In a game of Jenga, the tower of blocks is stable at the beginning of the game. It takes a relatively large shock, like someone outright knocking the tower over with their hand, to collapse the system. However, as the game goes on, the tower of blocks becomes more fragile. As each successive piece is removed, the system becomes exponentially more fragile so eventually only a very tiny stress is all that is needed to send the blocks crashing down to the table. Continue reading “Antifragility, The Game of Jenga, and the Markets: Why Financial Crises Will Only Get More Severe”
Quarterly Market Update (2017.Q1)
The following topics are covered in this quarter’s review:
- A strong quarter for stocks around the world
- International stocks outperform U.S. stocks
- Market valuations just barely lagging the Great Depression and Dot-Com Bubbles
- General economic health
- Auto industry woes along with two exciting developments
Warren Buffett Answered My Question on CNBC! Here’s My Response.
Back in February, CNBC interviewed Warren Buffett. For several weeks in advance the interview, CNBC asked viewers to submit questions via Twitter under the hashtag #AskWarren. I’m not sure how many questions were submitted, but they ended up choosing mine along with a few others.
This is pretty exciting for someone who knew from the age of 14 they wanted to be in finance and closely followed Warren Buffett, read his books, etc…
I’ve included a link to the video of the exchange below. This link will start the video at the point where my question was asked. You only need to listen for a couple minutes. Take a look. My question probably comes off as a little strange if you don’t know the context so, below the link, I explain the context of my question along with my response to his answer.
Continue reading “Warren Buffett Answered My Question on CNBC! Here’s My Response.”
FOMC Statement from March Meeting
As expected, the FOMC has decided to raise the Fed Funds Rate by 0.25%.
Free Beer! But First…What Free Beer Teaches Us About Economics
Wedding season is almost upon us. I love weddings. When I think of weddings I think of dressing up, mingling with friends and family we haven’t seen in a while, fancy venue, and… free beer.
I’ve experienced weddings from a few different perspectives: as a guest, as the co-star, in a supporting role and as the bartender. Bartending is a great gig for a college-age kid by the way.
Bartenders are notoriously observant…especially once the guests are loosened up and start filling the dance floor because this is the time when things start to slow down for the bartenders giving them a chance to really observe the festivities. Not long after this point (sometimes it feels far too soon when you’re a guest) the party begins winding down, and the cleanup begins.
But you don’t need to be a bartender to make the following observations. In fact, I’m sure you’ve already made these observations:
Continue reading “Free Beer! But First…What Free Beer Teaches Us About Economics”