1.Bitcoin Correlation to other Asset Classes

WisdomTree

For definitions of terms in the chart, please visit the glossary.

We believe it could also further enhance portfolio diversification among commodity sectors.

The Story Behind Bitcoin Futures in an ETF–Jianing Wu https://www.wisdomtree.com/blog/2021-10-18/the-story-behind-bitcoin-futures-in-an-etf

2.Leveraged Long Equity ETF Strategies at All-Time Highs…Risk On in Place.

Dave Lutz at Jones Trading

3.Hedge Funds Exposure to Equities Highest Since June 20

BY TYLER DURDEN

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/historic-divergence-emerges-wall-street

4.More Than Half of U.S. Growth Stocks Have Negative Earnings

More than half of U.S. Growth stocks* have negative earnings, yet Growth stocks have dramatically outperformed in the past few years

Growth Bubble: Making Money On Companies That Make No Money

Today, 60% of the Growth stocks in the Russell 3000 Index make no money, and this was true even before the COVID-induced recession. Yet these very companies have been generating huge returns in price movement over the past few years, dramatically outperforming their Value counterparts. The Russell 3000 Growth Index was up 84% cumulatively over the last two years through August (more than double the return of its Value counterpart). So investors are making money on companies that make no money – never a good sign when it is done this pervasively and at these valuations. And while not common, it is also not unique. We all witnessed the same speculative behavior in the late 1990s and in the 2008 speculative bubble.
Source: GMO

Found at Barry Ritholtz The Big Picture https://ritholtz.com/2021/10/10-tuesday-am-reads-353/

5.Loans to Developers in China dropped for the First Time in a Decade.

https://dailyshotbrief.com/the-daily-shot-brief-october-19th-2021/

6.Yields on Chinese Junk Bonds Hit 25%

Taking Another Look at the Chinese Real Estate Market

Market Blog

Tuesday, October 19, 2021

China’s debt levels have surged since the global financial crisis and now sit at over 300% of gross domestic product (GDP), as of December 2020. The majority of that new debt has come from households and non-financial companies, which is why the Chinese government has made deleveraging a priority. Moreover, to help rein in the very high debt levels in the US$60 trillion China real estate market—which is likely the largest asset class in the world—more than 400 new regulations have been announced this year. As such, these regulations have caused Chinese junk-rated property developer bonds to underperform this year—and in the case of Evergrande, stoke concerns about broader economic spillovers.

“Default risk has clearly risen within the Chinese real estate market,” noted LPL Financial Fixed Income Strategist Lawrence Gillum. “However, we still think policy makers in China will prevent broader systemic risks to spread due to the deleveraging efforts currently taking place.”

As seen in the LPL Research Chart of the Day, yields on Chinese junk-rated bonds nearly touched 25% before falling recently. So far, this month has been one of the worst months in decades for the Chinese high yield market as the selloff in the property developer markets continued—the real estate sector makes up 66% of the high yield index. Additionally, of the $142 billion of U.S. dollar-denominated bonds trading at distressed prices (generally defined as debt with yields over 10%), 48% were issued by Chinese real estate companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. However, that the China investment-grade corporate index hasn’t responded in-kind provides us comfort that the spillover effects are, at this time, limited to the junk-rated property developer issuers. Property developers make up over 11% of the investment-grade index and while these companies have seen their yields increase, they haven’t increased nearly has much as their junk-rated counterparts. In aggregate, yields on the investment-grade property developers are still less than 5%.

Interestingly, the most recent move higher in junk-rated yields wasn’t related to Evergrande, which has likely already been priced into markets. Rather, a much smaller property developer, Fantasia, told investors that it wasn’t going to make a bond payment when it was due despite having the necessary cash on hand to make the payment. Bond investors are generally concerned about an entity’s ability to pay its debts but also its willingness to pay its debt. That Fantasia decided not to pay its obligations caused investors to question the commitment of the property developer market broadly in servicing its financial obligations. That breach of financial responsibility caused the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) to finally break its silence on the ongoing selloff in the property developer market by urging real estate developers to pay its bills on time.

