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Wednesday, November 7, 2012

The Big Picture

The Big Picture


GOP and Dems: Two Sides of the Same Beast

Posted: 06 Nov 2012 10:30 PM PST

LeftRightFreda They Arent Third Parties ... They Are SECOND Parties, Since the GOP and Dems Act as ONE Party On The Core IssuesPainting by Anthony Freda: www.AnthonyFreda.com.

They Aren't "Third Parties" … They Are SECOND Parties, Since the GOP and Dems Act as ONE Party On The Core Issues

 

The Republican and Democratic candidates have become incredibly similar in their core agendas . Seethisthisthisthis, thisthisthis.    They are virtually indistinguishable on warjobsfreedoms andfavoring fatcats instead of the little guy.

Tony Blizzard hits the nail on the head, writing:

For the next elections quit referring to third parties. Call them – properly so – second parties, explaining that the two top parties are in reality one. Owned by the same money with tweedle dee, tweedle dumb candidates prostituted to that money.

The reason neither of them campaigns on [real] issues is that both back the same agendas of their owners, the money interests. THEY ARE ONE. TREAT THEM SO IN PRINT.

Nate Silver and the Lessons of 2012

Posted: 06 Nov 2012 08:50 PM PST

1. Breakout Star Of The Election Season

You don’t have to be running to win. You don’t have to be number one. Concentrate on being a member of the scene and surviving.

2. Paid His Dues

We’re so used to here today, gone tomorrow. Young people thrust into the spotlight who then disappear. Rebecca Black left high school to be home-schooled. College is seen as anathema to success. But those who last tend to have paid dues far from the spotlight for a long time. It’s what they did when no one was paying attention that counts. The seasoning. Whether it be reading books, listening to music, studying economics… If you’ve got no background, you’ll be exposed as being two-dimensional very soon.

3. Transferable Skills

My inbox is littered with the career questions of those who can no longer work in the music business. They say they’re stuck, there’s nothing else they can do. I always point them to the wisdom of “What Color Is Your Parachute,” the career bible. Richard Bolles speaks of transferable skills. Nate Silver started off in baseball statistics. It was an easy, but unforeseeable to most, switch to polling.

4. Established Players Hate Newcomers

If you think kissing the ass of established players is the road to success, you’re sorely mistaken. You know you’re on the right path when those in power are excoriating you, as so many did to Mr. Silver. It’s almost impossible to get the attention of bigwigs. If they’re coming down off their roost to confront you…you know you’re winning. If you’re just a sailor, taking orders, you’re going to go down with the ship.

5. Opportunity

It doesn’t come from marketing, but getting it right. Nothing markets you better than excellence.

6. Nerdom

There’s been a war on intelligence in the U.S. Education too. But to watch Nate Silver in action is to love him. Because he doesn’t primp for the camera, he was on Bill Maher with a bad shave. He wasn’t media-trained. He was like that guy next door you grew up with, maybe played with when you were in single digits, but were never best friends with. But you’re on board with him as an adult, because you know he paid his dues, that this is really who he is.

7. Methodology

There’s an outcry that “Billboard” has changed its charts. By hewing to the old model, you’re just ripe to be overrun by he who develops the new. People criticized Silver’s methodology incessantly. But it was he who turned out to be most right.

8. Track Record

Republicans forget that it was Silver who said they were going to triumph in 2010. People like those who are beholden only to themselves, who call it as they see it as opposed to playing team ball. Today’s media superstars, the ones we’re enraptured by, are not team players, they’re loners, outliers. To the degree people are angry with them, it’s because these winners did not follow the safe path, did not do what was expedient, like the haters.

9. Publicity

Nate Silver’s reputation was built online, surfer by surfer, year by year. You think it’s all about the big time media performance. Getting on late night TV, on the radio. Mainstream media opportunities mean less than ever before. Furthermore, the audience is sophisticated, people know they’re being manipulated. I heard about Silver from my friend who follows politics religiously for years before I started paying attention. We take our cues from those who are deeply invested in a topic, like my friend. The information may sit there for years, until a trigger comes along and we too get on the bandwagon. I kept hearing about the “FiveThirtyEight” blog. And when I saw the link on the homepage of the “New York Times,” the bell went off. I read Mr. Silver and became a convert. I respect the nerds, they’re going to inherit the earth.

