Category Archives: Daily Top Ten

TOPLEY’S TOP 10 September 5, 2024

Daily Top Ten No Comments

1. TSM and NVDA Make Up 34% of Semiconductor Index.

2. NVDA vs. INTC Chart

3. Stocks and Bonds Non-Correlated Again.

From DC Lite Chart Book Stocks vs. bonds. “Stocks and bonds aren’t moving in the same direction any more. The 21-session correlation between the daily change in the S&P 500 and long-term US Treasury bonds is now at its most negative since the second quarter of 2023.”

Luke Kawa – Sherwood   https://www.dailychartbook.com/p/dc-lite-194-327

4. Dollar Tree and Dollar General Charts

DLTR -60% from highs

DG -70% from highs

5. Wal-Mart Nation…WMT vs. DG

Cresset

https://cressetcapital.com

6. Brazil Bans X….Stock Market -30% for Last 5 Years.

7. India Up 13 Sessions in a Row…Makes New Highs.

8. Popular Life-Sciences Real Estate 24% Vacancy

www.chartr.com

9. U.S. Accuses Russia of Spending Millions to Influence U.S. Voters

Vladimir Putin’s inner circle has been directly involved in covert propaganda efforts, Justice Department says

By Dustin Volz and C. Ryan Barber

Top U.S. officials shared evidence to support their claims that the Kremlin is actively trying to influence the November vote in favor of Republican candidate Donald Trump; the Kremlin Senate building in Moscow, seen from Red Square. Photo: Reuters

WASHINGTON—The Biden administration accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of orchestrating a covert campaign to influence the coming U.S. presidential election and erode international support for Ukraine, blaming the Kremlin for targeting American voters with political propaganda and disinformation.

The influence campaign, Attorney General Merrick Garland said during a news briefing on Wednesday, involved Putin’s inner circle and included a scheme to direct Russian public-relations companies to promote state-sponsored narratives to influence the presidential race.

The Justice Department announced the seizure of more than 30 internet domains it said were being weaponized by the Russian government to direct malign influence efforts against the U.S. It identified Sergei Kiriyenko, a longtime senior aide to Putin, as overseeing the internet websites, which were designed to appear to readers as leading U.S. news sites but were, in fact, filled with Russian propaganda.

Separately, the Justice Department announced charges against two Russian nationals employed at the Russian state-media organization RT. Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva are accused of conspiring to illegally and secretly send nearly $10 million to a Tennessee-based online media company to inject hidden Russian government messaging across social media to target American audiences. Garland said the two Russians directed the company to contract with U.S.-based social media influencers to then share the content on their platforms.

“The company never disclosed to the influencers or to their millions of followers its ties to RT and the Russian government,” Garland said. 

https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/u-s-accuses-russia-of-spending-millions-to-influence-u-s-voters-be531b99

10. Benefits of the Wim Hof Method

Learn about the science and history behind the Wim Hof Method.-Psychology Today

Key points

  • Through concentration and meditation, Wim Hof was able to deliberately activate his autonomic nervous system.
  • The Wim Hof method involves breathing exercises, cold therapy, and mindset training/concentration.
  • Increasing willpower and self-control can help one withstand cold exposure and endure breathing exercises.

The Wim Hof Method is named after the person who developed it—a man named Wim Hof from the Netherlands. He developed his method after years of pushing the physiological limits of his body and the perceived limits of his mind through cold exposure and breathing techniques. Wim holds several world records for various cold-weather activities such as the longest ice bath and running marathons around the polar circle (Hof, 2015). These physical achievements led to a scientific case study about him by an academic research institution.

This case study turned out to be groundbreaking as the researchers were able to show that through concentration and meditation, Wim was able to deliberately activate his autonomic nervous system. This is a feat previously believed to be impossible, as the autonomic nervous system controls involuntary bodily functions such as sweating and blood pressure. The paper concluded that Wim was able to achieve a consciously controlled stress response through his practice, which also seemed to activate his innate immune responses (Kox et al., 2012).

​Three Components of the Wim Hof Method

  1. Breathing exercises
  2. Cold therapy
  3. Mindset training/concentration

RMIT University in Australia conducted a survey of more than 3,200 Wim Hof practitioners to determine what the subjective benefits of the practice are. The answers were compiled into the following categories (Wim Hof Method, n.d.). Remember these results have not been scientifically evaluated and may only occur on a case-by-case basis.