Additionally, the PBOC finally commented specifically on the potential spillover crisis at Evergrande and said the risk was “controllable”, which likely means there won’t be a bailout per se but we do expect the PBOC to ring-fence the risks and prevent them from spilling over into the broader financial system and the economy. Time is running out on Evergrande, though, as the company could officially be in default on October 23 after the payment grace period runs out.

Taking Another Look at the Chinese Real Estate Market | LPL Financial Research (lplresearch.com)

7.China Handed Bitcoin Mining Over to U.S. and Canada.

Marketwatch “Nearly 50% of the computing power (called hash rate) of the bitcoin blockchain, pulled the plug, packed up, and relocated to another country in a few months. And no one noticed! It signals an incredibly resilient system. I believe this realization is contributing to BTC above $60k again?” he said.

Bianco was referring to China, as this chart shows:

He credited the China pullout to a “catastrophic mistake,” saying that “when cryptos take hold as a legitimate medium of exchange, they will be left behind.” China last month declared all crypto-related transactions illegal.

“Combined with China’s regulatory crackdown in other industries, and why do we have a hard time believing that China is regressing? It seems to be the most plausible explanation,” said the strategist, who noted North America is dominating those hash rates.

“The Chinese handed an incredible opportunity to the U.S. and Canada to now dominate the digital currencies. Let’s not blow it,” added Bianco.

Here’s ‘one of the most bullish signals’ ever for bitcoin that many investors may have missed – MarketWatch

8.Covid Related Increases in Global Fiscal Burdens.

William Horobin(Bloomberg) —

The Covid-19 pandemic may have bloated public debt to levels already pushing some governments to consider consolidation, but that’s nothing compared to the fiscal difficulties brewing in the coming decades, the OECD said.

According to its long-term scenario, a deceleration in large emerging economies, demographic change and slowing productivity gains will drag trend economic growth among the OECD’s 38 members and the Group-of-20 nations to 1.5% in 2060 from around 3% currently. At the same time, states will face rising costs, particular from pensions and health care.

To maintain public services and benefits while stabilizing debt in that environment, governments would have to raise revenues by nearly 8% of gross domestic product, the OECD said. In some countries, including France and Japan, the size of the challenge would amount to more than 10% of output, and the economists didn’t even account for new expenditures such as climate change adaptation.

“Secular trends such as population aging and the rising relative price of services will keep adding pressure on government budgets,” the OECD said in the policy paper prepared by Yvan Guillemette and David Turner. “Fiscal pressure from these long-run trends dwarf that associated with servicing Covid-legacy public debt.”

Countries need not necessarily raise taxes to meet these challenges, the OECD said. Instead, it called for reforms to boost employment rates and raise retirement ages.

A combination of action in those two areas — including ensuring effective retirement ages rise by two thirds of future gains in life expectancy — could halve the projected increase in fiscal pressure by 2060 in the median country, according to the organization.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/world-faces-fiscal-problems-much-090000541.html

9.These 7 habits will keep your mind sharp no matter how long you work

By
Paul Brandus Marketwatch

But you can turn these odds in your favor by practicing certain healthy habits, says William R. Klemm Ph.D., a senior professor of neuroscience at Texas A&M University. He offers these tips:

• Get better organized. Keep your keys, for example, in one place all the time. “Life is simpler when you have a place for everything,” Klemm says. Habit relieves the memory.”
• Challenge yourself mentally. “Seek out new experiences, stay active socially, make mental demands on yourself, such as learning a new language, playing chess, or getting an advanced college degree,” Klemm says.
• Reduce stress. “Chronic stress(emotional pressure suffered for a prolonged period of time in which an individual perceives they have little or no control) clearly disrupts memory formation and recall,” he writes.
• Eat foods with vitamins and antioxidants. Focus on vitamins C, D, and E. Like many experts on aging, he says you should eat blueberries, “especially on an empty stomach.” What about vitamin supplements? They won’t help, Klemm says, unless you have a nutritional deficiency. Focus on food.
• Avoid obesity. Weight increases stress on the heart and arteries, which pump oxygenated blood to your brain, which helps you retain mental sharpness.
• Exercise. Enough said. Keeps the blood flowing, and the pounds off. Talk to your doctor first.
• Get plenty of sleep. “Many studies show the brain is processing the day’s events while you sleep and consolidating them in memory,” Klemm says. “Naps help too!” He adds.

