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Sunday, March 23, 2014

The Big Picture

The Big Picture


Wolfram Language

Posted: 23 Mar 2014 03:00 AM PDT

Stephen Wolfram’s Introduction to the Wolfram Language

Source: YouTube

The Fed and Hyperinflation

Posted: 23 Mar 2014 02:00 AM PDT

“It is after a trend has been reversed that the full effect of the preceding excesses is felt.” -George Soros

For the last 5+ years we have seen a massive attempt by global central banks to prop up asset prices. The Federal Reserve has spearheaded the effort, increasing their balance sheet from less than $1 trillion in 2007 to over $4 trillion today. One of the main threats that QE allegedly posed was that printing trillions of dollars would lead to runaway inflation, the complete collapse of fiat currency. Now obviously that hasn't happened, in fact we've seen almost the exact opposite. Check out the chart below which graphs Google searches for "hyperinflation." You'll notice that fear is abating.

Consider that in 2013, 18 of the 21 biggest economies in the world had inflation rates of less than 2%. Who could have predicted that after 3 rounds of easing and one twist, people would be more worried about deflation than inflation? Bernanke has done a masterful job no doubt; Ray Dalio has gone as far to say that America is experiencing a "beautiful deleveraging."

The fed is now of the mind that the economy can stand on its own and Janet has begun peeling the band aid off. The market has thus far welcomed the scaling back with open arms; the S&P 500 is up ~6% since December 18 when Bernanke unleashed the Taper.

Asset prices have inflated to be certain, the S&P 500 is up around 115% since the Fed's first round of "Quantitative Easing", fine collectors are back collecting, and $80M diamonds are being auctioned off. A key ingredient that has been missing from this recovery is wage growth.

But alas, just last week we saw average hourly earnings increased 0.4%, more than double expectations and up 2.2% y/o/y. Check out the chart below from Deutsche Bank.

In 1987 George Soros said “It is after a trend has been reversed that the full effect of the preceding excesses is felt.” Wouldn't it be something if we only start to smell inflation after QE has been reversed, after all the hyper inflationistas have crawled back into their cave? Markets have a unique ability to forecast the future, don't look now you guys, but the CRB commodity index is up 10% YTD.

What Inventory Behavior Tells Us About How Business Cycles Have Changed

Posted: 23 Mar 2014 01:00 AM PDT

How Hollywood Has Destroyed America

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 05:00 PM PDT

Source: The Concourse

Crafting Visual Stories with Data

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 02:00 PM PDT

Data visualization has enabled us to compress data and express them visually in many interesting new ways. It is often cited that we are trying to tell stories through them. Is that really the case? How can we ensure that the audience is able to retain, recall and retell our data-driven stories.

Using examples and videos learning from different storytelling mediums, I walk through why stories are important and what we can learn about how stories work from these mediums. I then detail out a framework built on the See the data | Show the Visual | Tell the Story | Engage the Audience paradigm to convert the data in to a data-visual-story.

Tweets of the Week. 3.22.14

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT

The Fed
Hawkish? Hardly!

Spelled with an “i”

Where would any FOMC meeting be without a limerick?

My own contribution to the FOMC noise

Markets
Reasons to sell since March 2009

Spot what’s wrong with this chart

Everytime I see as pundit on TV screaming inflation, all I can think is Blow Hard!

To buy a house, you have to work how long?

Data without Theory

Random Stuff
Now THAT’S a Selfie

And this selfie ain't bad either – I will be swinging by the photographer of this selfie this afternoon from 3-4 to talk Taper & Market Tops

Newly discovered Dinosaur is called Chicken from Hell

Best. Coffee cup. Ever.

It goes to 11

Gorgeous wallpaper

Best Bumper Sticker in JPL Parking Lot

A living refutation of Descartes

Lastly, from the kid who snuck to the top of the WTC tower

BloombergTV: QE & Market Tops

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 06:30 AM PDT

What Would Our Economy Be Like Without QE?

Ritholtz Wealth Management CIO Barry Ritholtz discusses what the U.S. economy might’ve looked like without the Fed’s quantitative easing. He speaks with Trish Regan and Matt Miller on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart."

~~~

We’re Not at a Market Top

Ritholtz Wealth Management CIO Barry Ritholtz discusses whether or not the U.S. stock market is in a bubble. He speaks with Trish Regan and Matt Miller on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart."

Source: Bloomberg, March 21 2014

10 Weekend Reads

Posted: 22 Mar 2014 04:00 AM PDT

Looks like a glorious day is on tap. Grab your tablet and a cup of coffee, and settle in to enjoy these longer form weekend reads:

• Genome Surgery: Genome Editing Tools Boost Medical Research and Gene Therapy's Reach (MIT Technology Review)
• Silicon Valley's Youth Problem (NYT Mag)
• The new market space: billionaire investors look beyond Earth (FT)
• Why we love repetition in music (Aeon)
• The Dismal Art: Economic forecasting has become much more sophisticated in the decades since its invention. So why are we still so bad at it? (Democracy Journal)
• Is Amazon Bad for Books? (New Yorker)
• The man who destroyed America's ego: How a rebel psychologist challenged one of the 20th century's biggest—and most dangerous—ideas (Medium)
• How We Built the Ghettos (Daily Beast)
• Facebook’s Plan to Conquer the World — With Crappy Phones and Bad Networks (Wired) see also The War Nerd: Google's Big New Dog (Pando Daily)
• A vast hidden surveillance network runs across America, powered by the repo industry (BetaBoston)

Whats up for the weekend?

 

Mutual funds that aim to copy hedge-fund strategies are proliferating.
BF-AH054_22hedg_G_20140321173903
Source: WSJ

 

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