Capitalogix

Rich People Spend Their Time Differently: An Income Distribution in Americans' Pastimes

When it comes to American pastimes, many people focus on the big 3 sports: Football, Basketball, and Baseball. Nevertheless, there are a lot of different ways people spend their time.  It is interesting to see what they watch - and what they actually play. 

Nevertheless, there are a lot of different ways people spend their time.  It is interesting to see what they watch - and what they actually play. 

There is also a big difference based on income distribution.   Here is an infographic.

 

via VisualCapitalist

Apparently, rich people like golfing,  yoga and racquet sports ... while poorer people disproportionately liked relaxing, writing for personal interest, and having hobbies.

It is also kind of interesting to see when people tend to do certain activities.   Here is a chart showing the peak time for various sports and activities.

via Henrik Lindberg

You could build a business around data like that.

Interesting?

The Bezos Empire: Amazon, Whole Foods and More

Jeff Bezos is has acquired a lot of businesses since starting Amazon - Zappos, Audible, IMDB, and most recently Whole Foods (for $13.7 billion dollars).

On top of acquiring those businesses for Amazon - he also has diversified his own interests through Bezos Expeditions and as an angel investor. 

Here is a chart to put things in perspective.  Click on the image to see the whole infographic.

 

via VisualCapitalist

 

To grow the business, their customer base, and their competitive advantage ... Amazon and Bezos re-invest heavily by aggressively acquiring companies and technologies - even though that strategy virtually eliminates Amazon's profit.

Despite minimal profits (literally less than a handful of profitable quarters since it started in 1994), Amazon has a market cap of roughly $470 billion in market capitalization.  They've shown that there's a new algorithm for success - it's about vision and market domination. It is a long game with big stakes ... and it looks like he's winning.

They've shown that there's a new algorithm for success - it's about vision and market domination. It is a long game with big stakes ... and it looks like he's winning.

But You'd Still Call Them A Success

"Bezos recently told shareholders that the goal is to 'experiment patiently, accept failures, plant seeds, protect saplings, and double down when you see customer delight.'" 

via Forbes

It's a similar idea to one that I've adopted - though on a different scale.

When people first look at Capitalogix they see a hedge fund – but that is just an application of our core capabilities.  Internally, we know that we are an innovation engine that uses domain expertise in algorithmic trading, data science, and high-performance computing to generate something new. 

Edges decay or disappear faster than ever before - that's what drives our pursuit of more ways to win.

When changing the way people play a game -  you can't play by the same rules people used to.

A World of Languages

I've been in Indonesia during the past week.  I'm surprised by how little is known about it, despite its size and population.  

Here are a few strange facts.  Indonesia is the world's largest island country, with more than seventeen thousand islands.  It has an estimated population of over 260 million people and is the world's fourth most populous country, as well as the most populous Muslim-majority country.

While the official language is Indonesian (also known as Bahasa Indonesia), a variant of Malay, most Indonesians speak other languages, such as Javanese, as their first language.  More than 700 regional languages are spoken in Indonesia's numerous islands.

That got me thinking about language.

There are over 7000 known languages still spoken in the world today. 

23 of those languages create the native tongues of over 4 Billion people.

This chart below is a pretty helpful illustration of prevalence and location.

Alberto Lucas López via InformationIsBeautiful

 

While American's tend to think English is the most prevalent language, we actually come in third behind Chinese and Spanish.

While based on population density, and reproduction, it seems like Chinese (Mandarin) will only widen its lead, it's worth noting that its influence wanes greatly outside of Asia.

How long will that last?

When I was younger, English was the language of business, but it may be time for you to brush up on your Chinese.

For more, here is a link to the Washington Post's article: The world’s languages, in 7 maps and charts.

向前! (Onwards!)

The Best Humor Is Based On Truth - Weekly Links - June 16th, 2017

Here is a peek at what I've been reading lately. These are the links I saved this week. Hope you find some interesting and enjoyable tidbits. Let me know if you read something I'd like ... Or if there are other sources I should add to my weekly reading. Thanks.

Lighter Links:

Artificial Intelligence Has to Deal with Its Transparency Problems.(TNW) It’s this Easy to Look inside an Algorithm. (FastCoD) Ten Authentic Leadership Practices. (Forbes) How to Train Your Brain to Go Positive instead of Negative. (Forbes) Putin’s Paradise. (City-journal) Remembering Manuel Noriega and His Capture. (WOTR) How Much Mormonism Has Changed. (BCC) Trump’s Meddlesome Priest. (New York Times) Oldest Fossils of Homo Sapiens Found in Morocco, Altering History of Our Species. (NYT) How the D-Day Invasion Was Planned. (PopularMechanics) The New IMac Pro is Apple’s Most Bonkers Computer Ever. (Wired) Google’s AlphaGo Beats the World’s Best Go Player — Again.(WashPost) Football 3.0 is Coming. This is What It Will Look Like. (SBNation) An Excavation of One of the World’s Greatest Art Collections.(FiveThirtyEight) Turns Out, a Horrifying Number of People Use Their Phones While Driving. (Wired) The 9-Minute Strength Workout. (New York Times) Science Asks: is Your Dog Just Playing You? (Forbes) Interactive Map Reveals Who Has the Most Powerful Passport.(Telegraph) Would Your Company Pass this Stringent Good Workplace Audit?(FastCompany) First Class Vs. Last Class? Airlines Bolster Premium Cabin, Skimp on Economy. (WSJ)