Naps? Count me in.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/want-or-need-to-keep-working-in-old-age-heres-how-to-remain-sharp-11634658067?mod=home-page

10.Colin Powell’s 10 Simple Rules.

1. Energy having a Big Run but Interesting to Run the 10 Year Charts.

XLE Energy ETF 10 Year

VDE Vanguard Energy ETF 10 Year

PSCE Invesco Small Cap Energy ETF 10 Year

https://www.google.com/finance/quote/PSCE:NASDAQ?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj5k9CgxdTzAhU2oXIEHWwuDVEQ3ecFegQIDBAS

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2. Shanghai to LA Container Prices Topping Out??

From Morning Brew

In 2013, the Winklevoss twins filed the first application for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Eight years and countless rejections later, the first bitcoin-based ETF could begin trading as soon as today.

The ETF, launched by the fund manager ProShares, will give virtually any investor with a brokerage account the ability to gain exposure to the world’s largest crypto.

• We didn’t say “buy the crypto,” because that’s not what’s happening. The bitcoin ETF is based on futures contracts, which allow investors to bet on the price swings of an underlying asset without owning it outright.

The SEC, Wall Street’s top sheriff, is much more comfortable allowing a futures-based bitcoin ETF to proceed than one that directly buys the tokens. Bitcoin futures have been trading on the regulated Chicago Mercantile Exchange since 2017. Bitcoin itself, meanwhile, is bought and sold on many different exchanges that are outside the gaze of the SEC.

It’s unclear whether the ETF will be a hit

The first mutual fund based on bitcoin futures, which launched in July, had only $15 million in assets under management two months later—basically negligible when put in the context of the $21.3 trillion US mutual fund industry.

And the ETF news was received by some crypto professionals with a big “meh.” A bitcoin futures ETF may not reliably track bitcoin prices, while many investors are comfortable with the current options available for buying bitcoin. When asked by CNBC whether he would be investing in the ETF, bitcoin bull Mark Cuban said, “No. I can buy BTC directly.”

Looking ahead…bitcoin’s price could be volatile in the next few weeks as four different bitcoin futures ETFs may begin trading this month.

https://www.morningbrew.com/daily

Current Bitcoin ETF Filings Etf.com

Fund	Issuer	Filing Date	SEC Filing
Bitwise Bitcoin Strategy ETF	Bitwise	9/14/21	Link
AdvisorShares Managed Bitcoin ETF	AdvisorShares	8/20/21	Link
Galaxy Bitcoin Strategy ETF	Galaxy Digital	8/18/2021	Link
Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF	Valkyrie Funds	8/11/2021	Link
Bitcoin Strategy ETF	VanEck	8/9/2021	Link
ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF	ProShares Advisors	8/4/2021	Link
Invesco Bitcoin Strategy ETF	Invesco Capital Management	8/4/2021	Link
Global X Bitcoin Trust	Global X Digital Assets	7/21/2021	Link
ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF	21Shares	6/28/2021	Link
One River Carbon Neutral Bitcoin Trust	One River Digital Asset Management	5/24/2021	Link
Teucrium Bitcoin Futures Fund	Teucrium Trading	5/20/2021	Link
Galaxy Bitcoin ETF	Galaxy Digital Capital Management	4/12/2021	Link
Kryptoin Bitcoin ETF Trust	Kryptoin Investment Advisors	4/9/2021	Link
Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust	FD Funds Management	3/24/2021	Link
First Trust SkyBridge Bitcoin ETF Trust	First Trust Advisors	3/19/2021	Link
WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust	WisdomTree Digital Commodity Services	3/11/2021	Link
NYDIG Bitcoin ETF	NYDIG Asset Management	2/16/2021	Link
Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund	Valkyrie Digital Assets	1/22/2021	Link
VanEck Bitcoin Trust	VanEck Digital Assets	12/30/2020	Link

https://www.etf.com/sections/blog/etfcom-live-blog-bitcoin-etf-launch-watch

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3. Crypto Stock Charts not Following Bitcoin Rally.