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Possible ​Physical Benefits of the Wim Hof Method

  • More energy
  • Natural anti-inflammatory effect
  • Better sleep
  • Increased sports performance
  • Faster workout recovery
  • Autoimmune disease relief
  • Arthritis relief
  • Fibromyalgia relief
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease management
  • Asthma management
  • Lowered blood pressure
  • Improved metabolism

Possible Mental Benefits of the Wim Hof Method

  • Improved mental health
  • Stress relief
  • Burnout recovery
  • Increased willpower
  • Boosted concentration
  • Improved mind-body connection
  • Increased happiness
  • Improved creativity

Breathing

Breathing is the first of the three pillars of the Wim Hof method. Breathing is an essential function of your survival that is usually controlled by your autonomic nervous system. This means you usually breathe without even giving it a second thought. However, you have an immense amount of control over your breath, and exerting this control can help activate your immune responses by increasing the overall amount of oxygen in your blood, which increases the amount of available energy for your cells.

Cold Therapy

Cold therapy is the second pillar of the Wim Hof method. One study found that the combination of breathing exercises and cold exposure produced a more potent anti-inflammatory response in participants compared to either breathing or cold therapy alone (Zwaag et al., 2022). This means that the combination of breathing exercises and cold therapy is what drives the activation of your immune response. Skip the cold therapy, and you might not see the full benefits of this method.

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​Wim Hof Breathing Steps

  1. Get yourself into a comfortable position sitting up. Try putting pillows under your legs if your hips feel tight while sitting down.
  2. Take 30-40 deep breaths. Close your eyes and focus on inhaling into your belly and chest then exhaling unforced. Repeat this cycle in powerful bursts. (This type of breathing exercise may induce lightheadedness, so use caution.)
  3. Hold your breath. After 30-40 breath cycles, inhale once more as deeply as you can and then exhale completely. Hold your breath until you feel the need to breathe again.
  4. Take a recovery breath. Once the urge to breathe strikes, inhale as deeply as you can into your belly and chest and hold this breath for 15 seconds. Exhale completely and start another cycle at step one. You can repeat this cycle 3-4 times.

Wim Hof Cold Therapy Steps

Note: You can either take a cold shower solely for this purpose or incorporate this exercise at the end of your regular shower. You also might want to complete meditation or the breathing exercises above prior to this to prepare yourself mentally for the cold exposure.

  1. Turn on the shower and adjust the temperature to the absolute coldest that you can tolerate for at least 10 seconds.
  2. Step into the shower carefully and quickly. Going quickly rather than easing in is often easier and more efficient.
  3. Try to tolerate the cold for as long as possible. Start at 10 seconds before working your way up to 1 minute. Your tolerance to the cold will build over time.

Wim Hof Mindset Steps

​The final pillar of the Wim Hof Method can often be overlooked. However, it serves as the foundation for the two other practices, which makes it an integral piece of this method. Increasing your willpower and self-control will help you withstand cold exposure and endure breathing exercises. Showing up and completing the exercises—even just one cycle of breath and 10 seconds of cold exposure—will help you demonstrate to yourself that you do have the ability to show up and get things done. This effect can snowball into more willpower and self-confidence, leading to even better results

Tchiki Davis, Ph.D., is a consultant, writer, and expert on well-being technology.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/click-here-for-happiness/202312/benefits-of-the-wim-hof-method

TOPLEY’S TOP 10 September 4, 2024

Daily Top Ten No Comments

1. Second Half 2024–S&P Equal Weight +5.7% vs. QQQ -3.6%

RSP-S&P Equal Weight ETF

2. S&P 500 Q2 Earnings Growth by Sector

Nasdaq Dorsey Wright

3. Capex Increases Spending by Big 4

@Charlie Bilello

4. Commodities vs. 52-week highs. Most commodities are down 20% or more from their 52-week highs.

Koyfin (get 20% off)

5. History of Bad First Days of Month

6. The Shortage of Accountants

Chartr Blog

For decades, the accountant stereotype has conjured up depressing images of white-collar workers, slouched in office stalls, painstakingly crunching numbers on a spreadsheet till it’s quittin’ time.
Historically, the long-term financial stability afforded to accountants was enough to offset its somewhat unglamorous reputation. Today, though, that appeal isn’t resonating with Gen Z, according to new reporting from Business Insider.
Indeed, America is facing an accountant shortage, and it’s starting at college. Data released by the AICPA last October found that the number of students who’d earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting in the 2021-22 school year was just 47,067 — down ~8% from the year prior, marking the 6th consecutive year of decline — while the number of students who’d graduated with a master’s in the subject fell to 18,238, a 21% drop from its peak, recorded just 4 years earlier.

