Markets

[Note: This material is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It does not recommend investments of any kind. Use a professional and licensed advisor or broker when making investment decisions]   In the last few days, I have read articles on marketwatch.com, a Wall Street Journal site, that have done well to explain why stocks are where they are. We are into uncharted territory again–well it can’t be “again” and “uncharted territory” at the same time, but it’s new so perhaps “everything old is new again.”In order to make sense of the current market environment, I have to reflect back on the environment of the Tech Bubble in 2000. I was working a trade desk and right in the middle of the mania—the insanity of

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Movies

True Detective Season Four: Night Country  I haven’t watched Jody Foster in a movie or series since perhaps Safe Room and certainly before that in Silence of the Lambs.As part of the True Detective series, this time the story is set in a remote part of Alaska where it’s dark for an entire month during winter. It’s also in a small coastal town where many of the townsfolk represent First Peoples. When mystery and mayhem visit a group of researchers who sequester themselves in a nearby compound, Foster plays local law enforcement, and compares notes on the case with a native American woman, a state trooper.At first, this  one reminded me strongly of Dark Winds, a series I reviewed that took place on reservation  land

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Movies

I haven’t seen all of the nominated films–there are too many (ten) nominated films this year anyway. But I can talk about what I have seen. The Holdovers This one could also have been titled “The Throwback” in the sense that it’s an old-fashioned dramatic film: no CGI, no crazy special effects, no aliens, ghosts, monsters or supernatural beings, etc. It’s simply about a handful of people who encounter one another more acutely because they’re tossed together almost randomly like “leftovers “ that result in a surprisingly good goulash.  Like most good films, it’s unpredictable but credible. As a teacher, I was a little more engaged, perhaps, because the setting is the holiday break at a New England boarding school where the main character (Paul

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Markets

[Note:  This content is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Investment decisions should be made with the help of a professional.] In my most recent “Markets” post (https://www.moviesmarketsandmore.com/the-boy-who-called-wolf-was-right-just-when-everyone-stopped-listening), I offered two different charts and trendlines as  key support levels. The second level (5-yr chart) held, and the resultant bounce from the 4100 level sparked the market’s greatest November rise in decades, driving indexes near to the old highs of a year ago (see 6-month chart below). There are at least three reasons for the “upward crash”: Many sophisticated market players had bet on the market to go down and sold short (“buy low, sell high” but first borrow stock then sell it. They then buy later—-and preferably lower–to return the borrowed shares and pocket the

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[Author’s Note: I wrote this a little over a year ago.  Dec 14th, 2023 will be the one-year anniversary of her passing.] In Memory of Mary Helen Duren Hecht In the earliest memory I have of you, I woke to the music of your voice; my eyes opened on your smiling face. A young mother, you roused me from sleep with the softest, sweetest lilt you could produce. You knew how children’s dreams, their souls still bright, are visited by cherubs—in whose presence there can be no fear or need. You eased the harsh stir from soft bliss to garish day. And so, as a child, my heavenly dreams ended gently, and earthly days began with your smile and the music of your heart. [

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She is Winter      by William Hecht Deep December night and she is spent. She is consumed–like the fields after a greedy harvest. She slumbers—as does the world. Only her essence is sentient, aware. It is a spell: cast in the light of the great moon, it will break with the first rays of the equinox sun. Her hair is black. It is a wave of boreal night that flowed through the glass, swept down her  cheek, and spilled on a pale shoulder.  Things made of night are smooth–and softer by far than anything made from day. She dreams—as does the world–of light and warmth, of aromas and twitching roots, the launch of dancing sprouts: calls to life. If I could dream with her, I would

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Movies

Movies are more than entertainment. While film is one of the most powerful mediums for storytelling, movies can inform and inspire. First of all, Movies—the good ones—are part of our culture. Once a movie is established as “good,” it conveys some valid message about the human experience. What people watch is important—just as it is important what they read and listen to.

Movies inspire, too. When I see  an impassioned performance or notice an exceptional display of cinematography, it makes me want to try and create art.  Great stories are there to ask us if we, like the hero and heroine, could rise to become our best selves when a lot was at stake, or when no one else would do the right thing.

So do I watch movies at home?  Yes, but the movie theatre, as Joseph Campbell noted, was like a temple. Moviegoing is a ritual. We go there to receive the potent “myths” of our time, and we hope to walk away slightly charged with purpose or reminded of what it means to be human—which is why we should be seeing movies at the theater, with strangers, humans.

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Markets

The markets are probably more interesting than the movies. After all, every day billions are pilfered in elaborate schemes, the equivalent of warfare takes place in the currency and equity markets, and heroes and villains make the headlines.

Aside from the drama involved, the spectacle of crowds in action is something to behold. The average person sees little more than the change in the value of their stocks or funds at the end of the day. But imagine watching a few bankers at the Federal Reserve change a couple words in their statement, only to add or erase half a trillion dollars in global values of bonds and stock.

Macroeconomics is essential. And the history of markets is priceless—people repeat the same patterns for centuries.

Does it matter that we use computers or smartphones to buy stocks? No.

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…and More

I have taught for about fifteen years now. But I got lucky. I was offered the chance to teach classes in world religions, diversity, economics, finance and Africa—to name a few.  The value for me was to see how those subjects interrelate.

I do not see political parties, or terrorists, or despots or ideologies any more: I see power structures and patterns. History did not have much value for me in high school or college—oh, it was interesting, but I did not see the usefulness. I see it today.

People have not changed in ten thousand years. They were just as smart then as we are today. And when they get together in groups, they do the same things. Over. And over.  Africa, for example, is a study in power structures. First tribes, then empires, then colonial powers, then religious influences, then Cold-War rivalries.

The world is anarchy. In anarchy, power is king. Watch the power. It’s a little like “follow the money.”

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