RIOT Sideways -50%+ from highs

COIN -50% Correction…Sideways pattern for months.

MARA different story…..Breaking out to new highs.

www.stockcharts.com

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4. Correlation Between S&P Tech Stocks and 10 Year Treasury Yield is -.69 This Year.

Barrons–The connection between yields and tech shares is no illusion. The correlation between the S&P 500 Technology Sector index’s performance, relative to that of the S&P 500, on the one hand, and the 10-year yield on the other has averaged -0.69 this year, and hit -0.78 for the 126 days ended Sept. 30. (A correlation of -1 means that two variables move in perfect opposition.)

https://www.barrons.com/articles/stock-market-tech-stocks-51634326247?mod=past_editions

www.yahoofinance.com

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5. Positive for America….Entrepreneurs are Booming

Barrons-The peak was in July 2020, when close to 600,000 new business applications were filed, up 100% from the year prior. Monthly applications have since fallen but remain about 50% higher than before the virus took hold

The Workers Won’t Be Coming Back, Covid or Not. Here Are Theories on Where They Went.By Lisa Beilfuss

https://www.barrons.com/articles/the-workers-wont-be-coming-back-covid-or-not-here-are-theories-on-where-they-went-51634290204?mod=past_editions

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6. Up to Date Hedge Fund Returns Since 2013

The digital economy accounts for about 10% of India’s gross domestic product, compared with 40% in today’s China. One in 10 Indians shopped online prepandemic; nearly half of all Chinese do. By Craig Mellow  https://www.barrons.com/articles/how-to-play-indias-stock-market-momentum-51634287500?mod=past_editions

www.yahoofinance.com

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7. Number of +/- 1% Days Normalizing Vs. Historical for 2021

www.dorseywright.com

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8. Stock Market Leader Domino’s Pizza …-15% Correction from highs

DPZ pulls back to June levels.

www.stockcharts.com

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9. Surge in Conversions of Office, Factories, Retail into Apartments……..Philadelphia Leads the Pack.

‘Living at the Office’ Takes On a New Meaning During the Pandemic-The sudden increase in vacant commercial spaces has fueled a surge in conversions to rental homes, according to a new study.

NY Times By Michael Kolomatsky Creating rental apartments in former offices, factories and other nonresidential buildings is nothing new, but a recent increase in vacant commercial spaces as a result of the pandemic has fueled a surge in conversions, according to a new study by RentCafé.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/14realestate/offices-hotrls-converted-to-rental-apartments.html

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10. Steven Pinker on Rationality

Paul Thagard Ph.D.

Commentary: Pinker asks, “What’s wrong with people?” but his answer is narrow.

KEY POINTS

• In a new book, Pinker provides clear and useful explanations of logic, probability, and other tools for critical thinking.
• But his explanation of irrationality focuses on motivated reasoning and myside bias.
• Overcoming irrationality could gain from motivational interviewing and political action, not just critical thinking.

The world seems awash with irrationality, evident in anti-vaxxers, climate change deniers, and political conspirators. What is to be done? Steven Pinker’s spirited, amusing, and lucid new book argues that the solution comes from increasing the amount of rationality in the world, accomplished by expanding people’s understanding of logic, probability, rational choice, and causal reasoning. But helping people to be more rational in their thoughts and actions needs improvements in empathy and politics as well as critical thinking.

Pinker provides clear and useful expositions of topics like the contribution of probability theory to producing better beliefs and actions, and the difference between correlation and causation. He then moves on to consideration of why humanity appears to be losing its mind, as shown in the “carnival of cockamamie conspiracy theories” about COVID-19, such as that vaccines implant microchips in people’s bodies.

Pinker discounts three popular explanations for why people succumb to such nonsense.

