Is it Oil? Try to name a country that hasn't been reliant on it to survive.
OK, then what about water?
Nonetheless, arguably, a new commodity has taken over. In our new digital era, the #1 commodity is data. And countries (and businesses and people) are becoming even more reliant on it.
Consequently, some of the new tech titans – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft – have an unprecedented amount of data (and power).
The new tech titans also make a massive amount of money. According to the Economist, they collectively made over $25 billion in net profit in Q1 2017.
With those titans controlling so much of the industry, they're facing calls for them to be broken up, as Standard Oil or AT&T was.
There are questions, though. Is size, alone, an issue? Are these titans abusing their power? Do we need new forms of antitrust laws (or consumer protection laws) to handle them?
At this point, most of these titans' sites are monetarily free to use for consumers … But, does that mean that they don't require regulation? Realize, the free sites are a way to attract users, and then to sell data and ads to companies marketing to them.
One thing is for sure … Privacy is a rare commodity in a time of digital omniscience.
I often talk about how robots are changing the workplace (For example here, and here) because it's a topic that hits close to home.
I remember, back in the late 90's, starting to trade based on my knowledge and my insights (and feeling like I had an edge). By 2003, most of my trading was automated. But, I wouldn't have believed how much of today's daily volume is now traded by computers.
Likewise, I remember the tech bubble and recognizing that more businesses were going online. But, I wouldn't have believed what the Internet did to retail, music, TV, banking (face it, to Business and the World in general).
Regardless of the veracity of the statement, it's evidence that we have a tendency to think emotionally, and aren't always great at rationally analyzing facts.
As proof that it's everyone, the week after the election, many Democrats believed the economy had already worsened.
Roddy Roediger is a leading expert in learning and memory, and he says there are 3 key principles that make false information believable:
Plausibility;
Suggestions and innuendo can be just as convincing as assertions; and
The more we engage with the lie, the more we misremember.
JP Spears is famous for his humor. However, before he found this "character," he made his money as a spiritual coach. One step under the surface, I believe there are a few consistent hidden messages in his humor.
The first hidden message is to let go of what served you that no longer serves you.This is also a key to profitable trading. The market doesn't care what your favorite trade looks like. Nor does it care whether you're comfortable, or how you made money in the past.
You have to be more committed to your results than you are attached to your process.
Many times, your favorite practice is more beneficial to you as a nightlight, which keeps you comfortable, rather than as an alpha-generating strategy, tactic, or technique.
The second hidden message in JP Sears' humor is to look for happiness where it is, not where it isn't. This also is a key to trading. It doesn't make sense to look for a good trade in a bad market. The key is to understand where your edge is, and to use it where and when it exists.
In the video, JP says that we should all stop using our "analytical minds" to trade, and instead use our third eye – and while I don't think my third eye is the answer, I do think our analytical minds can confuse us instead of help us.
Look at it this way: Less than 10% of active traders beat the S&P 500 any given year; and if they beat it one year, the chance is less than a coin flip, that they beat it again the following year.
Most traders understand that analysis and knowledge isn't enough anymore.
So what's the answer?
Well, if you watched the video, I'm leaning towards algorithms and artificial intelligence.
That doesn't mean looking for the "Holy Grail" – or a good set of three to five trading systems either. First, there's no Holy Grail, and it isn't realistic to believe a few systems can handle the chaos of modern markets.
There's always something working in the markets, but there isn't something that works all the time.
There's something to be said for knowing when to switch it up and try something new.
JP Sears was, and is, an emotional healing coach, and licensed "Holisitic Coach Advanced Practioner," but he found then when he posted a YouTube video he was excited when he got a couple hundred views (you can see his more serious origins in this video from four years ago).
He added the funny/satirical aspect as a complement to what he already knew, and it took him to the next level. He now gets millions.
via 
via 
via Reddit's 