Sum people

Furthermore, only a fraction of these graduates actually go on to become accountants: post-master’s degree, one must pass a further four 4-hour CPA exams within an 18-month period, and spend a year working with a licensed CPA, before receiving the official title.
A lack of new talent entering the industry is especially problematic because there’s a huge wave of professionals that are set to close their books for good, with the AICPA estimating that ~75% of the CPA workforce reached retirement age in 2020.
To address the issue, the AICPA dropped its opposition to calls that would cut the amount of education needed to become a CPA, and companies like the ‘Big 4’ firms are promoting programs with built-in master’s-degree equivalents to encourage applications.
One obvious way to make the profession more appealing? A bigger, better number. According to the BLS, the median salary for accountants and auditors is ~$80K — far lower than other jobs in the sector, such as financial analysts (~$100K) and financial managers (~$156K).

7. We Have 8m More Adults Working than 10 Years Ago.

8. Case/Shiller Year Over Year Housing Price Changes.

Bespoke Investment Group

https://www.bespokepremium.com/interactive/posts/think-big-blog/new-york-new-york

9. We Check Our Smartphones 352x Per Day

The New Normal: Phone Use is Up Nearly 4-Fold Since 2019, According to Tech Care Company Asurion
New Research Shows Our Smartphone Use Has Skyrocketed to 352 Times Per Day
Mask mandates may be lifting, but some of our pandemic-fueled habits are here to stay, including our “new normal” for screen time. In fact, even with the return of travel and in-person gatherings, most Americans can’t seem to put their phones down and are reaching for their device an average of 352 times a day – once every two minutes and 43 seconds –according to new research by tech care company Asurion*. Whether we’re sending text messages, capturing content or bringing up digital vaccination cards, it’s a nearly 4-fold increase from a similar survey conducted by Asurion before the pandemic in 2019, when Americans said they checked their phones 96 times a day**.
“From video chatting with loved ones to conducting contactless payments, mobile banking and even bringing up menus at restaurants, the pandemic has certainly put our smartphones at the center of it all,” says Anitha Somanahally, Asurion Senior Director, Research and Insights. “Our phones have become such a huge part of our day that when they break, getting them fixed or replaced becomes an urgent priority. No one knows this better than our Asurion Experts, who help panicked customers repair their much-needed devices every day – often within a few hours.”
Asurion surveyed 1,965 U.S. adults to learn that three-quarters of Americans consider their phone a “necessity,” rather than a “luxury.” In fact, 1 in 5 of us is unwilling to go without our smartphone for more than “a few hours,” and three-quarters of us are so attached to our devices that we take them into the bathroom. The main reason we’re not ready to put down our devices? We want to stay in touch with family and friends, both near and far. While the pandemic and social distancing drove us apart physically, 86% of Americans say they primarily reach for their phones to keep in touch with family and friends by calling, texting, chatting on social media or emailing. Taking photos and videos was the second biggest driver of phone use (61%), followed by mobile banking (46%), mobile gaming (40%) and online shopping (31%).
What’s interesting is that even more Baby Boomers (75%) and Gen Xers (76%) consider their phones to be a necessity than the “techy” Gen Zers (71%) or Millennials (68%). The devices are so essential that 60% of Americans say they could go no more than a day without their phone if it were damaged so badly that they couldn’t use it. And for parents, the urgency of having a working phone is even higher: 67% of parents said they’d need a working device within a day or sooner if theirs was lost, damaged or stolen.
Asurion provides quick and convenient device repair, replacement and support services through protection plans in partnership with leading wireless carriers and retailers, as well as through its uBreakiFix® by Asurion stores. The more than 700 store locations across the U.S. provide professional fixes on smartphones, tablets, computers, game consoles and most anything else with a power button. The company’s repair network also includes nearly 600 “We Come to You” mobile repair vehicles, bringing phone repair services to customers’ homes, offices or wherever is most convenient. Customers enrolled in protection plans through their carrier can often take advantage of same-day delivery of replacement phones too. Need your tech fixed? Learn more at Asurion.com.

10. Life Rewards Strength -Farnam Street Blog

“School tests weaknesses. Life rewards strengths.

Spending more time on our weakest areas is tempting, but life mostly rewards us for investing in our strengths. Imagine a student who struggles with math but excels at writing. In school, they might spend hours raising their math grades from a C to a B. However, spending the same time on writing might move them from an A to an A+. Focusing on math makes sense when you’re taught to think in grades. It doesn’t make sense if you think about life. The difference between an A and an A+ in writing ability might mean the difference between a New York Times bestseller read by millions and a book that only 100 people read.”

