Capitalogix: Trading

Trading

February 05, 2017

Why Are The Patriots So Good?

Some things speak for themselves.

The Patriots just came back from a 25-point second-half deficit to win the Super Bowl.

There is a difference between 'luck' and 'skill'.

Nonetheless ... luck favors the prepared.

And, in life as in sports, hard work beats talent, when talent fails to work hard.

The Patriots, under Bill Belichick, epitomize that.

Belichick has been a coach in 10 of 51 Super Bowls (seven of them with Tom Brady).

When you see this picture from the 2000 NFL Combine, it's hard to believe that Tom Brady would be a 3-time Superbowl MVP taking the Patriots to their 5th under his reign.

via CBS Sports.

It didn't happen by accident.

The Patriots are a well-oiled machine, and it's not because their players are better than the rest.

Keep in mind, the NFL is a league at the top of the food chain (their athletes are the best of the best). Moreover, the NFL actively creates rules designed to level the playing field and create parity.

So, it is hard to create a team that 'can't be beaten' – When it happens, it happens because of culture, coaching, and process. Ultimately, somehow, winners find a way to win.

Bill isn't known as the friendliest (and he's certainly not known for dishing out praise) – but he is known for discipline (and lauding hard work when it's deserved).

More importantly, Belichick created a framework of success that isn't reliant on the individual - and it is that which allows the individual to shine.

Frameworks create the structure that allows, focus, specialty, and the freedom to improvise.

The System is the 'system'; but, within it, you can measure what works, who contributes, and use it to identify the best things to try next.

Win, lose, or draw ... some things speak for themselves.

Posted at 02:51 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Ideas, Personal Development, Sports, Trading, Trading Tools | Permalink | Comments (0)

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.

Posted at 02:05 PM in Current Affairs, Games, Just for Fun, Sports, Television, Trading | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 29, 2017

The Dow Just Broke 20,000

In 2016, we saw some decent pull-backs and volatility.

Then Donald Trump was elected President.

On November 22nd, the Dow reached 19,000 ... and in only 42 days, it's broken 20,000. That's the second-fastest rise ever.

Coincidence?

via WSJ

With 30 components providing point value ... the 5 "heavyweights" this year are: Boeing, IBM, 3m, United Healthcare and Home Depot.

Are the markets responding to Trump's consistency with his campaign messages? Just happy to have some hope in change?

So, as the presidency continues, will the trend keep going up?

What do you think?

Posted at 05:47 PM in Business, Current Affairs, Market Commentary, Trading, Trading Tools | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 28, 2017

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekend Reading - January 29th, 2017

With the explosion of Alternative Facts and Fake News ... It's important to remember to verify what you read.

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

Lighter Links:

Why Each Side of the Partisan Divide Thinks the Other is Living in an Alternate Reality. (The Conversation)
Check out this Automated Resume Builder (It Could Help Former President Obama Get a Job). (Inc)
Cybersecurity is Everybody’s Business. (Burrus)
25 CEO’s List 20 Things that Keep Them up at Night. (LeadershipFreak)
Japanese Toilet Industry Agrees to Standardize Complex Bidet Controls. (TheVerge)

Trading Links:

What Does the World Expect of a Trump Presidency? (The Conversation)
The SEC's Reaction to High Frequency Trading. (QuantNews)
US Jobless Claims down to 1970S Levels at 234,000 - about as Good as It Gets. (Forbes)
SpaceX’s Leaked Finances Show Elon Musk is Betting Big on Satellite Internet. (Quartz)
Fed's Yellen Says She's Upbeat about Short-term Economic Outlook. (Reuters)

Posted at 04:32 AM in Business, Current Affairs, Gadgets, Ideas, Just for Fun, Market Commentary, Personal Development, Science, Trading, Trading Tools, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 22, 2017

Do We Still Need Humans?

In my office, we use a lot of what seems like "futuristic" artificial intelligence approaches to understanding financial markets. Most of my team are technical or data-science specialists that develop and drive the systems that create our systems.

Pretty soon, we may start to question where using humans is still smart or cost-effective.

In the meantime, I'm fascinated by what is becoming possible ... and how, even when the A.I. is little more than an elegant use of brute force, incredible results are becoming commonplace.

MIT has been looking at work by many different organizations - including Google Brain - who are working on AI that can develop machine learning software.

In many cases, the results coming from machines coding other machines are matching or exceeding work done by humans.

As a point of reference, virtually all of our training techniques were developed or created by an A.I. process.

AI creating AI has many benefits.