As Trump's Presidency starts, I thought it made sense to get an overview of alternative investment options.
via CoInvest.
That reminded me of something else I'd seen recently … Check out this Periodic Table of Elements that shows what they're commonly used for.
via Discover
Pretty interesting – It gives you some insight into what it takes to keep the world running.
If you ask nicely, perhaps they'll name an element after you?
The election was very interesting to me.
While Hillary Clinton deftly followed the wisdom of Napoleon: “Never interfere with the enemy when he is in the process of destroying himself.” It didn't work.
I believe Trump’s success is a direct result of a broader collective dissatisfaction and negative mood trend in America.
As unlikely as the outcome was, socioeconomics explains it well.
Socionomics is the study of how social mood motivates social actions. It studies how waves of social mood regulate changes in social behavior, including changes in the economy, political preferences, financial markets and popular culture.
Last year, if you told me 2016 would be the year that: the Cubs would win the world series, a reality TV show host would be president, and Britain would leave the EU, I'd have assumed you were on drugs.
Even three months ago I would have been surprised.
Last week, MogIA, an AI, predicted that Donald Trump would win, making it 4 for 4. If you had been tracking the polls, that would have felt ridiculous, but computers can be more objective than you or me.
Trump's campaign was a polarizing affair, with massive backlash from liberals, and a mainstream media which almost completely missed the momentum Trump had.
There're massive parallels between the way the media reported this campaign, and what happened with Brexit. The media echo chamber was pro-Clinton and ended up ignoring the feelings of a large group of voters. In Britain it was the elderly … in America, it was working-class white people.
Trump won swing states like Pennsylvania and Michigan in large part due to those voters feeling ignored and attacked by Clinton. Coal and Gas are their livelihoods, and efforts towards clean renewable energy could leave them jobless.
Think of all the moving pieces that had to align for Trump to get this far. Look at the candidates in the Republican primary, look at what happened with the Democratic primary, and look at voter turnout:
via Reddit
If "Did Not Vote" was a candidate, they would have won by a landslide.
But, people did vote – and the result is change.
So, what do you think the effect will be on America and our stock market, long term under Trump?
via Finviz
Leading into the final days of the election, you can see a steep drop in markets. Uncertainty often has that effect on a market, but since Trump's election, there's been a rebound.
In fact, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was able to set an all-time high.
As well, Putin has expressed interest in restoring ties with the U.S. It will be interesting to see the effects of this on the geopolitical environment.
If there's anything to learn from this experience, it's that trying to time the market is dangerous, and that ignoring dissidents makes you out of touch and vulnerable.
On a lighter note, here's the President-elect, Donald Trump, wrestling at Wrestlemania 23. He's a regular Ronald Reagan.
As the country enters its decision zone, the S&P 500 Index is at one too.
Here is a chart that shows we are at a major support-resistance zone.
via StockCharts.com.
We just saw a long string of down days. U.S. stocks just posted their longest slide since 1980 (nine straight days).
Regardless of what happens here, I expect volatility.
What about you?
Well, the Election Season is almost over!
via Time Magazine.
It has been a crazy last few weeks. Who do you think will win?
More importantly, what do you expect to happen?
Pic
This summer, South Carolinians started seeing menacing clowns in the woods.
As a response to clown hysteria,Target pulled clown masks from shelves , McDonalds scaled down use of Ronald McDonald, and people everywhere have been in a fervor.
Not everyone has been affected negatively though … Surprisingly (to me), Pornhub has seen a massive increase in clown related searches.
via TNW
There you have it … hard data.
2016 continues to surprise … Celebrities dying, phones exploding, the election, and this.
It will be interesting to see how 2016 ends, and what the future brings.
The world changes, but human nature remains relatively constant.
Thought this was clever. It shows how different capabilities combine to form specialties.
via Drew Conway.
The second diagram adds one element (and some descriptive 'color') to the combinations.
via Joel Grus.
I think this helps explain a lot.
I just got an e-mail note from my son. Thought it was worth sharing.
From: Ben Getson
Date: Saturday, October 22, 2016 at 7:09 PM
To: Howard Getson
Subject: FYI: Security StuffFYI – I just got an alert that my email address and my Gmail password were available to be purchased online.
I only use that password for my email, and I have 2-factor enabled, so I'm fine. Though this is further proof that just about everything is hacked and available online.
If you don't have two-factor enabled on your accounts, you really need to do it.
Consider yourself warned.
Recent polls suggest that Trump has less than a 15% chance to win. Makes you wonder how much the media influenced that …
Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.
A little iconic wordplay. Let’s call this “Trump Has A Potty-Mouth”.
Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.
Hurricane Matthew hit the east coast this week. It was the strongest storm we've weathered in 12 years (with 125 mph winds).
As a trader, I've often thought that weather and market conditions share similarities. As a result, the techniques used to understand and predict them are similar.
Have you heard the term "Eye of the Storm"? Well, in the context of Hurricane Matthew, it went directly over a weather buoy (Station #42058).
The chart is interesting. Imagine being a person observing the storm. It builds, and builds until you don't think it can get much worse. Then, it appears to stop. You can breathe. You can see. You relax … Then it comes back faster than before. Your nerves and reserves were already diminished. So, it is worse.
via NDBC.
Similarly, it's easy to mistake the eye of the storm (in a major market move) for a sign of safety and opportunity.
I remember 2008. Storms like that caused many to buy wrong and sell wrong.
Humans see clear skies and walk outside. Perhaps we can teach the computer to know better (or at least to measure and recognize what is happening better).
