Links

Howard Marks on Bloomberg TV (video) (LINK)

Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Howard Marks, co-chairman and co-founder of Oaktree Capital Group LLC, talks about investor concerns about Russia's financial markets, investment strategy and the outlook for oil prices and stocks.

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Marks also mentioned "Dornbusch’s Law" in the interview: The crisis takes a much longer time coming than you think, and then it happens much faster than you would have thought.

Farnam Street: Albert Einstein on Sifting the Essential from the Non-Essential (LINK)

Related previous post: Memortation, or One Way to Put What You Learn to Practical Use 

William Thorndike, Author Of ‘The Outsiders’, Fireside Chat (video) [H/T ValueWalk] (LINK)

Related book: The Outsiders

How Computer Hackers Could Destroy a Hedge Fund [H/T Will] (LINK)

Walter Isaacson on CNBC (video) (LINK)

Related book: The Innovators

Related previous posts:  Walter Isaacson in converstaion with two pioneers of the Internet, Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, The Innovators: Author Walter Isaacson in Conversation with John Hollar, Walter Isaacson interview with Elon Musk, Walter Isaacson on Charlie Rose

Expeditor's latest 8-K (LINK)

In the name of full disclosure, we've always subscribed to the late and internationally renowned economist, John Kenneth Galbraith's opinion that "The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable."

Russia, oil and stocks, from Meb Faber via Twitter:

• 1998 oil was down 40% & Russian stocks down 90% from peak
• 2014 oil was down 40% & Russian stocks down 75% from peak
• What happened in 1999?
• Russian stocks were up over 150%. [LINK to August 2006 paper on investing in the Russian stock market.]

Brain Pickings: Carl Sagan Explains How Stars Are Born, Live, and Die (LINK)

Related previous posts: Carl Sagan - Pale Blue Dot, The Most Astounding Fact About the Universe

After Oil Spill in Bangladesh's Unique Mangrove Forest, Fears About Rare Animals (LINK)

Book of the day: World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability [This book was recommended by Malcolm Gladwell a few years ago. I was reminded of it when I read a Nassim Taleb tweet about his latest article. Specifically, I was reminded of this excerpt from the book that I had saved: “Whenever a market dominant minority [ethnicity, religion, etc.] is present, markets and democracy are not mutually reinforcing but on a collision course."]