Address weaknesses only to the point where they stop holding you back. Then concentrate effort on your strengths.

https://fs.blog/

TOPLEY’S TOP 10 September 3, 2024

Daily Top Ten No Comments

1. NVDA’s Correlation to S&P is Lowering

Barrons-What’s more, Nvidia seems to hold less sway over the market than it has in past years. The correlation between the stock and the S&P 500 has recently climbed to 0.658, according to Bloomberg data, its highest since last year. (A correlation of 1 means two assets move in complete lockstep, of -1 means they move in total opposition.) Still, that is far below the 0.851 hit right at the beginning of 2022. Now, correlation isn’t causation, but it does suggest that the S&P 500 is less sensitive to Nvidia’s cues than it had been a couple of years ago.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/nvidia-earning-stock-market-reaction-939ed514?mod=past_editions

NVDA vs. S&P chart lower highs.

2. Mag 7 Underperformed the Market in August.

The most bullish part of all. This all has happened despite the Magnificent 7 having their worst month relative to the S&P 500 since December 2022.

Source: Kevin Gordon  From Spilled Coffee Blog https://www.spilledcoffee.co/

3. NVDA Revenue Growth + Profitability

4. Corporate Profits Hit a Record

The United States: Corporate profits hit a record high.

5. IPO Market Update

https://www.renaissancecapital.com

6. Chasing Star Fund Manager Performance

by Ben Carlson  Chasing ARK Investments Cathie Wood Top to Bottom

https://awealthofcommonsense.com/2024/08/chasing-star-fund-manager-performance

7. House Prices vs. Full Time Earnings.

8. Falling Fertility

Barrons By Megan Leonhardt-The Price of Parenthood.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/parenthood-economy-expenses-politics-5ac47bac?mod=hp_LEAD_1

9. Lobbying Spending by Industry

10. Want to Get Smarter? Neuroscience Reveals 6 Simple, Remarkably Effective Ways to Learn Faster and Retain More

Learn more quickly and remember more? Here’s how, backed by a number of studies.

EXPERT OPINION BY JEFF HADEN, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, INC. @JEFF_HADEN

Who you know matters. But what you know, and what you do with what you know, matters a lot more, making learning faster and retaining more a business superpower.

Here are six neuroscience-based ways to learn more quickly — and, even more important, better retain what you learn

1. Learn several things at a time.

The process is called interleaving: studying related concepts or skills in parallel. Instead of focusing on one subject, one task, or one skill during a learning session, purposely learn or practice several subjects or skills in succession. 

It turns out interleaving is a much more effective way to train your brain and your motor skills. A theory proposed in a study published in the Educational Psychology Review says interleaving improves your brain’s ability to differentiate between concepts or skills: When you block practice one skill, you can drill down until muscle memory takes over and the skill becomes more or less automatic. 

When you interleave several skills, no single skill can become mindless, and that’s good, since you then have to constantly adapt and adjust. You have to see, feel, and discriminate between concepts or movements. 

That process helps you better learn what you’re working to learn since you’ll gain understanding at a deeper, less automatic/muscle-memory level. 

Want more on how adaptation helps you learn? 

2. Frequently vary the way you study.

Repeating anything over and over again, in the hopes you will master that task, not only keeps you from improving as quickly as you could, but, in some cases, may actually decrease your skill as well. 

According to a study published in Johns Hopkins Medicine, practicing a slightly modified version of a task you want to master helps you “actually learn more and faster than if you just keep practicing the exact same thing multiple times in a row.” The most likely cause is reconsolidation, a process where existing memories are recalled and modified with new knowledge.

Imagine you want to master a presentation. Here’s the process:

1. Rehearse the basic skill. Run through the presentation twice, under the same conditions you’ll eventually face when you do it live. Naturally, the second time through will be better than the first; that’s how practice works. But then, instead of going through it a third time  …

2. Wait. Give yourself at least six hours so your memory can consolidate. (That could mean you need to wait until the next day before you practice again, which, as you’ll see in a moment, is a great learning effectiveness double-dip.)

3. Practice again, but this time …

  • Go a little faster. Speak a little (just a little) faster than you normally do. Run through your slides slightly faster. Increasing your speed means you’ll make more mistakes, but that’s OK — in the process, you’ll modify old knowledge with new knowledge, and lay the groundwork for improvement. Or …
  • Go a little slower. The same thing will happen. (Plus, you can experiment with new techniques, including the use of silence for effect, that aren’t apparent when you do your presentation at a normal speed.) Or …
  • Break your presentation into smaller chunks. Almost every task includes a series of discrete steps, and that’s definitely true for presentations. Pick one section of your pitch. Deconstruct it. Master it. Then put the whole presentation back together. Or …
  • Change the conditions. Use a different projector. Or a different remote. Or a lavaliere instead of a headset mic. Switch up the conditions slightly; not only will that help you modify an existing memory, but it will also make you better prepared for the unexpected.

4. Keep modifying the conditions as you keep practicing.

Best of all, the process can be applied to learning almost anything, whether memory or motor skills related. 

