Capitalogix

Some Thanksgiving Thoughts: Be Thankful for Your Challenges

Happy Thanksgiving!

My children came to town, and we continued our tradition of spending time together watching some football.

 

 

Thanksgiving is a great time to be thankful. Yet, human nature often makes this difficult.

Many times, when I think about what I want, the first thing I think of is what I don't want. Similarly, when I think about what's going well (or something worthy of being thankful for), I first think about what has been difficult or isn't yet to the standard I hoped for.

Challenges are often hidden gold mines. Instead of thinking about them being obstacles for you, recognize that getting past them creates an obstacle for competitors. In other words, figuring out a strategy to achieve these lofty goals creates a new status quo and a sustainable competitive advantage.

At Capitalogix, we often talk about "finding a way," "creating breakthroughs," and "setting new standards."  The reason is that most things an innovator wants are just outside their current capabilities (otherwise they'd already have them).  

Dealing with this on a daily basis requires a resilient mindset and the ability to be comfortable being uncomfortable. 

Having no problems means you aren't playing a big enough game (which is a problem in itself).  

I am thankful to face a continually better class of challenges that forges a path to bigger future.

What about you?

A Minority of Stocks Are Responsible for the Majority of the Market’s Gains

Here is an interesting chart that shows the expectancy of returns for individual stocks.  Given the historically upward trend of Indices, the data isn't as favorable as I assumed.

 

via ValueWalk.

Here are some key take-aways:

• The mean compounded annual return for all issues was negative.  
• About two-thirds of all stocks had a compounded annual return of less than 10%.
• Moreover, 39% of all stocks had a negative lifetime total return. 

It points to the importance of risk control, sensible diversification, and the ability to ride your winners.  Wait, that is the foundation of successful investing ... isn't it?

Note:  The data for the chart covers all common stocks that traded on the NYSE, AMEX, and NASDAQ since 1983, including delisted stocks, with a few filters.

Here Are Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving weekend.  Times may change, but human nature doesn't.  There is a lot to be thankful for anyway!

 

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

 

Lighter Links:

• CEOs On Their 'Best Mistakes'. (Business Insider)
• The Best Leaders Are Constant Learners. (HBR)
• How AI is Transforming Business [Infographic]. (Deloitte)
• How Salad Can Make Us Fat. (NYTimes)
• Research: Life Is Different For People Who Think In Metaphors. (Psych)

 

Trading Links:

• Jack Bogle: Greatly Diminished Stock Returns Ahead. (CBS)
• U.S. Dethroned as World's Billionaire Capital. (CNBC)
• IMF Seen Approving Yuan As "Reserve Currency". (ZeroHedge)
• The Man Accused of Spoofing Some of the World's Biggest Futures Exchanges. (Bloomberg)
• These Numbers Explain Why Amazon Wants to Give So Much Free Stuff to Prime Members. (BI)

Will the Rally Continue? The S&P 500 Index Is Approaching All-Time Highs

The S&P 500 Index is coming into resistance (which is looming large) near all-time highs.

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via StockCharts.com.

On the other hand, the Index is nicely above support, and back above its 200-day moving average.

 

Meanwhile, a growing number of issues are back above their 200-day moving averages. Click here to see a live chart of that.

This is a seasonally good time of year for a breakout move like that to happen.

Worth watching.

Here Are Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

My desire to be well-informed is currently at odds with my desire to remain sane.

 

David Sipress, via The New Yorker. 

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

 

Lighter Links:

• The Lean Startup’s Core Message: Don’t Bullshit Yourself. (G.A.)
• The Science of Sounding Smart. (HBR)
• Daniel Kahneman on Intuition and the Outside View. (CompoundingInterests)
• The NFL’s Most Expensive (and Cheapest) Tickets. (24/7 WallSt)
• Gregg Popovich to succeed Mike Krzyzewski as Team USA Olympic Coach. (YN)

 

Trading Links:

• Why VCs Don’t Invest In 'Good' Companies. (VentureBeat)
• Robert Shiller on Why the Tech Bubble Shouldn’t Scare Us. (MIT Tech Review)
• Amazon's Cloud Business Is Worth At Least $70 Billion. (ReadWrite)
• Amazon's Jeff Bezos Now 5Th-Richest Person in the World. (Geekwire)
• What is the Right Allocation Percent to Alternatives? (RCM's Attain Alternatives Blog)

Have You Seen the New Surcharge Being Added to Restaurant Bills in San Francisco?

Last week, I spent some time in San Francisco for meetings.

At lunch, I saw something new.  They're adding a 5% surcharge to offset "the cost of doing business in San Francisco."

 

 

They didn't simply raise the prices. The prices are the prices ... Then they add a surcharge.

Pretty Bold!

Here Are Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

Don't ask how I know, but, never laugh at your wife's choices.  Remember, you are one of them.

 

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

 

Lighter Links:

• 6 Ways Work Will Change In 2016. (FastCompany)
• What Peter Drucker Had to Say About Automation. (HBR)
• Japan is Building a “Robot Taxi” Service, With Thousands Planned for the 2020 Olympics. (QZ)
• Is Classical Music Irrelevant? Can It Survive The Death Of Its Listeners? (TM)
• Pretty Scary - How Close Did We Come to a US-Soviet War During the Cold War? (BI)

 

Trading Links:

• Hedge-Fund Priest: Thou Shalt Make Money. (Wall Street Journal)
• When Botox Meets Viagra: Allergen & Pfizer in Merger Talks. (LATimes)
• Even If Only for a Moment, Someone Leapfrogged Gates as World's Richest. (ValueWalk)
• Money Managers Go on Offense Against Speed Traders. (Bloomberg)
• The Trust Machine: The Technology Behind Bitcoin Could Transform How the Economy Works. (Economist)

The Fed: How To Make $3 Trillion Disappear

After the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve created $3 trillion dollars. The goal was to try and keep the economy from collapsing. Now, as the economy recovers, the Fed is trying to figure out the best way to make that money vanish.

The Fed can usually just change the numbers in their system ... and, "Poof," the money is gone.

This time, they’ll need a new trick.

 

 via ValueWalk.

Here is how the Fed plans to make trillions of dollars disappear. 

Barack Obama Singing Michael Jackson's Thriller [Video]

This came out around Halloween.  I decided to post it because I've thought about it several times since.

It is a compilation or Obama clips that come together in a way that makes them sound like  he is performing Michael Jackson's "Thriller".

 

 

 via YouTube.

Clever and well-done.

 

Here Are Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

Here is a low-tech solution to a high-tech problem.

 

Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.

 

Lighter Links:

• Books That Will Completely Change How You Think About Work. (ReadersRead)
• Playboy to Stop Publishing Images of Nude Women. (Mashable)
• Broadband is a “Core Utility” Like Electricity, Says White House. (ArsTechnica)
• The American story of Adderall. (Timeline)
• Chipgate: How to Tell If Your iPhone 6S Has a Crappy A9 Chip. (CultOfMac)

 

Trading Links:

• Futures Giants Warn of 'Disappearing' Hedging Market. (EFN)
• Exclusive Club: No High-Frequency Traders Allowed at Luminex. (WSJ)
• In New York, a Day's Work Will Buy an iPhone. In Kiev, It Takes 13 Weeks. (FastCo)
• China Drops One Child Policy to Counter Aging Population. (Reuters)
• A Massive Chinese Industry Is Flashing Warning Signs that the World Cannot Ignore. (Insider)