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What, if anything, does the current high correlation between the two variables tell us.

Recently, as the cover chart demonstrates, the relationship between the price of gold (in black; don’t ask: the colors were selected by the system) and the USD/Yen rate (in mustard yellow) has been very tight. The correlation in the graph is -0.73 and it basically says the value of the Yen and the price of gold have moved up/down very closely together in the last two months (remember: if USD/Yen goes down the Yen is strengthening because it takes less yen to buy a US dollar, and vice versa).

Kudos to the marketing geniuses of the investment management industry.

John Galbraith once said “The world of finance hails the invention of the wheel over and over again, often in a slightly more unstable version.” Was he a clever man and was he right!

The story of a week in 14 charts.

Remember Where’s Waldo?, the mesmerizing children book? How many hours did you spend looking for the bespectacled little guy? If you have no children you’re exempt from responding.

It’s not always that obvious.

During a regular talk show on a radio station based in the canton of Ticino the host invites callers to tell in which era they would have dreamt to live. A young lady says she would have loved the Middle Ages because of the fashion of the times and the ideal of chivalry. Call me unromantic but I’d have an issue, among other things, with the lack of indoor plumbing and the constant personal security concerns in time of peace (marauding unemployed soldiers were never at rest).

High cuisine, painting, composing and investing: not all crafts are treated equally.

Yesterday I watched the episode on Grant Ashatz and his restaurant Alinea in the series Chef’s Table (Netflix), and I learned how two years after the opening Ashatz found out he had cancer of the mouth.

How do active investment managers determine what to charge for their services and why.

Someone told me last week that Friday was National Doughnut Day in the US. I’ve heard not all doughnuts come with a hole. What this introduction has got to do with the subject of this post will become clearer later. Or perhaps not. I just like doughnuts.

Things We Control and Things We Don’t: Thoughts on Taxation.

Many clichés and sayings on how we die or what will kill us are mildly comforting. Other heroic demonstrations of defiance (like the skateboarder gliding through a crowded NYC subway platform or the woman cyclist crossing at full speed on a red light in front of your car) are pure idiocy. Ultimately we can’t avoid dying and so we don’t control death.

Not one but two tigers, by the toe.

I’m in New York attending to some matters concerning a dear family member. In between chores and jetlag, I read two investment commentaries which brought me back to my usual milieu. In the midst of all the energy and vitality of this city it is easy to dismiss the thoughts in these pieces as far-fetching theoretical observations suited for scaremongering and pandering to crisis.

Not all robots are created equal. Make sure you understand the difference.

My nightmare? Being awakened by a weirdly built biped with shining eyeballs and dressed in business attire, closing in on my face and hissing metallically: “What did you say your asset allocation was?”

“How about my slippers first?”

Akademia Investments: a clever way to help European foundations in their investment needs.

Recently Dorothea and I were watching a funny BBC show during which we learned there is a Bottleship magazine, published by The European Association of Ships in Bottles. I hesitated, but she was categorical: “No way.” Enter Google; it turns out that for GBP 18/year (for the UK; GBP 24 for Overseas) you can get four issue of this beauty; subscriptions welcome here.