Capitalogix

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekend Reading

Attracting the Faithful isn't as easy as it used to be.

 

 

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

 

Lighter Links:

• The Disruption Machine. (New Yorker)
• How Watson Changed IBM. (Harvard Business Review)
• Download the 'Conversational Geek' e-book. (Infoworld)
• 25 of Oscar Wilde's Wittiest Quotes. (Mental Floss)
• What Democrats can learn from Republicans. (Vox)

 

Trading Links:

• Michael Lewis Reflects on Flash Boys. (Vanity Fair)
• High-Frequency Trading's Rise and Rise. (Businessweek)
• The 20 Fastest-Growing Economies This Year Business. (Bloomberg)
• Feds’ Crystal Ball Shows Oil Comeback. (Investing Daily)
• Presenting De-Dollarization in One Simple Map. (ZeroHedge)

Walking in Memphis

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a charity barbecue cook-off in Memphis.

Turns out I was there the night B.B. King died. Here is a picture at his bar that night.

 

 

The group I was with was relatively small ... but accounts for a large portion of the daily ag trading volume on the exchange. As a technical trader, it was interesting to listen to them discuss fundamental trading techniques (like crop forecasts and weather forecasts). But I wasn't ready for what I found when I visited one of their offices.

 

 

 

via YouTube.

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekend Reading

With Mother's Day a week ago, I remembered that early childhood was hard for some ...

 

 

On the other hand, it only takes a moment ...

 

 

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

 

Lighter Links:

• How Apple Won the iPad Trademark. (BizInsider)
• The Power of Checklists. (Art of Manliness)
• The Most Thought Provoking Articles of the Year. (BrainPickings)
• The Secret Meanings Behind 40 Brand Logos. (MarketingLand)
• The Science of Mis-Heard Lyrics. (New Yorker)

 

Trading Links:

• What Did Billion Dollar Companies Look Like at Series A? (Medium)
• How to De-Risk in a Bull Market. (Institutional Investor)
• In at the Highs, Out at the Lows. (Attain-RCM Managed Futures)
• Spain Joins Negative Yield Club. (MoneyBeat)
• These Will Be the World's 20 Largest Economies in 2030. (Bloomberg)

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekend Reading

Do you know what this is a picture of?

 

 

 

While, it isn't a Mother's Day present ... it does represent my hope that you had a fun Cinco de Mayo.

 

Living in Texas, it wasn't hard to find a place to celebrate.  At this time of year, the State motto might as well be:

 

 

 

 via someecards.

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

 

Lighter Links:

• What Research Tells Us About Making Accurate Predictions? (HBR)
• Gartner's Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2015. (Forbes)
• Why Scientists Believe Dogs Are Smarter Than We Give Them Credit For. (Vox)
• Healthy in a Falling Apart Sort of Way. (Well)
• Most Exclusive Golf Clubs in the U.S. (Business Insider)

 

Trading Links:

• China Has Overtaken the U.S. as the World’s Largest Economy. (Vanity Fair)
• The Outlook for Global Growth in 2015. (McKinsey)
• For Hedge Fund Managers, The Only Thing Worse Than Divorce Is Marriage. (BI)
• Technology’s Evolving Role in Wealth Management.  (Performance)
• 5 Things We Learned About Amazon’s Cloud from Its First Earnings Report. (NetworkWorld)

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekend Reading

You probably heard that Russians hacked into President Obama's e-mail.  Here's what it might have looked like.

 

 

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

 

Lighter Links:

• The Problem with Positive Thinking. (NYTimes)
• How to Invent the Future. (HBR)
• 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2015. (MIT Technology Review)
• Lutheran Insulter:  List of Insults. (ErgoFabulous)
• The Death of Textbooks?  A.I. software is reshaping traditional teaching materials.  (The Atlantic)

 

Trading Links:

• How Many Mutual Funds Routinely Rout the Market? Zero. (NYTimes)
• These Will Be the World's 20 Largest Economies in 2030. (Bloomberg)
• A Sign of the Times? Austria to No Longer Guarantee Bank Deposits. (Goldcore)
• A Look Back at Dallas Fed Fisher’s Flashiest Quotes. (WSJ)
• Santelli Stunned As Janet Yellen Admits "Cash Is Not A Store Of Value". (ZeroHedge)

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekend Reading

Are we evolving ... or getting dumber?

