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I’ve read quite a lot of articles, blog posts, books, and other forms of financial advice that were guaranteed to work.

But there’s always one word they typically forget to add at the end of their amazing rules for investment success… “Unless.”

There was always an “unless” somewhere in the article, and it’s usually undisclosed. Rules tend to have exceptions and the world of investing and personal finance is certainly not immune to the exceptions.

Some advocates of their investing style will tell you that they’re system is the rule without exception. But, as we’ll see, just about every system has its “unless.”

I’ve collected a few of those.

1. Low price-to-earnings ratios mean the stock is under-priced.

Unless… It just means growth has stopped and the other side of the ratio — earnings — is now falling, before the stock craters to reach equilibrium.

2. Follow the trend.

Unless… You happen to buy (or sell) at the edge of the trend.

3. Buy and hold.

Unless… You happen to buy a great-performing stock that happens to be in an industry that is rapidly becoming obsolete.

4. Charts are predictive. By analyzing these chart movements, you can determine where the stock price is heading next.

Unless… they’re not and you’re simply seeing patterns where there is no pattern. A common human trait. Like seeing a horse in a passing cloud.

5. Cheap stocks have the greatest upside.

Unless… They’re cheap because they’re crappy. A 10 percent move in a $1 stock is the same as a 1 percent move in a $10 stock.

6. Warren Buffett is always right.

Unless… he isn’t. Even Warren admits he makes mistakes.

7. Sell in May and Go Away… And dozens of other clever rhymes and mantras.

Unless… You miss a huge opportunity in a specific sector or stock because these tend to be general rules and can never apply to specific price movements.

8. Bear markets are horrible times to invest.

Unless… the Bear Market becomes a Bull Market.

9. Bull markets are the absolute best time to be in the market!!!

Unless… the Bull Market becomes a Bear Market.

10. Rich investors are savvy investors.

Unless… they’re lucky investors.

Automated Trading, Investing, Money

Creative Commons--Jerry Bunkers

Welcome to Weekly Wisdom.

I’ll be sharing some links to great stories and articles in a sec, but right now I’d like to pass on my on bit of wisdom.

I just realized that eBooks are becoming more expensive than print books.

Yesterday, I was shopping for eBooks through my Kindle and saw one title I was interested in.

It cost $13.99. Not exactly cheap.

It’s a new title, so there wasn’t a paperback version, but the hardback cost $16.99.

I know what you’re thinking: “You nut, the hardback is still 3 bucks more than the electronic version.”

I though that, too, but the re-sale value is in the $8 range. So, you could get that hardback for $8.99, or 5 bucks cheaper than reading it on your Kindle.

Recently, there have been stories that publishers are pushing for higher prices on e-books. Is this a sign of that? Not sure, but it’s something I will think about as I shop for books.

Here are some other interesting thoughts for the weekend…

FUTURE

Nova Spivack – A New Approach to AI: Non-Computational AI

Digg — Researcher Wants to Build Biodegradable Robot

Wired — Technology May Help You Read Your Dog’s Mind

Next Big Future — Michigan Tech Research Using Nanoclays to Make Better Asphalt

Science Blogs — Entangled in the Past: Experimental Delayed-Choice Entanglement Swapping

Read more…

Accelerating Technology, Dreams Come True, Great Books, Internet, Investing, Money, Success

Maybe, because of my readings about research and technology, as well as the Singularity, I’m becoming more sensitive to the pace of technological change. The number of breakthroughs appears to be increasing rapidly.

These new technologies and findings aren’t just coming in one area; they are spread out across a number of disciplines, from biotech to quantum physics. That’s a key insight that’s making it harder to predict just how the future unfolds.

I’ll start out with some links to stories about the latest breakthroughs…

Daily Mail — New Solar Paint Could Generate Electricity from Roofs and Walls

ABC (Australia) Science — Quantum Computer Breakthrough

Gizmag — A 3-D Printer Under $500

Eureka Alert — Duke Researchers Turn Scar Tissue into Heart Muscle Without Using Stem Cells

Dvice.com —  MIT Reinvents Glass That’s Non-fogging, Self-cleaning, and Glare-free

Mashable — Company Looks to Mine $20 Trillion Rock

By the way, if you want to keep up on this breathtaking pace of research, I’d subscribe to Futureseek. It’s a great resource.

Read more…

Accelerating Technology, Internet, Investing, Money, Online Investing AI

Creative Commons--Alaskan Dude

Now don’t get your tie-dye up in a bind.

I’ll be the first to say that the drug laws in this country are for idiots. As are most of the other laws for that matter.

In a functional society, rights and responsibilities balance and consequences guide actions. However, the best marijuana smokers can hope for is decriminalization of pot. In other words, you would get a slap-on-the-wrist type of fine, but not the draconian measures you see today.

Here’s why…

If marijuana is legalized, it would still be regulated much like tobacco and alcohol. Businesses, for instance, could still insist that workers be pot-free. This is understandable. You probably wouldn’t want a doctor who smoked pot operating on you any more than you’d want a drunk doctor holding the scalpel, right? People who are clean and productive would probably not want to pick up the slack for the dude who just took a pot break the same way they would eventually turn on the guy who comes into work reeking of booze.

The difference is, obviously, that THC stays in the system longer than alcohol, so while you can still catch a buzz from a beer and go to work the next day, tests to check on marijuana use would likely lead to an abolition of smoking for most workers.

If you think about it, the law of unintended consequences may come into play. Government agencies and businesses may insist on even more drug testing simply because now they suspect everyone is using the drug.

