rob zand

"In investing, you have “technical chartists.” They watch [stock] prices bouncing up and down,..."

Fri, 04 May 2012 09:58:12 -0400

“

In investing, you have “technical chartists.” They watch [stock] prices bouncing up and down, hitting what is called “resistance” at 30 or “support” at 20, for example. Chartists are looking at the data without developing fundamental explanations for why those movements are taking place—about the quality of a company’s management, for example.

Among financial academics, chartists tend to be regarded as quacks. But a lot of the Big Data people are exactly like them. They say, “We are just going to stare at the data and look for patterns, and then act on them when we find them.” In short, there is very little real science in what we call “data science,” and that’s a big problem.

”

- Is There Big Money in Big Data? - Technology Review

"Twentysomethings are creating a new and potentially powerful housing pattern as they snap up..."

Fri, 04 May 2012 09:58:11 -0400

“Twentysomethings are creating a new and potentially powerful housing pattern as they snap up downtown apartments as fast as they become available. … Neighborhood life is blossoming on blocks once dominated by office workers and commuters, and people are clamoring for dog parks.”

- Cleveland’s Downtown Rebound - Jobs & Economy - The Atlantic Cities

"Human performance, by this account, does not often fit the bell curve or what scientists call a..."

Thu, 03 May 2012 07:05:39 -0400

“Human performance, by this account, does not often fit the bell curve or what scientists call a normal distribution. Rather, it is more likely to fit what scientists call a power distribution.”

- Put Away The Bell Curve: Most Of Us Aren’t ‘Average’ : NPR

Tweet by Morgan Housel

Wed, 02 May 2012 17:58:00 -0400

Morgan Housel (@TMFHousel)
5/2/12 4:04 PM
Out of more than 7,000 mutual funds, eight have bested the S&P 500 every year for the past decade. Seriously. Eight.

"Cities force us to interact with strangers and with the strange. They pry the mind open. And that is..."

Wed, 02 May 2012 10:31:01 -0400

“Cities force us to interact with strangers and with the strange. They pry the mind open. And that is why they are the idea that has unleashed so many of our new ideas.”

- How Creativity Works in Cities - Arts & Lifestyle - The Atlantic Cities

"But some of his most interesting work has to do with power dynamics. He says that by analyzing..."

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 11:21:47 -0400

“

But some of his most interesting work has to do with power dynamics. He says that by analyzing language you can easily tell who among two people has power in a relationship, and their relative social status.

“It’s amazingly simple,” Pennebaker says, “Listen to the relative use of the word “I.”

What you find is completely different from what most people would think. The person with the higher status uses the word “I” less.

”

- http://n.pr/JWeBqT

themorningnews: China expected to eat more than twice as much...

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:27:59 -0400

themorningnews:

China expected to eat more than twice as much meat as America this year.

"Advisors must segment their clients. The percentage of RIAs who segment their clients into distinct..."

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:54:49 -0400

“Advisors must segment their clients. The percentage of RIAs who segment their clients into distinct groups (based on their specific needs, affinities, behaviors and other characteristics) rose to 39% in 2010, up nearly 10 percentage points from 2009, according to Schwab’s benchmarking survey.”

- The Changing RIA

"an ecosystem of companies has emerged to serve independent advisors in essentially all areas of..."

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:54:01 -0400

“an ecosystem of companies has emerged to serve independent advisors in essentially all areas of their practices—from investment products and platforms to services such as technology, compliance, portfolio management and client reporting. Many of these product and service providers focus entirely on the RIA space, devoting themselves to advisors’ unique needs. Advisors today can access a huge number of resources tailored specifically to the way their firms operate.”

- The Changing RIA

"And that’s the other rule of the monte: if you can’t spot the sucker in the room, it’s you."

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 09:16:11 -0400

“And that’s the other rule of the monte: if you can’t spot the sucker in the room, it’s you.”

- Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway

"You see that in Instagram. It’s not a technology triumph. It’s a design and psychology triumph."

