Capitalogix

Each State's Biggest Export Trading Partner

Despite Canada's considerable geographic challenges, a friend sent me this as a reminder.

This chart shows the country to which each state exports the most.  The states that border Mexico send a lot of goods there, while 35 states have Canada as their biggest export partner.

 

via Business Insider.

 

Back to the chart ... International trade is a big part of America's economy, and a factor in each of the fifty state economies that constitute it.

The Census Bureau publishes annual figures on each state's international trade. In addition to the top 25 goods imported and exported by each state, the Bureau reports the 25 countries each state imports the most from and exports the most to.

In addition, here is a list of the U.S.'s largest trading partners (including a different list showing countries of which U.S. is the largest trading partner).

Finally, here is a link to a map showing U.S. states renamed for countries with similar GDPs.

 

S&P Pit: Futures Trading Then and Now

I recently had the opportunity to visit the S&P 500 Pit after speaking at the Trading Show in Chicago. 

Compare it to the pit only 8 years ago and you'll notice an interesting change ... but it's not necessarily as it seems.

 

 

via YouTube.

Don't let the slow pace and lack of frenzy fool you ... Volume now is higher than ever.  And the change in the pit isn't a harbinger of death for futures trading;  it's the signal of a new era. 

According to the CME Group, public outcry has fallen to 1% of total volume.

As the playing field changes, so does the game.

Onwards!

Here Are Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

Just a saw an interesting Elon Musk quote:  "Boil things down to the most fundamental truths, and reason up from there."

 

 

 

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

 

Lighter Links:

• How to Build a Culture of Originality. (Harvard Business Review)
• 9 Influential Speeches that Changed the World. (BusinessInsider)
• Jet App Allows You to Share Flights with Celebrities. (CNBC)
• Questions, Answers on New Rules for Americans Visiting Cuba. (AP News)
• One of the World's Top Aging Researchers Has a Pill to Keep You Feeling Young. (FastCo)

 

Trading Links:

• Fintech’s Tipping Point is Imminent, New Report Says. (CoinTelegraph)
• BANK of AMERICA: Long Robots, Short Humans. (BusinessInsider)
• The Uberization of Banking. (Wall Street Journal)
• A 40-Person Startup Just Bought a 1,100-Person Company, Because 2016. (Mashable)
• For Stan Druckenmiller this is "The Endgame" - His Full 'Apocalyptic' Presentation. (ZeroHedge)

Borsellino: futures trading then and now

I just got back from chairing and speaking at a Quant/Algo Trading Conference in Chicago.  Very interesting!

While there, I met with Lewis Borsellino, a well-known S&P 500 and Eurodollar futures trader and author.

Here is a picture of him in the Pit, back in the day.

 

via TastyTrade.

In the mid-eighties, Borsellino claims to have been responsible for 10 percent of a day's volume in the S&P 500 pit and to have accumulated more fines for physical incidents than any other floor member at the CME.

We talked about how many of the advantages he had by being a big player in the trading pits are now being realized by algorithmic and high-speed traders.  I smiled when he called himself the "original spoofer."  

Here is a picture of him now.

 

Change is the only constant.

It's funny how despite the pace of  change, so much stays the same.

The playing field may change, but you still have to play the game.

Related articles

The CME will close most of its open outcry trading pits by this summer

Wall Street sounds off as the Chicago trading pits go quiet for the first time in 167 years

Here Are Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

Somebody has to win the election.  16sucks.com hopes it will be them, by selling "Everybody sucks" 2016 campaign signs to America's feeling about the two presumed main contestants for the presidency in November. 

Presumed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's net "strongly unfavorable" rating is hovering at about 37% these days (around 5% higher than the previous high for candidates getting close to the general election), according to FiveThirtyEight.

Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump makes Clinton look beloved. His "strongly unfavorable" rating is sitting at about 53%, which is off-the-charts awful for a candidate who is supposed to compete for the White House. 

  

 

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

 

Lighter Links:

• 4 Hard Questions to Ask about Your Company’s Purpose. (HBR)
• 25 Geniuses Who are Creating the Future of Business. (Wired)
• Can You Get Hacked Mid-Air? The Answer Is YES. (USAToday)
• Aging Runners Find Help for a Question: How Slow Will I Get? (NYT)
• 36 Pictures to See Which Muscle You’re Stretching. (LifeHack)

 

Trading Links:

• How Buyers React When Prices Rise and Fall. (New York Times)
• This is Why People Get Addicted to Gambling. (The Conversation)
• Hedge Fund Outflows Will Reach at Least $25 Billion this Year. (Fortune)
• "A Scramble for Gold Has Begun". (ZeroHedge)
• A Clever Algorithm Generating Millions of Random Ideas is Turning the Tables on Patent Trolls. (Quartz)

Here Are Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

The new GOP Symbol says it all.

