Thursday, 29 December 2011
Brain Fitness Books
Brain Fitness Books
The Dana Guide to Brain Health, by Floyd E. Bloom, M. Flint Beal, and David J.
Kupfer (Dana Press, 2006).
The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness: 18 Interviews with Scientists, Practical
Advice, and Product Reviews, to Keep Your Brain Sharp, by Alvaro Fernandez and
Elkhonon Goldberg. (SharpBrains Inc., 2009).
Save Your Brain: The 5 Things You Must Do To Keep Your Mind Young and
Sharp, by Paul Nussbaum. (McGraw-Hill, 2010)
The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain: The Surprising Talents of the Middle-Aged
Mind, by Barbara Strauch (Viking, 2010).
The Memory Bible: An Innovative Strategy for Keeping Your Brain Young, by Gary
Small (Hyperion, 2003).
The Mature Mind: The Positive Power of the Aging Brain,
by Gene Cohen (Basic Books, 2006).
The Brain That Changes Itself,
by Norman Doidge (Penguin, 2007).
Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain,
by John Ratey and Eric Hagerman (Little, Brown and Co., 2008).
Think Smart: A Neuroscientist's Prescription for Improving Your Brain's
Performance, by Richard Restak (Riverhead, 2010).
Sunday, 13 November 2011
Thursday, 3 November 2011
Saturday, 15 October 2011
Commitments of Traders Report
Producer/Merchant/Processor/User
A “producer/merchant/processor/user” is an entity that predominantly engages in the production,
processing, packing or handling of a physical commodity and uses the futures markets to manage or
hedge risks associated with those activities.
Swap Dealer A “swap dealer” is an entity that deals primarily in swaps for a commodity and uses the
futures markets to manage or hedge the risk associated with those swaps transactions. The swap
dealer’s counterparties may be speculative traders, like hedge funds, or traditional commercial clients
that are managing risk arising from their dealings in the physical commodity.
Money Manager A “money manager,” for the purpose of this report, is a registered commodity
trading advisor (CTA); a registered commodity pool operator (CPO); or an unregistered fund
identified by CFTC.These traders are engaged in managing and conducting organized futures
trading on behalf of clients.
Other Reportables
Every other reportable trader that is not placed into one of the other three categories is placed into
the “other reportables” category.
Spreading
The Disaggregated COT sets out open interest by long, short, and spreading for the three categories of
traders—“swap dealers,” “managed money,” and “other reportable.” For the
“producer/merchant/processor/user” category, open interest is reported only by long or short
positions. “Spreading” is a computed amount equal to offsetting long and short positions held by a
trader. The computed amount of spreading is calculated as the amount of offsetting futures in
different calendar months or offsetting futures and options in the same or different calendar months.
Any residual long or short position is reported in the long or short column. Inter-market spreads are
not considered.
Numbers of Traders
The sum of the numbers of traders in each separate category typically exceeds the total number of
reportable traders. This results from the fact that, in the “swap dealers,” “managed money,” and
“other reportables” categories, “spreading” can be a partial activity, so the same trader can fall into
either the outright “long” or “short” trader count, as well as into the “spreading” count.
Additionally, a reportable “producer/merchant/processor/user” may be in both the long and the short
position columns. In order to preserve the confidentiality of traders, for any given commodity
where a specific category has fewer than four active traders, the size of the relevant positions will be
provided but the trader count will be suppressed (specifically, a “·” will appear for trader counts of
fewer than four traders).
Source:
http://www.cftc.gov/ucm/groups/public/@commitmentsoftraders/documents/file/disaggregatedcotexplanatorynot.pdf
POOR BRAIN HEALTH HABITS
1. No Breakfast
People who do not take breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar level. This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration.
2. Overeating
It causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a decrease in mental power.
3. Smoking
It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.
4. High Sugar Consumption
Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition and may interfere with brain development.
5. Air Pollution
The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain efficiency.
6. Sleep Deprivation
Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells.
7. Head covered while sleeping
Sleeping with the head covered increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and decrease concentration of oxygen that may lead to brain damaging effects.
8. Working your brain during illness
Working hard or studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in effectiveness of the brain as well as damage the brain.
