The Red Ribbon is a fun video worth watching. It is a reminder that Hope, Inspiration and Passion are important catalysts to moving forward, regardless of what you do for a living.
I hope you like it.
Here is the direct link on YouTube.
-
Tough Times Call For Hope And Inspiration
The Red Ribbon is a fun video worth watching. It is a reminder that Hope, Inspiration and Passion are important catalysts to moving forward, regardless of what you do for a living.
I hope you like it.
Here is the direct link on YouTube.
-
Capitalogix Commentary 3/13/09
It's a puzzle. Is this yet another bear-market bounce, or the start of something more meaningful? It was just the second gain in 10 weeks; but the 12% rise from 12-year lows was enough to start the debate.The usually bearish, and quite well-respected, Doug Kass suggested that we might be seeing a "generational low" here. Personally, I'm skeptical. But when Doug Kass and Warren Buffet agree, I'm going to try and see what they see.
Also note that tech is leading, and the financials are doing reasonably well, right now, too. For a sustained rally, that is as it should be. Nonetheless, the proof will be in the follow-through.
With that in mind, here is a chart of the Banking Index from Bill Luby's VIX and More. It shows that we've had one-week rallies several times since August. A bigger move might be an important sign?
Also note that the major US Equity Indices are rallying into the overhead resistance created by the November lows. And that is where we start the week.
There's a joke amongst traders: The Trading Gods allow you to buy the low-tick then sell the high-tick … once. After that, you're free to do the opposite as often as you want.
Note that there is a kernel of truth in most good humor … and if you haven't seen Jim Cramer on the Daily Show, it's worth watching.
Here are a Few of the Business Posts Moving the Markets that I Found Interesting This Week:
- Global Stimulus Coordinated Effort Shot Down. (The Daily Beast)
- China’s Leader Says He Is ‘Worried’ Over U.S. Treasuries. (NYTimes)
- Outsmarting Wall Street? How Quants Tried to Model The Physics of Money. (NYTimes)
- AIG Paying $165 Million in Bonuses After Federal Bailout. (NYTimes)
And, Here are a Few More Lighter Ideas and Fun Links:
- What does one TRILLION dollars look like? (PageTutor)
- The Unsaid Reason VCs May Not Back You: Resource Efficiency (Mark Peter Davis)
- Time Management in the Age of Social Media. (BusinessWeek)
- Twitter Has A Big Month, Grows To Over 8 Million U.S. Users (SocialTimes)
-
Capitalogix Commentary 3/13/09
It's a puzzle. Is this yet another bear-market bounce, or the start of something more meaningful? It was just the second gain in 10 weeks; but the 12% rise from 12-year lows was enough to start the debate.The usually bearish, and quite well-respected, Doug Kass suggested that we might be seeing a "generational low" here. Personally, I'm skeptical. But when Doug Kass and Warren Buffet agree, I'm going to try and see what they see.
Also note that tech is leading, and the financials are doing reasonably well, right now, too. For a sustained rally, that is as it should be. Nonetheless, the proof will be in the follow-through.
With that in mind, here is a chart of the Banking Index from Bill Luby's VIX and More. It shows that we've had one-week rallies several times since August. A bigger move might be an important sign?
Also note that the major US Equity Indices are rallying into the overhead resistance created by the November lows. And that is where we start the week.
There's a joke amongst traders: The Trading Gods allow you to buy the low-tick then sell the high-tick … once. After that, you're free to do the opposite as often as you want.
Note that there is a kernel of truth in most good humor … and if you haven't seen Jim Cramer on the Daily Show, it's worth watching.
