Capitalogix

Putting One Foot In Front of the Other

Whether you think you can ... or you think you can't ... you're right.
        ~ Henry Ford

 

Slack-Lining is kind of like tight-rope walking (except the line isn't as taut ... so it moves and bounces around).  The image to the right is of me trying it less than six inches off the ground.

It was harder than you might guess ... Perhaps fear of falling contributed to the heart racing and muscle tension that went along with it.

Josh Beaudoin (the guy trying to steady me) claims that slack-lining is not an adrenaline sport.  It is about being composed in the moment.  It is about finding the confidence to face your fear and the power to manage your emotions.

Listen to some wisdom as you watch an awesome video by Josh. It was shot in Rock Canyon near Provo, UT. 

 

 

Imagine the experience of being up there ... and what we do down here doesn’t seem risky.

To see something else a little crazy.  Check out this link about Fire-Walking.

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How Can the U.S. Be Last in Such an Important Measure?

U.S. Health Worse than Nearly All Other Industrialized Nations.

Bloomberg recently reported that the last-place health ranking of the United States among 17 wealthy countries (based on a U.S. study of health outcomes).

Americans spend $2.7 trillion every year, more than any other nation, on healthcare costs.

Yet, America fares badly in a comparison of health measures in rich countries. Here is a chart from the Economist reporting similar results.

 

 

 
America is obviously doing something wrong. But what, exactly, is the question.

 

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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)

Making the Best of What Is

I had the perfect holiday gift planned. We were going to go to Cirque du Soleil's 'Kooza' show. Jennifer and Zach both missed an earlier show because they were out of town. Cirque is magical enough that I didn't mind seeing it again. So, when I saw a daily deal touting "Kazoo La La' at the Cirque Theater, I jumped on it.

On the day of the show, we got dressed up and drove downtown. Our GPS told us to go one way; but I remembered where the show was ... only it wasn't there. Since it was approaching curtain time and we were feeling the time pressure, I followed the GPS to its destination and tried not to argue.

There was a huge line, and very little organization or process (which we thought was very unlike our prior experiences with Cirque du Soleil). Nonetheless, we get to our seats, the curtain rises, and we laugh that someone struggling to do a circus act. Then we start to look at each other, because it dawns on us that the person struggling is not a clown pretending to struggle, is truly someone who's not very good at what they're doing.

To make a long story short, we bought a ticket to see Kazoo La La, which in no shape or form is related to Cirque du Soleil's Kooza.

 

 

Yes, it was disappointing, and we left  at the intermission. However, we had a great time. We laughed at the show and ourselves. Then we took the extra time we had went to marble slab creamery for ice cream.

The point is, it's not what happens, it's what you do.

This is true in trading, in business, and in life. All you can control is how you show up, what you focus on, and what you make something mean. The quality of the experience is still up to you.

I wish you peace and happiness for the holiday season.

Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

 

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

 

Lighter Links:

• The Science of Success. Interesting article. (TheAtlantic)
• Is Technology Making You More (or Less) of a Jerk? (Harvard Business Review)
• Why Things Fail. From Tires to Helicopter Blades, Everything Breaks Eventually. (Wired)
• Removing Earwax Isn't Good For You, Experts Say. (WSJ Video)
• Life Expectancy for Less Educated Whites in U.S. is Shrinking. (NYTimes)

 

Trading Links:

• Walmart Reports Its Best Black Friday Ever With 5,000 Items Sold Per Second. (TheNextWeb)
• Does Black Friday Correlate With Upcoming Stock Market Performance. (Bigtrends)
• Fiscal Cliff: The What, Why, When, and How - All In One Place. (Learnist)
• Reality Check: Does High-Frequency Trading Hurt the Little Guy?  (QZ)
• Anonymous Deletes The Bank of Jerusalem’s Web Database. (BetaBeat)

Perhaps it is Time for a Motivational Video - "I Am a Champion"

If you want a little extra motivation, this is a pretty good video to watch.

 

 

 

It was a little bit corny, but I found it surprisingly compelling and effective.  Worth watching, even if only to think about the techniques he used.

Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

Some ancient Greek dude wrote this in about 400 BC ...  amazing how profound, relevant, and true it remains today.

 

Other Isocrates quotes.