The first is that people fall prey to the systematic thinking errors that philosophers call fallacies and psychologists call biases. The second is that the “pandemic of poppycock” results from the prevalence of social media. The third is that people embrace false beliefs that give them comfort or help them make sense of the world. Instead, he thinks that irrationality arises largely from motivated reasoning and what he calls “myside bias.”

Motivated reasoning is the tendency to base conclusions on personal goals and emotions rather than on objective evidence (Kunda, 1990). We all want to believe that we are going to be happy, healthy, successful, and loved, so we distort evidence to help us think that these goals are being accomplished. I agree with Pinker that motivated reasoning is a major cause of false beliefs about COVID-19 (e.g., I’m not going to get sick, so I don’t need to be vaccinated), climate change (e.g., the weather just fluctuates, so I don’t need to change my energy habits), and politics (e.g., my wonderful leader will solve my economic problems).

Pinker’s second major source of irrationality is myside bias, which Pinker interprets as the tendency of people to reason to conclusions that enhance the correctness of their political, religious, ethnic, or cultural tribe. For example, conservatives want to support the beliefs of other conservatives, and liberals want to support the beliefs of other liberals. Pinker’s myside bias is narrower than the usual interpretation of myside bias that “occurs when we evaluate evidence, generate evidence, and test hypotheses in a manner favorable toward our prior opinions and attitudes” (Stanovich, 2021).

Here myside bias is equivalent to motivated reasoning, whereas Pinker applies it to cases where people reason to support their tribe’s interests even when they go against personal motivations. Usually, however, people’s need to belong to and identify with social groups provides a strong motivation to support their beliefs. So I think that Pinker’s narrow idea of myside bias is just a special case of motivated reasoning.

article continues after advertisement

Pinker does not address the question of why people are so prone to making motivated inferences that turn out to be false. In a recent article, “How Rationality is Bounded by the Brain,” I explain the tendency of people to succumb to motivated reasoning as the result of the tight integration of cognition and emotion in the brain. In general, this integration is beneficial because it keeps people’s thinking focused on what emotions indicate are important to their well-being. But integration causes problems when people’s motivations swamp their ability to draw conclusions based on good evidence. Other limitations of the brain that hinder rationality are its slowness and restricted size, along with imperfections in attention and consciousness.

Taking action against irrationality

These limitations raise the question of whether critical thinking is always the best way to overcome irrationality. Most of Pinker’s book concerns using good reasoning strategies such as logic and probability to overcome people’s tendencies to fall into inferential illusions. But another way to help people to overcome errors in thought and action is more like psychotherapy than logic. My blog post on motivational interviewing conjectures that a technique based on questioning and empathy might be better at overcoming motivated inference than more conventional applications of critical thinking. Experiments are needed to compare the two approaches.

Another strategy for overcoming the spread of irrationality is political action to limit the effects of irresponsible social media. Pinker dismisses social media as the main cause of the current prevalence of so many false beliefs but ignores the fact that most people today with false beliefs about COVID-19, climate change, and political conspiracies get them from social media such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Whatsapp. Explanation of rampant misinformation requires consideration of both psychological mechanisms, such as motivated reasoning, and social mechanisms that make the spread of false beliefs and evil attitudes far more rapid than by conversation and conventional news sources. Political action can help to reduce the social spread of irrationality by making social media more responsible for the nonsense they propagate and by eliminating monopolistic control by a few currently dominant companies.

I agree with Pinker that the world desperately needs more rationality, but critical thinking needs to combine with empathy and political action to combat the rampant spread of misinformation.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/hot-thought/202110/steven-pinker-rationality

1. Options Traders Bearish on Tech Stocks…Contra Indicator?

Options traders are betting on tech trouble – The aggregated put/call ratio among Nasdaq 100 members is the highest it’s been in over a year says SentimentTrader Dave Lutz at Jones Trading.

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2. Shanghai to LA Container Prices Topping Out??

