Friday, January 09, 2009

Weekend Reading

1. Secrets of Greatness (hat tip to Joe)

The best people in any field are those who devote the most hours to what the researchers call "deliberate practice." It's activity that's explicitly intended to improve performance, that reaches for objectives just beyond one's level of competence, provides feedback on results and involves high levels of repetition.

2. Interview With Bruce Berkowitz (give your thanks once again to Joe)

I was extremely surprised that anyone would invest simply on a level of trust. I believe in “trust but verify.” [Editor's note: I like that phrase] Even businesses that might seem to operate simply on trust really employ a level of verification. For example, in the Diamond District in New York, millions of dollars may appear to change hands simply on the basis of a handshake. But, behind the scenes, there is a careful evaluation of the diamonds that were just sold. Those transactions take place at a single point in time and, if something goes wrong, the participants will never do another transaction. In Madoff’s case, investors continued to put money in over many years, without any verification.

3. " What Would Sir John Say?"

...
Now, with well over 100 independent nations on earth and rapid advances in communication, people with superior educational backgrounds are likely to progress more rapidly than others. These people with more advanced education are likely to be true innovators.

Comparisons show that prosperity flows toward those nations having the greatest freedom of competition. Especially, electronics and computers are likely to become helpful in all human activities, including even helping persons who have not yet learned to read.

Hopefully, many of you can help us to find published journals and websites and electronic search engines to help us benefit from accelerating research and discoveries.

Not yet have I found any better method to prosper during the future financial chaos, which is likely to last many years, than to keep your net worth in shares in those corporations, which have proven to have the widest profit margins and the most rapidly increasing profits. Earning power is likely to continue to be valuable, especially if diversified among many nations.

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