Contrarian trading strategies are widely covered by finance literature. Theoretically, when the market is rife with good news about a publicly traded firm, investors should consider selling. Rapid price appreciation driven by market demand tends to attract media attention, propagating further praise from analysts and attracting more investors to take a bite of the appreciated equity. A contrarian investor would argue that this is the optimal time to sell because the price is likely bobbing...
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On a Sunday afternoon, while enjoying an afternoon at a museum, I was amused hearing onlookers extrapolate meaning from an abstract painting. Looking at the randomly colored triangles, I wondered whether the artist had similar thoughts as their patrons. Similarly, a discussion of the tea party in Alice in Wonderland and its political subtext, left me wondering whether Lewis Carroll was at the same depths as his readers.
As I start working on the fourth installment of Superhighway, I’m the one...
Growing up in the former Soviet Union, I had to conceal my Jewish heritage. Think of it as a perverted form of Darwinism. In fact, my grandfather changed his last name from Fine to Fainov to conceal his Jewish roots. He did it so he would face less harassment from his own comrades during World War II while fighting the Nazis—talk about irony. When I was a kid, I remember having to be secretive about visiting a synagogue that was a room in a private home.
My first collision with antisemitism...
I have never been confused for a handyman. My greatest accomplishment working with tools involved hanging a flatscreen without incident. For years, I peeked into that room with trepidation, fearing to discover the television in its final resting place—splattered across the floor.
Despite my limited exposure to tool sheds, when asked what editing a novel was like, I immediately thought about woodworking. Even with my brief exposure to the process, it seemed like a perfect example. The process...
According to mainstream business principles, the execution of a plan is more valuable than the conception of the business idea. “Would you bet on a jockey or a horse?” is often asked to explain this topic. Thus, when evaluating investments, the team running the operation is considered more vital than the actual product they are selling. The concept seems both simple and intuitive: success follows hard work, intelligence, and diligent planning.
I would never argue against the importance of...
In 1989, when I was twelve, my family immigrated to the United States from the former Soviet Union. After three weeks in awe of Los Angeles, I started eighth grade in a new country, with new kids and a new language. While my peers discussed Back to the Future Part II and their summer vacations, I was terrified, working hard to disguise my feelings. With time, things got easier: I made friends, learned English, and fell in love with my new home.
As far back as those first days in the United...
As a quasi-joke, I’ve often said that people who don’t love me tend to like me, while those few who claim to love me don’t seem to like me very much. Sometimes I wonder whether the people who claim they love me are simply obeying a habit. It is possible that watching a person grow up or spending years with a partner can produce a habitual bond that can be mistaken for love. How do we know that we truly love something or someone? How do we know that the comfort and joy we draw from a person or...
If life is a gift, then we’ve been granted an ongoing membership to a local gym. Looking back, my tribulations seem more protracted and vivid than the seemingly brief periods of genuine happiness. Perhaps it’s simple psychology. As a species, humans tend to experience heavier doses of pain while facing headwinds than joy while riding waves of success. Exercise is a great metaphor for life because our time is mostly spent in training. As our bodies develop and then regress with age, we...