 

 

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

 

Lighter Links:

• The Incredible Power of Ignoring Everything. (Washington Post)
• 3 Scientifically Proven Ways to Optimize Your Brain. (Inc)
• Will the Singularity Mean the Death of Religion? (Kernel)
• How One Doctor is Waging War on Bulls**t Science. (Huffington Post)
• If You're Alive in 30 Years, Chances are Good You May Also Be Alive in 1000 Years. (HSK)
•  

Trading Links:

• Why We Think We’re Better Investors Than We Are. (New York Times)
• These 7 Iconic NYC Properties are Now Owned by the Chinese. (Video)
• China Central Bank to Fed: a Little Help, Please? (Reuters)
• Global IPOs at 7-Year Low. (Insider)
• Dark Days are Here Again on Wall Street-Investment Banking Earnings down 36% YTD, Lowest since Q1 2009. (David StockMan's Contra Corner)

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back - Still Leads to Progress

Here is a photo of the Capitalogix team noting a successful test release.

 

 

When you play a big enough game ... the journey is long ... and it can't just about the final result. 

On a day-to-day basis, it is about sucking less, measuring progress, moving forward ... and remembering to celebrate along the way.

Remember, the tip of the iceberg is only part of the story.

  

The Iceberg Illusion by Sylvia Duckworth, (Flickr CC license).

 

The Iceberg Illusion reminds us that when you see a company killing it - most of the time, all we got to see was the success part at the top, not the struggles and failures it took to get there.

Here's to the focus, learning, resilience, and patience that got us here!

Onwards.

Here Are Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

Behind the Scenes: How the FBI Solved It's iPhone Problem.

 

 

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

 

Lighter Links:

• Dan Sullivan Defines Unique Ability. (Video)
• Why Creating a To-Do List Is Derailing Your Success. (FastCompany)
• Find Out How Much You’ve Spent on Amazon Since Opening Your Account. (LH)
• This Is Why Women Live Longer Than Men. (Brightside)
• All Politicians Lie. Some Lie More Than Others. Here is a Comparison. (NYT)

 

Trading Links:

• Is the Stock Market Still Rigged? (Time)
• JPMorgan Has New Theory About What Really Caused the Flash Rally. (Bloomberg)
• Wall Street Banks are Using Artificial Intelligence to Monitor Traders. (BizInsider)
• Islam in Europe: Perception and Reality. (Economist)
• Expect More Money Printing. (ValueWalk)

Here Are Some Links for Your Weekend Reading

Oh well, the hour we lost this weekend was the one I planned to use to go to the gym.  Maybe next year?.

 

via Someecards.com.

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

 

Lighter Links:

• Tomorrow's Advance Man. Marc Andreessen’s plan to win the future. (NewYorker)
• Want Your Children to Survive the Future? Send Them to Art School. (Medium)
• Uber Teams Up with Airbus for On-Demand Helicopter Service. (TPG)
• The 'Hidden Airport' Travel Hack Could Save You As Much As 80% On Flights. (TI)
• A Spanish man didn’t report to work for six years, and no one noticed until he won an award. (National Post)

 

Trading Links:

• The Exchanges Are Eating Your Returns. (Bloomberg)
• Artificial Intelligence Market Worth 5.05 Billion USD by 2020. (MarketWatch)
• What Does This Mean?  IBM Revenue Fell for 15th Straight Quarter. (Fox)
• Why Are Corporations Hoarding Trillions? (New York Times)
• China's $34 Trillion Experiment Is Blowing Up - Kyle Bass. (ValueWalk)

After a Quick Rally, The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at Resistance

Impressive rally ... Now what?

Here is a weekly chart of the DJIA.  Price has rallied to the overhead support/resistance level and its 40-week moving average (which is also its 200-day moving average).

 

via StockCharts.

 

Meanwhile, according to StockCharts, the percent of NYSE stocks trading above their 50- and 200-day moving averages is soaring. Currently, 73% are above their 50-day lines (which is close to the level hit during the November peak) ... and 34% are above their 50-day lines. That reflects the short-term improvement gained during the last month in major stock indexes.

What happens here, at the resistance barrier, will help determine if the short-term rally has more staying power.