Market-Related Links

17 Fintech Businesses that Could One Day Be Worth over $1 Billion.(Business Insider) Alternative Finance and the Rise of the Fintech Unicorn. (Forbes) The Most Dangerous Narratives are Usually the Smartest. (PragCap) ‘Alt’ Data in Emerging Markets. (MarketsMedia) Can a Man Responsible for $5 Trillion Convince You He’s Not Powerful?(Bloomberg) Craft Beer — So Hot Right Now. (Pudding) US Retailers are on Pace to Close More Stores in 2017 than in the 2008 Great Recession. (Quartz) Apple Hires Rocket Scientists as It Tries to Catch up in Driverless Cars.(WSJ) Bad Intelligence behind the Wheel. (Wall Street Journal) Glimpse the Store of the Future. (Bloomberg) Fintech Lures MBAs Away from Banking and Consulting. (FT) Bloomberg Weed Index. (Ritholtz) Is this the End of Venture Capital as We Know It? (VentureBeat) Companies of the Future: No CEO, No Boss, Managed by Blockchain.(VB) Netflix to Raise $1 Billion through Debt Offering to Fund New Content & ‘Strategic Transactions’. (VB) “The Real Corruption is the Ownership of Congress by the Rich”.(Posner) Watch this Larry Page-backed Flying Car Take to the Sky above a Lake. (TechCrunch) The Death of the Smartphone is Closer Than You Think. Here's What Comes Next. (ZDNet) How Hedge Fund Billionaire James Simons is Changing Math Education.(Forbes) BAML: the '$1 Trillion Flow that Conquers All' Explains Everything Happening in Markets. (Business Insider)

Let me know what you think. Thanks. - Howard

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - June 17th, 2017

The new normal.

 

 

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

 

Lighter Links:

• Putin Implies the U.S. is ‘Stupid’, Talks about NATO ‘Falling Apart’. (ValueWalk)
• Anti-Semitic Incidents Rose a Whopping 86% in the First 3 Months of 2017. (Apple)
• Beyond Alt: Understanding the New Far Right. (NYMag)
• Malcolm Gladwell on Why We Shouldn’t Value Speed Over Power. (Heleo)
• Learning to Distinguish “Fear” from “Fear of Fear” is Key to Leading a Happy Life. (Quartz)

Trading Links:

• Puerto Rico Votes in Favor of Statehood. (TheHill)
• Trump Tweets and the Efficient Market Hypothesis. (SSRN)
• Tony Robbins: What I Learned from the World's Greatest Investors. (Time)
• The World's Highest-Paid Musicians of 2016 - Pg.1. (Forbes)
• For Aramco Insiders, Prince’s $2 Trillion IPO Valuation Doesn’t Add Up. (WSJ)

JIM ROGERS: "The Worst Crash In Our Lifetime Is Coming"

Jim Rogers knows a thing or two about markets.  He is a successful investor and businessman (and was a co-founder of the Quantum Funds).

He recently talked about his expectations for the next couple of years.  It's worth watching.

 

Jim predicts a crash within the next year (due to the bubble on many stocks popping). 

There are many things that could be the catalyst for the fall, but he predicts it will be not only the worst in your lifetime, but also in his lifetime (and he's pretty old!).

 

Blodget: Can anybody rescue us?

Rogers: They will try. What’s going to happen is they’re going to raise interest rates some more. Then when things start going really bad, people are going to call and say, "You must save me. It’s Western civilization. It’s going to collapse." And the Fed, who is made up of bureaucrats and politicians, will say, "Well, we better do something." And they’ll try, but it won’t work. It’ll cause some rallies, but it won’t work this time.

Blodget: And we are in a situation where Western civilization already seems to be possibly collapsing, even with the market going up all the time. Often when you do have a financial calamity, you get huge turmoil in the political system. What happens politically if that happens?

Rogers: Well, that’s why I moved to Asia. My children speak Mandarin because of what’s coming.

You’re going to see governments fail. You’re going to see countries fail, this time around. Iceland failed last time. Other countries fail. You’re going to see more of that.