Here are a Few of the Business Posts Moving the Markets that I Found Interesting This Week:
- Global Stimulus Coordinated Effort Shot Down. (The Daily Beast)
- China’s Leader Says He Is ‘Worried’ Over U.S. Treasuries. (NYTimes)
- Outsmarting Wall Street? How Quants Tried to Model The Physics of Money. (NYTimes)
- AIG Paying $165 Million in Bonuses After Federal Bailout. (NYTimes)
And, Here are a Few More Lighter Ideas and Fun Links:
- What does one TRILLION dollars look like? (PageTutor)
- The Unsaid Reason VCs May Not Back You: Resource Efficiency (Mark Peter Davis)
- Time Management in the Age of Social Media. (BusinessWeek)
- Twitter Has A Big Month, Grows To Over 8 Million U.S. Users (SocialTimes)
-
The Twitter Tools I Use All The Time
Last week's article predicted that Twitter is likely to be in your future. In this article I'm going to share some guidelines and the best tools I've found to make your Twitter use easier and more productive.The number of third-party tools available for Twitter is one of the best indications that the service is destined to continue growing in functionality and popularity. I tried many things and settled on a few that work well. Hopefully that list will save you some time. It is at the bottom of this article.
Twitter 101: The Basics.
Twitter can be anything you want it to be. If you only want to follow a few friends and keep things very social, that's okay. On the other hand, if you want thousands of followers and the ability to drive traffic to your website, it's still okay.
I've come up with some basic guidelines that work well for me. I'll share some of them with you here.
First, you never have a second chance to make a first impression. So make a good first impression. That means choosing the right user-name and picture to support the image you want. It also means that you should fill-in your one-line bio in a way that makes people want to find-out more about you. Try to use the key words that will help people find you
using search (or choose to follow you when they look at your profile).Second, Twitter is not e-mail, and you're never going to read all of it. This was hard for me because I'm used to starting at the beginning and ending at the end. I like that kind of structure. However as the number of people you follow grows … the stream of information becomes overwhelming. It helped me to think of it as a stream. That meant I didn't have to drink all of it, but it was there for me to dip my cup into anytime I wanted.
Third, Twitter doesn't limit your ability to follow people for the first 2,000 people. For most people that means that Twitter doesn't put any practical limit on them. However, after the first 2,000 followers, Twitter restricts your ability to follow additional users using a simple guideline … you are limited to a 10% extension of your followers. So if you have 3,000 followers, then Twitter will allow you to follow up to 3,300 people. With very few exceptions, that means that I un-follow someone if they don't follow me back. A lot of people follow that rule. This brings me to the fourth rule.
Fourth, you'll end up with a lot more followers if you follow people back. Tony
Robbins and Bill Gates can get by following a dozen people and still
have 100,000 people follow them. I suspect that you and I won't be able to do
the same thing. At first, I spent a lot of time deciding whether I was
going to follow a certain person. Over time, however, I started to set
the bar much lower. It simply took too much time to filter. So now, I
follow back almost everyone, but I'm very quick to un-follow someone
whose messages are too frequent or too distracting. This was simply a
more efficient way of dealing with the practical realities of using
Twitter.Fifth, this is social media … be social. For every two or three posts, have at least one with a link to an interesting article not by you. Also, study a few of the stars, thought leaders, and examples of your target customer. Note that they have different behaviors. Then match and mirror relevant behavior (follower/followee ratio, number of posts with external links, etc.).
Hope that helps.
Here are the tools I use to make working with Twitter easier and more productive.
Browsers:
- TweetDeck: Very nice, full-featured Twitter browser application. I keep coming back to this.
- Twittelator Pro: Complete iPhone Twitter client. I tried them all, this was the best for me.
- Power Twitter: If you use Firefox, then try this add-on. It works very well.
Search:
- Twitter Search: See what's happening – right now.
- Twithority: Comprehensive and pretty Twitter search by rank, time, etc.
- Twilert: Receive e-mail updates of tweets containing your brand, name, or any keyword.
Stats:
- TwitterCounter: Great graph showing your Follower growth, top 100 lists, etc.
- TwInfluence: Measures the combined influence of a user and their followers.
- Twitalyzer: reports on relative influence, signal-to-noise ratio, generosity, velocity, & clout
- Twitter Friends: Lots of statistics about your Twitter behavior and contacts.
