Author: Roger Staiger

9 June 2018

Question: According to MSN:BestLife, what are suicide warning signs hidden in plain sight?

‘Bitcoin whales’ control a third of market with holdings of $37.5bn – Pg. 1

• A mysterious cluster of 1,600 investors known as “bitcoin whales” collectively hold $37.5bn of the cryptocurrency, or close to a third of the available total, revealing the extent to which wealth is concentrated in the nascent market
• That the bitcoin market is so tightly held stands at odds with bitcoin’s mission to democratize finance by setting up an alternative monetary system free of central bank control and open to all. It also brings risks for smaller speculators
• Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, enjoyed a dramatic bull run last year as retail invfestors rushed to try to cash in on its rise. Its price rose more than 1,000% in 2017, peaking at about $20,000 in mid-December, but it has since fallen back to trade at around $7,500 as regulators begin to circle the freewheeling sector

Chef who built global media franchise found dead in Paris – Pg. 6

• The 61-year-old was found dead in his hotel room in Paris yesterday morning…Anthony Bourdain….cause of death was suicide
• Bourdain sometimes struggled with his success. In the Sardinia episode of Parts Unknown, he asked in a voiceover: “What do you do after your dreams come true?”
• (Prof Note: It seems we have had two high profile suicides, i.e. Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, in as many days. These have shaken me as they, at least from my external perspective, seem to have occurred to two individuals that had the world by the tail.  I do not understand mental health but wonder if we, as a society, should be doing more.  Why are people who are seemingly at the pinnacles of careers, offering the world so much, leaving us so early?  Are these losses symptoms of a much larger issue(s)?  Personally, I believe every person has much to offer.  I am saddened by all of these losses.)

Investors risk missing out on US small-cap rally if they back wrong index – Pg. 14

• Small companies are setting a record pace on Wall Street this year, but many investors are missing out on the cream thanks to a divergence between the two main benchmarks that define the sector
• US small companies tend to be more domestically focused than their larger counterparts, bringing a host of benefits in the current economic and fiscal climate
• This year’s corporate tax cuts and strengthening US economic recovery are hefty tailwinds for smaller companies, in contrast to the outlook for multinationals…
• The result is that small-cap equity benchmarks have set fresh all-time highs and have left the S&P 500’s performance well behind so far this year: the S&P 500’s 3.5% rise pales when compared with 10.6% for the S&P 600 index and 8.6% for the Russell 2000, the two main indices tracking small-caps
• …more money tracks the Russell 2000 – $1.6tn versus the S&P 600’s $89bn, including money in index funds and mutual funds whose managers use the indices as a benchmark,…
• Proponents of the Russell index say it is indicative of the broad university of small companies, but critics argue that the quality of its constituents – it contains 1,966 companies, of which one-third are unprofitable – makes it easy for fund managers to beat
• In contrast, the smaller S&P 600 contains companies that need to meet certain performance requirements….its members must have turned a profit in the aggregate over the past four quarters and in the previous quarter,…
• The S&P 600 is more heavily weighted to areas benefiting from the brightening outlook, such as industrials and consumer discretionary secdtors…
• Other notable variations between the indices relate to biotech, which has been underperforming sector this year. Biotech companies have a 7.3% weight of the Russell 2000, but 2.4% of the S&P 600
• It trades [S&P 600] at 18.9 times forward earnings versus the Russell’s 24.3 times, …

Answer: (1) They talk more frequently about “The Meaning of Life”; (2) They are perfectionists to a fault; (3) They spend too much time with technology; (4) They complain of physical pain; (5) They’re partying more; (6) They obsess about their figure; (7) They are becoming increasingly hostile; (8) They suffer from a mental disorder; (9) They have nightmares; (10) They’ve stopped hanging out with friends; (11) They’ve slashed their calorie intake; (12) They suffer from insomnia (National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, (800) 273-8255)

7 June 2018

Question: According to USA Today, what are 5 tips to keep Alexa from peering into your life?

Investors shed Eurozone debt as bloc’s economy bolsters case for ending QE – Pg. 1

• European markets took a fresh hit after top policymakers delivered confident remarks on the Eurozone economy, bolstering expectations that the ECB will halt its bond-buying programme this year
• Many in the markets expect government debt yields to continue to gyrate in the coming weeks,…
• The ECB is likely to end quantitative easing as planned in December despite the increased uncertainly in Italy, but investors will be watching data on Italian business and consumer confidence, in particular, for many signs of weakness

India lifts interest rate to curb price pressures – Pg. 4

• The Reserve Bank of India raised its benchmark interest rate yesterday for the first time in four and a half years, citing growing inflationary pressures stemming from rising oil prices and global financial turmoil
• The central bank’s monetary policy committee voted unanimously to raise its benchmark repo rate by 25bps to 6.25%, saying “inflation has hardened sharply” and been persistently sticky in the last six months
• The rupee has depreciated by 3% in the same period, making it one of Asia’s worst performing currencies

