Capitalogix

Here a Few Links for Your Weekend Reading Enjoyment

My week flew by.  Meetings, site visits, too many business meals at restaurants seemingly conspiring to make a 300 pounder out of me.

 

Here are some of the links that caught my eye or attention ... hope you find something interesting.

Business Posts Moving the Markets that I Found Interesting This Week:

• Why Record Corporate Profits Might Not Be Good for the U.S. Economy. (Slate)
• "Something's Brewing" Behind These Fascinating Financial Times. (HL)
• 24 Signs Warning Something Is Wrong With Our Economy. (BusinessInsider)
• Hong Kong & Singapore Closing in on NY as Dominant Hedge-Fund Hub. (efinance)
• Creative Destruction: Japan and the Economics of Natural Disasters. (NewYorker)
• More Posts Moving the Markets.

Lighter Ideas and Fun Links that I Found Interesting This Week

• Four Reasons Any Action Is Better than None. Makes Sense. (HBR)
• Genetically Modified Cows Produce 'Human' Milk. (Telegraph)
• College Grants for Vegans? Students Tap Unusual Sources for Financial Aid. (WSJ)
• Why the Cloud Is Actually the Safest Place for Your Data. (Mashable)
• Guess Who Doesn't Tweet? 87% name recognition, But Only 7% Use It. (MediaPost)
• More Posts with Lighter Ideas and Fun Links.

 

Gold Has Been Glittering, But Silver Has Had a Stronger Move

Gold continues to receive the headlines, yet silver is really moving.

Bespoke posted a chart that highlights how remarkable silver's run has been.

 

Had you invested $100 in silver ten years ago today, your investment would now be worth $1,037.  A $100 investment in gold would be worth about half that at $569, and a $100 investment in the stock market (S&P 500) would be worth just $107.48.

Here is what Jim Rogers thinks about silver's move.

 

 

 

For more on that, here is a link to an article where he reminds that parabolic moves always collapse.

 

Related articles

• Making Sense of Gold's Strength and Goldman's Weakness (businessinsider.com)
• Jimmy Rogers on Gold and Silver - Worry About Silver If It Gets to Triple Digits This Year (jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com)
• Visualizing the Gold-silver Relationship (pragcap.com)

Do You Get Too Much E-Mail? Here's How to Handle it.

Auto-Mate is a Microsoft Outlook add-in that automatically organizes your inbox and other mail folders. It  makes it easy for you to focus on the items that are important or related to a topic you choose.

Do you get too much e-mail?

I'm amazed at the volume of information that passes through my inbox. It's a challenge to figure out what's important, what's relevant, and what deserves time and attention.

That's where Auto-Mate shines. It watches your message traffic and takes action based on the rules and filters you've enabled.  Pergenex ships Auto-Mate with many pre-built tools and templates. In addition, it's easy to customize based on the way that you work and use mail. For example, it will automatically create folders for any contact that you have corresponded with, or it can put your mail into folders based on years and months.

Personally, I use a different organization structure than that.  I prefer to sort items based on topics. So, I have a categories for business, hedge funds, family, internal company matters, etc.

Here's an example of a screenshot of my folder structure. I've taken a before and after snapshot. Notice how many items are in my inbox versus the topic folders. The Auto-Mate rule engine puts things where they should be, so you can spend your time more efficiently and effectively.

 

Why You Should Use Auto-Mate.

Outlook comes with a pretty powerful rule engine itself. Auto-Mate extends these capabilities significantly. Some of the ways that Auto-Mate is better include the number of rules you can store and manage, the types of activities, actions, and exceptions you can use to customize your workflow. 

Another key benefit is that Pergenex lets you take different action based on time.  That means Auto-Mate lets you run a rule on a particular message that has been in a certain folder for a certain period of time. 

For example, I use my inbox as a point of focus … when I get an e-mail from someone important (like a direct report, key stakeholder, family member, accountant, or advisor), I want it to stay in the inbox for a period of time (so that I notice it, pay attention to it, and deal with it).  However, if it's there for over a week, then it makes sense for this program to automatically file it in the appropriate folder. That's just one example of how these rules keep your inbox as a productivity tool rather than a distraction.

