Beijing State of Mind

rapping at the Great Wall (and other hot spots)...

Cameraman Taken Out

Chilling video from Egypt
[story here]

Tuesday Tune-up

Tift Merritt, "Sweet Spot"

Quote for the Week, July 7-13, 2013

Preach the Gospel at all times and, when necessary, use words.
--attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi

Quote for the Week, June 30-July 6, 2013

War should only be declared by the authority of the people, whose toils and treasures are to support its burdens, instead of the government which is to reap its fruits.
--James Madison

Tuesday Tune-up

2Cellos, "Fields of Gold"

More Snapshots from China

Father and son.  No, really.

Tiananmen Square, Beijing

[06-06-13]

Ceramic wall decoration,

Imperial Palace, Beijing

[06-06-13]

Cathy learned how to make dumplings.

[06-09-13]

Beachfront development in Haigang district,
Qinhuangdao
[06-10-13]

Construction boom in downtown Qinhuangdao.
[06-11-13]

Brett had a tennis buddy with connections.
Result: a gratuitous "lunch" while Wall-hopping,
Shanhaiguan district, Qinhuangdao
[06-12-13]

The Great Wall ascending Jiaoshan Mountain,
Shanhaiguan
[06-12-13]

Jiumenkou
[06-14-13]

Jiumenkou

[06-15-13]

Stop the tea party--we needed a coffee fix.
Tony [left, with Brett, Alex and Cathy] found just the right spot.
[06-17-13]

Cathy's still life by the Bohai Sea
[06-18-13]

Bird sanctuary, Beidaihe district
[06-18-13]

Quote for the Week, June 23-29, 2013

It is getting to the point where the mark of international distinction and service to humanity is no longer the Nobel Peace Prize, but an espionage indictment from the U.S. Department of Justice.
--Julian Assange

More From Brett's Laptop

Great Wall, Jiumenkou
Qinhuangdao
[06-14-13]

Mongol tourists want photo-op with Americans,
Brett goes Genghis.
[06-14-13]

Tuesday Tune-up

Itzhak Perlman & Yo Yo Ma, Dvorak's "Humoresque"

Quote for the Week, June 16-22

There are decades when nothing happens and there are weeks when decades happen.
--Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

Scenes from China, June 2013

Posting photos in anything close to real time has been difficult, as a virtual private network is required to access blogspot.com here in China.  Internet access from a hotel room just won't cut it.  Here are a few photos from Brett's laptop.

one of the Forbidden City palaces,

Beijing

[06-06-13]

Brett (top center) hosting a gaggle of girls from his English class (and his parents),
Qinhuangdao
[06-08-13]

Beach walk, Qinhuangdao
[06-10-13]

Tuesday Tune-up

Elton John, "Moon River"

First Full Day in China

left-most of nine dragons, ceramic mural,

Forbidden City, Beijing

[06-06-13]

[click to enlarge]

Quote for the Week, June 9-15, 2013

All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.

Tuesday Tune-up

Vanessa Paradis & Suzanne Vega, "Blowin' the the Wind"

Quote for the Week, June 2-8, 2013

Mistakes are the portals of discovery.
--James Joyce

QE Or Not QE

"All of us would like to observe lower unemployment, but the belief that quantitative easing will materially contribute to this outcome is unsupported in both theory and evidence. The present course of Fed policy is destabilizing the global economy by contributing to a financial environment that encourages the allocation of scarce savings toward speculative activity, not productive investment. When 'QE' and the 'Bernanke put' are the sole focus of the financial markets – not productivity, not innovation, not sound policy options, not careful intermediation of capital, and certainly not the plight of the elderly that have been starved of interest income – it should be obvious that things have gone too far.

"This experiment has played out long enough. Establishing the largest fiscal and monetary imbalance in U.S. history has certainly created a pleasant environment for speculators, but it does not create employment, and it sows the seeds of the next collapse. The Fed is stepping on a gas pedal in the hope of making the wheels go faster, and instead the gasoline is spurting out of the tank and feeding speculative flames, because a reliable transmission mechanism does not exist."

--John Hussman, Ph.D., in his weekly market comment (includes an open letter to the Federal Open Market Committee)

Tuesday Tune-up

Ludovico Einaudi, "Walk"

Do the Math

[48:45]

Or let Grant Williams do it for you.

Your assignment:  watch this video.  But if you are ADD-constrained, at the very least watch Grant's Problem #1, the disconnect between equity valuations in the U.S. and macro-economic reality, a 9-minute piece starting at the 7:30 mark.  Now class, begin.

Takeaway #1:

"Massive central bank intervention makes traditional value investing virtually impossible."

which leads to Takeaway #2:

"Beware suppressed volatility."

[n.b.--"suppressed volatility" is econo-speak for "mindless herd-like behavior."]