3. Test yourself — a lot.

A classic study published in Psychological Science in the Public Interest shows that self-testing is an extremely effective way to speed up the learning process.

Partly that’s because of the additional context you create. Test yourself and answer incorrectly and not only are you more likely to remember the right answer after you look it up, but you’ll also remember the fact you didn’t remember. (Especially if you tend to be hard on yourself.)

So don’t just rehearse your sales pitch. Test yourself on what comes after your intro. Test yourself by listing the four main points you want to make. Test your ability to remember cost savings figures, or price schedules, or how you will respond to the most common questions or types of customer resistance.

Not only will you gain confidence in how much you do know, but you’ll also more quickly learn the things you don’t know — at least not yet. 

4. Repeat what you want to remember out loud.

Mentally rehearsing is good. Rehearsing out loud is better. 

Research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition found that compared with reading or thinking silently (as if there’s another way to think), the act of speech is a “quite powerful mechanism for improving memory for selected information.”

As the researchers write:

Learning and memory benefit from active involvement. When we add an active measure or a production element to a word, that word becomes more distinct in long-term memory, and hence more memorable.

So don’t just practice your presentation in your head. Rehearse it out loud. (Or don’t just repeat the name of someone you just met in your head. Find a way to say it out loud, like using their name in conversation.)

That way you’ll remember what you thought and what you heard yourself say.

5. Take plenty of breaks.

Once you’ve drafted that presentation, run through it a couple of times. Take a few minutes to make corrections and revisions.

Then step away for a few hours, or even for a day, before you repeat the process; as a study published in Psychological Science shows, “distributed practice” is a much more effective way to learn. Why?

Study-phase retrieval theory says each time you attempt to retrieve something from memory, and that retrieval is more successful, the memory then becomes harder to forget. If you go over your presentation back-to-back-to-back, much of it will still be top of mind.

Which means you don’t have to retrieve it from longer-term memory.

Another theory regards contextual variability. When information gets encoded into memory, some of the context is also encoded. That’s why listening to an old song can cause you to remember where you were, what you were feeling, etc., when you first heard that song. The additional context creates useful cues for retrieving information.

Either way, distributed practice definitely works. So give yourself enough time to space out your learning sessions. You’ll learn more efficiently and more effectively.

Especially if you …

6. Get some sleep.

According to a 2016 study published in Psychological Science, people who studied before bed, then slept, and then did a quick review the next morning not only spent less time studying but also increased their long-term retention by 50 percent.

Why? One factor is what psychologists call sleep-dependent memory consolidation.

As the researchers write:

Converging evidence, from the molecular to the phenomenological, leaves little doubt that offline memory reprocessing during sleep is an important component of how our memories are formed and ultimately shaped.

Sleeping after learning is definitely a good strategy, but sleeping between two learning sessions is a better strategy.

Or in non-researcher-speak, sleeping on it not only helps your brain file away what you’ve learned, but also makes that information easier to access — especially if you chunk your learning sessions by studying a little the next morning.

Better, more efficient retention.

Can’t beat that.

https://www.inc.com

TOPLEY’S TOP 10 August 30, 2024

Daily Top Ten No Comments

1. NVDA Revenue Growth Slowdown

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-biggest-challenge-for-nvidia-stock-in-one-chart-142146081.html

2. Charted: Nvidia’s Quarterly Revenue (Q1 2021-Q2 2025)

ByKayla Zhu Joyce Ma

3. Dollar General 5-Year Return -45%

4. Fed Rate Cuts Coming-Dividend Growers Break Out.

SDY dividend grower ETF…..breaks out of 3 year sideways channel

www.stockcharts.com

5. Fed Funds vs. Inflation

Barry Ritholtz Blog

6. Seasonality of Bitcoin

Nasdaq Dorsey Wright

7. Goldman Most Shorted Stock Basket

8. Pending Home Sales Unexpectedly Fall 5.5% in July to All-Time Low

by Jennifer Nash-Advisor Perspectives

https://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/2024/08/29/pending-home-sales-unexpectedly-fall-5-5-in-july-to-all-time-low

9. ESPN Survival Plan -Axios

https://www.axios.com/2024/08/29/espns-business-cable-streaming-sports-betting

10. The Science-Backed Productivity Strategy You Probably Ignore

Productivity strategies rarely consider how the brain optimizes motivation. Psychology Today  Bobby Hoffman Ph.D.

Key points

  • Productivity strategies should be based on science, not the personal experience of others.
  • Understanding neural synthesis can make the difference between superior and average performance.
  • Productivity means maximizing the power of your circadian rhythm.

