"This effort to explain life through the recognition of patterns—and thus to come up with winning formulas—is complicated, in large part, because we live in a world that is beset by randomness and in which people don’t behave the same from one instance to the next, even when they intend to. The realization that past events were largely affected by these things—and thus that future events aren’t fully predictable—is unpleasant, as it makes life less subject to anticipation, rule-making and rendering safe. Thus people search for explanations that would make events understandable . . . often to an extent beyond that which is appropriate. This is as true in investing as it is in other aspects of life." --Howard Marks, "Mastering the Market Cycle"
Apple’s Errors - by Ben Thompson (LINK)
The Quarterly Guidance Trap Bites Apple (LINK)
How China Could Challenge the Boeing-Airbus Duopoly (LINK)
Shane Parrish on The Art of Manliness Podcast (LINK)
Is Marijuana as Safe as We Think? - by Malcolm Gladwell (LINK)
Malcolm Gladwell on the Longform podcast (LINK)
The ETF Story (podcasts) [H/T Ritholtz] (LINK)
The creation story of the first exchange-traded fund is actually the best way to understand how they work. And it's not just educational, it's entertaining. Like the PC and the MP3, the story of the creation of SPY -- which turned 30 this year -- is full of characters, twists and turns, and subplots. In the end, the product launched an industry that's reshaping not just investing but the entire financial ecosystem. This six-episode miniseries will weave together interviews with the founding fathers and other key players that help investors better understand the ETF and how we got here.