Lastly, below are very recent updates on supply chains, order books, and consumer demand that keep us constructive on the “sequential supply chain improvement” narrative post-Q3 cuts, in the context of a “persistent demand” macro:

• White House to announce LA port will operate 24/7 to help clear backlog.
• Target sets up night operations to help cut key ports’ backlog (moving ~50% of its containers at night in LA and Long Beach).
• White House to review expanding allowable driving hours for truckers.
• Intel and Samsung finalizing plans for full capacity resumption at Ho Chi Minh manufacturing facility.
• Shanghai to LA container rates have begun to decline from peak levels.
• Russia says it will supply Europe with as much gas as it needs during current shortages.
• US jobless claims hit 292K for the first week of October, well below consensus (320K) and hitting a post-pandemic low.
• TSM strong earnings assuage concerns that the semi cycle is peaking/rolling over.
• Jefferies semi supply chain expert call noted continued robust/broad-based demand with strong backlogs into Q4/Q1.
• JPM noted T&E spend +8% vs. 3Q19, with acceleration in September as Delta cases declined.

Source: Jefferies Trading Desk

Percy Allison

Jefferies LLC

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3. Frontier Markets Crushing Emerging YTD.

Frontier Market ETF FM…Breakout on volume

 

Frontier Markets +24% YTD vs. Emerging Markets Flat ….FM vs. EEM YTD Chart

www.yahoofinance.com

Sector and Regional Breakdown Frontier Markets

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4. Investors Abandoned Dirty Energy Across the Board….Public markets, Private markets, Endowments, etc.….

XLE Old Energy ETF Crushing Clean Energy YTD

Energy crisis? What experts are saying as world faces historic energy-price crunchBy Mark DeCambre  https://www.marketwatch.com/story/energy-crisis-what-experts-are-saying-as-world-faces-historic-energy-price-crunch-11634161109?mod=home-page

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5. Private Financial Assets as a % of GDP Hyperbolic Rise Since Late 90’s……….Quantitative Easing and 30+ Year Bond Bull Market Drove this Chart

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6. Up to Date Hedge Fund Returns Since 2013

Raoul Pal Global Macro

https://twitter.com/RaoulGMI?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

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7. Number of Active Satellites 2020 More than Previous 50 Years

https://www.statista.com/statistics/897719/number-of-active-satellites-by-year/

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8. Demograpics is Destiny….New American Household Makeup

An interesting analysis of census data from Pew Research Center reveals the changing makeup of American households.

The decline in marriage rates across the US — and many other countries — has been well documented. In 1990, 67% of the US population aged 25-54 were living with their spouse. Today that number is 53%.

But what’s interesting is that, although there are more people living with partners than before, they don’t explain the total drop in the married population. Indeed, the number of “unpartnered” adults — those not married nor living with a partner — has gone up, to almost 40% of the population of the 25-54 demographic

www.chartr.com

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9. Natural Gas Demand by Sector and Region 2019-2021

IEA.ORG

https://www.iea.org/fuels-and-technologies/gas

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10.4 Causes of Knee Pain and 6 Exercises to Help.4 Causes of Knee Pain and 6 Exercises to Help Reduce that Pain

on September 07, 2021

Pete McCall Acefitness.corg You know the feeling—you put off getting out of your seat or avoid walking downstairs because when you do, you experience a lot of pain or discomfort in your knees. The pain could be short-term, as a result of bumping it against a hard surface or long-term, caused by a significant or traumatic injury. Or it could be the result of a chronic condition such as arthritis, or specific movements that place a lot of stress on the structures of the joint.

Regardless of the cause of the pain, there are lower-body exercises that can strengthen the hip and glute muscles with minimal stress on the structures of the knee joint. However, if the pain continues for a period of 10 days, it’s probably time to schedule an appointment with your doctor to make sure there is not a significant injury. This article identifies four possible causes of knee pain and describes six exercises that could help to reduce knee pain.

Possible Causes of Knee Pain

Ligament Damage

A traumatic injury, such as tearing one of the ligaments that connects the femur bone of the thigh to the tibia bone of the lower leg, is a common cause of knee pain. The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) can be injured as the result of making a rapid change of direction; if the upper body goes in one direction and the foot doesn’t move with it, it is often the ACL that is ruptured as a result. The medial-collateral and lateral-collateral ligaments run along the inside and outside of the knee, respectively, and could also be damaged or torn as the result of the lower and upper legs moving in opposite directions.

