| Warren Buffett owns Geico Insurance, and the third richest man in the world makes a cameo appearance as an "Axle Rose - like" rocker: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmcxIokfOiE |
Friday, 19 March 2010
New Geico Commercial - With a Warren Buffett Cameo!
Posted on 07:17 by Unknown
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Trading and Improvisation
Posted on 16:45 by Unknown
Traders and investors can learn a lot from comedy improv and jazz music.
Those fields are like trading, in that you are putting yourself into a chaotic and fluid environment where you have to key off ever-changing data.
Comedians have to react to their fellow improv members, while the jazz musician has to play off the others in the jam session. Traders, of course, have to react to the actions of other market participants - as reflected in price changes.
Improvisation is not simply reacting from the gut or the wild idea that pops into your head. Good improv is where you pull out a pattern from your past experiences and adapt it to the present conditions.
For traders, this involves having a few patterns or bread-and-butter indicators that form a basic trading system. Your system should not be over-fitted so that it tries to have rules for every possible market condition.
Instead, it needs to be simple, solid, and robust - so you can use it as a framework to make real-time trading decisions.
Those fields are like trading, in that you are putting yourself into a chaotic and fluid environment where you have to key off ever-changing data.
Comedians have to react to their fellow improv members, while the jazz musician has to play off the others in the jam session. Traders, of course, have to react to the actions of other market participants - as reflected in price changes.
Improvisation is not simply reacting from the gut or the wild idea that pops into your head. Good improv is where you pull out a pattern from your past experiences and adapt it to the present conditions.
For traders, this involves having a few patterns or bread-and-butter indicators that form a basic trading system. Your system should not be over-fitted so that it tries to have rules for every possible market condition.
Instead, it needs to be simple, solid, and robust - so you can use it as a framework to make real-time trading decisions.
Friday, 5 March 2010
Zen, Simplicity, and Stock Trading
Posted on 10:29 by Unknown
Stock Trading Riches teaches my trading system, which I am very passionate and proud of. It reflects principles from zen, Taoism, jazz improvisation, simplicity, and minimalism. It allows anyone, no matter what their level of financial experience, to take charge of their investments. Not only does it make money, but it feels like a form of meditation.
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Tax Carnival #66
Posted on 22:28 by Unknown
Check out the 66th Tax Carnival - it has a good collection of tax-related blog posts.
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
My Simple Three-Step Solution For Healthcare in the United States
Posted on 15:55 by Unknown
Instead of the bloated, complex healthcare plan they're debating in Congress, I have a cheap, simple, and elegant three-part solution:
1. A universal catastrophic healthcare insurance plan - basically, we extend Medicare to everyone under 65 with a large deductible - i.e. $15k to $20k.
It will be no-frills: no payments to providers, etc. On April 15, anyone who went over the deductible in the previous year would file a claim, submit all bills as proof (whether paid by them or insurance), and receive a check.
Importantly, the deductible will automatically be adjusted each year by the rate of medical inflation. It can only be overridden by 60 votes in the Senate. That way the medical establishment can't raise prices and make everyone qualify for reimbursement.
People can cover the amount before deductible through health savings accounts and private insurance.
The idea is that the deductible should be high enough that it won't cost the government much, but it will reduce insurance rates, and make insurance more widely available - because insurance companies know their payments are capped.
2. An insurance company that is allowed to sell insurance in any one state can automatically sell insurance in any other state. This, along with the high deductible government policy, will make insurance affordable and available to more people, including those with existing conditions - without any government micro managing and mandates.
3. Require drug companies to set 4 price levels on each drug. The Social Security Administration knows how much money you made in the previous year so, accordingly, they will mail you a card with your price level on it. Alternatively, pharmacies can have access to an online database which reveals every family's price level (but not actual income). Anyone not showing a card and/or refusing to let the pharmacy look up their level will be charged the most expensive level.
The government will not have authority to micro manage (i.e. set prices or mandate the difference between levels). Market forces will do that. If one company, for example, set all 4 levels the same, another drug company could lower their level 1 price and raise their level 4 price to compensate, and steal away the lower income customers.
This is an elegant way to subsidize the poor's access to drugs, directly with 100% efficiency - without the money flowing into Washington first and getting skimmed off by lobbyists.
I know that Libertarians won't like steps 1 and 3 - but the fact is that modern society wants subsidized care. That's why I'm a "Simplicist" instead of Libertarian. If the majority want the government to do more than Libertarians want, that is reality - but, then we need to make "small and simple" the core values.
If we make simplicity priority 1, and use a little creativity, I believe we can meet society's needs with a government much smaller and less intrusive than it is today.
1. A universal catastrophic healthcare insurance plan - basically, we extend Medicare to everyone under 65 with a large deductible - i.e. $15k to $20k.
It will be no-frills: no payments to providers, etc. On April 15, anyone who went over the deductible in the previous year would file a claim, submit all bills as proof (whether paid by them or insurance), and receive a check.
Importantly, the deductible will automatically be adjusted each year by the rate of medical inflation. It can only be overridden by 60 votes in the Senate. That way the medical establishment can't raise prices and make everyone qualify for reimbursement.
People can cover the amount before deductible through health savings accounts and private insurance.
The idea is that the deductible should be high enough that it won't cost the government much, but it will reduce insurance rates, and make insurance more widely available - because insurance companies know their payments are capped.
2. An insurance company that is allowed to sell insurance in any one state can automatically sell insurance in any other state. This, along with the high deductible government policy, will make insurance affordable and available to more people, including those with existing conditions - without any government micro managing and mandates.
3. Require drug companies to set 4 price levels on each drug. The Social Security Administration knows how much money you made in the previous year so, accordingly, they will mail you a card with your price level on it. Alternatively, pharmacies can have access to an online database which reveals every family's price level (but not actual income). Anyone not showing a card and/or refusing to let the pharmacy look up their level will be charged the most expensive level.
The government will not have authority to micro manage (i.e. set prices or mandate the difference between levels). Market forces will do that. If one company, for example, set all 4 levels the same, another drug company could lower their level 1 price and raise their level 4 price to compensate, and steal away the lower income customers.
This is an elegant way to subsidize the poor's access to drugs, directly with 100% efficiency - without the money flowing into Washington first and getting skimmed off by lobbyists.
I know that Libertarians won't like steps 1 and 3 - but the fact is that modern society wants subsidized care. That's why I'm a "Simplicist" instead of Libertarian. If the majority want the government to do more than Libertarians want, that is reality - but, then we need to make "small and simple" the core values.
If we make simplicity priority 1, and use a little creativity, I believe we can meet society's needs with a government much smaller and less intrusive than it is today.
Earth's Days Shortened Because of Chilean Earthquake
Posted on 15:41 by Unknown
Amazingly, according to NASA scientists, the Chilean Earthquake will have an effect, however small, on all of us on Earth - as well as our future descendants. Because of Chile's location on Earth and that it was the 7th strongest earthquake in recorded history, the quake knocked the Earth off its "figure axis" by 3 inches.
As a result, days on Earth will now be 1.26 milliseconds shorter. |
Monday, 1 March 2010
Carnival of Money Stories for March 1, 2010
Posted on 12:48 by Unknown
The latest edition of the Carnival of Money Stories features links to a lot of great blog articles on money and finance.
Check it out and enjoy!
Check it out and enjoy!
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