| Audio-Psychology: Why We Listen to Songs on Repeat Posted: 03 Oct 2014 04:00 PM PDT One of my favorite Sci-Fi books from my teen years was Alfred Bester’s 1953 novel, The Demolished Man. (It was the first Hugo Award winner). In Bester’s vision of the Future, telepathy is common, and the main character uses earworms — Pop tunes specifically developed to be an addictive, catchy, irritating nuisance to block out other telepaths from reading his mind. I thought of that book as I read this article from Music.Mic: Why, when there are hundreds of thousands of songs released each year, do we choose to listen to the same ones over and over? The reason may be rooted in science. “Musical repetition gets us mentally imagining or singing through the bit we expect to come next,” professor Elizabeth Margulis, author of the recent On Repeat: How Music Plays the Mind, noted in an interview with Mic. “A sense of shared subjectivity with the music can arise. In descriptions of their most intense experiences of music, people often talk about a sense that the boundary between the music and themselves has dissolved.” You play songs on repeat, then, because it feels as if you’re singing it. It’s that sense of anticipation that happens in the listener, what Margulis calls “virtual participation.” It’s a similar participation to something that follows a narrative structure, like reading a book or watching a movie over again. It’s similar to as if you were creating the music with your mind — as if it were a part of you.
-The Science Behind Why We Listen to Our Favorite Songs on Repeat
The science of earworms has been perfected, so the industry can build pop songs that get stuck in your head. Check out the current top of the charts, “All About That Bass”
Meghan Trainor – All About That Bass
Source:
The Science Behind Why We Listen to Our Favorite Songs on RepeatMusic.Mic See also:
On Repeat: How Music Plays the Mind December 9, 2013 by Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis Get that tune out of your head – scientists find how to get rid of earworms (The Telegraph) Earworms: Why catchy tunes get trapped in our heads (BBC)  |
| Succinct Summation of Week’s Events 10.3.14 Posted: 03 Oct 2014 01:00 PM PDT Succinct Summation of Week's Events: Positives: 1) US economy added 248k net new jobs in September; two prior months were revised up by a total of 69k. 2) Unemployment rate falls two tenths unexpectedly to 5.9%, the lowest since July '08. Average weekly hours ticks up to 34.6, the most since May '08. 3) Initial Jobless Claims fell to 287k from 295k last week (revised from 293k). 4 week average is 295k vs 299k, 2nd lowest level since 2006. Continuing Claims fell by 45k to also the lowest level since 2006. 4) S&P/CS home prices in July fell .50% m/o/m, but increased y/o/y by 6.75%. Yearly increase was slowest since December '12. 5) US income growth rose .3% m/o/m in August, in line and spending grows by .5%, one tenth more than expected. The savings rate ticks down to 5.4% from 5.6%. 6)The US trade deficit in August falls to the lowest since January as exports rise to a record level. 7) September CPI in the euro zone rose .3% y/o/y (driven by energy prices which fell 2.4%) vs .4% in August and the core rate unexpectedly moderated to a .7% gain vs the estimate of .9%. The European populace doesn't need a higher cost of living right now notwithstanding the best attempts of the ECB to bail out the over indebted.
Negatives: 1)As of this writing, the S&P 400 Midcap index joins the Russell 2000 below its 200 day moving average for the first time since November 2012. 2) What's the Fed going to do now with a 5.9% unemployment rate (already at their 2014 year end estimate) and still zero interest rates? Asset prices at 6 year highs after ZIRP 3) Labor participation rate falls to 62.7%, lowest since February 1978 proving again that this is not a cyclical phenomenon. Wages were flat m/o/m and up 2% y/o/y 4)Vehicle sales in September moderate to a 16.34mm SAAR vs 17.45mm in August and the estimate of 16.8mm.
5) The September ISM manufacturing index fell to 56.6 from 59 in August and was below the estimate of 58.5. From the ISM, "comments from the panel reflect a generally positive business outlook, while noting some labor shortages and continuing concern over geopolitical unrest." 6) Mortgage applications were virtually unchanged as refi's fell .3% and purchases were flat w/o/w but with still 34% and 11% y/o/y declines respectively. 7) Pending home sales in August fell 1% m/o/m and 4.1% y/o/y vs expectations of down .5% and 1.4% respectively. 8) China's services PMI falls to an 8 month low in September and new orders drops below 50 for the first time since December '08. China's main manufacturing PMI was unchanged at 51.1 but 5 month lows were seen in new orders and backlogs. 9 )If Mario Draghi cannot get guarantees from individual European government on mezzanine ABS that he wants to buy, then just buying the senior slice will not get him anywhere close to the balance sheet goal he has and also won't do much to jump start bank lending. 10)The August unemployment rate for the EU remained unchanged at a still very elevated 11.5% for a 3rd month although its down from its peak of 12%.
