Paul Tudor Jones: A magical moment in a great documentary

The documentary is a fascinating and brief slice in the work life of Paul Tudor Jones, one of America’s all time great macro traders.

There’s this one moment that really stands out to me, where Jones, after losing about 5% of his portfolio in a single terrible trading day (at that time, ~$6M dollars), says this:

“The money’s irrelevant but it’s the whole concept of having analysis that’s just so completely off the mark. It’s a mental blow, it’s an intellectual blow, and it’s part of the business. This is going to happen a thousand times in the next five years to me, so it’s just something you learn to live with. I hate it.”

Talk about timeless advice.

First, his focus on PROCESS and ANALYSIS instead of outcome.

Second, his mental preparation for future pain. On the heels of a terrible performance, he reminds himself that this is going to happen 1000 MORE TIMES in the next 5 years.

Pretty remarkable. I encourage you to watch it, as he’s apparently known for trying to remove publicly available copies of this documentary.

Random inspiring and interesting quotes: “Hate hides behind the most righteous faces.”

Hate hides behind the most righteous faces. – Alice in Hellboy

I’m a fan of the Hellboy franchise and the new Hellboy (2019) was better than I expected. Sometimes an injection of new faces is a great thing, and the new squad (of Hellboy, Alice, and Daimio) has real potential.

Yeshua said, Know what is in front of your face and what is hidden from you will be disclosed. There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. – the Gospel of Thomas
Time is a river which sweeps me along, but I am the river; it is a tiger which destroys me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire which consumes me, but I am the fire. – Borges

Borges fire.

When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. . . . Not tomorrow, not the next day, but eventually a big gain is made. Don’t look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way it happens—and when it happens, it lasts. – John Wooden

From this amazing research paper on John Wooden’s coaching style and why it’s so effective. Information, information, information.

Aristocrats and criminals have a lot in common. They’re both selfish, get bored easily, and have access to wads of cash they didn’t have to work honestly to get. The topper — neither have any interest in bourgeois rules or morality. – from the movie Legend

Another thoroughly enjoyable movie. Tom Hardy is great. Two Tom Hardy’s is greater.

There will never be enough comedy. Comedy is at a premium always. – Phyllis Diller
We are alone, absolutely alone on this chance planet; and amid all the forms of life that surround us, not one, excepting the dog, has made an alliance with us. – Maurice Maeterlinck

6 articles to recommend: Social collapse (!); Elite competition; Why people use jargon

How Do You Know When Society Is About to Fall Apart? [NYT]

Social complexity, he argues, is inevitably subject to diminishing marginal returns. It costs more and more, in other words, while producing smaller and smaller profits. “It’s a classic ‘Alice in Wonderland’ situation,” Tainter says. You’re “running faster and faster to stay in the same place.”

Animal Ethics and Evolutionary Psychology – 10 ideas [source]

Dogs aren’t just cuter to us; they’re also cuter to wolves themselves! In one study a wolf mother was given two different litters to foster, one with wolf puppies and one with dog puppies: The foster-mother wolf was… more nurturant with the Malamute pups than with the wolf pups.

For Learners: 50 Beautiful Japanese Words & Phrases Pt. 7 [source]

Natsukashii = Nostalgia/Nostalgic
懐かしい
Literally, this word means “nostalgic” and is an adjective. But, this carries a lot more meaning and emotion to the Japanese. People don’t normally blurt out “oh, how nostalgic” in English, because no-one likes nostalgia. It’s seen as negative. For the Japanese, it’s something that brings back memories and warms the heart.

Intra-Elite Competition: A Key Concept for Understanding the Dynamics of Complex Societies [source]

A great expansion in the numbers of elite aspirants means that increasingly large numbers of them are frustrated, and some of those, the more ambitious and ruthless ones, turn into counter-elites. In other words, masses of frustrated elite aspirants become breeding grounds for radical groups and revolutionary movements.

10 ideas from Good Reasons for Bad Feelings – Insights from the Frontier of Evolutionary Psychiatry [source]

The German psychologist Jutta Heckhausen… studied a group of childless middle-aged women who were still hoping to have a baby. As they approached menopause, their emotional distress became more and more intense. But after menopause those who gave up their hope for pregnancy lost their depression symptoms. The irony is deep: hope is often at the root of depression.

People Use Jargon To Make Up For Their Low Standing In A Group [source]

Overall then, the work suggests that jargon use is “a novel form of status compensation”, allowing people to make up for their low status through their language choices. It’s obviously not the only reason that people use jargon, but is one that hadn’t previously been considered.

An indirect yet very clear explanation of MMT

Emerging markets have reasons to be wary of MMT. They don’t strictly meet its preconditions. While every country does print a legal tender and collects taxes in its own currency, not all can borrow in them. Nor can they allow their exchange rates to float freely, especially if they import vital commodities like food or energy. The degree of economic freedom enjoyed by the governments of the U.S., Japan, or the U.K. is simply not available in most places.
Highly recommended Bloomberg article on the role of MMT in our modern global economy, and why many smaller / less developed countries are wary of copying the same (bad) strategies of the US and Japan.

Inspired by a Qing dynasty poem

I really enjoyed reading this poem, just something about the words and the flow of it.

I decided to write my own – half a literal translation, and half something else.

—

万里长城万里空
张廷玉

南来北往走西东,  人生杳杳在其中；
天也来空地也空,  换了多少主人公。

夜静听得三更鼓,  翻身不觉五更钟；
从头仔细思量起,  便是南柯一梦中。

一场辛苦一场空,  死后还归泥土中。

身归泥土气随风,  一片顽皮化臭胧；
在身置得万倾田,  死后只得三步地。

埋骨何须桑梓地,  人生无处不青山。

万里长城万里空,  百世英雄百世梦；
沉舟侧畔轻帆过,  病树前头万木春!

—

From north to south, and east to west,
Life springs forth, at whose behest

The sky alights, the earth is born
On we trudge, to find our unicorn

A quiet night, yet quiet stirs
A wink of sleep, a yawning blur

This night a year, this year our lives
Of all these years, faded dreams survive

We toil and rest, laugh and learn
And dissolve into dust, we shall return

And as our bodies sink below
The harvest moon dances to and fro

Those endless acres we till and plant
Heaven leaves but space to walk and stand

Our buried bones, care not that space
Mountains, fields, earth a resting place

The endless Wall, the eternal race,
The immortal stars, our immortal faith

The past is set, the old gives way
As the new is born, and accelerates