2014 Mercedes-Benz CLS63 S AMG
Economists Again….
Whilst driving I heard in passing on the radio that this weekend is some super big deal thingy for the technologically backward industry known as real estate. Apparently some 1200 homes are going to be auctioned this weekend in that antiquated process whereby people stand out the front of a building and some of them…
Cumulative 52 Week High-Lows
Every time I have the misfortune to accidentally be within earshot of a US news broadcast regarding markets it seems I am assailed by the magic 52 week high. The thinking behind this metric is quite sound – if stocks are making new yearly highs then the market is sound. Being a cumulative index it…
Is The U.S. Stock Market Rigged?
The transcript of the entire interview can be found on the 60 Minutes site. However, I had trouble getting their embedded videos to play in Chrome.
Grit And The Secret Of Success
“Inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work,” Chuck Close scoffed. “A self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood,” Tchaikovsky admonished. “Show up, show up, show up, and after a while the muse shows up, too,” Isabel…
Real Price Of Gold Since 1791
Not certain what the relevance of this is other than interest only. Source – VisualisingEconomics.com
Inequality
Here are some general pieces on inequality for your weekend reading. The New Yorker – ……..Piketty believes that the rise in inequality can’t be understood independently of politics. For his new book, he chose a title evoking Marx, but he doesn’t think that capitalism is doomed, or that ever-rising inequality is inevitable. There are circumstances, he…
Shiller: On Bubbles & Busts
Nobel laureate Robert Schiller talks about bubbles, busts and what he thinks drives markets.
Why Runners Can’t Eat Whatever They Want
Bad news for endurance athletes. As a 10-mile-a-day runner, Dave McGillivray thought he could eat whatever he wanted without worrying about his heart. “I figured if the furnace was hot enough, it would burn everything,” said McGillivray, who is 59. But a diagnosis six months ago of coronary artery disease shocked McGillivray, a finisher of…
Job Opening
If anyone is interested Cambridge University has an opening for the Lucasian Chair of mathematics. Previous holders include Issac Newton, George Stokes, Charles Babbage, Paul Dirac and Stephen Hawking. I am actually surprised by the advertisement since I thought they generally had someone earmarked for the job when the tenure of the incumbent ended.
Why Is Wall Street So Divorced From Reality? A Psychological Explanation.
This is one of those articles I wish I had the insight to write. Think about the days of feudalism. Back then, nobody bothered to justify their position in an egalitarian ethical framework. Instead, there was the “natural” superiority of the aristocracy, which allowed landlords to pillage the peasantry without even a scrap of justification.…
The World Is Full Of Morons
Have you ever wondered why the world is like it is. I have to admit I used to ponder this question all the time but then I spent more time with people and began to realise that the majority of people are functional morons barely able to muster enough cognitive ability to wipe their own…
Luck and Skill Untangled: The Science of Success
The world around us is a capricious and often difficult place. But as we have developed our mathematical tools with increased sophistication, we have in turn improved our ability to understand the world around us. And one of the seemingly simple places where this occurs is in the relationship between luck and skill. We have…
