seemingly, something cool is happening everywhere.

For example, last night I got invited to a party. The rules were that for the first hour it would be first names only, no discussion of what you do, etc. Part of the fun was figuring out who was there and why they were special.

Here's a peek at what it looked like at the gathering.

Turns out it was at Nouriel Roubini's home.

Fascinating evening.

Nouriel Roubini's predictions have earned him the nicknames "Dr. Doom" and "permabear" in the media. He predicted the housing bubble crash in 2007-2008, and has extensively studied the collapse of emerging economies.

Dr. Doom is bearish on Italy on fears it will leave the EuroZone … and bullish on AI, Big Data, and the Internet-of-Things. Me too!

Watch the debate between crypto-hater Nouriel Roubini and Ethereum Co-Founder Joe Lubin . If you are interested in crypto-currencies or Blockchain, then this will be very interesting.

Fluidity Summit via Youtube

June 3, 2018