Seneca on Gratitude
“I am grateful, not in order that my neighbour, provoked by the earlier act of kindness, may be more ready to benefit me, but simply in order that I may perform a most pleasant and beautiful act.” More here – Brain Pickings
Of Kamikazes, Lifeguards and Traders
In 1941 Japan possessed the most powerful fleet air arm in the world, its pilots and aircraft were second to none and they had introduced the world to the power of the carrier battle group. The 1st Air Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy which was also known as the Kido Butai had devastated Pearl…
The Strange Brain of the World’s Greatest Solo Climber
Honnold is history’s greatest ever climber in the free solo style, meaning he ascends without a rope or protective equipment of any kind. Above about 50 feet, any fall would likely be lethal, which means that, on epic days of soloing, he might spend 12 or more hours in the Death Zone. On the hardest…
Survivor Bias
Every now and again you hear of someone who managed to win the lottery with their magic scheme, you might even hear that some mathematician has found out what numbers are most likely to be drawn. When I hear of such things I am always amazed that said mathematician seems to confuse lucky with random…
EOFY Review
In the first quarter of last year I begin to tinker with my short term system – in fact the tinkering was so extreme that it essentially became a brand new system. Fortunately, this tinkering coincided with a the onset of a new financial year so I have a full year of data to review…
Create Your Trading Masterpiece
SOME PEOPLE JUST easily click into what we can show them about trading. Others need a complete overhaul from roots to branches, before they can grow their equity. Whatever your level, we’re here for you. Remember those dot to dot books we loved as kids? You’d just connect one number to another, on faith, and…
Favourite Thought
IF YOU’RE KEPT IN a playpen, you can only play with the toys you can reach. Even if it’s a well stocked playpen, the dreamer… the trader… the entrepreneur… we’ll be the ones planning our escape to play with the even bigger toys outside the playpen. We’re insatiable that way. A deep hunger – for…
What’s Your Mantra?
I LOVE THIS LITTLE mantra from John Lavi – a member of our 2010 repeat-for-free Mentor Program. He kindly sent it to me recently: May I be patient, May I follow my trading process, in confidence, with excellence. May I be mindful of price action, and follow my trading plan, with conviction, with determination –…
You? A Genius?
YOU CAN INCREASE your intelligence. “The fact is, intelligence can be increased – and quite dramatically,” writes behavior-analytic psychologist Bryan Roche of the National University of Ireland in Psychology Today. “Those who claim that IQ is fixed for life are in fact referring to our IQ test scores, which are relatively stable – not to…
Money Hang-Ups
EVEN AFTER I STARTED to make money, I still had some hang-ups: In my pantry, you’d find around 20 boxes of cereal. After eating Homebrand cardboard-tasting cereal for so many years, having yummy cereal somehow represents prosperity. I don’t mind earning the money, but I have an aversion to seeing how much money we’re forking…
Feeling Lucky?
IN 2004, A LUCKY SINGLE mother won $10.5 million in the Ontario lottery. Her name was Candy Adams. What did that windfall do for her life, her goals and her values? Surely she parlayed that into incredible success? Well… no. After becoming a millionaire overnight, she spent all that lovely money on designer clothes, parties,…
Family Descent as a Signal of Managerial Quality
Long story made short – fund managers from poor backgrounds make better fund managers than those from wealthy backgrounds. Which does make sense when you think about it not only in terms of drive and the will to succeed without a safety net but also a greater understanding of the need to husband resource. Abstract…
Crypto Crash
I found this neat little chart on the total market cap of all crypto currencies. Since January the market has lost about $584B. So much for replacing money as we know it. The only similarity between cryptocurrencies and money as it is currency defined is that the saying a fool and his money are soon…
