Just about everything seemed to be in the green in Q3. It should’t be a shock that it was one of the best quarters in the past decade.
Ryan Detrick – Spilled Coffee Blog
2. Nasdaq Up 7 Months in a Row
Take a look at the Nasdaq over the last 7 months. It’s a thing of beauty. It has been up 7 months in a row. The best streak since 2016-2017.
Barchart
3. AI Related Spending =75% of S&P 500 Returns
Market Ear
4. Dow Jones Transports Still Below 2024 Highs
Stock Charts
5. Charts I Watch—Stock Spin-Off ETF New Highs
Stock Charts
6. Stock Buyback ETF Has Held Long-Term 200 Week Average for Years…New Highs
Stock Charts
7. 19k Private Equity Funds vs. 14k McDonalds……Chart Below Compares KKR to MCD Last 18 Months
Bloomberg “There are 19,000 private equity funds in the US. There are 14,000 McDonald’s in the US. How are there more private equity funds than McDonald’s? That’s actually crazy, right?” KKR & Co. partner Alisa Wood said Wednesday at Bloomberg’s Women, Money and Power event in London. “Capital coming back is really important. The mark-to-market paper gains only take you so far.”
Bloomberg
8. Gen Z Revolts Update
IN scenes resembling a dystopian blockbuster, furious so-called Gen Z protesters have left a trail of carnage in nations from Asia to Africa as they oust leaders and set cities on fire. Now, it’s feared discontent could spread to the UK – with “powerful” younger generations being rallied by fast-spreading messages on social media.
The Sun
9. America’s Trust in Mass Media
Gallup
10. Americans Move Towards Negative View on Sports Betting
6. IPO Market Still Running at Half the Amount Raised in 2021
Barron’s
7. Dollar Rolling Back Over
Barchart
8. Luxury Home Market Slows
WSJ The number of luxury-home sales nationwide dropped 0.7% during the three months ended Aug. 31, compared with the same period last year, according to data from real-estate brokerage Redfin, which said luxury sales nationwide dropped to the lowest level for that period since it began tracking the market in 2013.
Price growth also slowed. During the three months ended Aug. 31, the median sale price for luxury properties—defined as the top 5% of the market—increased 3.9% year over year to $1.25 million, according to Redfin. But that is down from a 6.1% year-over-year price jump for the three months ended Aug. 31, 2024.
WSJ
9. How Religious is Your State? Pew Research
Pew Research Center
10. How to Become a Super Learner
Psychology Today Science-based techniques can help you learn more effectively. George S. Everly, Jr. PhD,
Key points
Science has revealed how to accelerate the learning process, with exercise, multimedia learning, and more.
Super learning techniques may even help overcome learning challenges.
Super learning techniques may enhance the brain’s learning capacity through increased neuroplasticity.
In my first year of high school, my father was summoned to my counselor’s office. He was advised to remove me from high school as I would likely not graduate. And if I did graduate, I would certainly never be accepted into college. It seems I was simultaneously burdened with two debilitating syndromes — dyslexia and ADHD. So, while my academic performance was short of outright failure, my prognosis did not seem very positive to my teachers at the time. Against my counselor’s advice, my father insisted I continue in high school.
My father delayed telling me about his encounter with my counselor until my graduation, but it wasn’t my high school graduation. My father decided to reveal his encounter with my counselor only when I reached the age of 27 and had just completed my first doctoral training program. What happened? Now, many years later, having been a professor at two of the leading universities in the world and the author of over 20 books I look back and try to answer the question “What happened?”
Jim McCann (author of the book Lodestar: Tapping into the Ten Timeless Pillars of Success) hosts a popular podcast, “Celebrations Chatter.” He recently interviewed Dr. Barbara Oakley. Oakley’s book, Learning How to Learn, is a national best-seller and her MOOC of the same name has been accessed by over 4 million learners. In her interview, her book, and her MOOC, Oakley describes how she went from an 18-year-old military recruit who hated math to a professor of engineering. What happened? She unravels the mysteries of learning. She describes how to harness an understanding of how the brain works so as to help you become a super learner. Most importantly, however, her message is a message of hope for all of us, especially those of us challenged by formal education or just learning in general.
The Secrets of Super Learning
Interestingly, my own personal journey with learning seems like a confirming case study of many of the techniques advocated by Oakley. Here are several techniques that appear to accelerate learning and creativity that almost anyone can utilize.