Looking for Trends:
- ReTweetist: Find the most popular items and people on Twitter.
- ReTweet Radar: Another trend-spotting service with Twitter word cloud.
Find and Manage Followers:
- Mr.Tweet: Very nice service that recommends followers and helps you connect with them.
- SocialToo: Reporting service shows who followed or un-followed you; lets you auto-follow back.
- Twitter Karma: Who do you follow but doesn't follow you back … and who aren't you following?
- Twollow: Auto-follow people on Twitter based on keyword matching in their posts.
Utilities:
- TwitterFeed: Easy way to send your blog's RSS feed to Twitter and other services.
- TweetBurner: Shorten & track URLs used in you posts (works with TweetDeck & Twitterfeed).
- TwitBacks: Custom Twitter background for your profile.
Finally, Here are some good posts to expand your Twitter horizons:
- Twitter in Plain English – a brief video answering the question Why? (Vimeo)
- Twitter Basics … and More! (James Dickey)
- Personal Branding with Twitter. Nice list of things to consider. (Sebastien Page)
- Finding the right Brand Voice on Twitter. Nice list to consider. (Mashable)
- Twitter Graphics for your "Follow-Me" Badge. (Sebastien Page)
- Twitter Background Images for your Profile Page. (Sebastien Page)
- Nice Twitter-related blog. (Twit Tips)
-
The Twitter Tools I Use All The Time
Last week's article predicted that Twitter is likely to be in your future. In this article I'm going to share some guidelines and the best tools I've found to make your Twitter use easier and more productive.The number of third-party tools available for Twitter is one of the best indications that the service is destined to continue growing in functionality and popularity. I tried many things and settled on a few that work well. Hopefully that list will save you some time. It is at the bottom of this article.
Twitter 101: The Basics.
Twitter can be anything you want it to be. If you only want to follow a few friends and keep things very social, that's okay. On the other hand, if you want thousands of followers and the ability to drive traffic to your website, it's still okay.
I've come up with some basic guidelines that work well for me. I'll share some of them with you here.
First, you never have a second chance to make a first impression. So make a good first impression. That means choosing the right user-name and picture to support the image you want. It also means that you should fill-in your one-line bio in a way that makes people want to find-out more about you. Try to use the key words that will help people find you
using search (or choose to follow you when they look at your profile).Second, Twitter is not e-mail, and you're never going to read all of it. This was hard for me because I'm used to starting at the beginning and ending at the end. I like that kind of structure. However as the number of people you follow grows … the stream of information becomes overwhelming. It helped me to think of it as a stream. That meant I didn't have to drink all of it, but it was there for me to dip my cup into anytime I wanted.
Third, Twitter doesn't limit your ability to follow people for the first 2,000 people. For most people that means that Twitter doesn't put any practical limit on them. However, after the first 2,000 followers, Twitter restricts your ability to follow additional users using a simple guideline … you are limited to a 10% extension of your followers. So if you have 3,000 followers, then Twitter will allow you to follow up to 3,300 people. With very few exceptions, that means that I un-follow someone if they don't follow me back. A lot of people follow that rule. This brings me to the fourth rule.
Fourth, you'll end up with a lot more followers if you follow people back. Tony
Robbins and Bill Gates can get by following a dozen people and still
have 100,000 people follow them. I suspect that you and I won't be able to do
the same thing. At first, I spent a lot of time deciding whether I was
going to follow a certain person. Over time, however, I started to set
the bar much lower. It simply took too much time to filter. So now, I
follow back almost everyone, but I'm very quick to un-follow someone
whose messages are too frequent or too distracting. This was simply a
more efficient way of dealing with the practical realities of using
Twitter.Fifth, this is social media … be social. For every two or three posts, have at least one with a link to an interesting article not by you. Also, study a few of the stars, thought leaders, and examples of your target customer. Note that they have different behaviors. Then match and mirror relevant behavior (follower/followee ratio, number of posts with external links, etc.).
