The Big Picture

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• Stock Market Crash of October 29, 1929
• How Does the Brain Work?
• 10 Tuesday PM Reads
• Chemicals Behind the Colors of Autumn Leaves
• Bad Maths
• 10 Tuesday AM Reads

Stock Market Crash of October 29, 1929 Posted: 29 Oct 2014 03:00 AM PDT The crash in 1929 followed a 6 year bull market that saw the Dow gain some 350% in just 6 years. The 89% crash wiped out just about all of it. From History.com: On October 29, 1929, Black Tuesday hit Wall Street as investors traded some 16 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange in a single day. Billions of dollars were lost, wiping out thousands of investors. In the aftermath of Black Tuesday, America and the rest of the industrialized world spiraled downward into the Great Depression (1929-39), the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world up to that time.   Black Thursday brings the roaring twenties to a screaming halt, ushering in a world-wide an economic depression.

How Does the Brain Work? Posted: 28 Oct 2014 04:30 PM PDT Dr. Neal DeGrasse Tyson & NOVA science NOW delve into magic and the brain, artificial intelligence, magnetic mind control, and the work of neuroscientist and synesthesia researcher David Eagleman. Can we really believe our own eyes? Will machines one day think like us? Can magnetic wands effectively control brain functions and treat depression?

10 Tuesday PM Reads Posted: 28 Oct 2014 01:30 PM PDT My afternoon train reads: • As Gas Prices Drop, Hybrid Sales Shift Into Low Gear (NPR) • Now the Stress Tests Are Over, Can the Eurozone Economy Be Fixed? (MoneyBeat) • Tightest Credit Market in 16 Years Rejects Bernanke's Bid (Bloomberg) see also Lenders Facing Housing Crash Rules Denying U.S Borrowers (Bloomberg) • Do Financial Experts Make Better Decisions Than the Rest of Us?  No, says a new study of mutual-fund managers. (The Atlantic) • Death of Active? The data doesn’t necessarily support the notion that investors have gotten religion about passive investing. (Morningstar) • The Debate Over Wall St. Enforcement (DealBook) • China’s strangest buildings, from pairs of pants to ping-pong bats (The Guardian) • Is the Affordable Care Act Working? (NY Times) • If GOP Takes Senate, Climate Change Deniers Will Control Key Committees (National Memo) • Apple’€™s Surprising Growth Driver: The Mac (WSJ) What are you reading?     Darker Global Outlook Has Bond Bears Hibernating Source: WSJ

Chemicals Behind the Colors of Autumn Leaves Posted: 28 Oct 2014 11:30 AM PDT Source: Compoundchem.com

Bad Maths Posted: 28 Oct 2014 08:30 AM PDT We live in an era of technological advancement. Whether it’s genomics, nanotechnology or software algorithms, the world is driven by mathematical solutions to complex problems. Yet at the same time, we are surrounded by what I like to call Bad Math. It seems as if the average person has little familiarity with the fundamental workings of mathematics. Statistical errors are rife. Even the classic error of confusing correlation with causation seems to be impossible to vanquish. Some of the blame for this lays in our education system. We teach by rote, instead of explaining critical reasoning and analysis. Instead of teaching children what to think, we should be teaching them how to think. It is a fundamental failure of our education system. Which brings us to today's subject. As you might imagine from a review of any of our morning reads, I plow through a lot of media, much of it good, some of it excellent. What you don’t see linked are the poorly reasoned, statistically amateurish, logically defective articles that don't make the cut. Too many writers seem to have a dominant right hemisphere. While that may be great for creativity and language skills, it means they are deficient in logic, numbers and analysis. Perhaps a few examples might help to explain my ire.   Continues here

10 Tuesday AM Reads Posted: 28 Oct 2014 05:30 AM PDT Last week’s strong markets seemed to have made everyone forget all the things they should not have been obsessing about in the first place. Guess that means October is almost over. And reads: • Treasury Liquidity Squeezed as Dealers Shut Off Machines (Bloomberg) • Porsche: The Hedge Fund that Also Made Cars (Priceonomics) • Could a Four-Year-Old Do What Carl Icahn Does? (HBR) • Find a financial adviser who will put your interests first (Washington Post) • Europe must act now to avoid 'lost decade' (FT) see also U.S. Gains From Good Deflation as Europe Faces the Bad Kind (Bloomberg)   Continues here

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