Here are some examples of what you can do with Auto-Mate.

• You can create an unlimited number of rules and organize them how you want.
• You can also easily to update your rules when it makes sense to do so.
• Not only can you run rules when new mail arrives or when new mail is sent, but you can also run rules "on demand" or in the background to perform general cleanup and archiving.
• Speaking of archiving, Auto-mate can easily reduce your mailbox storage size by extracting attachments and saving them to your hard disk or a network folder. It even leaves a link in your email messages so you can easily re-open the attachment.

 In addition, there are many features for advanced users, from auto-responders, auto-printing of certain messages, auto-compressing attachments in messages, and even executing other programs.

Best of all, it works reliably and does great job.  All in all, this is a well-designed tool and worth a try.

Here's a link to download a copy for yourself.

Twin Toddlers 'Talking' Video - A Communication You Don't Want to Miss

As traders watch the market, they are looking for clues.  And when they are in-phase with what happens, they think the market speaks to them.  Is it in-depth knowledge ... or nonsense?

Here is video of twin toddlers 'talking'. Is it an in-depth conversation ... or nonsense?  You be the judge.

Video: Twin Baby Boys Have In-Depth Discussion

Clearly ... a great way to communicate.

 

Related articles

• Twin Babies Talking, As Acted By Adult Men in Diapers (neatorama.com)
• Toddler Twins: Secret Language or Babble? (well.blogs.nytimes.com)

Here a Few Links for Your Weekend Reading Enjoyment

Looking for something to read?  Here are some ideas.

Business Posts Moving the Markets that I Found Interesting Recently:

• Man vs. Machine on Wall Street - How Computers Beat the Market. (Atlantic)
• 5 Lies That Economists Are Feeding Us. (Money)
• If Regulation Didn't Kill IPOs ... What Did?  (Fortune)
• Don’t Believe the Chart - Is the US Dollar Dropping Like a Stone? (ZeroHedge)
• NSA Investigating Nasdaq Hack. Was a Nation-State Involved?  (Wired)
• More Posts Moving the Markets.

Lighter Ideas and Fun Links that I Found Interesting Recently:

• What if Peter Drucker Taught Enterprise 2.0 Strategy? (SlideShare)
• Several Things You Can Learn from Tim Ferriss about Power. (HarvardBizReview)
• Meet the Billionaires Who Tweet: Here's what they have to say ...  (Forbes)
• A Study You Can Use:  Infrequent Sex May Raise Risk Of Heart Attack. (NPR)
• A Collection of 60 Completely Unusable Stock Photos. (BuzzFeed)
• More Posts with Lighter Ideas and Fun Links.

Some Thoughts on the Budget and Government Spending

This graphic highlights some of what is wrong with political discourse.

 

So, the government avoided a shut-down.  Is that a good or bad thing? 

Understanding the Scope of the Budget Deficit.

What were they really fighting about?

Philip Greenspun puts the the budget deficit into easier-to-grasp context: just divide everything by 100,000,000.

• We have a family that is spending $38,200 per year.
• The family’s income is $21,700 per year.
• The family adds $16,500 in credit card debt every year in order to pay its bills.
• After a long and difficult debate among family members, keeping in mind that it was not going to be possible to borrow $16,500 every year forever, the parents and children agreed that a $380/year premium cable subscription could be terminated.
• So now the family will have to borrow only $16,120 per year.

If you are a visual thinker, here is different way to look at it.

Government Shutdown Averted - Fiscal Crisis Assured!

I saw this video and thought it made some interesting points .

 

 

For a different perpective, you can watch the introduction video released by a new political movement called the Win+Win Revolution. 

We do live in interesting times.

A Business Book Based On The Story of Passover

Passover is this week, so Jewish people are once again getting ready to teach the story of Exodus to their children.  This happens during the meal featured in DaVinci's Last Supper.

Part of the tradition is to present the information in way tailored to the audience.  For example, the wise child, the wicked child, the simple child and the child unable to ask ... each perceive the story and how it relates to them differently.

Coincidently, I just read an interesting book, written by a friend of mine, that weaves the archetypical learners in the Passover Seder into a business fable about communication and persuasion.

