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What A Physical Bitcoin Looks Like
Buoyant Economy Or A Blip? 4 Tips For Investing Before The Economic Party Ends, Paul Sullivan, NY Times
How California’s $15/Hour Minimum Wage Is One More Thing That Cripples The State Economically, Chuck DeVore, Forbes
Bitcoin Is Still A Total Disaster, Matt O’Brien, Washington Post
CS Commentary: A Contrary View on Bitcoin.
Are You In The Top 1% Wealthy Of The World? Daniel Kurt, Investopedia
CS Commentary: This seems crazy low.
Venezuela To Remove Five Zeroes From Ailing Currency, Reuters
The Number Of Millionaires Continues To Increase, Charlotte Wold, Investopedia
CS Commentary: If true, this is an astounding quote from the article: “Credit Suisse also suggests that inequality in the U.S. is on the rise. Although the average wealth is $345,000, the median wealth [emphasis ours] is only $30,000, a significant drop from last year and three times as low as countries with similar average wealth.” That means that half of the people in the US have less than $30K, half have more. A wide disparity! That inequality does not bode well for any future crisis…
Editor’s Choice
The Bitcoin ‘Bubble’
The Stanford Bitcoin Mafia, Rahul Singireddy, Medium/Forbes
Bitcoin Explained In Five Minutes, Dhruv Shah, Medium
Wall Street Exec: Crypto-Blockchain Mass Adoption 5-6 Years Away, Helen Partz, Cointelegraph
Seven Tough Questions To Ask Your Financial Advisor, J.C. Abusaid, Marketwatch
Where Is Bitcoin In The History Of The World’s Greatest Bubbles? Niklas Goke, Medium
Why Its Time To Quit Your Job And Travel The World, Bloomberg
New Poll Shows Only 2% Of U.S. Investors Own Bitcoin, But 26% Are ‘Intrigued’, Maxwell William, Cointelegraph
Cryptocurrency
Is Coinbase Creating a Centralized Or Decentralized Financial System? Brian Armstrong, Medium
Coinbase Now Values Itself At $8 Billion, Michael K. Spencer, Medium
Why Major Cryptocurrency Investors Are Betting Against Ethereum, Jeff Kauflin, Forbes
Ex-Trump Advisor Steve Bannon In On Cryptocurrency, Christine Kim, Coindesk
CS Repeat: Top Crypto Picks: Top 20 Alt-Coins, Cryptoclarified
CS Commentary: Repeating the listing of this link which was published in CS a few weeks ago. The article originally came out in June 2018 and it ranks DIG as its #1 alt-coin speculation, saying that it could easily have a 500% upside. However, please note that the information provided on DIG was easily a few months old as of writing, the wallets listed for the airdrop are out of date and incorrect, and the analysis on this coin is one-sided and not up to date. Still, it is interesting that out of 20 coins they choose DIG over EOS, DRED, and BNB as their #1 choice. Something to consider, but review our analysis on DIG here. Also see, cryptoclarified’s full analysis of DIG from late June 2018, here – but our above comments still apply.
Rejection Aside, Calls For A Bitcoin ETF Are Only Escalating, Muyao Shen, Coindesk; Also see, US SEC Commissioner Dissents From Bitcoin ETF Rejection, Marie Huillet, Cointelegraph; Also see, Bitcoin Retains Bull Bias In Spite Of Price Drop Below $8000, Omkar Godbole, Coindesk; Also see, SEC Delays Decision On One Bitcoin ETF Till September – Van Eck Decision Due Next Month, Nikhilesh De, Coindesk
DIG’s Arbitrade To Store Gold On Bermuda, Scott Neil, Royal Gazette
CS Commentary and CS Update on DIG, 7/12/18: There are some worrisome comments here, particularly…See this link for more. Also see, Bermuda Government To Introduce New Regulations On ICO’s And Crypto Firms, Helen Partz, Cointelegraph
Coinbase To Possibly Expand Offerings To 5 Alt-Coins + Ethereum Classic, Ana Alexandre, Cointelegraph
Short videos
Millions Of Americans Drop Food Stamps, Fox Business
Larry Kudlow On Job Numbers, Varney & Co,, Fox Business
Can The U.S. Economy Maintain This Pace Of Growth? Varney & Co., Fox Business
Bill Browder Of Hermitage Capital On Being Named By Putin In Helsinki: Valdimir Putin Wants Me Dead, Sunday Morning Futures
Common Sense Interpretation
(Start Here First To Understand The Investment Arena Big Picture)
How To Know Who To Trust With Your Money: The Fiduciary Pyramid, Seaborn Hall, Advisor Perspectives
Fiduciary Pyramid: Who
Do You Trust?
