Another TBB Tuesday Best Bits post featuring just a few eclectic links from around the web such as the dramatic FTX final hours, the AI bubble of 2023, ridiculous gurus gone wild and warnings to steer clear, what Russia got wrong in its war with Ukraine as it doubles down, the problems with our aging world and we close with some amazing photography, see you Friday!
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This blog publishes every Friday and some Tuesdays. Fridays are the long curated posts, Tuesdays are the much shorter posts with a few curated links to share with you…
Welcome to all new blog readers from George, your diligent curator of the BEST web content I find and share with you. No ads, no clickbait.
“Sam? Are you there?!” The bizarre and brutal final hours of FTX
Nice investigative piece. You know, leverage, when it is all going well it’s good times. But, when it turns, you can die a very quick and painful death…
Reading this I shook my head so much it almost got detached from my body…A bunch of young kids just having fun with billions taken from FTX customers and just blowing it, wow! The hubris and audacity and the speed how everything turned to shit was breath taking.
I think SBF, in his own psychopathic mind, deeply believes he is innocent. I say if he gets less than 10 years in prison would be a victory for him…and his lawyers. What a waste…
The AI Bubble of 2023
I agree with most everything here, it sure feels like it…Fun read and not as long as the one about SBF.
What is coming ahead:
Bubbles do not occur out of thin air or for no reason.
Twitter will be filled with charlatans, promoters and people who do not have your best interests in mind.
The people who make money in AI stocks will go after the conservative investors who have missed out or stayed on the sideline.
In the beginning, there are not enough stocks to go around.
The ETFs are not going to suffice here.
A lot of desperate companies are going to get caught up in the AI hype and start issuing press releases.
Some washed-up hedge fund manager or former tech founder is going to use this as a springboard back to prominence.
The machinery is cranking up.
Gurus Gone Wild
This is one of my favorite themes I frequently blog about here…The fact that in the online world there are so many charlatans intending to separate you from your money…The author picks, deservedly so imho, on three types of “gurus” trying to sell you: MPI (Indexed Universal Life Insurance), Stock Trading and Real Estate. One of my favorite sayings is: “There are no gurus”. I am not sure who said it or if I came up with it…
Be careful out there! If you ever see someone trashing 401(k) Plans and Roth IRAs…it is a dead giveaway to run away the other direction FAST! Always be alert that you are being sold and always remember the biggest benefit from whatever product you are being sold goes to…the sellers! If you see someone online wanting to teach you how to get rich trading stocks, please do not click because, you guessed it, YOU are the product! And don’t get me started about real estate.
real estate can tie up your resources, consume your free time, increase your exposure to all sorts of liability and crush your cash flow if rent checks stop rolling in…Most of the viral content surrounding real estate will rarely touch on these realities and drawbacks. Instead, they focus on how quickly you can acquire property by using as much leverage as possible. Similar to stock traders, they’ll tell you how easy owning real estate is, especially after taking their course. However, it’s usually just another setup designed to fool you into thinking their way is the fastest way to accumulating generational wealth.
What Russia Got Wrong?
This is long…because Russia got so much wrong! If numbers are in the ballpark, 200,000 dead and wounded Russians is surreal. And it looks like they are doubling down smh.
Must read if you are interested in this war. Which I think it is the greatest geopolitical event currently. Certainly in Europe! Regardless of how many balloons or “Unidentified Flying Objects” are being shot down. I say bring back the X-Files, who is with me? “The truth is out there”.
What does a world with billions of old people look like? Asian countries are searching for answers
We are aging all around the world. Some countries have it so much worse like Japan, always allergic to immigration. A Yale professor recently suggested a solution there may be to have the elderly commit mass suicide!
Anyway, it is a huge problem…
Back in 1980, the U.N.’s list of top 10 “grayest” places was dominated by Europe; Sweden topped the list, with 16 percent of its population aged 65 or over. Germany, Austria, the U.K. and Norway were close behind. Last year, Japan led the world, with a much higher percentage: Nearly a third of its citizens are aged 65 or over. By 2050, Hong Kong is expected to top the chart, with more than 40 percent of its people in that age bracket. Meanwhile, the percentages of elderly residents will rise dramatically. In the 1980s, the elderly made up a quarter of the population in those top-ten “grayest” nations; at midcentury, the comparable figure will be one third.
Dramatic Landscapes and Dazzling Portraits Highlight Global Perspectives in the 2023 Sony World Photography Awards
Amazing collection…
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Gold! FTPNW! I suspect by the time the dust settles that SBF is gonna be facing a LONG prison sentence and others from that crew will as well. But I bet a few won’t and they will glom on to what I have read might be BILLIONS of “missing” money hidden out there somewhere. Crypto, it’s just crazy!
Great stuff here, George! Thanks so much and hope all is going ok with your mom!
Yes, hope your mom is ok.
What great reads today. Demography is destiny? That might the real question.
Yeah, whatever is going to happen to the U.S. in terms of aging is going to happen earlier and harder to east Asia so hopefully we can learn. I really wonder when the baby busy turns around and how low populations will get. Exponential decay works just as fast as exponential growth.
Buzz-
I am rooting for your Mom’s quick recovery.
Thanks everyone.
Mom is doing much better, returning to normal every day. There is a positive out of this visit, her realization that her current living arrangement in the best assisted living facility back in Greece is the best solution for her. Thanks to United miles, I have business class tickets to fly back next Tuesday…because I am not sure she can wait until end of March. Being able to cancel without fees is huge! We’ll see what happens…
Right now very early am on Wednesday February 15 it is 53F degrees in Ann Arbor, Michigan…WOW!
Meanwhile, the truth is out there, Fox Mulder was always right 🙂
In Japan sales of adult diapers exceeds sales of baby diapers. Yikes
This hits home…especially after going shopping for exactly that!