Capitalogix: Current Affairs

Current Affairs

April 23, 2013

This Graphic Lets You Watch How Fast America Got Fat

Fit or Fat? Data Says ... "Fatter than Ever".

It’s no secret that the US has a weight problem, but did you realize how fast the country got fat?

The U.S. has gone from a relatively thin country to a place where the norm in many areas is to be overweight or even obese.

Look How Fast It Happened. The chart starts in 1985.

via The Atlantic

This animated map is jaw-dropping (or belt-busting). Notice the how the rate of change accelerates when it reaches the 2000s … many states burst from around a 20% obesity level to over 30%.

It is interesting to note that Colorado remains the only state (in blue) with less than 20% obesity.

Meanwhile, Gallop recently released their Well-Being Index of 189 metro areas. In 2012, obesity rates in all but two areas were above 15%.

Here are the Fittest and Fattest Communities in the U.S.:

If you live in Charlottesville VA or Boulder CO, you’re probably looking good.

Posted at 03:54 PM in Current Affairs, Healthy Lifestyle, Science | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 21, 2013

The Most Honest Three Minutes In Television History? [Video]

Tragedies often sound a clarion call that get people to band together and be their best selves.

But how long will the good behavior last? Like exercise or showers, while it is good to do ... it is better to repeat.

It is time to take an honest look at ourselves ... and take appropriate action.

The 3 minute video below highlights some tough issues. The hard truth is that progress starts with honesty.

Do you think this painted an accurate picture of the current United States?

Posted at 01:24 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Film, Ideas, Personal Development, Science, Television | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Are US Markets Signalling Risk-Off Behavior?

There was finally an uptick in securities reaching new 52-week lows this week. Don't get excited; but it had been more than 100 days since we'd seen at least 3% of issues on the NYSE tick at a 52-week low.

Meanwhile, other indicators of where we are on the risk-on/risk-off spectrum have been pointing 'bearish'. For example, the following chart shows that the Russell 2000 Index is under-performing the S&P 500 on a relative basis.

via Chartsetcetera

So new highs were met with lower momentum, and indicators show the bulls are lagging ... Are you thinking "Sell in May?"

Posted at 01:06 PM in Current Affairs, Market Commentary, Trading, Trading Tools | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 20, 2013

Here Are Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

It was cool that they found the bombers so fast. Yet, I have mixed feelings about what that implies about the 'surveillance society' we live in.

Sometimes things just don't seem to make sense ... other times they do.

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

Lighter Links:

Google Person Finder Located the Missing at Boston Marathon Explosion. (Mashable)
Stupidity: Why Didn't Evolution Make Us All Geniuses? Why we still do dumb things. (NS)
IBM CEO Predicts Three Ways Technology Will Transform the Future of Business. (Forbes)
Disruption Results from Rational Responses to a Changing Environment. (Harvard BR)
Stanley Kubrick Worried that IBM Would Get Mad About His Psycho Computer, HAL. (BI)

Trading Links:

After Apple’s Rise, a Bruising Fall. Wall St. has turned viciously on its one-time iDarling. (NYT)
The Death of the PC Has Not Been Exaggerated. (Forbes)
Computer Sales in Free Fall. Quarterly Shipments Dropped 14% (Wall Street Journal)
New Study: Smaller Hedge Fund Managers Outperform. (AllAboutAlpha)
Condoleezza Rice: Russia Is Really Just a Large Oil & Gas Syndicate. (AdvisorOne)

Posted at 02:56 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Film, Ideas, Market Commentary, Science, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 14, 2013

Bearish Trend in Gold, and other Metals, Continues Lower

Trend-Following 101 says figure out if a market is trending higher or lower ... then evaluate how strong the trend is.

Metals, as a whole, are giving a pretty strong bearish signal.

We use the Trend Level indicator to quantify the true power behind the trends demonstrated by individual markets.

In general, Trend Level (TL) Level scores fall into three zones:

Bullish trending markets have scores greater than +5;
Bearish trending markets have scores less than -5; and
Neutral markets hover between +5 and -5.

Based on those standards, all six Metal markets are trending lower.

Here is the Trend Level Chart for Metals.

