The longest road trip in the world

Posted by TheFlaneur – June 18, 2013

Man has always wandered, and always will. Over the hills and far away.

A fascinating, community discussion from Quora takes on the question: what is the longest, over-land, road trip in the world? The parameters are: car only, no planes, no trains, no sea worthy vessels. Get in a car and drive.

The answer seems to be the over-land voyage from Magadan, Russia to Cape Point, South Africa, edging the Pan-American Highway.

That’s quite a road trip, and quite a lot of fuel.  While we’re believers in Tesla, it may be a few generations before the automaker expands its supercharger network this far.

 

Pictures and video as Brazil takes to the streets

Posted by TheFlaneur – June 18, 2013

Over the past few days, cities across Brazil have experienced a wave of large, and mostly peaceful protests. From Rio to Sao Paulo to Brasilia, hundreds of thousands gathered to protest corruption, degraded infrastructure, poor health care services, and rising costs for basic public services.

The tension has built since Brazil won hosting rights to next years World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. ”We’re a rich country with a lot of potential but the money doesn’t go to those who need it most,” 26-year-old photographer Manoela Chiabai told the Associated Press.

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Congress’ Budget Solution: Weaker growth, fewer jobs, fantasy economic models

Posted by TheFlaneur – June 18, 2013

After two years of political gridlock, bickering, and general ineffectiveness, the budget issues facing the U.S. were “solved” earlier this year by sequestration. Unfortunately, and perhaps not surprisingly, Congress’ “solution” is an abject failure in terms of the long term.

Highlighted today in the Washington Post, Ezra Klein points to a few very reasonable points. Of course, leave it to the 113th Congress to “solve” our nation’s problems by not solving them at all. Here are takeaways:

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Raging Bull – The S&P Past 1600

Posted by TheFlaneur – May 21, 2013

Buy low and sell high. It’s a mantra as old as the markets. It’s the motivation of every investor, because simply, it’s the most fundamental way to make a profit investing. 

But there is another cliché that at times can run counter to buy low sell high. “The trend is your friend, until it bends at the end” it goes. Simultaneously it extols riding a winner to maximize profit, but warning of the inevitable change of course. 

With the Dow climbing to over 15,000 and the S&P above 1,600, the markets have presented us with a conundrum. Do we ride the trend to even higher highs, or is now the time to take profits and avoid the “bend at the end?”—The Flaneur More→

Wells Fargo – The Nation’s Community Bank

Posted by TheFlaneur – April 30, 2013

We have written it here before, and we stand by it today. The key to a stable, functional, and profitable US banking industry is a return to the traditional community banking model. Yes, there are still banks in America today that are too big to fail and yes, typical Capitol Hill machinations are dulling the blade of what could have been real reform. The big banks will certainly live on and will likelier still get even bigger. But even so, there is evidence of change.

JPMorgan Chase, alongside Citigroup, Bank of America, and other mega banks, has recently announced long term expense cuts targeting billions of dollars in savings. This is quite the contrast to Jamie Dimon’s 2011 vision of long term unimpeded growth. When companies find themselves struggling to grow, they look inward and start cutting fat.

But there is an exception – a big bank who keeps it simple, focuses on the customer relationship, and executes on the fundamentals. This bank has emerged from the financial crisis as the pre-eminent retail and small business bank in the US; and the key to its success? Even at $1.4 trillion in total assets, this institution has the heart of a community bank.–The Flaneur More→