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:28:10 -0400

“You see that in Instagram. It’s not a technology triumph. It’s a design and psychology triumph.”

- Behind Instagram, Networking the Old Way — www.nytimes.com — Readability

"We definitely paid a lot of money to send him to a very good Catholic pre-K that has a very good..."

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 09:27:49 -0400

“We definitely paid a lot of money to send him to a very good Catholic pre-K that has a very good reputation for helping get kids into excellent schools,” said Mr. Wardally, who lives in Harlem. “They never make you a guarantee, but I have to be honest, we made a little bit of an assumption that scoring as highly as he did, that we might have a pretty good shot. Well, we’re praying on it, because these are the kinds of choices that make a difference in young kids’ lives.”

- As Ranks of Gifted Soar in N.Y., Fight Brews for Kindergarten Slots - NYTimes.com

"He looks at his task and his tools, and allows his body to work without interference. Now that the..."

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 00:18:28 -0400

“He looks at his task and his tools, and allows his body to work without interference. Now that the puzzle is solved and the tasks are set, he knows how to do this at such a low level it’s important not to think too much. This is the part he loves, the vanishing of self. When he finishes, he realises how long he has been working, and has to rush.”

- Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway

"Psychiatrist Dr. Edward Hallowell is a leading expert on ADD. … Hallowell suspects that some..."

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 01:30:00 -0400

““Psychiatrist Dr. Edward Hallowell is a leading expert on ADD. … Hallowell suspects that some of the greatest minds in history — including Einstein, Edison, Shakepeare, Mozart — had the condition, and that it enhanced their creativity. … The reason, says Hallowell, is that people with ADD live their everyday existence in a state of jagged disorder — including a general restlessness and inability to sustain concentration — and thus hunger for structure in life. When they find an enjoyable endeavor that provides structure, they often take to it with a passion that leads them to excel. Because they are so used to adapting to disorder, they develop a heightened ability to make connections, which when unleashed within a structure can lead to extraordinary insights, solutions and innovations.””

"For the sorts of artistic, empathic, inventive, non-routine work people in North America are doing..."

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 11:40:05 -0400

“For the sorts of artistic, empathic, inventive, non-routine work people in North America are doing today, reducing the salience of money is smarter than increasing it.”

- Link from Tweetbot

"It’s time to stop bifurcating your content as blogs and news because they run on separate systems...."

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 09:35:23 -0400

“It’s time to stop bifurcating your content as blogs and news because they run on separate systems. It is all content, so why not call it that?”

- Link from Tweetbot

"For all their influence, the Orioles and the A’s now find themselves as also-rans, without a pennant..."

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 10:52:35 -0400

“For all their influence, the Orioles and the A’s now find themselves as also-rans, without a pennant in the last two decades to show for their ingenuity. Their legacy is in introducing elements that have since become all but essential to operating a viable franchise.”

- Major League Teams Seek New Ways to Deconstruct Game - NYTimes.com

"The bigger the pond, the more likely we are—consciously or not—to swim around until we find a group..."

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:39:50 -0400

“The bigger the pond, the more likely we are—consciously or not—to swim around until we find a group of like and like-minded people.”

- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303816504577307943076491220.html

"Less than 1,500 of more than 16,500 registered investment adviser firms manage 90% of assets, says..."

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:38:44 -0400

“Less than 1,500 of more than 16,500 registered investment adviser firms manage 90% of assets, says Cerulli Associates”

- http://twitter.com/DaisyMaxey/status/184280332504276992

"Clients know the difference between renting someone else’s research versus providing original..."

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:00:25 -0400

““Clients know the difference between renting someone else’s research versus providing original research,” Mr. Shoff said. “In many requests for proposals, sponsors want to know the number of people on staff doing research and whether the adviser has its own customer relationship management system,” he said. “If you don’t say yes, you’re going to get screened out.””

- Smaller 401(k) plan advisers losing fight to stay afloat - InvestmentNews