9. Lacking in stimulating thoughts
Thinking is the best way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain shrinkage.
10. Talking Rarely
Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain.
Saturday, 8 October 2011
Friday, 7 October 2011
Friday, 30 September 2011
Dr. K's TIPS FOR PERSONAL OPTIMIZATION
courtesy of Dr. Chris Kacher http://www.virtueofselfishinvesting.com
Q: Wondering if Dr. K has any study tips to go along with his reading list? He seems to master everything he chooses to do, was wondering how I can improve my learning ability, if there is such a way.
A: Thank you for your kind words, but it is all about following one's bliss.
First, nothing beats passion. If you're passionate about learning your subject, you will learn it far more effectively than if you're forced to learn something you find dull.
Second, make sure you are physically optimized. This means eating the right foods:
=high protein unprocessed grains (amaranth, quinoa, raw oats- use pure maple syrup or raw honey to flavor... or use the grains in a Dr K Power Salad)
=raw or steamed vegetables- bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, basil leaves, garlic, organic tomatoes, onions, avocado (make power salads with rocket leaves- the greener the better)
=unsalted beans of all types
=lean cuts of meat though meat can be eliminated altogether if you so choose (not me, I'm a hardcore omnivore)
=superfoods such as 80% or higher dark chocolate, raw cocoa, goji berries
=reduce processed carb intake by eliminating sugary drinks which includes most fruit juice, replace white rice with brown rice, replace white pasta with whole grain brown pasta, replace most bread with amaranth, quinoa, or high grain bread
=HERBS: gingko biloba, grape seed extract, alpha lipoic acid, acetl-L-carnitine, holy basil leaf, green tea capsules (or drink it everyday- the caffeine is 1/5 the amount in coffee so you wont grow dependent on it and the L-theanine in green tea helps one focus http://www.web-us.com/l-
You will feel the difference.
Third, if you find your focus starting to lag, have classical music playing quietly in the background. Studies have shown that largo movements from composers such as Vivaldi, Handel, and the like induce alpha state in the brain, which is a super learning state. I have been told my music induces this state as well. This is probably because my compositions are partly inspired by my drive to induce an alpha state in myself through meditation. I noticed my favorite background music when I'm trading or writing or doing anything that requires focus is either Bach or Teardrop Rain.
Fourth, get adequate sleep. Studies have shown that the last hour of sleep is the most critical as the body releases the most HGH during this phase. HGH is an anti-aging hormone. The amount the body produces drops with age so it is even more important to make sure you get enough sleep the older you get.
Fifth, get adequate exercise. This need not take much time. Studies have shown (and you will see it in yourself as well since you are the final judge) that high intensity exercise for several minutes produces far greater results than an hour of light jogging. High intensity means sprinting up 5 to 10 flights of stairs as fast as you can go, doing a light jog back down, then doing it all over again at least three times. The human body releases certain critical anti-aging hormones when the body is pushed to its limits in this manner. You should be completely out of breath by the time you reach the top. You MUST BE in adequate shape otherwise this form of exercise can be dangerous. You should then build up to this level over a period of weeks. Your body will tell you, thus, like stocks, learn to listen to it.
Sixth, meditation has been shown to reduce stress and increase focus. Meditation is not difficult. It is the simple actof quieting the mind for at least 5 to 10 minutes. Focus on your breathing to quiet the mind, though even when you focus on your breathing, you may find it difficult to keep thoughts from streaming into your mind. That is okay. Let the thoughts stream, as some may contain solutions to any challenges going on in your life. Kelly Howell has a numberof excellent tapes that produce meditative alpha and theta brain states through binaural beat frequency technology. We highly recommend "Awakening Kundalini" and "The Secret".
Seventh, take a page from Richard Branson's book and have fun with whatever it is you're doing. If something is unpleasant, reframe, reframe, reframe. It changes your perspective and can be a key in motivating you away from a psychological trading slump.
Back in the early days of IBM, a young worker had made a mistake that lost IBM $1 M in business. She was called in to the President's office and as she walked in said, "Well, I guess you have called me here to fire me." "Fire you?" Mr. Watson replied, "I just spent $1 M on your education!"
So next time you take a big loss in a stock, consider it your tuition, and keep record of it so you dont make the same mistake again.
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