For many of us, what we accomplish on a particular day impacts everything from our reputation to our mood. Productivity serves as a cornerstone of success, acting as the driving force behind achievement in both our personal and professional lives. Research reveals a strong positive correlation between productivity and various measures of well-being, including career advancement, financial stability, and overall life satisfaction (Dierdorff, 2019; Judge et al., 2010). The ability to efficiently manage time, prioritize tasks, and maintain focus on goal-oriented activities significantly contributes to an individual’s capacity to excel in their chosen field (Grant & Ashford, 2008). While the relationship between productivity and success is well-established, it is crucial to recognize that productivity itself is not a fixed trait. Rather, it is a skill that can be cultivated and enhanced through the implementation of targeted strategies and learned techniques.

Use techniques based on science, not “expert” experience

However, when it comes to productivity strategies, we often rely on sources and techniques that have little basis in science. The allure of advice from self-proclaimed experts often falls short because, while the “gurus” may offer appealing quick fixes, their recommendations frequently lack scientific rigor and fail to account for the complex interplay of neural processes that underpin human behavior and cognition (Lilienfeld et al., 2013). Although personal experience can be valuable for individual growth, it is inherently limited by factors such as cognitive biases, environmental influences, and the exclusion of individual differences in neural architecture. Instead, the reliance on neuropsychology leverages how your body operates, irrespective of how you or anyone else thinks.

When someone is being super productive, several key processes occur in their brain and body. At the neurochemical level, dopamine synthesis promotes motivation and focus, while norepinephrine enhances alertness and attention (Cools & D’Esposito, 2011). When you’re in the zone, crushing your to-do list, your brain is like a well-oiled machine because dopamine helps increase activation in the prefrontal cortex, the brain area that is critical for cognitive control impacting things like planning, decision-making, and goal-directed behavior. As you use your cognitive horsepower and repeat productive behaviors, you begin to feel successful. The more you flex those productivity muscles, the stronger they get and the better you feel. That’s neuroplasticity in action, rewiring your brain to make being productive feel like second nature (Lövdén et al., 2010). In addition, productivity is influenced by the body’s circadian rhythms, meaning that cognitive functions and energy levels fluctuate throughout the day in accordance with our internal clocks.

Make it happen!

Knowing what happens behind the scenes in your brain and how neurotransmission impacts motivation, you can now use this knowledge to enhance your productivity. Just like you feed your body with food for energy and movement, you need to feed your brain to be productive. Stanford neuroscientist and ophthalmology professor Andrew Huberman recommends a specific morning protocol to get you going based on how your brain operates, with the objective of producing game-changing dopamine transmission while leveraging your natural circadian rhythms.

The routine starts with exposing yourself to natural sunlight soon after waking. This means going outside, without sunglasses, and before drinking coffee/tea and staying outside for at least 20 minutes (ideally moving) to significantly boost dopamine production and overall well-being. This practice helps regulate your circadian rhythm and triggers a cascade of positive neurochemical changes. The bright light stimulates melanopsin receptors in your eyes, which then signal the brain to release cortisol, providing an energy boost. More importantly, this early light exposure sets off a delayed release of dopamine and serotonin later in the day. This natural light exposure is crucial even on cloudy days, as outdoor light is much stronger than indoor lighting. This simple habit can improve mood, increase alertness, and enhance overall cognitive function throughout the day. For those living in areas with limited morning sunlight, use bright artificial lights designed to mimic sunlight, although natural sunlight is always preferable when available. Always take precautions to not look directly into the light as a way to shorten the process; it is the prolonged natural exposure that matters most.

While you may be skeptical, this simple technique works! I can tell you from personal experience when I follow the protocol my productivity is far better than when I don’t. Give it a try and see how you can exponentially increase your productivity and also your satisfaction about what you accomplish. By acknowledging the malleability of productivity and taking this one small step to improve it, you can unlock your full potential and pave the way for greater success in all areas of life.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/motivate/202408/the-science-backed-productivity-strategy-you-probably-ignore

TOPLEY’S TOP 10 August 28, 2024

Daily Top Ten No Comments

1. Earnings Tomorrow NVDA After Close…The Only Chart that Matters this Week.

NVDA-2 Lower Highs in place…Need to close above $140 for breakout.

2. Real Estate Leading Sector for Last Month of Trading.

(7/31 – 8/23) SPDR Fund XLRE leads the major 11 sectors with a 5.29% gain.

3. Japan Stock Market +23% from Lows.

4. Corporate Buyback Data from B of A

Equities: Corporate cash as a share of total assets has been trending lower, indicating that we could see a pullback in share buybacks.

