Change is the only constant

Crazy how fast things have changed in 25 years.....


- http://www.theage.com.au/nsw/cabinet-papers-falling-off-the-sheeps-back-20151218-glqmsa

Puerto Rico says....so sue me

Remember how no one cared about Greece because it was far away.....

Ladies and Gentlemen...... I present you Miss Puerto Rico
- http://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/30/puerto-rico-will-default-on-small-portion-of-the-1b-in-bonds-due-monday-officials.html





Psss the first person to point out how the US$ is also screwed with general obligation debt due in 15-30 years from now wins a prize.

Technology in 2015

Yep this sums up technology in 2015 pretty nicely. Have a great New Year everyone and looking forward to 2016 !!

Kobe Bryant in his first video game vs his last video game

ASX ranked 37 out of 73 for 2015

Shame the reporter couldn't be bothered post the 5/10/20 year returns for a decent comparison.

Considering the ASX is skewed towards mining etc telling us the 1 year returns this year is about as helpful as telling us the Saudi Govt returns with oil at $40 a barrel.

Please try harder next time.....even if it is Christmas/New Years......

- http://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/australia-a-perennial-loser-on-the-global-sharemarket-20151228-glvp4q.html?


Anyone else have the data for longer term returns?

Indian PPV

Interesting article on the issues around getting paying customers for video content in India....

A problem the world over....

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/28/technology/bollywood-and-us-media-giants-try-to-induce-indians-to-pay-for-video.html

Great Startup Idea

https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/stockpile#/entity  

Interesting idea www.stockpile.com lol give their server a few minutes before checking them out though as server just crashed with cnbc love.

Basically quick and easy fractional share ownership like iTunes gift cards that you buy at Walmart etc.

The fees are provided on the site $1.99+3% for anything over $100 (eg loading credit)
+ 0.99c per share sale/purchase
$25 for TT to cash out or $5 a check.

I think it’s a great way to get people interested into purchasing shares.

Unfortunately only 14% of Americans hold shares directly (obviously a much larger percentage hold via 401k’s etc) and as such they miss out on the economic benefits of the capital markets.

It’s a bit late for this Christmas but want to teach a kid about maths/economics, go out and buy them a 0.1% share of Apple, Google, Microsoft and AT&T,Norfolk Southern, J&J and they’ll start paying attention quick smart to how the world works and why inflation=government theft.

Would be the best education for your child that $400 could buy.

What the heck is with the rabble rousing press in Australia this month

I don't get how the press are playing to the dumbest of the dumb in the Australian population this month around the "corporate tax lists" that were just released.


eg this article by http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/by/Richard-Denniss



http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/two-waves-sink-turnbulls-rhetoric-20151217-glqja7.html#ixzz3uvBXORLS


This week two enormous lies crashed into the shores of Australian public debate. Thanks to the Australian Tax Office we now know that rather than funding our schools and hospitals, a third of our biggest companies pay absolutely no corporate profit tax whatsoever.

I mean seriously is this reporter really that stupid? or just playing for the lowest common denominator?

Just because a company chooses not to pay end of year income tax and instead to reinvests profits into a corporation doesnt mean that they are not "paying tax".

Lets start with how much GST do mining companies pay, how much payrol tax do they pay, how many state/council taxes and duties do they pay over the course of a financial year.....

Lets not forget that if these mining companies didnt exist then the Australian economy wouldnt be generating all of the income tax that the employees pay (or the factored incremental gst/duties/state/council taxes and duties that people pay from their incomes).

This article is an abortion of an attempt to generate outrage in the masses who dont know any better.......I'd expect something like this from The Telegraph not Canberra Times.

You get an educated population by having a smart, educated free press.......based on this political muck I worry for the future of Australia.

ITP Winter Show

Was great to get to the ITP show this afternoon, if you missed it they have another session Monday.


http://itp.nyu.edu/shows/winter2015/show/





I was lucky enough to have had some friends in town so I took along their “Miss 10” along, the winner of the day by far was the VR Dragon…..lol wouldn’t have minded seeing that myself unfortunately there was line of patient kids sitting in a long row and didn’t have the heart to jump in behind Miss 10.


What was interesting to watch in the time I was in line was how there wasn’t a single kid who was “ready” to get off the dragon and instead had to have the VR google taken off them when parents felt guilty about monopolizing the time after 5-4 minutes etc.


Its going to be interesting to see how many willingly give up screens etc and use VR as their primary display.

Comfy with your current mortgage?

Something to think about while you are maxing out your credit card this Christmas :)

4 Economic Shifts That Could Push Australian Interest Rates Higher
https://www.propertyinvesting.com/4-economic-shifts-that-could-push-interest-rates-higher



Great reminder that mortgage debt is generally for 20-30 years...... and that volatility can change in an instant so only borrow based on risks you can pay to get yourself out of.

Of course.....understand that if you are under leveraged.....the government can "inflationise" your net worth dramatically each and every year to the tune of 2% min up to 10% and anyone under-leveraged suffers this government induced theft by not being fully risk on invested.

Garage hackers

Lesson to learn here.....it doesn't matter who you are, someone somewhere is building something that could decimate your business and everything you think you know....

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2015/12/17/teslas-response-to-hacker-who-built-a-self-driving-car-on-his-own-in-a-month-sounds-desperate/

What mining boom....wait for the food boom

And people wonder why I plan on retiring to a farm


- http://www.smh.com.au/business/half-baby-formula-bought-from-aussie-supermarkets-being-sent-overseas-20151214-glnmd2.html


You dig minerals out of the ground once and they're gone.....you farm, people shit, they need to eat some more :)

Australia's future is in sustainable farming practices, we need to develop the north west plains and work on desalination infrastructure asap.

No need to read the Fed tea leaves

The answer is yep ...we are going to see a 0.25% fed rate hike at 2pm today.

You only have to walk around Brooklyn Heights and see the amount of renovations/construction repairs going on to know that the mood has changed and people feel comfortable taking their wallets out of their pockets and are spending cash (which boosts the economy and takes out the slack).


- http://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/the-us11-trillion-elephant-in-the-federal-reserve-room-20151213-glmoph.html


What happens next and where do we go from here......who knows.


Interesting article predicting that it doesn't....not sure I agree with it though as capital is more efficient these days (eg naturally swells to gunk up the works and drive up inflation).......

- http://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/low-us-rates-could-stick-around-for-longer-than-you-think-20151214-glnkce.html

Winter in NYC......

I walked the dog in a tshirt and shorts this morning......

What the heck is going on?? Oil should be down to $20 a barrel if this keep going on for much longer.

Live theatre...in over 2000 worldwide locations - you have to love this use of technology

Jodie and I are watching the live broadcast of Benedict Cumberbatch in Hamlet in the UK at IFC here in NY (pretty cool technology 4k digital broadcast via satellite around the world of a live play in London ( more here - http://ntlive.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/ntlout10-hamlet )


If you want to geek out on the technology check out here
http://www.tvtechnology.com/resources/0006/to-4k-or-not-to-4k-we-know-the-answer/277464