Why We Like The Atlanta Falcons

True confession.  We love Tom Brady.   Second best QB of all-time,  just after Joe Cool, who, in four Super Bowl games,  started and won, threw for 83 of 122 passes for 1,142 yards and 11 touchdowns with no interceptions!   Won 3 Super Bowl MVPs. 

Talking to a  high school coach of Brady the other day, we asked, “Did any of you guys know that Tom B. would become one of, if not, the greatest of all-time”?    “Absolutely not” the coach answered,  “he was good in high school, not great.  When he got to Michigan, we thought maybe he could play in the NFL.  Nobody around here had any idea he would step-up like he has”.

Tom Brady used to have a girlfriend in high school that lived in our ‘hood and would come around here at prom time.   That is our bragging rights to the great one.   Joe Cool used to live in our town.

Until a few weeks ago, we were looking forward to Brady and the Pats winning their fifth Super Bowl ring.

That was until we heard Falcons owner, Arther Blank co-founder of Home Depot, is taking the entire Falcons staff to the Super Bowl.

Via Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Falcons owner Arthur Blank is sending all of the team’s employees to Houston next week for Super Bowl LI.

“Football is the ultimate team sport and it goes way beyond the people you see on the field,” Falcons president Rich McKay said in a statement. “It takes a lot of people to operate a successful NFL team and the staff works very, very hard all year round. Arthur loves the associates and one of our core values is ‘Include Everyone.’ He wants those who have helped our team reach the Super Bowl to have the chance to see the game live in Houston.”

It’s not an unheard of move, as both Broncos owner Pat Bowlen and Panthers owner Jerry Richardson did the same last year.

But it’s still a nice perk for the 500 employees of the team, who get to ride along for an unexpected end-of-year bonus. – NBC Sports

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Class!   Way to go, Arthur.  People like you make America great.

Falcons by 4.   Don’t day trade it!

 

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Enjoying the Hot Tub, Kermit?

You know, the old amphibian metaphor — intended to show that humans are sometimes unable to react well to gradual threats — about how a frog placed in boiling water will jump out, but a frog placed in cold water that is slowly heated will stay put and boil to death.- NY Times, 11/18/15

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***************************      Kermit the Frog   *****************************

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Source:  World Economic Forum

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QOTD: Vive La France!

Maybe, just maybe, France will turn out to be the place where the populist tide is turned. – Philip Stephen, FT

We concur!

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Why Billionaire Investor Ray Dalio Did an About-Face on Trump – Bloomberg

Feb.01 — Billionaire Ray Dalio, who in November was bullish on the incoming president’s ability to stimulate the economy, is now saying he’s more concerned that the damaging effects of Trump’s populist policies may overwhelm the benefits of his pro-business agenda. Bloomberg’s Simone Foxman reports on “Bloomberg Markets.”
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Recall we warned of the “Bad Trump” policies lurking in our post,“Good Trump” Catapults Dow To 20K As “Bad Trump” Lurks.
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But keep in mind there are some very nasty policy proposals lurking out there and, if realized,  will cause a world of hurt for the global markets and economy.
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The prospects of the “Good Trump” policies,  tax cuts, deregulation, etc., should keep markets afloat and jam them higher when implemented unless a geopolitical shock arises out of the blue or as the result of the “Bad Trump” policies.
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 At the end of the day, however, we believe the imbalances – more debt, fiscal deficits, higher inflation, ballooning trade and current account deficits, border taxes and reduced trade, and a panicked Fed –  will cause, in totality, President Trump’s economic policies to end in tears.
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 President Obama, his economic team, and Ben Bernake and the Fed,  get an A+ in our book for stabilizing a global economy on the brink of an economic disaster 10x the Great Depression when they took over.  At best they get a C for the structural adjustment that was needed to create high paying jobs and prepare the U.S. for the new economy of the 21st century.   Much of that failure was political constraints from the “do nothing” Congress.
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We see some rays of hope in the Trump policies but they fail in their central focus to prepare the workforce for the coming automation that will destroy up to 50 percent of all current jobs.   Infrastructure spending, a one-time shot, will not, tax cuts will not, and deregulation will not — in fact, will accelerate automation.   Trump’s policies are mostly cyclical in nature and won’t fix the economy’s structural problems.
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We have been warning of this since 2011.   See here, here, and here.
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“Tech companies are creating plenty of jobs for robots.”
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Daniel Honan,  The Robot Hiring Boom Has Arrived – Global Macro Monitor, 12/28/2011

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Teaching Python in the second grade would be a good start.
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Apple’s Revenue Breakdown

Apple’s stock was up over 6 percent today.  Here is the breakdown by region and product.  Note, the continued decline in China and the 18 percent increase in services, which the market is all lathered up about.

apple-earnings

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Will Fillon Scandal Boost Le Pen and Macron? – WSJ

Published on Feb 1, 2017
He was the front-runner in the race to become France’s next president. But have allegations that François Fillon misused public funds created an opening for far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron? WSJ’s Niki Blasina reports.
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Quote of the Day: Joe Nye, The Havard Guy

Caligula made his horse a senator. Why? To show disdain for institutions  – Joe Nye

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Here’s Why Super Bowl Ticket Prices Are So Low – Bloomberg

Published on Jan 31, 2017

Jan.31 — CAA Premium Experience Executive Robert Tuchman discusses demand for tickets for the Super Bowl and package deals for the big game in Houston. He speaks with Scarlet Fu on “Bloomberg Markets.”

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US Sector ETF Performance – Jan 31

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Global Risk Monitor – January 31

Click on table to enlarge and for better resolution

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