Introduction

In 1984, George Orwell described a world in which information was scarce, knowledge was denied and propaganda was substituted for both. In the 21st century, the risk is the same but the process is different: denying citizens knowledge by inundating them with "megabytes, gigabytes and terabytes" of undigested information.

2008: Icebergs Ahead!

February 2008: A world that is sustained by American consumer spending which is in turn 1/4 sustained by a property bubble could result in 20 million people loosing their homes.

Financial Markets, 2015

An intelligent galaxy of new specialist advisory, investment management, algorithmic software and consulting firms networked with the universe of powerful transaction facilitation exchanges. Banks now exist only as giant regulated pools of capital.

The Gambler's fallacy and the illusion of control

The Greater Sucker Theory of Investing

Credit Cycle Theory

Urban Economy

The urban economy achieves general equilibrium when 3 conditions are satisfied simultaneously:

2005 Predictions

Sample from the list of surprises written by Richard Bernstein, chief U.S. strategist at Merrill Lynch.

2005 IPO, Singapore

Olam, a leading global supply chain manager of agricultural products and food ingredients. Olam manages each activity in the supply chain from origination to processing, logistics, marketing and distribution. Sourcing from over 35 countries and supplying to more than 3000 customers in over 50 destinations markets. Cocoa, coffee, Sheanuts, Cashew, Beans, Sesame, Spices, Rice, Sugar, Cotton, Wood Products.

HIV

During the 1990s, the development of effective drugs transformed HIV from a death sentence to a chronic illness. Two main classes of drugs now make up the anti-HIV arsenal: reverse transcriptase and protease inhibitors, each of which blocks a different enzyme essential to the virus's ability to copy itself after infecting human blood cells.

ED | FSD Marketplace

ED: Erectile Dysfunction.
The ED marketplace is going to prove to be one of the top pharmaceutical markets.

In the future you will need to treat the desire component and the arousal component.
 
FSD: Female Sexual Dysfunction.
Any drugs that prove effective in treating arousal, desire or inability to achieve orgasm could garner sales of well over a $1 billion a year.

Lifestyle Drugs

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Phyto-Medicine

Google - 25 July 2007

Asia

International Emerging Markets

Strategic Acquisitions

October 2004: Nike's share of the U.S. athletic-shoe market is more than twice that of each of its largest rivals, Reebok International Ltd. (NYSE:RBK) and Adidas-Salomon AG (ADSG.DE). The market is mature, so Nike Inc.'s (NYSE:NKE), the world's biggest athletic shoe company, needs new brands to boost sales.

Managing Risk

Oil Price

Worldwide Spending by Carriers on Equipment

Almost three quarters of investment in telecoms carrier level equipment is done in the US and Western Europe. These markets are characterized by very large global equipment suppliers, which dominate the market raising the market's entry barriers.

Green Buildings

Forex Market

February 25, 2005 - If the U.S. economy keeps growing at a relatively fast clip compared with Europe and Japan, the resulting demand for imports would likely result in a continued widening in the trade and current account gaps this year. So the market is torn between the dollar-positive factors of rising official interest rates and strong growth on one hand and the persistent drag of the massive U.S. current account and budget deficits on the other. Japan's Finance Ministry just said it had no intention of changing its reserves, the world's largest at almost $850 billion, to buy more euros. Japan remains trapped under deflationary pressure and there is no sign of a quick price recovery (continued slides in prices of personal computers, air conditioners and other durable products as well as declines in telephone charges).

CO2 Market - Carbon Trading

Carbon emissions trading is the trading of permits to emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. It is way of meeting obligations under the Kyoto Protocol to mitigate global warming. Since carbon trading took off in Europe, trading volumes and underlying asset value have grown beyond expectations. Global carbon markets were worth $64 billion (€47 billion) in 2007, up from more than $31 billion in 2006. The market saw transactions for 2.9 billion tonnes of CO2e where the EU ETS accounted for 70 per cent of the volume and over 78 per cent of the value (Source: World Bank). By any measure, carbon trading has grown impressively to establish itself as a new commodity to count on.

Weather Market

Market Pulse

Volatility

Metals

Lending and Borrowing Exchange

Growth Funds

21st Century Communication Networks

Hedge Funds

Interesting Funds

Markets Overview

Independent Thinkers

Long Term Investments

Financial Services

Venture Capital

Between 1980 to 2000: 1720 Technology IPOs.
Only 5% of all these technology companies created 92% of total shareholder value appreciation (2001).
 
General rule: VC look for 150% ROI in 5 years

Business Angels

"Few business plan to fail, but many of those that flop, failed to plan"

Class Action Law Firms


 
NERO wearing the Adidog shirt
 
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