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

 

Lighter Links:

• The Importance of Understanding "Why". (AONetwork)
• How Big Data Became So Big. (NYTimes)
• Finally, a Commercial Mocking Apple that Works! (Dvorak)
• Why India Wins So Few Olympic Medals. Neither the Will nor the Cash. (TheAtlantic)
• The World's First Vegetarian McDonald's. To capture more of India's $12 billion fast-food market, the burger chain will jettison meat entirely in favor of the McAloo Tikki burger and the McSpicy Paneer. (The Week)

 

Trading Links:

• Face It -- 2013 Is Going To Be a Bummer. (Businessweek)
• Wall Street Rolling Back Another Key Piece of Financial Reform | Matt Taibbi. (RollingStone)
• Apple's iPhone is Now Worth More Than All of Microsoft. (Forbes)
• When is Rapid Trading Too Fast? More Warnings About HFT. (Slashdot)
• U.S. Selling $18 Billion of AIG Stock. Slashing 50% + of the stake it took during the financial crisis. (Wall Street Journal)

Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

Traders know risk control is important.   

 

Apparently, the Royals are learning new rules for the Internet Age.   

 

Perhaps Prince Harry assumed that "What Happens In Vegas, Stays in Vegas" ... unless TMZ gets it.

 

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

 

Lighter Links:

• Narcissism. The Difference Between High Achievers and Leaders. (HBR)
• Made Your 200-Year Plan Yet? Also, 3 other Majorly Long-Term Projects. (TED)
• Postal Service On Edge. What Would A World Without Mail Look Like? (HuffPost)
• Walk at Work: Treadmill Desk Could Make You Envy of the Office. (Mashable)
• Robot Ethics - Morals and the Machine. As robots grow more autonomous, society needs to develop rules to manage them (Economist)

 

Trading Links:

• The Rise of Innovative State Capitalism. (Businessweek)
• 16 Cities That Are Getting Crushed By Foreclosures. (BusinessInsider)
• Muddled Models. Buttonwood argues why economics fails as a science. (Economist)
• The Dumbest Idea in Finance - A Diversified Hedge Fund Portfolio? (SeekingAlpha)
• What's Old is New Again. LIBOR scandal is no match for its medieval precedent (FuturesMag)

Here Are Some Interesting Links to Read This Weekend

 

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

 

Lighter Links:

• John Cleese on the 5 Factors to Make Your Life More Creative. (BrainPickings)
• NYC Is Turning Payphones Into Wi-Fi Hotspots. (Mashable)
• Behavioral Pricing. A Consumer’s Worst Nightmare (TheNextWeb)
• ‘Plus-Size Friendly’ - Gym Bans Skinny People. Interesting business model? (Time)
• The Future of Food. How nanotechnology, vertical farms, and lab-grown meat may change the way you eat. (Slate)

 

Trading Links:

• The Real National Security Threat Is America's Debt. (LATimes)
• The Fed Should Stop Paying Banks Not to Lend. (Economix)
• U.S. Exports Growing into Emerging Markets such as Turkey & Brazil. (BWB)
• 3D Printing 'Bigger than Internet'? This will disrupt a lot of industries. (FT Video)
• I, Robot, Am a Stupid Trader. Understanding the enemy and their superstitions. (WSJ)

Do Dissolvable Energy Strips Work?

Sometimes you need a little caffeine boost.

Well, I heard about Sheets energy strips, which are a dissolvable energy-supplement, and figured I'd give them a try.

Each sheet is the equivalent of half a cup of coffe, with some vitamins and nutrients added for good measure.

They are distinctive because they are paper-thin, individually wrapped, dissolvable strips. No pills. No liquids. No sugar.  No calories.

 

I watch programmers down Red Bull, Monster, Bawls, and Five Hour Energy ... yet, somehow, I know that isn't for me.

Energy Sheets are more subtle than that.  They provide a quick and convenient energy boost without the sugar crash.  And they work and taste good enough that I now keep a few in my back pocket and computer bag so they are there when I need them.

They also have sleep-time product called Sleep Sheets. It is honey flavored with melatonin and extracts from goji berry and chamomile — which are natural ingredients purported to induce restful sleep.

All-in-all, worth a try.

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