Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.
It's that Holiday time of year again.
Wow, how time flies. We're past Thanksgiving, and Christmas and the New Year will be here quickly.
It turns out that tonight was and the last night of Chanukah - which is the Jewish festival of lights. This is the holiday that involves lighting the Menorah (Chanukah candles), eating latkes (potato pancakes), exchanging gifts, playing spin the Dreidel (a gambling game), and enjoying a sense of family togetherness for eight days and nights.
That's a long time, right?! Well, sometimes it seems even longer with my family.
As a gift to all of you, here is "The Chanukah Song," performed by comedian Adam Sandler on Saturday Night Live. It became an instant classic (and he since released a second, third, and fourth version.)
Here is the video. And, if you're feeling left out - here's Adam Sandler's Christmas Song.
via SNL
It's not too different from Christmas.
The cynic in me believes the gift part of the holiday was invented by merchants.
Regardless, the Capitalogix team has been in a festive mood, and the office has been filled with holiday cheer. We recently celebrated a Thanksgiving Potluck as well.
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From my family to yours, Happy Holidays!
For the past 80~ years, John D. Rockefeller was the undisputed richest person in history, but now Elon Musk is giving him a run for his money with a $340 billion net worth.
Many historians estimate Rockefellers' inflation-adjusted net worth to be around $340B, which would tie them.
With that, I thought I'd share a chart from visualcapitalist that spotlights the richest people in history. Click to see full size.
via visualcapitalist
While this is fun to look at, realistically, it's hard to get accurate numbers for many of these people. Think how much land Genghis Khan held or that Augustus Caeser essentially owned an entire empire. The calculations of their wealth are very subjective, and records from ancient eras are very scarce.
It is, however, surprising to see someone amass such personal wealth in an era with much more competition.
Do you think someone will surpass that wealth soon?
It is possible. How and why? Because we live in interesting times!
The holidays and the winter months tend to have a negative impact on collective mental health.
Many jump to alcohol to make it through.
Which countries would you guess consume the most alcohol per capita?
Several people I asked quickly guessed Russia without even looking at the chart.
Well, here's the chart.
via visualcapitalist
Europe did top the list with 8 of the top 10 countries. However, Russia did not make the list.
via visualcapitalist
The Cook Islands top the list with almost 3.5 gallons of alcohol annually per capita.
Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.
Here are some of the posts that caught my eye. Hope you find something interesting.
The S&P 500 Index had another bad week and ended the month down 4.8%. It was the sharpest monthly decline since March 2020 – and finished a seven-month streak of gains. Here is a heat map chart showing how widely spread the pullback was last week.
via FinViz
It will be interesting to see how the S&P 500 Index fairs in October as the Delta variant continues to linger, the Federal Reserve plans to slow its purchase of government-backed bonds, and fear continues around the U.S.'s cash reserves and debt limit. Adding further pressure are the continuing shortages of many retail goods and computer chips.
But, for all the times we've expected a contraction, the market has shown remarkable resiliency in the past year and a half.
On a more lighthearted note, here are two charts I thought were interesting and worth sharing.
First, here's a chart from A Wealth Of Common Sense that shows the top 10 stocks in the S&P 500 in 5-year increments.
There are a lot of interesting takeaways you can glean from this chart. But I was surprised to see how much turnover there is. Also, in the 1980s, the top 10 companies were almost all energy companies, while today they're almost all tech companies.
Here's a bonus chart that shows the top 10 companies at the end of 2020.
via Statista
If you assume the market cap is approximately $32 Trillion, these ten companies account for around 30% of the market cap. That is a staggering amount.
For the last chart, here's a spurious correlation between the McRib being in season and the performance of the S&P.
via PuzzledHippo3
With the McRib coming back on November 1st, you might want to invest now. Seems like a solid bet.
Perhaps the correlation exists because McDonald's only offers the McRib when pork prices are low enough? If so, McD's is reacting to the market (and not the other way around).
There are many ways to make money in fast food (including food sales, real estate, and commodities trading).
Last week, ESPN televised a blow-out of Ohio's Bishop Sycamore high school football program by Florida's IMG Academy. The score was 58-0. But that has little to do with this story.
Why do you care, and why am I writing about this? Because the story is crazy – and Bishop Sycamore is now under investigation for fraud.
The supposed school in Colombus, Ohio, is not recognized by the state's athletic association … and the department of education doesn't list a school with that name. Despite that, they somehow scammed ESPN into scheduling the game.
Here are some of the troubling data-points.
The director of Bishop Sycamore claims the school is not a scam, and his son is in the program. On the other hand, the “school” currently doesn't even have a working website.
It's impressive that in this era of information access, a school could defraud the nation, not once, but twice.
I even heard that Cam Newton got picked up by Bishop Sycamore after getting dropped from the Patriots.
Not really … but this is an interesting story – and reflects how easy it is for “fake” things and get real coverage.
A-To-Z of The Internet Minute in 2021
As I get older, time seems to move faster ... but it's also true that as I get older, more is accomplished every minute.
Technology is a powerful force function. In fact, the amount of data in the digital universe effectively doubles every two years.
Every couple of years, I revisit a chart about how much data is generated every minute on the internet.
In reverse chronological order, here's 2018, 2015, and 2011.
Here's an excerpt from 2015 for some perspective:
Throughout its (pretty short) history, the internet has been arguably the most important battlefield for relevancy and innovation.
So, what does the internet look like in 2021?
DOMO via visualcapitalist
Looking at the list, we see new editions like Clubhouse and Strava. Partially due to the quarantine, you're still seeing an increase in digital cash transfers with tools like Venmo, an increase in e-commerce shops like Shopify, and an increase in (you guessed it) collaboration tools like Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
Just to pick out some of the key figures in the chart this year.
Before 2020, I already thought that big tech had a massive influence on our lives. Yet, somehow this past year has pushed their impact even higher.
One other thing this chart also helps put into perspective is the rapid rate of adoption. As you look at different year's charts, you can see how quickly apps have become part of the cultural zeitgeist.
How do you think these numbers will grow or change in 2022?
Posted at 09:14 PM in Books, Business, Current Affairs, Food and Drink, Gadgets, Games, Healthy Lifestyle, Ideas, Just for Fun, Market Commentary, Movies, Music, Personal Development, Pictures, Religion, Science, Sports, Television, Trading, Trading Tools, Travel, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)
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