Moderate physical exercise before studying appears to facilitate learning.
Moderate physical exercise prior to taking a test appears to enhance test performance.
Try the Pomodoro Technique, wherein you engage in highly focused study, but only for 25 minutes. Then relax for 10-15 minutes. Then repeat.
Try “pre-sleep learning” (hypnogogic learning). This technique involves studying a problem as you literally fall asleep. The technique is purported to enhance retention and creativity. It was used by Thomas Edison and by Friedrich Kekulé, the chemist who famously envisioned a snake biting its own tail as an analogue for the structure of benzene. And it helped write a textbook that has been in print 45 years (Everly & Lating, 2019).
Multimedia learning involves taking the material to be learned and converting it into multiple media, such as a) text material, b) listening to an audio presentation of the same text, c) converting the text into a rhythmic poetic cadence, d) combining the text with music, and e) even converting key concepts into representative pictures.
Use a four-step active learning process: a) study the material for 25 minutes, b) reduce the material to an outline of only the key points, c) close your eyes and relax for 10 minutes, and finally d) have someone quiz you on the material just learned.
Lastly, harness the Pygmalion Effect. Find a friend or mentor who believes in you and who will support you in difficult times but most importantly be a relentless advocate and source of encouragement.
These techniques may be useful because they harness several mechanisms known to facilitate learning, especially overcoming barriers to the learning process (Oakley et al., 2018; Everly & Lating, 2019).
They seem to facilitate neuroplasticity, wherein the brain reorganizes itself in order to understand and retain new material. Physical exercise, pre-sleep learning (hypnogogic learning), and repetition are all associated with enhanced learning, likely predicated upon increases in brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF). Finding ways of enhancing the release of BDNF may be a key to becoming a super learner.
Multi-media learning is associated with the recruitment of varied and diverse brain regions serving to complement and enhance the learning process.
Interpersonal support is the single best predictor of human resilience. The belief and expectations that a teacher, coach, mentor, or parent have for their students can significantly impact who those students become.
While we have yet to discover a practical variant of a “limitless” pill as depicted in the 2011 movie, there is hope. Regardless of what kind of learner you were born, you can be better at it because whatever brain you have, you can make it better – my own journey would seem to support such a conclusion.
Corporate insiders. “Corporate insider activity signals a bearish tone, with the Insider Transactions Ratio reflecting both caution and profit-taking behaviors.”
Daily Chartbook
5. Bitcoin Entering Historically Bullish Months
Nasdaq Dorsey Wright–Furthermore, October ushers in the strongest seasonal period for Bitcoin. From the end of September to the end of May, Bitcoin averages a gain of 133.7% over those eight months. Meanwhile, it averages a 5.6% gain from June to September, meaning that almost all of Bitcoin’s gains have historically come outside the summer months. Similarly, the NDW index of the ten largest cryptocurrencies by market cap (DWACRYPTO) has averaged a 13.3% gain during the weak period and a 166.8% gain during its strong period. Despite early-year weakness, Bitcoin’s performance has closely mirrored its historical average, remaining relatively flat from late May to now. On the other hand, DWACRYPTO rose 26% during the weak period, highlighting the relative strength of altcoins during a typically sluggish stretch.
Seasonality alone doesn’t drive markets, but it can offer useful context, especially when supported by broader market trends and technical indicators. While crypto momentum has cooled off from summer highs, seasonal trends and expanding breadth offer reasons for optimism. For those with the right risk tolerance, an improvement within cryptocurrencies could offer more than just pumpkin spice and playoff races this Fall.
Nasdaq
6. Total2 is Measure of Total Crypto Market Cap Ex-Bitcoin….+65% in One Year
Total2–Crypto Total Market Cap Excluding BTC, $
TradingView
7. Vanguard Softens Its Stance: Crypto ETF Access May Be Coming—From The Crypto Advisor Substack
The Crypto Advisor
As alluded to in the main segment, the institutional tide in crypto continues to turn – this time with Vanguard.
The world’s second-largest asset manager, with $10.4 trillion in AUM, is preparing to allow access to crypto ETFs on its brokerage platform, Crypto in America has learned. This change in tune is notable coming from one of the most conservative firms – and one that not long ago said, “We also have no plans to offer Vanguard Bitcoin ETFs or other crypto-related products—our perspective is long-standing that cryptocurrencies’ high volatility runs counter to our goal of helping investors generate positive real returns over the long term.”
