Capitalogix

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

Hillary is now on a book tour for her new book "What Happened" ... I haven't read it, but Politifact has. 

 

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

Lighter Links:

• Hackers Have Already Started to Weaponize Artificial Intelligence. (Gizmodo)
• Your Future Sex Robot Could Be Hacked and Programmed to Murder You. (BGR)
• You Can Actually Be Allergic to Exercise. (Popular Science)
• Multivitamins a Waste of Money and Just Create 'Very Expensive Urine'. (TheGuardian)
• iPhone X Impressions: 'Striking' Display and 'Sensational-Looking' Design Make High Price Worth It. (MacRumors)

Trading Links:

• In China's Hinterlands, Workers Mine Bitcoin for a Digital Fortune. (New York Times)
• Janet Yellen Has Reached Breakfast-With-The-President's-Daughter Levels of Job Insecurity. (DealBreaker)
• Finance: How It Made Civilization Possible. (CFAInstitute)
• The Blockchain Will Do to Banks and Law Firms What the Internet Did to Media. (HBR)
• 16 Quotes from Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's Right-Hand Man. (BInsider)

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - August 20th, 2017

Change is the only constant.

 

  

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

 

Lighter Links:

• AI Beats the World's Best Gamers after Just Two Weeks of Learning. (NewAtlas)
• Russia-linked Hackers Targeted Hotel Guests across Europe: Security Firm. (Reuters)
• One Year after Rio: What's Left behind after the Flame Goes Out. (ESPN)
• Humans and Robots are on the Cusp of a Sexual Intimacy We May Never Reverse. (Quartz)
• Elon Musk Just Shared His 4-Step Plan for Mars - Colonists Should Be "Prepared to Die". (ScienceAlert)

 

Trading Links:

• Ray Dalio Urges Investors to Hedge Against Possible North Korea War. (FN)
• There Has Never, Ever, Been this Many Trades Betting on VIX. (ZH)
• Amazon Could Start Selling Event Tickets in the U.S. (TechCrunch)
• South Korea Introduces World's First Robot Tax. (ZeroHedge)
• The Number of Cash Payments Dipped 11 Per Cent Last Year - But It's Still the Most Used Payment Method. (CityAM)

Rubik's Cubes ... More than just a game.

One of my unique abilities is pattern matching.

Even if I'm not an expert in a field, based on context and patterns, I quickly see the big picture – and recognize the bottlenecks and leverage points that impact transformative results.

Perhaps that's why Rubik's Cubes fascinate me. 

A scrambled cube presents an insurmountable challenge to newbies.  It almost seems that there are infinite possibilities ... and most lead towards chaos and failure. In reality, a Rubik's cube is pretty easy to solve if you understand a few simple algorithms (and match the positions of a couple key blocks in relation to the decisions you need to make next). 

As more people learn to solve standard cubes, the game evolves.  There is new generation of "Cubers" that attempt to find new creative situations to add difficulty, solve it faster than the next person, or try crazy variations of the cube that barely resembles the original. 

 

If you're trying to learn how to solve a basic cube, here's a great resource. 

After you've learned the basic patterns, and solved a few puzzles,  you can up the ante.

Here are some examples of bigger cubes with more variables and different shapes.

 

via hananujiya

Ultimately, it is that base pattern recognition and simple solving skills (applied in the right order) that sets the stage.

It doesn't matter where you start.  As long as you continue to make progress, the result is inevitable.

Who Can You Trust? Ranking Your News Sources

Fake news this ... phony sources that ...

It is harder than ever to know what to trust.

"Noise Reduction" is important in this volatile geo-political climate.

The chart, below,  lists the least and most trusted news sources.

 

via RJI

As someone who reads a lot, this was interesting.

As a side note,  I was a little surprised to see the "Internet" on the list as source itself.  Darwin would be somewhat comforted to see that people don't trust everything they see on the internet. 

The following chart is a bit outdated (it's from 2014), but it's a good study with diverse leanings.  It presents the trust levels of various news sources by ideological group.   

 

via Journalism

Which of your news sources do you follow? Were they as trusted as you expected?

Another question worth asking yourself is "Am I getting an idea of what the other side is thinking?"  In trading, I always want to understand what the other side sees.

Finally, let me know if there are resources you think I should look at.  

You are either growing or dying.

Tick ... Tock ... The Doomsday Clock Is Ticking

With North Korea flexing their nuclear muscles and threatening to strike Guam, and Donald Trump threatening to unleash "Fire and Fury" in retaliation, alarm towards the possibility of military conflict becomes more prevalent.

Could there be a second Cold War? Or, is there really a chance someone pushes the button?

Regardless, it's just another green tick mark on the doomsday clock according to the "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists" who post a yearly update to our doomsday clock (and have for 70 years). 