Injury to a Meniscus

Bones do not touch one another because joint capsules contain synovial fluid and cartilage, which act as a cushion between the bones. The knee joint contains two menisci, medial and lateral, which are C-shaped sections of connective tissue that cushion the forces between the condyles of the femur and the upper section of the tibia. A subluxation occurs when a joint does not track properly through its intended path of motion; think of a kitchen drawer that sticks and doesn’t work properly. If there is a subluxation in the knee and the joint doesn’t function properly, it could stress one of the ligaments or compress one of the menisci, causing damage to the structures that results in pain.

Often, the knee itself is not the cause of pain, but it is where pain occurs as the result of either the hip or the ankle not functioning to the best of their ability.

Weak Hip Muscles

The knee collapsing toward the midline of the body while walking or running could be due to a lack of lateral stability from the hip and is another possible source of pain. The gluteus medius muscle connects the pelvis to the lateral portion of the femur. It has fibers on both the anterior and posterior sections of the bone and can create the actions of abduction, moving the upper leg away from the midline of the body, as well as both internal and external rotation. While the gluteus medius can move the leg away from the body, its primary function is to create stability when the body is balanced on a single leg during the mid-stance phase of the gait cycle while walking or running. If the gluteus medius does not do an efficient job of stabilizing the femur, the knee could collapse to the midline of the body, which creates a subluxation,stresses the ligaments and menisci, and ultimately results in pain.

Lack of Ankle Mobility

Dorsiflexion is motion at the ankle joint, where the top of the foot moves closer to the tibia bone (commonly called the shin). Dorsiflexion occurs naturally when the body passes over the foot during the mid-stance phase of gait. If the ankle does not have the proper mobility to allow dorsiflexion as the body passes over the foot, it could cause the foot to turn out and the knee to collapse to allow this phase of the gait cycle to occur in the absence of adequate ankle mobility. In other words, if the ankle is lacking proper mobility it will cause other joints to be more mobile (the knee) to make up for the deficiency and allow movement such as walking to occur.

During squats or lunges, if the ankle does not have the proper mobility, these movements could cause the knee to move forward. If the knee moves too far forward during the downward phase of the squat or lunge, the femur bone of the thigh could push into the patella bone (kneecap) and create strain on the patellar ligament that connects the femur to the patella and tibia bones.

6 Exercises to Help Reduce Knee Pain

The following exercises can strengthen the hips and thighs, specifically the glutes, adductors, hamstrings and quadriceps muscles, which control the motion of the hips and knees. The focus of each exercise is to engage the hips while allowing only a limited amount of motion in the knee. In the case of the lunges, the fact that the body is moving backward causes most of the force of the exercise to move into the glutes, which strengthens those muscles, as opposed to  moving into the knees and causing strain on the patellar tendon. These links provide additional information about how the hamstrings and adductors function to control motion of the hips and knees.

Glute Bridges

Lie flat on your back with your hands by your sides so that your palms are turned up facing the ceiling. Position your feet away from your glutes with your toes pulled up toward your shins. Squeeze your glutes as you press your heels into the floor and push your hips up toward the ceiling. Perform 15-20 reps, rest for 45 seconds, and complete two to four sets.

To increase the intensity, perform hip thrusts by placing a weight over the top of the hips or place a mini-band just below the knees. For hip thrusts, the weight causes the glutes to work harder, which increases their strength; this article discusses the benefits of the hip thrust exercise. A mini-band placed just above the knees will pull the knees closer together, which means the gluteus medius on each leg has to work harder to keep this motion from happening.

Standing Hip Extensions With Mini-band

If it’s hard to get down on the floor, this is a great move for strengthening the glutes to create more stability at the knee. Place a mini-band around both ankles. Press your right foot into the floor to create stability while pushing your left heel straight back to extend your left hip. Perform 15-20 reps and then switch legs; complete two to four sets.