Millennial moment – Pg. 7

• …millennials as the 73m Americans aged between 22 and 37, who will next year overtake boomers in number
• The coming of age of the world’s 2bn millennials is not only a generational shift: it is one of ethnicity and nationality. Forty three percent of US millennials are non-white, and millennials in Asia vastly outnumber those in Europe and the US.  Despite China’s former one-child policy, it has 400m millennials, more than five times the US figures (and more than the entire US population) while Morgan Stanley estimates that India’s 410m millennials will spend $330bn annually by 2020
• Millennials have reached what the bank calls “the most important age range for economic activity”, when households are formed, babies are born and money is spent not just on going out but on settling down
• …it is placing immense strain on institutions that once thrived on mass marketing through television advertising
• In the US and Europe, many millennials are disenchanted with their lot as they attain maturity
• They are highly educated: 39% of British 25 to 39-year-olds are graduates, compared with 23% of those between 55 and 64. But their sophistication and ambition is not matched by security
• This is largely an accident of history. Older millennials entered the workforce in the mid-2000s, and many lost jobs after the 2008 crisis.  They were also caught by rapid inflation in house prices as interest rates fell and remained low.  The milestones of leaving home, getting a job, marrying and having children have been delayed – 45% of 18 to 34-year-old Americans had done all four in 1975, but only 24% had in 2015
• …2014 study…only 19% of millennials believed that others could be trusted, compared with 40% of boomers and 31% of the generation Xers born between 1965 and 1980
• Millennial faith in institutions is also low (Prof Note: As is mine…hence, “Do the hustle!”)

Answer: (1) Change your wake word.  You’re not married to Alexa; (2) Say no to contacts; (3) Turn it off; (4) No voice purchases; (5) Don’t drop in

6 June 2018

Question: According to MSN:Lifestyle, what are 11 signs someone is lying to you?

Barbados braced for tough measures to clear debt burden – Pg. 3

• Barbados faces a painful journey back to financial and economic health under radical plans to tackle the world’s fourth-biggest debt burden,…
• The Caribbean island has been told by Mia Mottley, the prime minister, of previously undisclosed liabilities that lifted overall debt from 137% of GDP to more than 175% – the highest debt-to-GDP ratio after Japan, Greece and Sudan
• With central bank reserves down to $220m, or seven weeks of imports, debt payments due this month and the hurricane season approaching (Prof Note: The hurricane season is a real concern in the island. We have crews working 7 days a week to finish projects as a caution to weather.)
• Barbados is the latest Caribbean statelet to suffer financial distress. Since 2010 St Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Grenada and Jamaica – twice – have had to default on an restructure debts, in what Moody’s in 2016 called a “silent debt crisis”.
• Its slide into insolvency has been a long time coming. Barbados was long one of the better-run countries in the region, helping per capita GDP rise to about $17,000 in 2016. But fiscal discipline started eroding after the global financial crisis, when the economy was hit by a tourism drought (Prof Note: Yes!  The world woke to the beautify of Nevis and the rum on St. Kitts!)
• Annual economic output is about $5bn, which means Barbado’s overall bonds, loans and other liabilities stand at almost $9bn. More than two-thirds is owed to local investors and banks, raising concerns a tough package could imperil the domestic financial system
• …means that much of the debt relief Barbados is seeking will have to come out of international creditors, which would also slow the drain of dollars from central bank coffers
• State payments to SOEs, subsidies and on retirement benefits have been rising despite an austerity programme, and last year reached almost $600m in a country of 280,000 people (Prof Note: Nevis (12,000 people + ME); St. Kitts (42,000 people))

Designer Spade found dead in her apartment – Pg. 12

• Kate Valentine, the designer behind the namesake Kate Spade fashion line, aged 55, was found dead in her Manhattan apartment yesterday morning
• (Prof Note: Apparently she committed suicide. One of my dreams for Cat Ghaut, catghaut.com, is that it be a retreat for those in recovery.  One of the many beauties of Nevis is that the world is “away”.  When you are on island you are “on island”.  I have no mental health background and my personality still tracks that of an engineer.  However, if I can assist anyone, I will.  Life can have low moments but each day the sun will always rise from the East.  Each evening, it sets in the West and if you are lucky, you can watch the Green Flash.  While not easy, please consider a life do-over as the extreme solution.  Rather than leave the world, perhaps consider a re-birth with a new identity and life.  Just my thought(s)….but I truly believe everyone has something to offer and that the world is better off with great people!  I/we want to help!)

Ructions in emerging markets and Europe put Fed under pressure – Pg. 19

• The US Federal Reserve is often buffeted by cross-currents but investors caution that balancing the strong domestic economy and increasingly choppy waters in emerging markets – and now Europe – will require a particularly adept hand at the tiller this year
• …US economy continues to expand at a robust clip, exemplified by unemployment numbers and manufacturing data released Friday. That double dose of strong data prompted traders to lift Treasury yields higher again to end the week – and it improved the odds of the Fed staying on its path of monetary tightening this year
• The implied probability of the Fed raising rates only once more this year, after the March increase, jumped from 13% on May 22 to almost 40% at the peak of Italy’s turmoil but has since slid back below 20%
• The Treasury market has also see-sawed with the 10-year Treasury yield bounding from a low of 2.76% on May 29 to 2.92% on Monday
• The Fed itself has indicated it plans to raise rates twice more this year
• The 10-year “break-even” rate, a market measure of investors’ inflation expectations, remains above the Fed’s target 2% at 2.07%, despite recent declines, and inflation is expected to continue to accelerate into the summer

Answer: (1) They change their head position quickly; (2) Their breathing changes; (3) They stand very still; (4) They repeat words or phrases; (5) They provide too much information; (6) They touch or cover their mouth; (7) They instinctively cover vulnerable body parts; (8) They shuffle their feet; (9) It becomes difficult for them to speak; (10) They stare at you without blinking much; (11) They tend to point a lot