Café del Mar has released a few great ambient and chillout mixes to help us slow down and give us some well-needed breathing space.
You find the rest of Café del Mar's chillout mixes here.
Another great Café del Mar release I highly recommend is "Step Into the Sunshine" by Gary B.
The iconic PBS documentary "Trader" (1987), portrays hedge fund manager and trader Paul Tudor Jones and his firm Tudor Investments. The following synopsis is from the back cover of the video case:
Is financial trading an art, science, profession or out-and-out gamble? If you're interested in money and you want to know what it's really like on Wall Street, this is the video you, your family, your colleagues and your friends should own. Filmed before Wall Street's October 1987 crash, TRADER is a riveting one hour documentary of a fascinating man, Paul Tudor Jones II. It delivers a rarely seen view of futures trading and explains the workings of this frantic, highly charged marketplace. It gives viewers an inside look at his estate in Virginia, skiing in Gstaad, his New York apartment. It also examines Jones' prediction that America is nearing the end of a 200-year bull market. If he's right – and he almost always is – this country and the world are about to experience economic changes of unprecedented proportions.
Update: I've received a DMCA notice that, in a friendly tone, asked me to disable access to the documentary that is stored and uploaded by someone else, on a well-known social networking site. I made this post back in March and since I haven't received any negative feedback until now, I assumed the filmmakers were OK with it.
I don't want to leave you empty handed, so below is an ongoing list of videos related to finance and trading. Enjoy!
Must Read: One of the secrets of hedge fund manager Ray Dalio's success – Transcendental Meditation
The documentary "SOLD!: The Lewis Borsellino Story" (2015) produced by Tastytrade, tells the story about how Chicago Mercantile Exchange floor trader Lewis Borsellino rose to become one of the nation's top traders.
Meet financial industry veterans and beginners in BBC's two-part documentary "Traders: Millions by the Minute" and get a glimpse of how computerized trading has changed the way traders now work.
The full-length documentary "Floored" (2009) takes you to the trading floors of Chicago, and gives you a rare insight into the work of a Chicago Mercantile Exchange floor trader. It also deals with the important subject of how computerized trading has impacted their livlihood. A great watch!
In 2013, Futures Magazine posted the article "Floored:" Where are they now?", letting you know what the traders in the documentary work with today.
Is it possible to transform novices in trading to become successful traders in just two months? In BBC's three-part documentary "Million Dollar Traders" (2009), hedge fund manager Lex van Dam, together with former City trader Anton Kreil, mentors a group of twelve to trade with $1 million of his own money.
The full-length documentary "Heist: Who Stole the American Dream?" (2011) outlines how government deregulation has led to increasing economic inequality.
You can either rent it or watch it for free here.
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Hedge fund manager Ray Dalio learned Transcendental Meditation in 1968, and he has meditated on a daily basis ever since. Hear Dalio talk about the many positive influences the practice has brought to his success in life in this interview at Georgetown University.
Investigative reporter Jacques Peretti reports about the world's growing number of super-rich individuals and what seems as a failing concept of the trickle-down effect in BBC's two-part documentary "The Super-Rich and Us" (2015).
Read More: Hedge Fund Manager Ray Dalio Attributes Much of His Success to Transcendental Meditation
Economist Martin Armstrong appear to have the fascinating ability to predict economic growth and financial crises by applying his Economic Confidence Model. Watch the captivating documentary "The Forecaster" (2014) about how one man can foresee the financial markets.
The PBS Frontline documentary "To Catch a Trader" (2014) investigates the largest insider trading scandal in U.S. history involving hedge fund titan Steven A. Cohen.
The documentary "Bulls and Bears" (1998), takes you along to the Sydney Future Exchange as we get to follow three traders and their brokers.
Must Read: Hedge Fund Manager Ray Dalio's 'Principles'
Former Citi trader Anton Kreil, well-known from BBC's three-part documentary "Million Dollar Traders" (2009), gave a talk at Cass Business School in 2013, that covers everything from how he started out trading to traits of successful traders.
The documentary "Inside Job" (2010), directed by Charles H. Ferguson and narrated by actor Matt Damon, tries to clarify what caused the housing and banking financial crisis of 2008. A really interesting and eye-opening documentary that you can watch for free here.