Hope that helps.
Here are the tools I use to make working with Twitter easier and more productive.
Browsers:
- TweetDeck: Very nice, full-featured Twitter browser application. I keep coming back to this.
- Twittelator Pro: Complete iPhone Twitter client. I tried them all, this was the best for me.
- Power Twitter: If you use Firefox, then try this add-on. It works very well.
Search:
- Twitter Search: See what's happening – right now.
- Twithority: Comprehensive and pretty Twitter search by rank, time, etc.
- Twilert: Receive e-mail updates of tweets containing your brand, name, or any keyword.
Stats:
- TwitterCounter: Great graph showing your Follower growth, top 100 lists, etc.
- TwInfluence: Measures the combined influence of a user and their followers.
- Twitalyzer: reports on relative influence, signal-to-noise ratio, generosity, velocity, & clout
- Twitter Friends: Lots of statistics about your Twitter behavior and contacts.
Looking for Trends:
- ReTweetist: Find the most popular items and people on Twitter.
- ReTweet Radar: Another trend-spotting service with Twitter word cloud.
Find and Manage Followers:
- Mr.Tweet: Very nice service that recommends followers and helps you connect with them.
- SocialToo: Reporting service shows who followed or un-followed you; lets you auto-follow back.
- Twitter Karma: Who do you follow but doesn't follow you back … and who aren't you following?
- Twollow: Auto-follow people on Twitter based on keyword matching in their posts.
Utilities:
- TwitterFeed: Easy way to send your blog's RSS feed to Twitter and other services.
- TweetBurner: Shorten & track URLs used in you posts (works with TweetDeck & Twitterfeed).
- TwitBacks: Custom Twitter background for your profile.
Finally, Here are some good posts to expand your Twitter horizons:
- Twitter in Plain English – a brief video answering the question Why? (Vimeo)
- Twitter Basics … and More! (James Dickey)
- Personal Branding with Twitter. Nice list of things to consider. (Sebastien Page)
- Finding the right Brand Voice on Twitter. Nice list to consider. (Mashable)
- Twitter Graphics for your "Follow-Me" Badge. (Sebastien Page)
- Twitter Background Images for your Profile Page. (Sebastien Page)
- Nice Twitter-related blog. (Twit Tips)
-
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
I finally got around to reading this book, and it was worth it. This
review has links to videos and related material to help you get more
from the book. Bottom-line: It was fun and easy-to-read … with short
chapters and memorable stories that make practical points.Magic, Markets and the Mind … A Little Back-Story.
Magic fascinated me when I was younger. I loved learning new and cool illusions. There's something satisfying about seeing behind the curtain, and understanding how it works.
Now, as an adult, I'm struck with how similar that is to my fascination with understanding stock markets and trading techniques. Of course, increased skill in this area is potentially rewarding financially. But there also is something intellectually pleasing about believing you can see and understand what's really happening in the markets.
Taking that a bit further, it's not surprising that people spend so much time and money trying to understand how the mind works. Our brains didn't come with a user's manual; though sometimes it would be useful to have one to help understand why something is happening or
how to get a different result.Some aspects of my mind that truly amaze me, while other parts of my mind confound me. Have you ever asked yourself: How can someone so smart be so dumb, at the same time? I suspect that most people have.
Obviously that is why there are whole industries that help shine a light into that darkness. Whether it's through personality or temperament testing, learning to use NLP, or finding some other way for us to optimize our performance or understanding … people want insights and answers.
That is why I'm happy to review the book Predictably Irrational. It was interesting and fun; and it provides some insights worth having. Think of it as a few of the missing chapters from our Owner's Manual.
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions.
When it comes to making decisions in our lives, we think were in
control. We think we're making smart, rational choices. But are we?In a series of illuminating, often surprising experiments, Professor Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in rational ways.