How to Know Who To Trust With Your Money II: A Visual Illustration of Fiduciary, Seaborn Hall, Advisor Perspectives
The Bernie Madoff Fraud: Five Lessons For Investors From The ‘Wizard Of Lies,’ Seaborn Hall, Advisor Perspectives
Evaluating The Arguments For The Dollar’s Demise, Seaborn Hall, Advisor Perspectives
How Likely Is Hyperinflation In the U.S.?, Part Two, Seaborn Hall, Advisor Perspectives
Are Cryptocurrencies The Best Investment Opportunity Of The Next Decade? Part II, Seaborn Hall, Advisor Perspectives
Why Bitcoin Is Not In A Bubble, Seaborn Hall, Advisor Perspectives
Quote: “Bitcoin is the face of blockchains and digital currencies. It might be called part stock, part emerging currency, and part commodity. As a kind of stock, Cryptocurrencies have become – to retail investors – the de-facto face of the blockchain they represent, even though at times, a direct correlation cannot be shown.”
Resources
Investment Resources
2017 Ranking Of RIA’s By Total Assets, Financial Advisor
CS Commentary: A RIA is a Registered Investment Advisor, generally considered to be at or close to the top of the Fiduciary Pyramid in the investment area. For more, see Common Sense Interpretation, above.
10 Fastest Growing RIA Firms, Wealth Management; Also see, RIA Survey And Ranking 2017, FA
CS Commentary: For an explanation of and the importance of Registered Investment Advisors (RIA), see the ‘Fiduciary’ articles in the Common Sense Interpretation section below.
The Biggest And Best Wealth Management Firms, Investopedia/WSJ
CS Commentary: What’s wrong with this list? Notice they are almost all big banks. Most of the big banks charge ‘hidden’ fees that they don’t tell you about and they also charge larger annual management fees. Independent RIA firms charge an average of about 1-1.25% in management fees, plus, in many cases lower ‘hidden’ fees that they fully disclose. (For an explanation of and the importance of Registered Investment Advisors, or RIA, see Common Sense Interpretation section on this page below).
Why is the WSJ bias towards the larger banks? Very few smaller, independent fee only RIAs – of which there are hundreds of top ones – are featured on this list. At the very least this raises a serious question about the criteria used in this study and ranking; at the most, it raises questions about the objectivity and possible bias of the WSJ. Several rankings around the globe seem much more reliable than these WSJ rankings, among them, Financial Times annual Top 300 global RIA’s ranking and the annual Forbes RIA ranking.
JD Power 2018 Bank Satisfaction Survey, JD Power
Cryptocurrency Resources
How To Secure Yourself Against Bitcoin Theft In 10 Minutes, SFOX, Medium
The Best Crypto Exchanges, May 2018, Cryptoclarified
The Top 10 Cryptocurrency Blogs & Websites You Should Follow, Cryptoclarified
The History Of Bitcoin In One Chart, Kevin Werbach, Medium
Cryptocurrency 101, Ben Yu, Medium
CS Commentary: A good article for the basics on crypto relative to money, in general, but some warnings…See this link for more.
