Artificial intervention In 1969 engineers decided that since there had been apparent rockfalls and erosion at Niagara Falls human intervention may be required to remove huge boulders at the base of the falls. At colossal effort and expense some 28,000 tons of rock were used to build a cofferdam to… full article

Winds of change When I worked in London about two decades ago, I used to audit a couple of chains of turf accountants, more commonly known as bookies. Bookmaking operators were often exceptionally smart businessmen who had successfully generated profits for years through their chains of high street betting shops.… full article

Old traders and bold traders Ed Seykota once said that 'there are old traders and bold traders, but there are no old, bold traders'. We've recently seen a spate of new traders (and speculators) roaring into the market with extremely high levels of confidence, while some of the more experienced… full article

You can download a free chapter from our new book Low Rates High Returns here (or by clicking on the link underneath the image below): New Book: Low Rates High Returns You can order your copy of the book at Dymocks here, or through most good bookstores. full article

Soccer stars & space cadets When our teachers at school asked what we wanted to be as adults, there was always an interesting range of responses, ranging from dream careers (professional sports stars, robot engineers) to those guided by parental preference (usually actuaries or barristers). Looking back, I don't think… full article

Luck versus skill (FIGJAM) Too many of us have a natural tendency to believe that we've achieved everything through our own hard graft. It's all too easy to downplay the fortunate aspects of our circumstances (in my case, for example, being born in a developed country, to well-educated parents, who… full article

Monte Carlo Grand Prix It's nearly that festive time of year again when the economic soothsayers will be out in force to make their 2020 predictions! A genuine model of outcomes for next year might run through a Monte Carlo simulation, using a range of different variables and probabilities to… full article

The black drop I'm not a boozer these days, but in my early twenties there was never any need to ask me what drink I wanted for the next round...it was always a pint of Guinness, no questions asked! Lots of trendy new ales came and went, as did various… full article

Toughen up! When I was a teenager I worked for some years in a timber factory, and the older fellas had hands like you wouldn't believe. While new hires would invariably see their hands shredded with cuts and splinters, over time and as their hands repaired the body would overcompensate… full article

Toxic and trusting teams We've all come across or had to work with toxic team members or co-workers; perhaps we've even been one ourselves when we were in the wrong role! There are basically only two ways to give people the opportunity to change through direct & honest feedback -… full article