His book, Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape
Our Decisions, contains an interesting mix of psychology and economics, he calls "behavioral
economics". The main point of the book is that while irrational behavior is a
part of human nature, people tend to behave irrationally in a predictable fashion.Consequently, Ariely suggests that we would be better off if we designed systems to compensate for our limitations. With that in mind, this
book can change the way you interact with the world, one decision at a
time.Why Smart People Do Dumb Things:
Blending
everyday experience with research, he explains how
expectations, emotions, social norms, and other invisible, seemingly
illogical forces skew our reasoning abilities.Not only do we make
astonishingly simple mistakes every day, we make these same types
of mistakes, repeatedly.- We consistently overpay, underestimate, and
procrastinate. - We fail to understand the profound effects of our
emotions on what we want. And - We overvalue what we already own.
Yet
these misguided behaviors are neither random nor senseless. They are
systematic and predictable – thus, making us predictably irrational.Here is a brief video that explains more about how you can use behavioral economics to combat the Predictably Irrational.
Here is the direct link to Dan's speech to Google at the @Google Talks Series.The Book Illustrates Some of the Ways We Exercise Bad Judgment in the Economics of Life.
There are a lot of interesting tidbits in this book. For example, the book explains why cautious people make poor decisions when excited, or why
you enjoy the more expensive option over its cheaper counterpart.One study in the book shows that Cheap is Good; But Free Seems Better. When asked if they’d like a 15-cent Lindt truffle or a one-cent Hershey’s Kiss, 73% of people buy the truffle. However, simply drop a penny off the price of each – so … a 14 cent truffle or a free Hershey’s Kiss – and only 31% choose the Lindt. Is eating the chocolate you don’t really want worth saving a penny? Probably not; but it is human nature.
According to Ariely, we should re-examine and re-cast our understanding of economics to reflect the systematic (and unsurprising) irrationality of human nature. Ariely argues that greater understanding of previously ignored or misunderstood forces (emotions, relativity, and social norms) that influence our economic behavior brings a variety of opportunities to better predict individual motivation and consumer choice, as well as economic and educational policies.
Other Links:
- There is a lot of good content on the Predictably Irrational Blog.
- Wikipedia has a nice summary of "Predictably Irrational" and its findings.
- Here are videos demonstrating the main topic of each book chapter.
Links to Other Speeches:
- Dan Ariely on the Psychology of Money from MIT's Media lab.
- "Predictably Irrational meets the Stock Market" by Dan Ariely.
- Here is a Keynote Address he gave at a Conference. It is interesting and a little different.
By the way, there is a whole @Google Talks Series. It is worth exploring. I especially like the Authors section.
- We consistently overpay, underestimate, and
-
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
I finally got around to reading this book, and it was worth it. This
review has links to videos and related material to help you get more
from the book. Bottom-line: It was fun and easy-to-read … with short
chapters and memorable stories that make practical points.Magic, Markets and the Mind … A Little Back-Story.
Magic fascinated me when I was younger. I loved learning new and cool illusions. There's something satisfying about seeing behind the curtain, and understanding how it works.
Now, as an adult, I'm struck with how similar that is to my fascination with understanding stock markets and trading techniques. Of course, increased skill in this area is potentially rewarding financially. But there also is something intellectually pleasing about believing you can see and understand what's really happening in the markets.
Taking that a bit further, it's not surprising that people spend so much time and money trying to understand how the mind works. Our brains didn't come with a user's manual; though sometimes it would be useful to have one to help understand why something is happening or
how to get a different result.Some aspects of my mind that truly amaze me, while other parts of my mind confound me. Have you ever asked yourself: How can someone so smart be so dumb, at the same time? I suspect that most people have.
Obviously that is why there are whole industries that help shine a light into that darkness. Whether it's through personality or temperament testing, learning to use NLP, or finding some other way for us to optimize our performance or understanding … people want insights and answers.
That is why I'm happy to review the book Predictably Irrational. It was interesting and fun; and it provides some insights worth having. Think of it as a few of the missing chapters from our Owner's Manual.
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions.
