Succinct Summations of Week Events 4.17.15 ( + short video bonus)

Here's your weekly one-page eye shot of the significant events that shaped the world of finance in the past seven days.  This week's bonus is a short 7 minute video about information overload and how to cure it and even prevent it.  Multitasking is something that is particularly systemic to the world of finance and has for so many years been so popular that it has become virtual heresy not to practice it.  Yet I have believed for many years that not only does it not work, it does not even exist.  So I was very happy to find this video that agrees with this point of view.  It is courtesy of Professor Daniel Levitin of Canada's McGill University and a lecture he recently gave at London's Royal Society of Arts.  Lots of terrific ideas packed into 7 minutes.  Enjoy!

Succinct Summations of Week Events 4.17.15

by Barry Ritholtz - April 17th, 2015, 4:00pm

Succinct Summations week ending April 17^th

Positives:

1. The Hang Seng Index crossed 28,000 for the first time since 2007
2. Initial jobless claims rose to 294k vs the 280k expected (bellows 300k for 6 straight weeks).
3. Core CPI rose 1.8% vs expectations of a 1.7% rise.
4. The NAHB index rose to 56, better than the 55 expected and up from 52.

Negatives:

1. Retail sales rose 0.9% vs expectations of +1.1%, the fourth consecutive miss.
2. China’s exports fell 15% versus expectations for a 12% rise.
3. Core retail sales rose 0.5% vs expectations of a 0.6% rise.
4. New York Fed fell to -1.19 vs expectations of 7, the third straight monthly decline.
5. March housing starts rose 2% to 926k, vs expectations 15.9% and 1040k.
6. CPI fell 0.1% y/o/y vs expectations of no change.
7. Building permits fell 5.7%
8. Stocks had a rough session Friday, posting their biggest loss in a month.

Information Overload: Why daydreaming not multitasking is the way to process t

Information Overload: Why daydreaming not multitasking is the way to process the unprecedented amount of information we now face

by Barry Ritholtz - April 19th, 2015, 7:00pm

 From Aeon:

Since 1986, the amount of information we absorb has increased fivefold and our options for getting more have become almost limitless. All this choice and access to data might seem like a luxury of contemporary life – and in some ways it is – but recent neuroscience studies have shown it’s making our brains work overtime. As it turns out, we aren’t just bad at multitasking, we’re not equipped for it at all. In fact, we’re just switching between tasks, which uses up neural resources that would otherwise go towards actual problem-solving.

In this talk at the Royal Society of Arts in London, Daniel Levitin, a professor of psychology and behavioural neuroscience at McGill University in Canada, reveals the surprising effects that ‘information overload’ is having on our brains, and how we can best combat the data deluge. Some of the proven strategies, like taking short naps to recharge, could go beyond simply preventing brain drain and helping us maintain focus, but might actually make us better, more creative problem-solvers too. In fact, Levitin makes the case for regular daydreaming – 15 minutes every two hours – so that our brains benefit from a restorative mind-wandering mode, which he describes as their natural state.

RSA Spotlight: Daniel Levitin on Information Overload - YouTube