The Doomsday Clock is a globally-recognized model of our planet's health and safety - but who knew it was an actual thing based off of a range of factors?

Now - they want you to donate, and so there's a level of fearmongering, but they do provide some solid data on nuclear stockpiles, global temperature differences and more.

 

via The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

 

You can see their full article on this year's prediction here.

And if you're actually worried about North Korea - even if they now have the ability to hit the U.S., I think we need to be asking if they have a real desire to do so?

North Korea thrives off of the status quo - keeping people placated with propaganda and love for their glorious leader. 

Despite how it may seem sometimes - It's unlikely Kim Jong Un is trying to start a war with America. It just isn't smart.

But, we know that emotion is not often based on logic. 

Which brings us to the Markets.  For the first time ever, the S&P 500 Index has moved less than 0.3% for 13 consecutive days. 

Meaning, despite all the fervor in the media, and fear/elation surrounding the presidency, not much is happening.

Traders are essentially paralyzed with indecision ... a Cold War of sorts  -- or the calm before the storm?

Related articles

Trump just said the scariest thing of his presidency and this has gotten totally out of control

Report: North Korea is Seriously Considering Attacking Guam, Where 6,000 US Troops Are Stationed

Guam's residents 'unnerved' as island wakes up to North Korea's threats

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - August 4th, 2017

A poorly thought-out plan, executed perfectly, is better than a perfectly designed plan that never gets executed. 

 

via Calvin and Hobbes 

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

Lighter Links:

• NFL in Talks with Jerry Jones, Yankees to Combine Event, Hospitality Business. (BR)
• How to Boost Your Mental Health with Nootropics. (PickTheBrain)
• Study Says It's the Cuddling, More Than the Sex, that Makes You Happy. (Flipboard)
• Fukushima Disaster Evacuees Told to Return to Abandoned Homes. (TheGuardian)
• Someone Asked Their Amazon Echo If It Was Connected to the CIA. the Response Was Not Reassuring. (SomeEcards)

Trading Links:

• The Secret Economic Lives of Animals. (Bloomberg)
• Bill Gates Invests in Veggie Burger that Bleeds' like Beef to Feed the Masses and Save the Planet. (GeekWire)
• Alan Greenspan: the Bubble is in Bonds, Not Stocks. (Apple)
• Why the Post Office Gives Amazon Special Delivery. (Wall Street Journal)
• U.S. Farmers, Who Once Fed the World, are Overtaken by New Powers. (Wall Street Journal)

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - July 28th, 2017

Talent is great,  but you can have a lot of success without it ...

 

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

Lighter Links:

• What is an Impact Filter? (StrategicCoach)
• Morning Routines and Strategies. (Tim)
• Why Some Smart People Make Foolish Decisions. (Digest)
• How Wellness' Became an Epidemic. (TheCut)
• Trump Reportedly Asked Legal Team about His Power to Pardon Aides, Family, Even Himself. (Slate)

Trading Links:

• Apple is Once Again the Most Profitable Company'. (iPhoneHacks)
• The Trump Administration Can't Stop China from Becoming an AI Superpower. (Wired)
• AI Could Revolutionize War as Much as Nukes. (Wired)
• Era of Biological Annihilation' is Underway, Scientists Warn. (New York Times)
• Gold and Silver are down 8% and 21% over the Trailing Year. Blame Bitcoin? (Fool)

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekly Reading - July 16th, 2017

Science, Art, or "PooPoo De Toro"...

  

 

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

Lighter Links:

• Ray Kurzweil: There's a Blueprint for the Master Algorithm in Our Brains (Futurism)
• Brain-training Games Don't Really Train Brains, a New Study Suggests. (WashPost)
• Why Men Don't Live as Long as Women. (Nautilus)
• What a Hunter-Gatherer Diet Does to the Body in Just Three Days. (CNN)
• Is Philosophy Simply Harder Than Science? (TLS)

Trading Links:

• Return of the Day Traders. (Forbes)
• The Unexpected Economic Consequences of Video Games. (Vox)
• Why Elon Musk's Early Adopters Take Risks. (Forbes)
• Nvidia Heads 50 Companies that Will Change the World. (Alphr)
• This is the Future of Investing, and You Probably Can't Afford It. (BizInsider)

Paul McCulley: "The Coming War between Trump & The Fed"

I just got back from an economic summit in Wyoming where I spent some time with Paul McCulley.  He is an economist and former managing director at PIMCO.   

 

He is the guy that coined the terms "Minsky moment" and "shadow banking system". 

Recently, he put together this explanatory cartoon about the relationship between Trump & The Fed.

Truth, Humor, and a Unique Perspective ... Worth a watch.

 

 

Ultimately, he is fairly bullish ... but cautious.  He says: "After eight good years on Wall Street, it's bound to end soon.  Don't be greedy."

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.