weekend notes

Hope all goes well… “They’re all liars mate,” said my London cabbie. “May was a Remainer. How were we going to get a good deal when our negotiators don’t want to leave?” he asked. I shrugged. “They’ll stall until they can say it’s not what people want no more — happened in every country that ever wanted a referendum or held one,” he said. “The EU paid to move a Land Rover factory from the Mi

Hope all goes well… “I think they should drop rates and get rid of quantitative tightening. You would see a rocket ship. Despite that we’re doing very well,” said President Trump from the White House lawn, his helicopter all warmed up, waiting. “I would say in terms of quantitative tightening it should actually now be quantitative easing,” added the President, packing his Fed with hacks like Moore

A“The second term of Barack Obama was the final nail in the coffin for the legacy of the white Christian males who discovered, explored, pioneered, settled and developed the greatest republic in the history of mankind,” said Mara, incredulous, reading aloud an email from my mother. I sighed, my Mom, an otherwise loving woman, has taken to forwarding fanaticism. “A coalition of blacks, Latinos, fem

Hope all goes well… “We strongly caution actors external to the Western Hemisphere against deploying military assets to Venezuela, or elsewhere in the Hemisphere, with the intent of establishing or expanding military operations,” warned national security advisor John Bolton as Russian military cargo planes dropped 100 Special Forces and 35 tons of unidentified cargo onto Venezuela. “We will consid

A“Only optimists start companies,” I answered. The Australian superannuation CEO had asked if I’m an optimist or pessimist. “I see the potential for technological advances to produce abundance in ways difficult to fathom. But I also see the chance of something profoundly dark,” I continued. He observed that people seemed consumed by the latter but spend so little time on the former. “That’s good.

Hope all goes well… “The 737 Max 8 can be flown safely without these two gauges,” said the pilot union spokesman, “But there’s a broader margin of safety if you’ve got them.” Boeing charges a little extra for a safety feature that alerts pilots to faulty information from key sensors. Boeing’s CEO weighed the risk/reward, then chose to charge customers for something that should obviously come as st

“When we can’t come up with a clear catalyst, that’s when we know whatever arises will (1) be unexpected, and (2) cause a greater reaction,” said the endowment. They were discussing what worried them, why they continued de-risking, exiting short volatility strategies, and adding long volatility. “The inability to point to a catalyst means that the asset class (vol) is cheaper and becoming a better

AThe ocean was glass. Stars ablaze. We were a full day’s journey from land, not a sign of urban glow. A lantern hung above the card table at stern. We huddled below it, playing cards. Ten good friends, 1995. The first six days were spent diving, exploring the inner reef, a magnificent place, filled with prey, predators, darting, dancing in the shallows. But like all adventures, new had become old,

Hope all goes well… “When you’re a goalie, you have a choice,” I said. Charlie nodded, focused on the field. “You can stay in the goal or leave it.” He nodded. “If you choose to leave goal, you must fully commit.” Lacrosse season again, my youngest is nine. “So what exactly does that mean Dad?” I stood behind goal, coaching, the opposing team advancing. “It means if you leave goal, you absolutely