Capitalogix

A Helpful Old Parable ...

I was talking to a friend this weekend and was reminded of an old parable I heard years ago...

 

I stand on top of the mountain and I just kick pebbles ... Minute by minute, hour after hour, day in and day out ... I simply kick pebbles.

Mostly, those pebbles fly off into nowhere and I watch them skip away ... Occasionally those pebbles hit a small stone ... Juuuusst right ... and that stone slides down the hill.

...

Then, sometimes, those stones collide, on the way down, and their slide becomes a tumble and they smack a ROCK.

And, those ROCKS begin to fall, end over end, gathering speed ... and a couple hit a BOULDER ... Then ... the Boulder shifts... there is a RUMBLE ... the EARTH MOVES BENEATH ME ...

AND THE ENTIRE LANDSCAPE CHANGES ... EVERYTHING LOOKS DIFFERENT ... !!!

I stand on top of the mountain and I just kick pebbles ... Minute by minute, hour after hour, day in and day out ... I simply kick pebbles!

 

Keep up the good work!

A Look at Online Trading

Trading used to be reserved to those in the pit at exchanges ... but the advent of electronic trading made this enterprise available to a host of other people.

Millions of online traders have opened accounts in the past few years.

Apps like Robinhood and Coinbase make it easy for retail customers to start trading. 

Who are they?  This chart breaks it down.

 

via brokernotes

To start, 37% don't have a degree, and 58% are millennials.  The average income of a trader is less than 35,000.  You can check brokernotes full report here.

Interesting.

What does it mean?  How will it affect the popularity of new markets (like Crypto)?

Curious to hear your opinion.

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - June 24th, 2018

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

Lighter Links

• Why Blockchain Isn't a Revolution. (Knowledge)
• Daniel Kahneman: Four Keys to Better Decision Making.(CFAInstitute)
• Mr. Rogers Had a Simple Set of Rules for Talking to Children. (The Atlantic)
• Rise of the Machines: Has Technology Evolved beyond Our Control? (The Guardian)
• Leader Schedules; 72% Meeting Time; 43% Priority Time; 3% Customer Time; ExO Course next Week. (Verne Harnish)

 

 

Trading Links

• 4 Horsemen of the Recession and Stock Market Apocalypse. (SeekingAlpha)
• Blockchain beyond the Hype: What is the Strategic Business Value? (McKinsey)
• Cryptocurrency Will Become a $20 Trillion Market: Billionaire Bull Mike Novogratz. (Finance)
• Top Banking Takeaways from the 2018 Internet Trends Report. (TheFinancialBrand)
• How Amazon Became One of Washington's Most Powerful Players. (Wall Street Journal)

Understanding the VIX

Regardless what you're trading, the VIX can be a helpful index to monitor. 

The VIX is an index that's commonly known as the "fear gauge." It tracks how quickly asset prices move (or, in other words, their "volatility"). 

While you can't invest in it directly, you can invest in derivative products like VIX futures, ETFs, inverse ETFs and more. 

The infographic below is a good primer, and you can download RCM's full whitepaper here.

 

 

VIX trading volume is increasing nicely.   Meanwhile, it is also a valuable data source.

I'd love to hear how you use it.

Mr. Kim Jong Un, Give Up Those Nukes!

Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un met last week in Singapore. At the meeting, Donald shared a four-minute movie trailer called "A Story of Opportunity for North Korea"

I was a little surprised by the video clip that Trump brought with him.  I don't normally think about diplomacy and videos.  But, it is a new world.

It depicts a brighter future for North Korea in the event of a nuclear deal.  It also presents a stark choice to Kim ... trade in your nuclear weapons for a peace deal with the U.S., or don't and you'll be decimated. 

Was it me, or does the video seem strangely reminiscent of a pitch you might receive for a real estate deal or a timeshare? 

It's worth a watch. 

 

Was the intended audience Kim Jong Un, American voters, or the World?

Did it remind you of  Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev?

It will be interesting to see the results of the movie ... and this meeting. 

What did you think?

Hiring the Right People: Revenge of the Nerds

Capitalogix was on the news this week.  They did a story about finding tech talent.

I'm proud of our team.