The significance is hard to miss. One of the industry’s most prominent crypto holdouts may now be preparing to open the door. With regulators fast-tracking ETF approvals and Vanguard’s new CEO, Salim Ramji, bringing direct experience from BlackRock’s blockbuster IBIT launch, the competitive pressure to offer access is mounting. If Vanguard moves forward, it could mark another milestone in bringing crypto into the mainstream toolkit of American investors.
Scientists in China have developed a revolutionary new “bone glue” that can heal fractures, which could traditionally take months to heal, in a matter of minutes, according to a report.
Product “Bone-02’ was developed by a Chinese research team, which sought to fix orthopedic injuries that would generally require months of downtime and invasive surgeries that often include metal plate insertions, the Global Times reported.
Lin Xianfeng, associate chief orthopedic surgeon at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, in Hangzhou, said the adhesive can achieve precise fixation in a matter of minutes even in blood-rich environments.
An X-ray of a broken arm that could be treated by the Chinese invented “bone glue” in just minutes.Nattapol_Sritongcom – stock.adobe.com
The glue treatment comes in the form of a single injection and will “bond shattered bone fragments in just three minutes,” according to that report.
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In one trial case, a patient with a wrist fracture received one injection via a mere 3 cm incision and was healed in just three minutes, Cho Sun Daily reported.
Twenty years ago, I wrote The UltraMind Solution proposing a radical idea: to fix your broken brain, you need to fix your body first. The medical establishment wasn’t ready. Today, Stanford Medicine is proving me right.
Dr. Shebani Sethi just published results that should shake psychiatry to its core. Her metabolic psychiatry approach achieved what decades of psychiatric drugs couldn’t: 100% reversal of metabolic syndrome in patients with serious mental illness, plus dramatic improvements in their psychiatric symptoms.
Here’s the science they don’t want you to know.
The 100-Year Cover-Up
A century ago, psychiatrists observed elevated lactate and low glutathione in patients with serious mental illness—clear markers of cellular energy dysfunction. Then we abandoned this research for the more profitable neurotransmitter model.
This resulted in treating symptoms while ignoring causes.
Your Brain on Metabolic Dysfunction
Consider these facts:
Type 2 diabetics’ mitochondria function at half the rate of healthy individuals
The brain has the highest concentration of mitochondria of any organ
93.2% of Americans have some form of metabolic dysfunction
People with insulin resistance have double the risk of depression
When your cellular powerhouses can’t produce energy efficiently, your brain doesn’t get a headache—it produces depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.
The Stanford Breakthrough
Dr. Sethi’s ketogenic therapy trial delivered results that would make Big Pharma nervous:
36% reduction in visceral fat
27% reduction in insulin resistance
12% weight loss
Complete reversal of metabolic syndrome in every participant
Significant improvement in psychiatric symptoms
Unlike psychiatric medications that cause weight gain, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome, this approach fixes the underlying biology.
The Mechanism Medicine Ignores
Here’s what happens when your metabolism breaks down:
Mitochondrial dysfunction reduces brain energy
Chronic inflammation damages neural pathways
Insulin resistance impairs neuroplasticity
Oxidative stress accelerates brain aging
We’ve been giving antidepressants to people with broken cellular metabolism. It’s like trying to start a car with sugar in the gas tank.
Beyond the Ketogenic Diet
Metabolic psychiatry isn’t just about going keto. It’s about fixing the four core mechanisms of metabolic disease:
At our Function Health centers, we’re seeing what Dr. Sethi describes: 70% of people have nutritional deficiencies, 95% show metabolic dysfunction, and 46% have elevated inflammation markers.
We’re not dealing with a mental health crisis, we’re dealing with a metabolic health crisis that manifests as mental illness.
What This Means for You
If you’re struggling with depression, anxiety, or other mental health issues, ask yourself: Has anyone ever checked your insulin resistance? Your nutrient levels? Your inflammatory markers?
Probably not. Because the current system profits from managing symptoms, not curing diseases.
Dr. Sethi has launched Metabolic Psychiatry Labs to make this approach accessible nationwide. Stanford is scaling up research. The science is solid.
The question isn’t whether metabolic psychiatry works—it’s whether our healthcare system will embrace it or continue pushing pills that treat symptoms while the underlying biology deteriorates.
Your brain deserves better than a broken system. Your body holds the keys to your mental health.
