The great Norway
diaper arbitrage: Norway supermarkets are offering diapers at nose-bleed
levels to lure customers—not only the Norwegians, but also Poles and
Lithuanians. Residents trek 600 miles via ferries and cars (about $600 round
trip), load up the truck, and bring the diapers back to sell at 2x the price. [Note:
beautiful, reminds me of Chinese parents rushing to Hong Kong to purchase baby
formulas]…Source: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/print/2013/02/the-great-norway-diaper-racket-is-the-best-arbitrage-ever/272802/
Robert Shiller: Don’t
Investment in Housing: Shiller believes that, for most people, housing takes
too much maintenance, depreciation, and design cost. What’s more, he thinks
currently housing investment is a fad and will not out-pace inflation in the
long-term. [Note: I’m not sure, distressed prices + stable cashflow in good management
can be very sound investments; sure it’s not easy, but when has making money
been easy?]…Source: http://pragcap.com/robert-shiller-dont-invest-in-housing
Oh, that’s right, and
Moody’s too: The Justice Department and multiple states are discussing also
suing Moody's for defrauding investors. [Note: the other shoe just dropped. Has
the business model changed for the worse? This might really be a time to take a
speculative long position.]…Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/07/us-moodys-investigation-idUSBRE91618520130207
How to make wealth:
Paul Graham’s May 2004 essay. Beautifully written with his vibrant, vivid
believes eloquently laid out. One noteworthy quote: “To get rich you need to
get yourself in a situation with two things, measurement and leverage. You need
to be in a position where your performance can be measured, or there is no way
to get paid more by doing more. And you have to have leverage, in the sense
that the decisions you make have a big effect.” Worthy of 20 minutes of your
time….Source: http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.html
How do people learn?
Cognitive scientists have spent a lot of time studying what constitutes expert
competence in any discipline, and they have found a few basic components. (1)
experts have lots of factual knowledge about their subject, which is hardly a
surprise. (2) Experts have a mental organizational structure that facilitates
the retrieval and effective application of their knowledge. (3) Experts have an
ability to monitor their own thinking (“metacognition”), at least in their
discipline of expertise. They are able to ask themselves, “Do I understand
this? How can I check my understanding?” [Note: training and learning often
means deliberately not being nice to yourself and going against every fiber of
being comfortable]…Source: http://www.farnamstreetblog.com//2013/01/how-people-learn/
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