"Too Big to Fail" (2011) is a feature film that is based on the non-fiction book with the same name by Andrew Ross Sorkin, which deals with the 2008 financial crisis. You can watch it for free here.
Get insight into the banking industry and what goes on behind the scenes by listening to former German investment banker Rainer Voss in the beautifully shot documentary "Master of the Universe" (2013).
The documentary "Becoming Warren Buffett" (2017) produced by HBO is full of good lifestyle and investment principles from one of the greatest investors of our time, principles that have the capacity to enrich your life.
Watch it for free here.
In this Washington Post piece about television and radio host Larry King, we learn, e.g., the reason why he came out of retirement, what a typical day looks like and how passionately he feels for his work, but also about King's unusual style of sending tweets:
When Larry King wants to tweet, he doesn’t log onto the Internet. He pops open the flip phone stored in the shirt pocket between his suspender straps and calls the number for a voicemail set up specifically for this purpose. Then he dictates a thought that will be picked up by an assistant and transcribed onto his @KingsThings Twitter account. And nearly 2.6 million followers are there to receive it.
Photo credit: Larry King's portrait by Roger Moenks.
The photo series "Alaska Highway" documents photographer Ulrich Lebeuf's roadtrip in Yukon and Alaska in 2008.
Via Nicolas Chapuis.
A new Kickstarter project explores the history of graphic design and how designers worked before the desktop computer entered the scene. The documentary "Graphic Means: A History of Graphic Design Production" is directed by assistant professor Briar Levit at Portland State University and is due for release summer 2017.
Imagine designing and printing a brochure—without a computer. How would you set the type—making sure it fit your layout? How would you crop the images? How would you place those images alongside your text? And what would you hand over to the offset printer when you were done?
Up until just 30 years ago when the desktop computer debuted, this whole process would have been primarily done by hand, and with the aide of fascinating machines that used a variety of ways to get type and image on to the printed page.
Trailer:
Via TAXI.
In the serene and mystical photo series "Midnight Modern Series Part II", photographer Tom Blachford continues long-exposure photography of Palm Springs villas.
1056 E San Lorenzo Rd III:
470 W Vista Chino I:
1995 Camino Monte:
Jack Dudley took the Seinfeld theme song and created the wonderful mashup "To Pimp A Seinfeld" by adding his hip hop skills.
Via @ericvernay.
A group of design students at Bangalore’s Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, created a satirical poster mimicking the well-known and classic Indian poster “An Ideal Boy”, a poster aimed towards schoolchildren, as an consequence of politicians and influential individuals blaming female victims for getting assaulted.
Alison Byres, who has been teaching students at Srishti visual culture for the past six years, said that in that period, she's seen the conversation shift "from being an ideal boy to a bad girl."
"It seems like there’s nothing you can do to be the perfect girl because being a girl itself appears to be the problem," Ms. Byres, who assigned the theme for the project, said.
The poster named "A Bad Girl" consists of 12 illustrations with a woman carrying out one “bad” habit:
I'm a huge fan of this kind of work! By placing and photographing miniature figures in different settings around London, urban artist Slinkachu's work conveys our detachment from nature.
Following photographs is from Slinkachu's latest exhibition "Miniaturesque" at Andipa Gallery.
"The Stream", 2014:
"The Jetty", 2014:
Via @rkhooks.
In the short documentary "Net Cafe Refugees", we meet a construction site security guard and a resigned salesman, who currently call a small cubicle at an Japanese Internet café to be their home.
Due to low wages for Japanese temporary workers and the difficulty to receive unemployment benefits, renting a cubicle seems to be the best financial option. This phenomena began in the late 1990s, with a steady increase of "refugees" in the 2000s.
Having lived in Japan for five years, Adario Strange has seen this kind of environment firsthand:
I'll never forget the first time I used one, in the crowded confines of Shibuya in Tokyo. After receiving my authorization card, I walked to my designated cubicle and encountered a man casually padding past me dressed in a bathrobe and slippers I walked to my designated cubicle and encountered a man casually padding past me dressed in a bathrobe and slippers with toiletries in hand, clearly on his way to wash up for the night.
