Capitalogix

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - February 18th, 2018

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

Lighter Links:

• SpaceX Hid a Second, Secret Payload Aboard Falcon Heavy, and It Sounds Amazing. (ScienceAlert)
• Weird: Naked Mole Rats Don't Die of Old Age. (FoxNews)
• Your WHOLE Body Could Be Replaced or Upgraded' with Robot Parts by 2070. (TheSun)
• Drones Grounded at Opening Ceremony _ but Not on Tape Delay. (AP News)
• These Videos of the North Korean Cheerleading Squad Chanting Will Haunt Your Nightmares. (SomeEcards)

Trading Links:

• How Bitcoin's Plunge May Have Been a Precursor to Market Turmoil. (CNBC)
• Blockchain, AI, Machine Learning & IOE Will Make You Money in 2018. (Forbes)
• BlackRock's Message: Contribute to Society, or Risk Losing Our Support. (New York Times)
• US Tax Reform Could Cause Repatriation of $2 Trillion Overseas Investment. (Worldview)
• A Bunch of Shell-shocked Wall Streeters Met in Paradise during the Market Meltdown Here's What Scares Them Most. (BusinessInsider)

Do Not Adjust Your Set ... We Are Now Controlling The Transmission

There is nothing wrong with your television. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are now controlling the transmission. We control the horizontal and the vertical. We can deluge you with a thousand channels or expand one single image to crystal clarity and beyond. We can shape your vision to anything our imagination can conceive. - The Outer Limits (1963)

 

 

It almost feels like an episode of Black Mirror, watching these stations quote the same pre-determined diatribe on fake news and it's danger to our democracy.

The very message they are purportedly supporting directly contradicts their actions. 

I think most people realize this happens to some degree ... but, it's different when it's presented like this.

Personally, I believe I am reasonably aware and somewhat immune from propaganda.  That probably isn't as true as I'd like to believe.

To put it in context - Sinclar Broadcast Group owns nearly 200 stations in 80 different markets, and are looking to buy out more. That is a powerful platform to deliver mass messages and influence the zeitgeist of its audience.

It used to be true that winners wrote history (think empires, wars, etc.).  Now, the one that delivers the most broadcast narratives shapes the emotional and seemingly logical responses to what we perceive to be happening around us.

The result impacts elections, financial markets, buying choices, and countless other areas of our life. 

As A.I., Bots, and social media grow, our ability to discern truth from 'truthiness' weakens.

What do you think about this?

NFL - Boom or Bust

Are you ready for some Football?

This chart may explain why my foreign friends prefer a different form of "football" ... It shows how many Super Bowl Championships each region has.

 

 

The regular season is about to start, and the buzz is building ... but, not all of it is good. 

Violence ... drugs ... concussions ... There has been a lot of bad press surrounding the NFL lately.

The Cowboys, alone, have somewhere between  4 to 7 players (depending on appeals) subject to miss games due to league suspensions for misconduct.  

 

The Teflon League:  NFL Revenues and Viewership Are Up.

 

Currently, the NFL is the 11th most important private company in the USA according to Fortune, and has the highest revenue of any sports league worldwide. 

via howmuch

While critics contend that something needs to be done about the various issues surrounding the NFL, it's hard to conclude that those issues affect viewership.  The NFL currently dominates attendance per game, viewership, and revenue.

In an experience economy, the NFL puts out an extraordinary product.

Long term may prove to be a different story, however.  Each year there are less high-school football players and more competition. 

I guess we'll see.

Regardless ... "How About Them Cowboys!"

 

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - July 23rd, 2017

Apparently, Trump has been asking lawyers if he's able to pardon himself from the Russia Investigation. No president has ever attempted it, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Clever.

 

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

Lighter Links:

• Recent Poll: Hillary Clinton Is Still Less Popular Than Trump. (Slate)
• I've Read over 100 Productivity Books and Summarized the 15 Most Important Tips. (LifeHack)
• Unraveling Death in Game of Thrones. (Visual.Ly)
• Could Congress Put Horsemeat Back on the Menu in America? (Washington Post)
• 50 Companies Leading the AI Revolution, Detailed. (KDNuggets)

Trading Links:

• Robotic Hogwash! Artificial Intelligence Will Not Take over Wall Street. (WSJ)
• Cryptocurrency Market Nears 50% Decline from All-Time High. (CoinDesk)
• Mark Zuckerberg's Net Worth Soars $3.5 Billion to Record High. (Forbes)
• Jeff Bezos: the 'Obsessive' Amazon Founder and World's next Richest Man. (TheGuardian)
• Tony Robbins: How to Suffer Less (And Invest Intelligently). (TimFerriss)

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?

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)

You're Fired - America's New Reality Show

It's almost like America has become a reality TV show.

Every week there's something new ... Did you see Pepsi's new ad? It got a lot of backlash for showing Kendall Jenner saving the underprivileged with a well placed Pepsi. 

 

Seems like someone's getting fired. 

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - April 8th, 2017

 

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

 

Lighter Links:

• How AI and Blockchain Will Change Business Organization. (HuffPost)
• Pluto Has Been Officially Reclassified as a Planet!. (Futurism)
• The Philosophy of the Matrix: from Plato and Descartes, to Eastern Philosophy. (OpenCulture)
• Tony Romo to Replace Phil Simms in Broadcast Booth. (NFL)
• The 13 Best April Fools’ Day Pranks of 2017. (Slate)

Trading Links:

• How Hackers Hijacked a Bank’s Entire Online Operation. (Wired)
• America’s System of Checks and Balances Seems to Be Working. (Economist)
• How Much People in the Trump Administration are Worth. (NYTimes)
• Santoli: Here's Why BlackRock is Throwing in the Towel on Human Stock Picking. (CNBC)
• Here’s 48 Hedge Fund Terms Every Investor Should Know. (VisualCapitalist)

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekend Reading - February 26th, 2017

I think frameworks are an important tool.  Here's one that seems to be in use a lot recently.

 

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

 

Lighter Links:

• The Future of Work Manifesto. (TechCrunch)
• The Art and Science of Learning Anything Faster. (FourHourWorkWeek)
• The Five Best Super Bowl Commercials. (Washington Post)
• How to Find out If Your IPhone 7 Has Faster or Slower LTE Modem. (iPhoneHacks)
• Google Flights Will Now Tell You When Fares Will Increase, Help You Find Cheaper Tickets. (TechCrunch)

Trading Links:

• UBS Wealth Chief on Fintech: 'We are beyond Fighting'. (BusinessInsider)
• Uber Hires NASA Veteran to Help It Figure out Flying Cars. (TheVerge)
• Trump's Bonfire of Banking Rules Could Burn Us All. (Flipboard)
• The Art of a China Deal. (Chinafile)
• Microsoft: Tech Companies Aren’t Getting into Financial Services to Make Friends with Banks. (CBInsights)

NFL - Bad Lip Reading

Hope you have enjoyed Super Bowl weekend so far.

Here is an oldy, but goodie.

It is kind of the opposite of one of those old Kung Fu movies where the dubbed words you hear aren't synched with the mouth movement. 

Here it looks like they are saying what you hear ... it's just that someone changed the words.  You could call it "So THAT'S what they were saying ..."

 This video works for the same reason trading often doesn't ... Humans are great at finding patterns (even when there isn't really a pattern to find).

Regardless, this was fun (and it's gotten almost 70 million views on YouTube).

 

 

Recently, they also did one with clips from Trump's Inauguration.  

Pretty funny.