Obviously, Gold is leading the bearish pack downwards. Traders may note that Gold has support at 1472.90 (with more support at 1382.92). Its most recent close was 1501.40.

Posted at 03:49 PM in Current Affairs, Market Commentary, Trading, Trading Tools | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 13, 2013

Here Are Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

Some things are harder than others ...

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

Lighter Links:

Clayton Christensen Wants to Transform Capitalism. Interesting insights. (Wired)
Why Weirdos Outperform Normals. (Linkedin)
Your Brain Is Hooked on Being Right. (Harvard Business Review)
Spotify’s Top 10 most viral tracks. Or, proof I'm getting older and more like my father. (Salon)
Online Passwords. At the height of the cold war, the "secret unlocking code" for America's nuclear missiles was 00000000. (Guardian)

Trading Links:

Dear SEC, This Is HFT "Cheating" At Its Most Obvious. Regards, Everyone Else. (ZeroHedge)
Computer Algorithms Rely Increasingly on Human Helpers. (NYTimes)
FBI Joins SEC in Computer Trading Probe. (FT)
Top 10 Richest Colleges for 2012—The Biggest Endowments. (AdvisorOne)
David Stockman On ‘The Great Deformation’ and Our Economic Doom. Are these new stock-market records just another bubble? (TDB)

Posted at 02:18 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Ideas, Just for Fun, Market Commentary, Personal Development, Science, Trading | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 07, 2013

Why Are We Hearing So Much About Bitcoin Recently?

The Internet currency, Bitcoin, has seen an uptick recently as more people look to the virtual currency as a way to get rich or avoid the problems of fiat currency.

Bitcoin was created in 2009 by "Satoshi Nakamoto" — almost certainly a false name — in order to be anonymous currency, easy to use, self-regulating, and free from any central authority.

People are starting to realize they can now put their money in the cloud and access it anywhere, from any computer. As a result, the value of bitcoins is rsing.

Two months ago, one bitcoin hovered in the $10 to $15 range, and a $30 peak was considered ludicrously high. What about now?

The surging valuation suggests that people are starting to see ways to use it to create and protect value.

Bitpay, a company that facilitates bitcoin transactions, logged over $5 million worth of transactions in March alone, as people traded bitcoins for tangible items, mostly high-end electronics and precious metals.

Expect to hear a lot more about this in the media.

Posted at 02:13 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Market Commentary, Trading, Trading Tools | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

March 30, 2013

Here Are Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

Things are going pretty well considering ...

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

Lighter Links:

The Most Successful Leaders Do 15 Things Automatically, Every Day. (Forbes)
China Denies Allegations of Cyber-Attacks by Army. Blames it on the Tooth Fairy. (NYTimes)
Obama Granted CyberWar Powers. (FastCompany)
China Calls for End to 'CyberWar'. (Forbes)
A Siberian Winter - In Focus. (The Atlantic)

Trading Links:

North Korea Preparing For Possible Strikes Against Continental U.S. (Salon)
Cyprus Isn’t Over, It’s Still a ‘Disaster for All of Us’: Steve Forbes. (Yahoo Finance)
Carl Icahn Unleashed. Wall Street's Richest Man Is On The Attack - Just Ask Michael Dell (Forbes)
Microsoft's Explanation Of Why It Loaned Dell $2 Billion. (BusinessInsider)
NYSE Prepares Disaster Backup Plan. Goal is to operate without human traders in case something shuts down its trading floor (Reuters)

Posted at 02:33 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Market Commentary, Trading | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

March 24, 2013

Fund Managers Are Alarmingly Bullish

Is 'Smart Money' Becoming 'Dumb Money'?

The Merrill Lynch Fund Managers Survey shows growing confidence and risk-taking. A quick glance revealed a number of interesting charts and insights. For example, the chart below shows what has happened, historically, when liquidity conditions hit the levels they are at now.

Retail investors love the good days, but traders suspect that the end is near when it gets like this. Click here to see more from the Survey.

Keep in mind, Price is the primary indicator. You've got to trade the conditions as they are ... not assuming that they are better or worse than they really are.

Posted at 01:27 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Market Commentary, Trading, Trading Tools | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Here Are Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

What bothers you most about someone else is often a clue about what you don't like about your own circumstances ... or, a political cartoonist could point it out instead.