Source: BofA Global Research  

https://dailyshotbrief.com

5. Alternative Energy Stocks Hyrdrogen and Biofuel Sell Off.

WSJ

6. Allbirds Sneaks -97%

Business Insider-The Rise and Fall of Allbirds

  • Allbirds was founded in 2015 and soared to prominence with its iconic wool sneaker.
  • The company went public in November 2021. Shares rose 90% on the opening day of trading.
  • Sales have since slowed and the company reported a nearly 27% decline in quarterly revenue.

With the closure of 14 underperforming stores, CEO Joe Vernachio told investors the past 18 months have been a period of reinvention for the company as it looks to reinvent itself in a leaner, more focused organization.

https://www.businessinsider.com/what-happened-to-allbirds-rise-fall-2023-4

7. Communism Sucks…Chinese Consumer Sentiment Chart.

8. Taliban Vice and Virtue Laws -AP News

Article 13 relates to women. It says it is mandatory for a woman to veil her body at all times in public and that a face covering is essential to avoid temptation and tempting others. Clothing should not be thin, tight or short.

Women should veil themselves in front of all male strangers, including Muslims, and in front of all non-Muslims to avoid being corrupted. A woman’s voice is deemed intimate and so should not be heard singing, reciting, or reading aloud in public. It is forbidden for women to look at men they are not related to by blood or marriage and vice versa.

Article 17 bans the publication of images of living beings, threatening an already fragile Afghan media landscape.

Article 19 bans the playing of music, the transportation of solo female travelers, and the mixing of men and women who are not related to each other. The law also obliges passengers and drivers to perform prayers at designated times.

https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-taliban-vice-virtue-laws-women-9626c24d8d5450d52d36356ebff20c83

9. Fare Evasion Surges on N.Y.C. Buses, Where 48% of Riders Fail to Pay

August 26, 2024

Every weekday in New York City, close to one million bus riders — roughly one out of every two passengers — board without paying. The skipped fares are a crucial and growing loss of revenue for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is under severe financial pressure.

New York’s long-running fare evasion problem, among the worst of any major city in the world, has intensified recently; before the pandemic, only about one in five bus riders skipped the fare.

Yet public officials have done relatively little to collect the lost revenue from bus riders. Instead, they have focused almost exclusively on the subway system, where waves of police officers and private security guards have been deployed to enforce payment, even as fare evasion rates on trains are dwarfed by those on buses.

During the first three months of this year, 48 percent of bus riders did not pay, according to the latest available statistics from the transit authority, while 14 percent of subway riders evaded fares. Roughly twice the number of people ride the city’s subways as ride its buses.

Fare evasion has led to startling financial losses for the M.T.A., the state agency that runs the city transit system. In 2022, the authority lost $315 million because of bus fare evasion and $285 million as a result of subway fare beaters, according to a 2023 report commissioned by the M.T.A.

Transit experts say some New Yorkers don’t pay to board the bus because they cannot afford the fare. Others find it far easier to board a bus without paying than to sneak into the subway system, where turnstiles and gates block access. The standard fare for subway riders and most bus passengers is $2.90 per trip.

Fare beaters might also feel emboldened, experts say, because heavy traffic and a lack of bus lanes means that bus service can be slow and unreliable. For some riders, it is simply not worth the price of admission. The pandemic also reinforced the perception that fares were optional, after the authority made bus rides free for a few months in 2020.

“In the public’s mind, they don’t see the bus system as the real source of fare evasion,” said David R. Jones, an M.T.A. board member and the chief executive of the Community Service Society, a nonprofit supporting lower-income New Yorkers. “We have to get people to recognize that this is no longer acceptable.”

Even before the pandemic, bus fare evasion was a serious problem in New York. The evasion rate was roughly 18 percent in 2018, according to a 2019 M.T.A. report. Around that time, the rate was 11 percent in Paris and 5 percent in Toronto. In London, where riders can face fines exceeding $1,000, the fare evasion rate on buses was only 1.5 percent.

Transit leaders in New York have struggled to balance their desire to enforce the rules against the safety of drivers and the needs of low-income commuters. When Andy Byford, the former leader of the city’s subway and bus systems, suggested in 2019 that the M.T.A. needed “cops on buses,” the backlash was swift. The authority for years has sent groups of unarmed employees, known as “eagle teams,” to patrol buses and give tickets to riders who do not pay. Last year the agency expanded the routes they covered.

https://dnyuz.com/2024/08/26/fare-evasion-surges-on-n-y-c-buses-where-48-of-riders-fail-to-pay/

10. The problem isn’t that life is unfair – it’s your broken idea of fairness

Unless you’re winning, most of life will seem hideously unfair to you.-Oliver Emberton  The truth is, life is just playing by different rules.  The real rules are there. They actually make sense. But they’re a bit more complicated, and a lot less comfortable, which is why most people never manage to learn them.

Let’s try.