 

via Scott Adams.

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

 

Lighter Links:

• The Ultimate List of 20 Motivational Tools for Every Entrepreneur. (Read)
• Gartner Predicts Three Big Data Trends for Business Intelligence. (Forbes)
• 6 Google Flights Tricks That Are Better Than Any Travel Agent. (Huffington Post)
• How Terrible In-Flight Wi-Fi Will Finally Become A Thing Of The Past. (FastCompany)
• The Speech President Nixon Would Have Given If Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin Had Died on the Moon. (Vox)

 

Trading Links:

• How Many Mutual Funds Routinely Rout the Market?  Zero. (NYTimes)
• These Will Be the World's 20 Largest Economies in 2030. (Bloomberg)
• A Sign of the Times? Austria to No Longer Guarantee Bank Deposits. (Goldcore)
• A Look Back at Dallas Fed Fisher’s Flashiest Quotes. (WSJ)
• Santelli Stunned as Janet Yellen Admits "Cash Is Not A Store Of Value". (ZeroHedge)

There is a growing disconnect in the stock market

On Thursday, the Nasdaq closed at its highest since March 2000.

On Friday, the S&P 500 Index traded at its intraday high (above 2120).

So, all is good ... right?  We should 'party like it's 1999'.

Some traders are noticing the disconnect between price and money flow in the US stock market.

 

via Business Insider.

A Bank of America/Merrill Lynch survey points out that US investors pulled $79B out of equities, year to date — including net outflows in 9 of the past 10 weeks — despite stock prices continuing to break new record highs.

As this imbalance grows, are we in danger of a correction?

What do you think?

Related articles

BOFAML: Hedge Funds Go Net Short S&P, Buy Gold, SIlver & Oil

Here Are Some Links For Your Weekend Reading

Did you have fun filling out your taxes?

 

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

 

Lighter Links:

• The Expansive Qualities of Genius. (Evoking Genius)
• The Art of Performance Management and KPIs. (BCG Perspectives)
• Scientists Discovered How Much Sex Happy Couples Have Every Month. (Insider)
• Why We Love Back Rubs, Chili Peppers, and the Sex from “50 Shades”. (Salon)
• 20 of Steven Wright's Funniest Jokes. (MentalFloss)

 

Trading Links:

• Bull Session: How to De-Risk in a Bull Market. (Institutional Investor)
• AT&T dumped by Dow. Time to buy?  History suggests it's worth a look. (A.M.)
• Why American Airlines Just Landed In The S&P 500 Index. (ValueWalk)
• Hotels Near Record Occupancy Levels.  Is that a Good Sign for the Economy? (CalculatedRisk)
• Wall Street's Biggest Banks May Have To Make Good On $26 Billion In Oil Hedges. (ZeroHedge)

Asset Class Scoreboard Q1

A look back at the first quarter of 2015 shows that Managed Futures is relatively strong YTD.

Attain Capital posted this chart showing the comparative performance of eight asset classes.

via Attain Capital.

It will be interesting to see how the next three quarters play out.

Is Margin Debt Growth Something to Worry About - Or Celebrate?

Margin debt hit a record of almost $465 billion on the New York Stock Exchange in February, as investors borrowed more money than ever to buy into the post-financial-crisis bull market.

On one hand, that’s a good thing, for now, because it shows confidence. But, on the other hand, some traders believe that rapidly rising margin debt can be an early indicator of a market top.

This chart compares the percentage growth of Margin Debt to the S&P 500 Index going back to 1995, based on real (inflation-adjusted) data.

 

via D. Short in Advisor's Perspective.

 

Is it a coincidence that the "tops" align?

Margin debt grew at a rate comparable to the market from 1995 to late summer of 2000 before soaring into the stratosphere. The two synchronized in their rate of contraction in early 2001. But with recovery after the Tech Crash, margin debt gradually returned to a growth rate closer to its former self in the second half of the 1990s rather than the more restrained real growth of the S&P 500. But by September of 2006, margin again went ballistic. It finally peaked in the summer of 2007, about three months before the market.

So, where are we now?

Note that NYSE only releases margin statistics after a six-week delay; so it is tough to trade off them directly.