I thought I'd share some cost of living posts from Beijing. These are imported navel oranges from America, "Sun Pacific" brand. I have no idea what they cost in California. They cost 35.80元 (US$5.74) a kilogram here, which is almost exactly US$1.70 each. Not cheap, but affordable for China's new middle class. Maybe still a bit of a treat?
Most of Society Is Not Moving Up
A great New Normal piece, Golf Market Stuck in Bunker as Thousands Leave the Sport:
Once the go-to activity for corporate bonding, the sport is suffering from an exodus of players, a lack of interest among millennials and the mass closure of courses. ... About 400,000 players left the sport last year ... 'It’s a pretty high-price sport, and leisure time is getting crunched.' ... [Callaway] hasn’t reported an annual profit since 2008. ... 200,000 players under 35 abandoned the game last year. ... Only 14 new courses were built in the U.S. last year, while almost 160 shut down. ... 'Everybody’s hooked up to their handhelds, so it’s social networking instead of sports ... It’s something that’s associated with boom times. Most of society’s not moving up, and golf is associated with moving up.'
The great leveling ... standard of living on the decline in the US as it rises in Asia.
ETF Trading Portfolio Update -- May 23, 2014
Reversing the Q's and the small caps ... still hard to make money on the short side.
The Americans S02 E06
Remember her from Dexter? She is now a Russian spy.
Borgen S01 E03
The newsreader, looking at a different screen... her ultrasound.
Borgen S01 E02
No doubt looks like her Daddy, a handsome man.
The Americans S02 E05
Agent Beeman, pockmarked good guy, though compromised.
Trading idea for Mon. May 26, 2014 | Equity Residential (EQR)
Flirting with all-time highs ... EQR was $15 back in the crash of '08-'09 ... day traders aren't interested in ancient history.
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Borgen S01 E01
Begun to watch this one on the recommendation of a Twitter buddy, @elchienbekker. Promising start ... filled with beautiful Scandinavian people, though speaking the terrible Swedish (Danish) Chef tongue.
UGAZ Trades Thin
Set up a couple times on Friday, but as you can see, very thin down on the five minute, gappy ... maybe the NatGas futures themselves are the thing to trade because the leveraged ETF is a crapshoot.