Capitalogix

Preparing for a Rally? Big Inflow Into Equity Funds

What a dazzling week for mutual funds and ETFs.

$22.2 billion flowed into equity funds this week, marking the second-largest weekly inflow in history.

 

 

Inflows into emerging market equity funds this week were the largest – at $7.4 billion – of all time.  Other big winners were long-only mutual funds, which recorded $8.9 billion in inflows this week – the largest since March 2000.

Does this make you feel more bullish than buying based on Fed-funded liquidity?

 

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Here Are Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

Sometimes it makes sense to buy a little time ... other times you have to play to win.

 

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

 

Lighter Links:

• The 11 Most Fascinating Scientific Discoveries of 2012. (The Week)
• This Tiny Gizmo Could Be A Very Big Deal In 2013 - And Beyond. (ReadWrite)
• Flight Forecast. What Travelers Should Expect Next Year - Airlines Get an Upgrade. (WSJ)
• How Obama Decides Your Fate If He Thinks You're a Terrorist. (TheAtlantic)
• Americans Are the Most Spied On People In World History. More Spying On Citizens than Stasi Did in  East Germany (BigPicture)

 

Trading Links:

• Wall Street's 2013 S&P 500 Target from 14 Equity Strategists. (BusinessInsider)
• CyberSecurity Firm Identifies a ‘Credible Threat’ to 30 U.S. Banks. (Washington Post)
• How The Brain Evaluates Risk. (MedicalNewsToday)
• Heirs of Mao’s Comrades Rise as New Capitalist Nobility. (Bloomberg)
• Obama Trades One U.S. Cliff for Another. Yes, the calamity was averted, but only at the expense of setting up a potentially worse showdown in two months. (FT)

How Many People Have Ever Lived on Earth?

Back in the 1970s, a now-forgotten writer claimed that 75 percent of the people who had ever been born were alive at that moment. This 'factoid' has been referenced many times, even though a bit of reflection would show how unlikely it is.

So, what might be a better estimate of the actual percentage? In this video, a Population Reference Bureau scholar explains how to get a reasonable guesstimate.

 

 

 Find out more.

Here is an infographic look at the data.

 

Source:LiveScience

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By the year 2050 the global population will have grown to 10 billion. How can Mother Earth sustain this growth?

Finding Another Earth: How Will Scientists Confirm It Exists?

Warren Buffett: I’m ‘optimistic about America’

Warren Buffett: I’m ‘optimistic about America’.

TODAY’s Matt Lauer gathered a round table panel of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, life strategist Tony Robbins, San Antonio mayor Julian Castro, Spanx founder Sara Blakely to talk about the year ahead for the American economy.

They seem pretty optimistic. 

 

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

 

 

What about you?

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Here Are Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

Who put Washington in charge of the ball drop this New Year?

 

 

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

 

Lighter Links:

• The Year in Photos. Photos of the Year 2012. (WSJ Graphics)
• The Best Books of 2012. Interesting list with some unusual choices. (BrainPickings)
• The Best City Time-Lapse Videos of 2012. (TheAtlantic)
• Life's Work 2012. Highlights from Interviews of 10 Intriguing People. (HarvardBizReview)
• How to Keep Your Resolutions. 25 apps for a happier, healthier, better 2013. (VentureBeat)

 

Trading Links:

• Why 2013 Will See Faster, Stronger Global Growth. (CNBC)
• How to Play the 4 Likely Potential Economic Scenarios Over the Next 3 Years. (Forbes)
• The Fiscal-Cliff Fix: Winners and losers. (The Week)
• Defying Mao, Rich Chinese Crash the Communist Party. (Wall Street Journal)
• Amateur Investors Are 3.2 Percent Worse Than Chimpanzees at Picking Stocks. Fear, greed, and mistakes are a bitch to deal with (BusinessInsider)

If the World Were 100 People ...

As we enter 2013, the world population has surpassed 7 billion people.

How can we get a sense of what it means ... and who we are?

One way is by statistically representing the world population as 100 people.  That way, complex issues become more comprehensible and help us get a stronger sense of the big picture.

Here is a video introduction to the 100 Person Project.

 

The 100 People Project: An Introduction from 100 People Foundation on Vimeo.

 

And here is an infographic of some of the highlights of the research.

 

by KVSStudio. Check out our data visualization blog.

 

If the World were 100 PEOPLE:

50 would be female
50 would be male

26 would be children
There would be 74 adults,
8 of whom would be 65 and older

There would be:
60 Asians
15 Africans
14 people from the Americas
11 Europeans

33 Christians
22 Muslims
14 Hindus
7 Buddhists
12 people who practice other religions
12 people who would not be aligned with a religion

12 would speak Chinese
5 would speak Spanish
5 would speak English
3 would speak Arabic
3 would speak Hindi
3 would speak Bengali
3 would speak Portuguese
2 would speak Russian
2 would speak Japanese
62 would speak other languages

83 would be able to read and write; 17 would not

7 would have a college degree
22 would own or share a computer

77 people would have a place to shelter them
from the wind and the rain, but 23 would not

1 would be dying of starvation
15 would be undernourished
21 would be overweight

87 would have access to safe drinking water
13 people would have no clean, safe water to drink

 

If you want more information on this ...

The detailed research and source information can be found here and the statistics provided by Donella Meadows in 1990 that originally inspired the 100 People Project can be viewed here. A different groups research is here. And the Snopes research is here.

What Would Going Over the 'Fiscal Cliff' Mean?

Going over the 'Fiscal Cliff' may be a fear, but the debt ceiling is much scarier.

 

Reports are that a last minute deal is imminent.  What happens if they do not agree?

 

Sources: Moody's Analytics, Tax Policy Center. via The Washington Post.

 

Related articles

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JibJab's 2012 Year in Review Video

Oh well ... crazy how fast time flies.  Hopefully 2012 was good for you. 

Here is JibJab's take on what happened.   

 

 

 via: JibJab

 Long Live 2013.

 

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Send the Year Out with JibJab's "2011 Buh-Bye" Video

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Make Your Own Deficit-Reduction Plan

Clever.  Try your hand at reducing the deficit with this Wall Street Journal interactive.

Unless lawmakers can agree on measures to reduce the deficit, standing legislation will do it for them. Under the "Fiscal Cliff" scenario, the Congressional Budget Office projects a deficit of $142 billion by 2020, or a $1.102 trillion deficit if some tax cuts are extended and other policies remain in effect.

Try your hand at balancing the budget by selecting from some options below.

 

 

 

Once you do, you can see how others 'voted' (chose).  Interesting.

Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

Doomsday Planning?

 

 

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

 

Lighter Links:

• The Five Cs of Opportunity Identification. (Harvard Business Review)
• SpaceX's Elon Musk: Your ticket to Mars? Half a million dollars. (LATimes)
• How IBM Is Watching How You Shop Online. (AllThingsD)
• Is Sleeping With a Partner Better For You Than Sleeping Alone? (WSJ)
• Why Do Children Think Covering Their Eyes Makes Them Invisible? (Popular Science)

 

Trading Links:

• Smart People Can Make Stupid Investing Decisions. (Forbes)
• Four Common Mistakes about the Fed. (OldProf)
• Fed Likely to Keep Buying Bonds. To combat threats of new turbulence & uncertainty. (WSJ)
• Raging Bulls. How Wall Street Got Addicted to Light-Speed Trading. (Wired)
• Two-Thirds of Millionaires Left Britain to Avoid 50% Tax Rate. (Telegraph)