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| Bill Gross’s Farewell Letter to PIMCO Posted: 03 Oct 2014 08:30 AM PDT Bill Gross, founder of Pimco, and its chief investment officer for the past 40 or so years, resigned last week. Rumor has it that he was but two steps ahead of a mutinous gang, swords out, planning to make him walk the plank. Gross was too quick and before the mutineers could force him, he jumped ship — and landed at Janus Capital. There, we surmise, he was given a slug of equity and a free hand to run a smaller, more nimble fund. On his way out Pimco, Gross penned a heartfelt farewell letter to his former colleagues. But so great was his haste that he never hit "send." Fortunately for you, dear reader, we managed to get our hands on a copy of that e-mail, which we reproduce below and without further comment: I can add colours to the chameleon,
Change shapes with Proteus for advantages,
And set the murderous Machiavel to school.
-Henry VI, Part III Dear Friends, Colleagues and Co-workers, For the past 43 years, Pacific Investment Management Co. has been my home, as well as my pride and joy. With great sadness, I must bid her adieu, not because I want to leave, but because I must. It is the natural order of things for all seasons to change; for the next generation must be given its chance. A new epoch is upon us. Ashes to ashes . . . . All those reasons — plus truth be told, an imminent palace coup — meant it was time for me to go. Before I depart, however, I offer you this final Investment Outlook, my last IO for you to consider. No cats, no “Man in the Mirror,” just a few thoughts for you to reflect upon as the next era — a newer new normal — begins. I co-founded PIMCO in 1971, starting with a mere $12 million in assets. Who could have imagined what the company would become during the ensuing 43 years? After four decades as founder, fund manager and mostly as CIO, I guided this firm to managing more than $1.97 trillion in client assets. When I sold the 70 percent stake not held by Pacific Life Insurance Co. to Allianz SE in 2000, the company had a value of $4.7 billion. Not too shabby a track record. I daresay I must have gotten one or two things right during that period. Not that you would know it by the recent press coverage, nor by the whispers in the hallways of Pimco. The immense wealth I helped to create for my colleagues, partners and clients over all that time meant nothing, once Machiavelli's stratagems were put into play. There is a standard sequence of events for all insurrections, and this one was no different. It included the favored tactics: A public character assassination, the quiet intimations that I had lost it (erratic behavior, dark glasses at a presentation, an elegy to my cat Bob). Add to that a break with a trusted associate, which implied something nefarious about that behavior (How did Mohamed manage to resign from Pimco, yet stay employed at Allianz? I couldn’t pull that one off). Continues here
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| 10 Friday AM Reads Posted: 03 Oct 2014 05:15 AM PDT It’s been a heck of a week but before we start thinking about the next two days, we have one more to get through. Our slightly longer morning reads can help: • Asset-backed securities: Back from disgrace (FT)
• Invest Like a Tech Tycoon: Silicon Valley moguls are investing smarter, with help from private bankers. (Barron’s)
• The Latte Factor: @HelaineOlen Cutting out those $4 lattes is NOT the key to middle class wealth. (Storify)
• Why the Yield Curve Matters (TRB)
Continues here  |
| 1966 Jaguar E-type 4.2 Litre FHC series 1 Posted: 03 Oct 2014 03:00 AM PDT 
Source: Classic Driver
This little beauty is for sale: Chassis number 1E32930 – matching numbers and factory original colours. Colour black with a black leather interior. This stunning Jaguar E-type was sold new in Santa Barbara, California, USA. In the year 1995 the automobile was imported to the Netherlands. The then owner (board member of the Dutch Jaguar Club) enjoyed the very good car for five years before the decision was made to start a full ‘body off’ restoration to the highest possible level of perfection. The restoration was carried out by the best professionals in their field of specialism. The restoration took twelve years and 5612 hours to be completed. Called by the auctioneer “by far the most beautifully restored Jaguar E-type we ever saw” expected prices for this will be in the 100s of 1000s of dollars. The automobile was featured in the Dutch version of Octane Magazine, December 2013. 
More photos after the jump
Source: Classic Driver
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