Over the years, I had other occasions to use Internet cafes in other parts of the country, and I saw and heard it all — marathon sex sessions between young couples, Internet cafe regulars (read: residents) who were genuinely annoyed by the arrival of newcomers and even one man who appeared to be bringing a bag of groceries to his cubicle.
Via @kyokotago.
By welding together scrap iron from abandoned farm machinery, sculptor John Lopez from Lemmon, South Dakota, creates stunning and magnificent full-size representations of creatures such as horses, bison and bears.
A bison in front of the Dakotah Steak house in Rapid City, SD:
Grizzly sculpture at the McKenzie River Resteraunt, Bismarck, ND (image via SooCurious):
Via @MidnightCattus and Pulptastic.
With its lack of ports and other useful specifications, this Apple parody for the new 2015 Macbook has gone viral. It's really good!
Book lovers out there, you're in for a treat. "Dead Writers" by Sweet Tea Apothecary is a unisex fragrance inspired by the scents of libraries and vintage books:
The Dead Writers Perfume® blend evokes the feeling of sitting in an old library chair paging through yellowed copies of Hemingway, Shakespeare, Fitzgerald, Poe, and more. Suitable for either sex, Dead Writers makes you want to put on a kettle of black tea and curl up with your favorite book. This perfume contains black tea, vetiver, clove, musk, vanilla, heliotrope, and tobacco.
Via The Cut.
By editing together individually shot photographs of lights, taken with long exposure times, Kim Pimmel's resulting video looks like something done by a major film studio.
Read more about how it was all made.
Via @adrianmoncada.
Reporter Aaron Tru didn't think mixed martial artist Ronda Rousey had enough strenght to throw him over. Well, the following dialogue between the two shows otherwise:
Aaron: I felt my ribs break, I think.
Ronda: Are you serious?
Aaron: I think so.
Ronda: Oh, no!
Via Metro (SE).
To help students with their studies, The University of Borås, Sweden, in collaboration with sound designer Martin Ljungdahl and Grammy nominated composer Håkan Lidbo, have composed three symphonies to listen to while studying which will increase both creativity and concentration, as well as relaxation and the release of dopamine.
Unexpected musical twists that stimulates the brain's cognitive thought processes and increases the listener's creativity. (download mp3)
Slow and monotonous melody that lowers the heart rate. Helps the listener to relax and improves concentration. (download mp3)
A positive up-tempo symphony that affect the listener's brain to secrete dopamine, the natural neurotransmitter that makes us feel good. (download mp3)
Via @alexandernoren.
Dollar Shave Club is the newcomer that wants to take market shares from the big brands L'Oréal and Unilever when it comes to offering high quality grooming products for men:
…Dollar Shave Club began in March 2012 as a membership service providing razors by mail. The thinking was that men gave too little thought to their drugstore-purchased shaving supplies and, critically, that they changed their blades too infrequently. First-year sales were $4 million, says Dubin [Michael Dubin, co-founder and CEO], followed by $19 million in 2013 and $65 million last year. Based on December’s figures, Dubin says his company is on track to exceed $120 million in sales this year.
[…]
Despite its diminutive size, Dubin sees Dollar Shave Club as a giant killer. He swipes at L’Oréal and Unilever, the company behind the brands Axe and Dove, for marketing men’s grooming products like energy drinks. “They’re generalizing, saying things like ‘Guys are Neanderthals’ and ‘They don’t care about the ingredients that go into these things.’ And that’s BS because guys do care if they achieve certain benefits.”
Photo credit: Michael Dubin photographed by Michael Lewis for Fortune.
In their "Metro Cuff" series, Designhype has created some beautiful cuffs, that will help you find your way in the metro system in some of the largest cities, instead of having to use a traditional fold-out map.
A "City Cuff" series is also in the making, for those cities when using the metro isn't the most convenient way to travel.
The city of love:
You never know when something like this will come in handy, so this is how you pass a snack when you're strapped into a fighter jet, and your co-pilot in the front has all the goodies.
Not only are Warren Buffett's Christmas cards unconventional, but so is his daily breakfast, or should I say everyday diet:
How does the world’s top investor, at 84 years old, wake up every day and face the world with boundless energy?
"I'm one quarter Coca-Cola," Warren Buffett says.
[…]
…"If I eat 2700 calories a day, a quarter of that is Coca-Cola. I drink at least five 12-ounce servings. I do it everyday."
