Investing is in large part a psychological exercise. People often make poor decisions, succumb to emotion or otherwise make the task more difficult that it needs to be.I tend to believe that people can reduce the difficulty they create for themselves before then even think about investing by making sure the rest of their life is in order or maybe a better word is balance.
Everyone's idea of a balanced life is of course different. I try exercise a lot, be involved with our fire department (I am the assistant chief and training coordinator), having a dog doesn't hurt and of course I enjoy most sports. When I'm trying not to get flung off the stairmaster or fighting a wildfire I don't think about the stock market although I have been asked about stocks while fighting a fire.
Quite a few times I have posted about my intellectual curiosity with Nassim Nicolas Taleb's idea of constructing a portfolio that is 90% (or thereabouts) invested in t-bill from around the world and then the remainder invested very speculatively. In the blink of an eye there are now two ETFs that create the foreign part of the equation; SPDR Barclays (six months ago that would have read Lehman) 1-3 Year International Treasury Bond Fund (BWZ) and the iShares S&P Citigroup 1-3 Year International Treasury Bond Fund (ISHG).
Despite the names being identical the funds are a little different. BWZ allocates 14% to emerging market t-bills (10% if you think of South Korea as a developed market). Aside from that they are very similar with the largest three country weightings being Japan followed by Germany then Italy. Someone wishing to implement something resembling Taleb's idea could buy some combination BWZ or ISHG and US treasury bills or even the SPDR Barclays 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL). The mix between the two would be up to the individual as would the how to allocate the 10% to be invested speculatively.
If I get so motivated maybe I'll try it with a small account like my one of my IRA's or maybe Joellyn's Roth IRA (hey honey, I wanna run something by you, lol).
A few years ago I stopped watching the Super Bowl pregame shows. The content has always been weak due to the difficulty of filling that much time. Yesterday as I was watching a little Cavaliers/Pistons I flipped over to NBC during a time out and was just in time for "now, Journey," as in the rock band from the 70s and 80s.
Journey has long been one of those bands that I wonder why the hell I ever listed to them, what was I thinking? Anywhoo, they start singing Don't Stop Believing as I am reading something, I look up and it is not Steve Perry but some dude with long hair who looks like he is one of the kids of an original band member. I yelled to Joellyn, who BTW had the good sense to never like this group, that's not Journey it is a Journey cover band. She doesn't care. I looked up Journey on Wikipedia and the lead singer was in fact hired out of a Journey cover band that the group saw on YouTube. WHAT? Has this ever happened before? Does anyone know about this? Needless to say this has amused me to no end.
As for the game itself, in yesterday's comments, responding to a reader question, I said I thought the Cardinals had more of a we shocked the world thing going on and thought they would win by four. The Harrison TD at the end of the first half may have been the freakiest play ever in the Super Bowl and like against the Eagles they had a bad 3rd quarter. Their inability to find Fitzgerald (for the most part) until halfway through the fourth quarter having no answer for Santonio Homes did them in. But what a great game.
I also enjoyed the halftime show; my buddy Dave turned me on to Springsteen in the mid 70s. Very cool that the concert had a Born to Run flavor but I'm not sure why he kept referring to Silvio Dante as Stevie during Glory Days (Born in the USA).
19 comments:
Not only has Journey hired a singer from a youtube video, but so has Boston and Yes. I believe there are other bands from the 70's that have done the same thing. They find singers in cover bands on youtube or myspace and fly them in and audition them.
Hey, Roger. I noticed the two new funds but haven't dug into them. Is there currency risk with them which would affect returns?
Thanks very much.
i had no i idea. i love the group Boston. i'd have been really shocked to see that as opposed to just amused by Journey. The interweb is keeping rock and roll alive!
yes, that is the point of the funds, the currency exposure. for now the 20 plus percent weight in the yen is likely to reduce that volatility as the yen has been going up against everything.
Boston's original lead singer committed suicide in 2007. It is a pretty shocking story, google it for the details. The only way you will ever see them live is with a new lead singer. I think the guy they found to replace him was working at Home Depot and playing in a cover band.
trade protectionism around the globe, from the WSJ: Crisis Fuels Backlash on Trade
Rising Nationalism Seen in U.K. Strike, 'Buy U.S.' Initiative
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123331716317333093.html?mod=fox_australian
anyone care to comment?
I looked at the two new SPDR's and thought the short term ETF is worth considering at this time.
The Super Bowl was one of the most entertaining in years. Moreso that two teams with diverse paths collided that were well-coached and not from the "big money" coastal markets. That made the production worth watching from start to finish.
Aside. if you think hiring from You Tube is a hoot, read some of the resumes posted on the web for legitimate profesional employment. I bet there are a lot of folks whose noses are growing long as a result.
T
If i can get some help with editing & special effects maybe i can get a ten day contract with the OKC Thunder, lol.
Judas Priest fired their lead singer-he is now back with them- when they discovered he was gay.
They replaced him with a singer from a cover band. The (terrible) movie "Rock Star" was based on this.
Aloha from Kona
Aloha bf, coming to Hilo later this month.
Not sure the timeline for what you are talking about for Judas Priest but when I first met my wife she was working at a Tower Records in Phoenix and apparently Rob Halford (lead singer for JP but not sure of the spelling) lived near by and was in the store all of the time--I never saw him though.
my little anecdote was from 1991
according to 'the' google, halford left in 1992.
played in a softball tournament in hilo a couple of weeks ago. WHEN the sun shines, there is no prettier place
file under 'coincidence'..we are going to tahiti the first week in march and my cousins---from Prescott-- are coming to house sit
Roger, forgive me because it's none of my business, but do you really want to publish the dates that you're away from home? Some crazy people out there...
Ditto 2:38 PM
it also tells all when you are
leaving your island home.
The internet is full of "surfers"
looking for a place to stay;-)
Roger,
You really don't like Journey. While not the greatest of bands, they had some pretty good tunes. Maybe I just like them cause they were part of the Vision Quest movie. That movie use to get me pumped for high school sports.
Hey KK, how've you been?
When I hear them now I cringe. One band I knew to dislike right away was Hall & Oates, just awful.
My sport was hoops and we listened to the hip hop of the day--I was not crazy about the music but it was good warm up music. It still does the trick for working out now along with heavy metal which I mostly dislike, again except for working out.
I am not sure I can read your posts anymore if you are going to be bashing Journey :) maybe your animosity is the result of low blood sugar - you should drink more soda ;)
that, as my buddy Mike would say, is a good piece of business.
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