Read more…

Dreams Come True, Money, US Economy

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It looks as though crowd venture capital is a done deal.

Common people — you and me — will have a chance to become real venture capitalists and invest in companies and startups. This is a territory that was once reserved for the rich and connected.

This is a good thing.

But you can bet that crowd funding sites will be pocked with ripoff artists and losers.

So how can you become a good crowd funder or mini-V.C.?

Invest in People

Every good venture capitalist invests in people first–and their business second.

They look for bright people who are committed to their projects. For the crowd funding venture capitalist this means you’ll have to carefully analyze biographies and blogs, trying to isolate those people who seem to resemble business visionaries. You’ll also need to be on the watch for scams–people who over-promise and have shady pasts.

Read more…

Internet, Investing, Money

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There’s an old saying, “Keep an eye on the past, your heart in the present, and your mind in the future.”

Actually, I just made it up.

But, anyhoo, I decided I would pass along some links today about future science and research. Each week that I think has been a breakthrough week for technology is followed by another week of startling breakthroughs.

And another one.

So. Here goes:

Future

Gizmodo — Future Internets Will be Powered by Quantum Particles

Forbes — How to Manage One Million Cars With Big Data

IEET — The Dyson Sphere

Phys Org — Will 3D Printing Launch the Next Industrial Revolution?

Science Daily — Engineered Stem Cells Seek Out And Kill HIV in Living Mice and Artificial Photosynthesis Breakthrough

Daily Mail — Universal Cancer Vaccine Tested on Humans for the First Time

Read more…

Accelerating Technology, Internet, Investing, Money, Success

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Artificial Intelligence–or AI–and Machine Learning are making an impact on your investing, whether you know it or not.

This is interesting because a lot of investors still think that AI is a technology of the future. It’s not. It’s happening right now.

AI is helping traders build and execute trading strategies. These strategies are becoming more complex and more adaptive than ever.

But that’s just the front end.

The back end to this is that business are using artificial intelligence to do everything from managing logistics to even, sort of, reading your mind.

33rd Square puts it this way…

Artificial intelligence is taking computers beyond just computing information, to where they appear to understand relationships, meaning and emotions — and to where they can replace humans by doing this better than we can.

It used to be that as companies got bigger, they got less personal. Now the opposite is true. Facebook understands what you’re interested in, so offers more relevant ads. Amazon understands what you want to buy, so suggests the next book. This takes book shops out of business. You don’t need to be in technology for this to be affecting your business today.

Granted, AI is very primitive.

But that’s the most revealing statement. It’s primitive.

Imagine what AI will be like when it’s more mature!

Accelerating Technology, Automated Trading, Investing, Money

Flickr Creative Commons

There are the Easter eggs that you’ll find dyed and hidden.

Then there are idea Easter eggs.

These are colorful ideas that you find unexpectedly. They can range from unconventional breakthroughs to good, old, common sense wisdom that serve as reminders. Easter egg ideas can challenge your conventional wisdom, or reinforce your views.

They can change your life.

Here are idea Easter eggs that I found this week.

Pick the Brain — How to Breathe — Literally

Immortal Humans — The Health Benefits of Red Wine

Dumb Little Man — You Have to Work for Your Happiness

Financial Samurai — Shit is Fucked up and Bullshit and The Psychology of Wealth Giveaway

Untemplater — How Much Severance Pay Would You Need to Leave Your Job?

Money Reasons — Are You Trying to be Financially Independent?

Fast Company — IBM’s Quantum Computers Could Change the World

BBC News — Print Your Own Robot

The Digerati Life — Using Debt Leverage: Should You Use Debt to Get Ahead

Accelerating Technology, Dreams Come True, Internet, Investing, Money, Online Investing AI

Flickr Creative Commons

Just a quick look at some of the good reads I found around the web this week…

Big Brand System — The 13 Minute 33-Second Website

Financial Samurai — Reducing Credit Card Spending One Month at a Time

Wealth Informatics — Investing to Make the Roth IRA Work Its Magic

Life and My Finances — What Doesn’t Count as Passive Income

The Future

Scientific American — Jetson-Like Gadgets and Smart Homes

Engadget — Amazon Stores 1,700 Human Genomes in the Cloud

Wired — Navy is 4 Years Away from Lasers on Ships

Yahoo News — Smart Homes Will Watch Your and Remember Your Needs

Discovery — Print Me a Spacecraft

New Scientist – Smart Windows Let Light In, Keep Heat Out

Accelerating Technology, Investing, Money

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The economy may or may not be pulling out of recession.

Whether it is, or not, it sure has taken a long time to even get to this level of uncertainty.

The Democrats may sink the economy.

So may the Republicans.

The Fed may lead us out of the recession.

Or into a financial apocalyptic depression of unimaginable suffering and poverty.

But I don’t care.

The most difficult position to defend these days is the optimistic one.

However, deep within the headlines and dire predictions of recession and depression are stories about technologies and trends that won’t just sharpen the color, but change the whole picture.

The sources of these transformations are discussed in the book Abundance: The Future is Better than Your Think by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler.

As Diamandis puts it, abundance isn’t about things, it’s about opportunities and accessibility. As he puts it:

When I think about creating abundance, it is not about creating a life of luxury…it is about creating a life of possibilities. It is about taking that which was scarce and making it abundant. You see scarcity is contextual and technology is a resource liberating force.

Here are some ways that Diamandis — and I — see how technology is currently creating those possibilities and opportunities.

Read more…

Accelerating Technology, Great Books, Investing, Money, Online Investing AI