When it comes to making decisions in our lives, we think were in
control. We think we're making smart, rational choices. But are we?In a series of illuminating, often surprising experiments, Professor Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in rational ways.
His book, Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape
Our Decisions, contains an interesting mix of psychology and economics, he calls "behavioral
economics". The main point of the book is that while irrational behavior is a
part of human nature, people tend to behave irrationally in a predictable fashion.Consequently, Ariely suggests that we would be better off if we designed systems to compensate for our limitations. With that in mind, this
book can change the way you interact with the world, one decision at a
time.Why Smart People Do Dumb Things:
Blending
everyday experience with research, he explains how
expectations, emotions, social norms, and other invisible, seemingly
illogical forces skew our reasoning abilities.Not only do we make
astonishingly simple mistakes every day, we make these same types
of mistakes, repeatedly.- We consistently overpay, underestimate, and
procrastinate. - We fail to understand the profound effects of our
emotions on what we want. And - We overvalue what we already own.
Yet
these misguided behaviors are neither random nor senseless. They are
systematic and predictable – thus, making us predictably irrational.Here is a brief video that explains more about how you can use behavioral economics to combat the Predictably Irrational.
Here is the direct link to Dan's speech to Google at the @Google Talks Series.The Book Illustrates Some of the Ways We Exercise Bad Judgment in the Economics of Life.
There are a lot of interesting tidbits in this book. For example, the book explains why cautious people make poor decisions when excited, or why
you enjoy the more expensive option over its cheaper counterpart.One study in the book shows that Cheap is Good; But Free Seems Better. When asked if they’d like a 15-cent Lindt truffle or a one-cent Hershey’s Kiss, 73% of people buy the truffle. However, simply drop a penny off the price of each – so … a 14 cent truffle or a free Hershey’s Kiss – and only 31% choose the Lindt. Is eating the chocolate you don’t really want worth saving a penny? Probably not; but it is human nature.
According to Ariely, we should re-examine and re-cast our understanding of economics to reflect the systematic (and unsurprising) irrationality of human nature. Ariely argues that greater understanding of previously ignored or misunderstood forces (emotions, relativity, and social norms) that influence our economic behavior brings a variety of opportunities to better predict individual motivation and consumer choice, as well as economic and educational policies.
Other Links:
- There is a lot of good content on the Predictably Irrational Blog.
- Wikipedia has a nice summary of "Predictably Irrational" and its findings.
- Here are videos demonstrating the main topic of each book chapter.
Links to Other Speeches:
- Dan Ariely on the Psychology of Money from MIT's Media lab.
- "Predictably Irrational meets the Stock Market" by Dan Ariely.
- Here is a Keynote Address he gave at a Conference. It is interesting and a little different.
By the way, there is a whole @Google Talks Series. It is worth exploring. I especially like the Authors section.
- We consistently overpay, underestimate, and
-
It Would Be Funnier If It Wasn’t So Sad
There is a kernel of truth in most good humor. So last week I posted a clip of Jon Stewart poking fun at CNBC on the Daily Show … and it was funny. This week, Jim Cramer went on the Daily Show to defend himself … and the results are funnier, with even more kernels of truth. Here are un-edited extended versions of that interview. This is certainly worth watching.
Part 1 of the Interview.
Part 2 of the Interview.
Part 3 of the Interview.
Click here to see more of the Daily Show's and Colbert's Best Jim Cramer Moments.
-
It Would Be Funnier If It Wasn’t So Sad
There is a kernel of truth in most good humor. So last week I posted a clip of Jon Stewart poking fun at CNBC on the Daily Show … and it was funny. This week, Jim Cramer went on the Daily Show to defend himself … and the results are funnier, with even more kernels of truth. Here are un-edited extended versions of that interview. This is certainly worth watching.
Part 1 of the Interview.
Part 2 of the Interview.
Part 3 of the Interview.
Click here to see more of the Daily Show's and Colbert's Best Jim Cramer Moments.
