Do
you want sprouts with that? A former McDonald's boss would like to welcome
you to his new restaurant. No butter, cream, white flour, or additives. (Wired)
The iPhone 5 is cutting edge … and Siri is getting smarter. Too bad it can't answer the tough questions. Here's a cartoon that imagines what would happen if asked "Can the economy be fixed in the current political climate?"
Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.
While talking with traders, one of the topics that keeps coming up is how much the markets and trading have changed recently.
One
of the primary catalysts to such change has been the amount and
frequency of government intervention and stimulus. Another big driver of
change has been the massive shift to algorithmic or program trading.
Recently, the piece of this getting the most press and attention
is high-frequency trading.
Below is an interesting video where Mark Cuban, Dallas Mavericks
owner and high-profile entrepreneur, shares some thoughts about why high-frequency trading
terrifies him.
Here is the video. The market related comments start about 30 seconds into the clip.
Some people may watch that video and assume that
high-frequency trading is a bad thing, or something to be regulated and minimized. However, there is another side to the argument.
Let me digress for a moment. If I talked to an entrepreneur, and asked them what the biggest constraint on their business was … some might say it's the Obama administration and their policies. This is absurd, because they don't have any control (or at least meaningful control) of that supposed constraint. Instead, that is simply a "reality" of the current competitive environment for them and others.
What that means is the thing they control is how they respond to that competitive environment. For some, what they perceive limits their options or thwarts their strategies. For others, it is a catalyst for new action, new strategies, and new ways to win.
So, why is Cuban afraid of high-frequency trading? First, he believes we are likely to see another "flash crash". Second, an increasing percentage of market action is a result of algorithms trying to outsmart algorithms (and he recognizes that the decisions they are making happen faster than humans can respond to our comprehend). As a result, human intervention isn't the answer because any actions would occur too late.
Some people recognize the advantage algorithmic traders are gaining and seek to weaken it (or at least slow it down), while others pull their money out of the market because of their disadvantage and the new risk. Contrast that with those that see the advantage and try to figure out how to extend it or get some of it for themselves.
It's like most things in life, it's not as much about what happens, it's about what you do.
If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.
Are you confused? At this point, we've been exposed to so many conflicting ideals and "facts" that it's hard to know anything.
For example, if I asked you "Who was the smallest spending president since Eisenhower?" – What was the first name that came to your mind? Did you guess Barack Obama? Well, according to this Forbes article, that may be the correct answer.
In a situation like this, many dispense with facts in favor of beliefs.
As a trader, I believe the market tips his hand by showing how it responds to news. When good news is met with selling, that tells you something. However, when bad news is met with price surges, that tells you something very different.
In this case, the US equity markets are at highs they haven't seen in a decade, despite facing more than a little geopolitical, economic, and political instability.
Doesn't your gut tell you we've seen the low for the year? Isn't there part of you (that wants to argue with your better judgment) saying "Don't fight the Fed" … ?
It is entirely possible that markets rally hard into the election.
I may not have facts, but sometimes it's easier to hold beliefs than Hope.
Have you ever seen a funny photo that was captured just before a "something bad" happens? The tag-line is usually something like … "This isn't going to end well". Here's an example.
The photo is funny unless you're the guy about need a dentist.
In related news, a giant debt clock was featured at the Republican Convention. Why? To capture the moment our national debt crosses the $16 Trillion dollar level.
To give you some context for this issue, here is an interactive U.S. Debt Clock.
Click the picture and you'll see a version that updates in real-time. There are a number of very cool features and facts (including a "time machine" to rewind the clock to a prior date, so you can compare what happened since then).
One year ago, on August 24, 2011, Apple announced the resignation of Steve Jobs as CEO and named Tim Cook his successor. Questions as to whether Apple would continue to thrive without its iconic CEO Jobs immediately surfaced.
One year later, it can be said that Tim Cook did a very good job, given the enormous footsteps he had to fill. During his first year as CEO, Apple’s stock price climbed 77 percent and Apple became the most valuable company in the world.
Interestingly, in the first 12 months after Steve Jobs had been named interim CEO of Apple in September 1997, Apple’s stock also soared more than 70 percent. The obvious difference being that Apple was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1997 and Jobs managed to turn the company around.
Tim Cook didn’t need to turn anything around but he managed to keep the company where it was when he took over: on top. That’s not too bad an accomplishment to start with.
Further, the big patent case win will shape the competitive landscape for years to come … onward.