The robots aren't coming for our jobs.  We're creating the robots, the AI, and the automation. 

The secret to great AI is that it still has a heartbeat. 

Here's the article. You can watch the video below. 

via NBC DFW

We are always hiring.

It's not enough to invest in the right ideas or technologies. You have to invest in the right people as well. 

"Standing still is moving backward ... so you don't only need new technology, you need a new level of data scientists –  a new level of professional that can think about what's possible, rather than how to do what we want to do right now."

Even though we've got an incredible edge now. I recognize that edges decay faster than ever. The trick is to stay ahead.  

I can predict that the future is bright ... And I know that the best way to predict the future is to create it.

Onwards!

If Algorithms Came with IKEA Instructions ...

Some Professors put together IKEA inspired instructional booklets for their algorithms and data-structures lecture. 

So far they've created assembly instructions for Quick Sort, BOGO Sort, Public Key Crypto, Binary Search, Merge Sort, Balance Tree, Graph Scan, and One Stroke Draw algorithms. 

via ideainstruction

This is a pretty cool idea, or at least I thought so. My youngest son said "I don't particularly understand IKEA directions or algorithms so this is basically the worst of both worlds for me."  Finally, we agree about something.

Hopefully, you find it helpful. If not, there's always Wikipedia. 

The Future According to Elon Musk

Abraham Lincoln said, "The Best Way To Predict The Future Is To Create It."

It is tough when your vision's bounded by awesome potential ... and potential horrors.

That is the challenge when you are going after MoonShots (or a Mission to Mars).

Perhaps that is why Elon Musk (who is an amazing entrepreneur) sometimes sounds more like a dystopian futurologist (like Ray Bradbury or George Orwell).

Here is a look at some of Musk's predictions. Click the image to see the full infographic. 

 

via RS Components

What do you think? Will his predictions for the future become a reality in our lifetime (or our kids' lifetime?)

As technology growth and innovation quicken, humanity faces serious challenges to our health and quality of life.

For a look at some of those issues, take a look at the Hastings Center. 

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - May 20th, 2018

 

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

Lighter Links:

• The Myth of Mad' Genius. (Aeon)
• This is Why You Can't Stop Interrupting People. (Fatherly)
• What Makes a Man Attractive? Hint: Look at His Limbs. (ScienceMag)
• Should I Kill Spiders in My Home? an Entomologist Explains Why Not To. (The Conversation)
• As D.I.Y. Gene Editing Gains Popularity, Someone is Going to Get Hurt'. (New York Times)

 

Trading Links

• What is Bitcoin ? (DataScienceCentral)
• Uber CEO: Our Future Won't Just Be Cars.(TheVerge)
• Women are Becoming Billionaires at a Faster Rate Than Men. (Time)
• Russia Sets out to Sanction Western Sanctions.(Bloomberg)
• Satellite Images Reveal Which Countries Cheat on Their Economic Statistics. (Quartz)

 

 

Inspiration Comes in Many Forms

Once a year, I go to the World BBQ Championship at Memphis in May. 

It's three days of friends, food, fun, and bad puns (like #AporkalypseNow and  #MeatDrinkAndBeMerry).

You've heard the phrase  "Put your money where your mouth is ..."  This year we sponsored a tent and brought some of the Capitalogix team to enjoy the festivities. 

 

 

Here's a look at what was cooking in our tent.  It had a Brazilian "churrasco" flair. 

 

Our Grill Master was Blake Carson, who took a traditional Brazilian Steakhouse cooking style – and innovated upon it – creating the Carson Rodizio kit (which started as a Kickstarter project).  

It is a multi-rotisserie rack that converts your favorite backyard grill into an open and spinning Brazilian style Steakhouse.  It's clever, functional, and cool ... and it's been used to win multiple barbecue championships.

I love to experience an entrepreneur's mind at work.  

It's not always about what you add.  Sometimes, it is about what you take away.  Less is often more. 

Here is a one-minute interview I shot with Blake last year.

 

 

For more on Carson Rodizio, here is their Facebook page.

Innovation, like opportunity, is all around you.

But it's not there for you if you don't see the opportunity, and seize it.