10. Selling Out

Yes, Mr. Silver is now aligned with the “New York Times.” But he paid his dues solo, and the news outlet came to him. Stop pitching and start fielding. If you’re excellent, people will find you. Furthermore, Mr. Silver has become bigger than the “Times” itself. Last week, 71% of visits to political sites at the “Times” included a stop at Silver’s blog. Furthermore, 13% of all visits to the “Times” last week, the number six news site in the U.S., were to Silver’s blog. The day before the election, it was 20%. (http://bit.ly/RDFWQI) Talent has power. Individuals can rise to the top seemingly instantly. The corporation is not king in this world where everybody can start themselves online. If you’re not making it, you haven’t paid your dues and/or you’re just not good enough.

11. Gay

Mr. Silver is. It’s rarely trumpeted. We now live in a post-gay era. As Chris Rock says, everybody’s got a relative who swings the other way. If you’re a hater, get over it. Just like Ms. replaced Miss, the tide has turned, gays have a seat at the table. Not that there isn’t work to be done educating the naysayers.

12. You Can Win

But you’ve got to want it. You’ve got to be willing to follow the road less traveled. You can’t take what you read at face value. You’ve got to be unique. You’ve got to be so outside they won’t let you on the reality TV show. You’ve got to be everything great about America – self-motivated, with a winning attitude, willing to do the hard work.

 

 

Source: @cosentino

 

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10 Tuesday PM Reads

Posted: 06 Nov 2012 01:00 PM PST

My election day afternoon train reads:

Sheila Bair: Want to fix Congress? Let’s institute pay for performance (Fortune)
• Athens grinds to a halt (FT Alphaville)
• Earnings Season Ugly All Around (MarketBeat)
• Surveying Sandy’s Damage to Staten Island One Week Later (Curbed)
• Wall Street overwhelmingly backs Romney (CNN Money) see also Jacob Lew: The Man Who Could Save Obama’s Legacy (National Journal)
The view from Germany: America Has Already Lost Tuesday’s Election (Spiegel Online)
• Late Poll Gains for Obama Leave Romney With Longer Odds (Five Thirty Eight) see also Clues to Obama-Romney Outcome Lie in Three Eastern States (Bloomberg)
• 10 things presidential candidates won't say (MarketWatch)
Hilarious! The Onion’s Stockwatch (The Onion)
• Is Nate Silver a Witch? (INSaW)

What are you reading?

 

In Sandy’s Wake, Demand Worries


Source: WSJ

FHFA vs JPM Lawsuit

Posted: 06 Nov 2012 12:00 PM PST

From Manal Mehta of Sunesis Capital:

 

 

Euro vs USD between 2008-2012 (-3%)

Posted: 06 Nov 2012 11:41 AM PST

From start to finish of the 2008-2012 term the USD only lost approximately 3% to the Euro. There’s been quite a few 20% moves in between making it challenging for both buyers and sellers.

As a reminder, the Dollar's Biggest Decline was from 2001-08 — down 41%


Nov.6, 2012 Election day, trading at approximately 1.28

Decision Tree: All Possible Paths to the White House

Posted: 06 Nov 2012 11:30 AM PST

Click for interactive decision tree

Hat tip: Flowing Data

How to Play Individual Sectors Post-Election

Posted: 06 Nov 2012 09:30 AM PST

Barry Ritholtz, Fusion IQ CEO, talks with Bloomberg's Betty Liu about how to play market sectors depending on election results. He speaks on Bloomberg Television's "In The Loop."


Source: Nov. 6 Bloomberg

Drag Race: Tesla Model S vs BMW M5 0-100mph

Posted: 06 Nov 2012 09:00 AM PST

Ezra Dyer pits the Tesla Model S against the BMW M5 in a drag race during Automobile Magazine’s 2013 Automobile of the Year testing:

443 pound feet of torque

via Hybrid Cars

Ritholtz: We Never Know What’s Going to Happen

Posted: 06 Nov 2012 08:34 AM PST

Fusion IQ CEO Barry Ritholtz previews the markets ahead of today’s elections. He speaks on Bloomberg Television’s “In The Loop.”


Nov. 6 (Bloomberg)

What Stocks Do After Elections

Posted: 06 Nov 2012 08:30 AM PST

Great table from Morgan Housel of The Motley Fool:

 
Click for readable table

Source: The Motley Fool

 

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