You’re going to see parties disappear. You’re going to see institutions that have been around for a long time -- Lehman Brothers had been around over 150 years. Gone. Not even a memory for most people. You’re going to see a lot more of that next around, whether it’s museums or hospitals or universities or financial firms.

 

Scary stuff.

What do you think is going to happen?

If our current actions are leading us towards a crash, what will stop it?

How will Algo trading help or hurt the outcome for the masses (and the few)?

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - June 9th, 2017

The Comey situation is nuanced ... No, confusing.

It doesn't matter which side you're on, there's stuff to support and stuff to oppose.

Nonetheless, the result is no longer in contention.  Trump won the first battle. Comey isn't the Director of the FBI. 

Comey may still be trying to win the war.  Last week, he testified in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

My favorite quote of the night was: ""The statue of justice has a blindfold on because you're not supposed to be peeking out to see if your patron is pleased with what you're doing."

Watching the selective belief in Comey's statements is interesting. Sometimes it seems that Liberals only hear how Trump mishandled Flynn ... while Conservatives only hear the lack of investigation into Trump's Russia ties. 

At the end of the day, Trump felt finally vindicated from the left's accusations.

So, is the situation nuanced ... or just plain confusing?

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

Lighter Links:

• Cavaliers Still Send Paychecks to Warriors Coach Mike Brown. (ESPN)
• Dalai Lama: Behind Our Anxiety, the Fear of Being Unneeded. (New York Times)
• Bill Gates Has Seven Predictions for the Future. (Futurism)
• SNL Just Came up with a Hilarious Version of Alexa Designed for Senior Citizens. (TechCrunch)
• TCU’s First Little Genius Graduates with Physics Degree at 14 Years Old. (DallasNews)

Trading Links:

• Former Mozilla CEO Raises $35M in under 30 Seconds for His Browser Startup Brave. (TechCrunch)
• The Hunger Bonds – A Modern Dilemma (Project-Syndicate)
• Meet the 9 Hedge Fund Managers Who Made the Most Money in 2016. (BusinessInsider)
• Dying Malls in the US Should Take Note of How China is Approaching Retail. (BI)
• Why Amazon is Eating the World. (TechCrunch)

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekend Reading - June 3rd, 2017

 

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

Lighter Links:

• Expanded Laptop Ban Could Cover Half a Million Travelers a Day. (CNN)
• Someone Posted the Codes to Every United Cockpit Online. (TheNextWeb)
• A Neuroscientist Explains the Radical Theory that Our Free Will is Just an Illusion. (BI)
• Scientists Think They're More Rational Than Other People. (Scientific American)
• 50 Books Recommended by this Year's TED Speakers. (Inc)

Trading Links:

• Once Considered the Titans of Wall Street, Hedge Fund Managers are in Trouble. (WP)
• Apple: Supercycle Hopes Drive Supersize Bets. (Wall Street Journal)
• To Stabilize the Oil Market, OPEC Refines Its Strategy. (Stratfor)
• Switch It up this Year: Buy in May, till November Stay. (EconomicTimes)
• The Quants: Meet the New Kings of Wall Street. (Wall Street Journal)

The World's Stock Exchanges

There are 60 major stock exchanges throughout the world, and their range of sizes is quite surprising.

Click the image to see the whole infographic.

via VisualCapitalist

 

As Visual Capitalist notes, at the high end of the spectrum is the mighty NYSE, representing $18.5 trillion in market capitalization, or about 27% of the total market for global equities.

At the lower end? Stock exchanges on the tiny islands of Malta, Cyprus, and Bermuda all range from just $1 billion to $4 billion in value. Even added together, these three exchanges make up just 0.01% of total market capitalization.

Back at the upper end, the top 16 exchanges each have a market capitalization above $1 trillion.  Together, those top-16 exchanges account for 87% of the world's total value of equities.

That is a lot of money and information ... I'd expect big changes, here, as the FinTech arms race escalates.

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - May 27th, 2017

There is a place to go with deep wishes  ...

 

 

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

Lighter Links:

• What the Dying Teach the Living. (LongNow)
• Why Close Encounters with Animals Soothe Us. (New York Times)
• Will We Ever Elect an AI as President? (Wired)
• 'SNL' Releases McCarthy's 'Spicey' Outtakes. (CNN)
• The Dark Art of How (And When) to Buy an Airline Ticket. (NYMag)

Trading Links:

• The Quants Run Wall Street Now. (Wall Street Journal)
• The MMC Ventures AI Investment Framework: 17 Success Factors For The Age Of AI. (Medium)
• The Real Reason Saudis Rolled out the Reddest of Red Carpets. (Bergen)
• SoftBank and Saudis Launch Largest Tech Investment Fund Ever, $93 Billion in Committed Capital. (CNBC)