The book talks about how you tailor your message to those four personality types.  For example, a business might look at creating different messages for wise, cynical,  simple and disinterested buyers.

The book's title, "ROAR!", is an acronym for the persuasion model:

• Recognize the type;
• Observe from their perspective;
• Acknowledge who they are;
• Resolve their need.

The book also provides a strong approach to bringing empathy and differentiation into your value proposition.  This is equally important in an elevator pitch or tough conversation with a stakeholder.

It’s pretty good stuff and something worth thinking about.  You can check out a video and a couple free chapters here.

Related articles

• A Guide to the Passover Seder (tjantunen.com)
• Diner's Journal: A Passover Playlist From JoeDoe (dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Passover 101 (npr.org)

Video Captures Obama's Favorite Catch-Phrases

‘Make no mistake,’ Obama is a big fan of his own catchphrases.

This video shows that there’s no mistaking it: “Make no mistake” is President Obama’s favorite catchphrase.

  

Statistics gathered by the Global Language Monitor reveal that Obama has said it 2,924 times since he was sworn into office more than two years ago.

Other signature Obama sayings include: "Win the future" (1,861 times),  “Here’s the deal” (1,450 times), and “Let me be clear,” (1,066 times). In a nod to the tough financial times he has faced, the president’s fifth most popular motto is “It will not be easy” (1,059 times).

 

Related articles

• Charlie Sheen To Copyright His Phrases (now100fm.radio.com)
• Obama Begins Bid for 2012 Re-Election With Video and E-Mail (businessweek.com)

Here a Few Links for Weekend Reading

Business Posts Moving the Markets that I Found Interesting This Week:

• ETFs to Top 2nd $ Trillion in 3 Years; it took 18 years to get the 1st. (STM)
• Market Confidence, Tricks and Placebos. (PsyFiTec)
• Is Apple On Target For Its First $100 Billion Revenue Year? (Forbes)
• McDonald's to hire 50,000 workers, starting April 19th. (Money)
• Data Guru Warns of Future 'Bots Hacking the Markets. (Barrons)
• More Posts Moving the Markets.

Lighter Ideas and Fun Links that I Found Interesting This Week

• 6 Questions to Uncover Intellectual Capital in Your Business. (HighSpot)
• How China and Others Are Altering Web Traffic. (TechReview)
• OMG! Oxford English Dictionary Adds LOL to its Pages. (Wired)
• The World's Biggest Family? 39 wives, 94 children and 33 grandchildren. (DailyMail)
• Time to Get Rid of $1 Bills? Ditching Paper Money Could Save Billions. (TheWeek)
• More Posts with Lighter Ideas and Fun Links.

Are Cracks Starting to Show in the Rally's Foundation?

Newsweek had a great cover:  "Apocalypse Now". Think about it, Tsunamis, Earthquakes, Nuclear Melt-Downs, Revolutions, Governments on the Verge of Shutting-Down ...

And, yet, despite a cavalcade of horrors ... the markets have held up well.

Is This as Good as it Gets?

Barron's notes:

Having snagged its best first quarter since 1998, the U.S. stock market began April on a hopeful, if hesitant, note, encouraged by evidence that our economy is improving, but a little fearful that this may be as good as it gets.

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average nudged briefly above its recent February peak to reach its highest level in nearly three years, effectively brushing aside recent concerns such as high oil prices, flailing European banks and disruptions in the wake of Japan's disaster that had so alarmed investors mere weeks earlier.

Are Cracks Starting to Show in the Rally's Foundation?

Bloomberg posted a chart showing the bull market move put in by the S&P 500 Index.  Note, however, the dwindling volume of shares traded, especially since prices rebounded off lows earlier this year.

 

Barry Ritholz notes "Fed induced rallies tend to be liquidity, not conviction driven. Thus, the anemic volume".

Breadth is Starting to Show Signs of Fatigue as Well. 

The following chart shows the percent of stocks trading above their 50-Day Moving Averages.

 

 
In strong markets, this indicator goes up as price rises.  However, as the market rally loses momentum, this indicator starts tracing-out lower highs.

So what do you do?  With the charts shown above and QE2 is supposedly ending in June ... price is still the primary indicator.  Until sellers show up with conviction, the liquidity rally is likely to continue.