Rule #1: Life is a competition

That business you work for? Someone’s trying to kill it. That job you like? Someone would love to replace you with a computer program. That girlfriend / boyfriend / high-paying job / Nobel Prize that you want? So does somebody else.

We’re all in competition, although we prefer not to realise it. Most achievements are only notable relative to others. You swam more miles, or can dance better, or got more Facebook Likes than the average. Well done.

It’s a painful thing to believe, of course, which is why we’re constantly assuring each other the opposite. “Just do your best”, we hear. “You’re only in competition with yourself”. The funny thing about platitudes like that is they’re designed to make you try harder anyway. If competition really didn’t matter, we’d tell struggling children to just give up.

Fortunately, we don’t live in a world where everyone has to kill each other to prosper. The blessing of modern civilisation is there’s abundant opportunities, and enough for us all to get by, even if we don’t compete directly.

But never fall for the collective delusion that there’s not a competition going on. People dress up to win partners. They interview to win jobs. If you deny that competition exists, you’re just losing. Everything in demand is on a competitive scale. And the best is only available to those who are willing to truly fight for it.

Rule #2. You’re judged by what you do, not what you think

Society judges people by what they can do for others. Can you save children from a burning house, or remove a tumour, or make a room of strangers laugh? You’ve got value right there.

That’s not how we judge ourselves though. We judge ourselves by our thoughts.

“I’m a good person”. “I’m ambitious”. “I’m better than this.” These idle impulses may comfort us at night, but they’re not how the world sees us. They’re not even how we see other people.

Well-meaning intentions don’t matter. An internal sense of honour and love and duty count for squat. What exactly can you and have you done for the world?

Abilities are not prized by their virtue. Whatever admiration society awards us, comes from the selfish perspectives of others. A hard working janitor is less rewarded by society than a ruthless stockbroker. A cancer researcher is rewarded less than a supermodel. Why? Because those abilities are rarer and impact more people.

We like to like to think that society rewards those who do the best work. Like so:

But in reality, social reward is just a network effect. Reward comes down mostly to the number of people you impact:

Write an unpublished book, you’re nobody. Write Harry Potter and the world wants to know you. Save a life, you’re a small-town hero, but cure cancer and you’re a legend. Unfortunately, the same rule applies to all talents, even unsavoury ones: get naked for one person and you might just make them smile, get naked for fifty million people and you might just be Kim Kardashian.

You may hate this. It may make you sick. Reality doesn’t care. You’re judged by what you have the ability to do, and the volume of people you can impact. If you don’t accept this, then the judgement of the world will seem very unfair indeed.

Rule #3. Our idea of fairness is self interest

People like to invent moral authority. It’s why we have referees in sports games and judges in courtrooms: we have an innate sense of right and wrong, and we expect the world to comply. Our parents tell us this. Our teachers teach us this. Be a good boy, and have some candy.

But reality is indifferent. You studied hard, but you failed the exam. You worked hard, but you didn’t get promoted. You love her, but she won’t return your calls.

The problem isn’t that life is unfair; it’s your broken idea of fairness.

Take a proper look at that person you fancy but didn’t fancy you back. That’s a complete person. A person with years of experience being someone completely different to you. A real person who interacts with hundreds or thousands of other people every year.

Now what are the odds that among all that, you’re automatically their first pick for love-of-their-life? Because – what – you exist? Because you feel something for them? That might matter to you, but their decision is not about you.

Similarly we love to hate our bosses and parents and politicians. Their judgements are unfair. And stupid. Because they don’t agree with me! And they should! Because I am unquestionably the greatest authority on everything ever in the whole world!

It’s true there are some truly awful authority figures. But they’re not all evil, self-serving monsters trying to line their own pockets and savour your misery. Most are just trying to do their best, under different circumstances to your own.

Maybe they know things you don’t – like, say, your company will go bust if they don’t do something unpopular. Maybe they have different priorities to you – like, say, long term growth over short term happiness.

But however they make you feel, the actions of others are not some cosmic judgement on your being. They’re just a byproduct of being alive.

Why life isn’t fair

Our idea of fairness isn’t actually obtainable. It’s really just a cloak for wishful thinking.

Can you imagine how insane life would be if it actually was ‘fair’ to everyone? No-one could fancy anyone who wasn’t the love of their life, for fear of breaking a heart. Companies would only fail if everyone who worked for them was evil. Relationships would only end when both partners died simultaneously. Raindrops would only fall on bad people.

Most of us get so hung up on how we think the world should work that we can’t see how it does. But facing that reality might just be the key to unlocking your understanding of the world, and with it, all of your potential.

https://oliveremberton.com/2014/the-problem-isnt-that-life-is-unfair-its-your-broken-idea-of-fairness/