When watching a documentary about Warren, we learned that he ate one steak everyday, so this diet of his didn't come as a big surprise. If that works for him, it works for him, but I would definitely begin to feel sick within a few days.
And yes, from the article you can tell that he's into potato sticks as well.
Photo credit: Daniel Acker Bloomberg / Getty Images
Via @LauraDimon.
Scientists have discovered, that when we shake hands with someone, we immediately afterwards sniff our hands to convey information from the newly picked up scent:
You won't believe you do it, but you do. After shaking hands with someone, you'll lift your hands to your face and take a deep sniff. This newly discovered behaviour – revealed by covert filming – suggests that much like other mammals, humans use bodily smells to convey information.
We know that women's tears transmit chemosensory signals - their scent lowers testosterone levels and dampens arousal in men - and that human sweat can transmit fear. But unlike other mammals, humans don't tend to go around sniffing each other.
Wondering how these kinds of signals might be exchanged, Noam Sobel and his colleagues at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel turned to one of the most common ways in which people touch each other - shaking hands. "We started looking at people and noticed that afterwards, the hand somehow inadvertently reached the face," says Sobel.
A few days ago, I finally did watch the critically acclaimed film "American Hustle", and besides loving the story and the great acting performances (Christian Bale did it again), I fell in love with the soundtrack that was superb.
Have a listen on Spotify or Grooveshark.
I've had the privilege to review The Spark of Karma's Primordial Sound Meditation online course run by Chopra Center certified instructor Dmitry Denisenko.
There are countless different reasons why someone would like to learn meditation in the comfort of their home, instead of taking a live class; you may be short of funds, or perhaps you live in a remote place and are unable to find a class close to your home, or you simply prefer to learn by yourself.
Spark of Karma's class material is of such quality that it feels like you're participating in a live class.
The course consists of seven modules, and each module is assigned a high quality video to assist you in your learning. Also, for every session, there are audio and written instructions available for download, which makes a great option for occasions when you commute or take a walk, to name a few.
The course material is clearly outlined and the material is easy to grasp.
In this class, you receive your personal mantra, that's based on your date and birthplace, during a one-on-one phone session with your teacher
Dmitry, which ensures that you pronounce and repeat the mantra correct and effortlessly.
After you have concluded the course, and been given your personal mantra, you'll start to receive a few follow-up emails that answers many common questions regarding your meditation practice. These will support and improve your practice, and make sure you're on the right track.
I've previously written about the course Natural Stress Relief and the "Learn to Meditate Kit" by Patricia Carrington, and this is the only online course I've found that are of equal high quality.
It's worth noting, that if you decide to sign up to watch the first session for free, you'll receive a few emails with additional information to help you decide if signing up for the PSM class is something you'd like to do. You'll receive around 10 emails, but with an no-hassle way to unsubscribe.
So, if you're looking for online instruction in how to practice effortless mantra meditation and for the moderate fee of just $150, I highly recommend you taking this class.
Featured image: Dmitry and Deepak Chopra.
I just love coconut oil. At home, we add one small tablespoon of it to our morning oat meal. Another common use is as a simple lotion for the skin. Sometimes, I've used it on small wounds or where the skin needs healing. One unexpected but great thing we noticed when we began to add the oil to our food, was that our skin became more moisturized and glowing and digestion got better.
To further your interest, Business Insider lists some other good uses that coconut oil can help you with.
Photo credit: KTC is the brand I'm using. Image via Indiaonline.
If you're an avid traveller, journalist and television presenter Sarah Wilson's neat little free guide "Discovering Well-Being in Travel" will help you to stay well during all your travels and hotel stays.
I’m a big traveller and my work as an author, public speaker and well-being advocate sees me in the air and in hotel beds a good three months of the year. It could all take its toll… except that I’ve dedicated a great deal of energy to developing and collating my tips and tricks for staying well while on the road. You could call it a (obsessed) hobby of mine.
[…]
For me, far from being compromising, I now see my travel and hotel stays as a wonderful opportunity to focus on my wellness. As they say, a change is as good as a holiday… and a home away from home can be the restorative circuit breaker you might just need!
Short of funds? Bring a fake Oscar statuette with you and suddenly things are both free and accessible:
Via i100.