The 10 Commandments Of Crypto Security, Panama Crypto, Medium
Cryptocurrency Regulation Update June 2018, Phil Glazer, Medium
The Crypto Stable Coins That You Need To Know About, Reece Barclay, Medium
State of Cryptocurrencies Summer 2018, Adam Taché, Medium
CS Commentary: An interesting survey of known and little known coins, but highly technical and of more use to self-described crypto-geeks than the average investor.
Understanding The Retail Bitcoin Exchange Coinbase And Its Professional Trading Sister, GDAX, Jack Tatar, The Balance; Also see, Coinbase Vs. GDAX, The Merkle; Also see, GDAX Vs. Coinbase Comparison, Coin Central
Coinbase Review: Safe Way To Buy Cryptocurrency? Coin Central
Kraken Exchange Review, Coin Central; Kraken vs. Bittrex Exchange Comparison, Coin Central; What Is Kraken? Shobhit Seth, Investopedia
More Common Sense
Books:
The Russian Hoax: The Illicit Scheme To Clear Hillary Clinton And Frame Donald Trump, Amazon.com
Author’s Estate Sues ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ Broadway Production, Alter/Paulson, NY Times
Comedy:
State Of CA Votes To Officially Secede From Reality, Babylon Bee; Also see, Harvard Now Offering 4 Year Degree In ‘Feeling Oppressed,’ Babylon Bee; Also see, Democrats Announce All 2020 Candidates Will Forego Armed Security To Protest Gun Violence, Babylon Bee
John McArthur Sneaks In Charismatic Church In Hallowed Out Trojan Horse Pulpit, Babylon Bee
Culture:
Reckless, The Horse That Was A Korean War Hero, You Tube
5 Ways Of Looking At A Serial Killer, Tori Telfer, Medium; Also see, A Good Reason To Lock Your Doors – Even If You Live In A ‘Safe’ Town, Tamar Lapin, NY Post
It’s Been 43 Years Since He Vanished – What Happened To Jimmy Hoffa?, Real Clear Life; Police Capture Alleged Child Killer Who Taunted Them For Decades: More On Golden State Killer, Steve Huff, Real Clear Life
Health/Fitness:
The Last Conversation You’ll Ever Need To Have About Eating Right, Bittman/Katz, Medium/New York
Benefits Of Massage Therapy Vs. Acupuncture And Other Forms Of Body Therapy, Dr. Axe
Movies:
How Tom Cruise Became America’s Last Action Hero, Sonny Bunch, NY Post; Behind Mission Impossible: Cruise Does His Own ‘Insane’ Stunts, Gregory E. Miller, NY Post
Music:
13 Year Courtney Hadwin Gets The Golden Buzzer On America’s Got Talent, You Tube
Sports:
Atlanta Falcons Look Anemic In Preseason Shut-Out To NY Jets, Matthew Chambers, Falcoholic
QB Matt Ryan Supports OC Steve Sarkisian, Falcons Wire/USA Today
CS Commentary: We’re not a believer in Sarkisian and the Falcon’s anemic offense in their first pre-season game is certainly not hopeful. Ultimately, if the Falcon’s can’t get it together this year the blame lies with Dan Quinn for hiring the guy.
Travel:
Going Back To The Philippines To Retire: A How To Guide, Jean Folger, Investopedia; Also see, Retiring In The Philippines, Pros & Cons, Jean Folger, Investopedia; Also see, How To Plan Your Retirement In The Philippines, Lita Epstein, Investopedia
TV:
The Emmy Awards Tilt To The Left, Brent Bozell/Tim Graham, Townhall;
What To Watch: ‘The Sinner’ And ‘Better Call Saul,’ Real Clear Life
The Recipe For “Narcos” According To The Real-Life DEA Agents Who Lived It, Lee Ferran, Real Clear Life
Quotes Of The Month:
“I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments, and common sense.” – Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776
“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.” – Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776
“The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection.” — Thomas Paine