Standing Hip Thrust With Power Band

Connect a power band to a solid anchor. Step inside so that the band is positioned on the bony points of the pelvis and the anchor point is behind you. Place your hands on your head, behind your ears, and keep a slight bend in the knees. Maintain a long spine as you push your tailbone back while hinging at the hips. Perform 15-20 reps, rest for 45 seconds, and complete two to four sets. To increase the intensity, hold one dumbbell in each hand while completing the hip thrusts.

Reverse Lunge

Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Step backward with your left leg while sinking into your right hip. To increase the activation of the glute, lean forward slightly while maintaining a long spine. To return to the starting point, straighten your right knee while swinging the left leg forward to the starting point. Perform 10-12 repetitions on the right side before switching legs. Rest for 45-60 seconds and complete two to four sets. To increase the intensity, hold one dumbbell in each hand while completing the lunges.

Reverse Lunge to Balance

Follow the directions for the reverse lunge, but at the top of the movement press your right foot into the floor and squeeze your right glute while balancing on your right leg for 4-5 seconds. Complete 10-12 reps on the right hip before switching to the other leg. Rest for 45-60 seconds and complete two to four sets. To increase the intensity, hold one dumbbell in each hand while completing the lunges.

Lateral Step-up to Balance

Use a step or box that is approximately knee height or lower. Place the step or box to the right of your body, set your right foot on top of the box and press down to step up to the box. At the top of the step, balance on your right leg for 4-5 seconds before lowering lower the left leg to the floor and return to the starting position. Complete 10-12 repetitions on the right leg before switching to the other leg. Rest for 45-60 seconds and complete two to four sets. To increase the intensity, hold one dumbbell in each hand while completing the step-ups.

Unless you have experienced a traumatic injury that damaged the structures of the knee, it is nearly impossible to identify the exact causes of knee pain. However, knowing which exercises could help to reduce pain can make sure that having a sore knee doesn’t keep you from participating in your favorite activities. The good news is that common causes of knee pain could be mitigated by developing strong glute and hip muscles.

AUTHOR

Pete McCall

Health and Fitness Expert

Pete McCall, MS, CSCS, is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer and long-time player in the fitness industry. He has been featured as an expert in the Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Runner’s World and Self. He holds a master’s degree in exercise science and health promotion, and several advanced certifications and specializations with NSCA and NASM.

1. Sector Breakdown on Breadth….Above 50 day and 200 day.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stocks-set-steady-start-earnings-232622899.html

2. Consumer Prices Return to 2008 Levels.

Barrons https://www.barrons.com/

3. Nobody Wants Cash Flow…Consumer Staples Sink to 6% of S&P

Posted October 12, 2021 by Michael Batnick

Nobody wants cash flow when money costs nothing.

This is playing out right now in consumer staples stocks, which, according to Sentimentrader, have shrunk below 6% of the S&P 500 for only the 2nd time in 30 years. I’ll give you one guess as to when that other time was. Yep, you nailed it.

There are 26 detergent and toilet paper stocks with a market cap north of $10 billion that have a higher yield than the 10-year treasury.

What would you rather own for the next ten years? A security that promises to pay your principal back with interest payments that are currently running behind inflation, or Walmart, a company that has raised its dividend for 48 straight years?

I know there are more than two things to invest in, but, and call me crazy, I do think that ultra-low interest rates impact the way people allocate their capital. Right now, money is free and cash flows are worthless.

Nobody Wants Cash Flow – The Irrelevant Investor

4. 70-80% of Chinese Household Assets Tied to Real Estate

Business Insider.–How much debt does an average borrower in China get exposed to in order to buy a home?

Household exposure to debt is lower in China than in many other developed countries, but it still forms a significant part of their portfolio.

“The debt level is lower in China than what you would see in other countries, for example, Thailand or Malaysia,” Bernard Aw, an economist overseeing Asia Pacific for Coface, told Insider. “Chinese citizens have high savings rates — about 40% of their money goes into savings.”

They also tend to employ personal lending networks in order to purchase homes. At least 40% of China’s millennial homeowners received money from their families to help pay for their houses, a 2017 HSBC survey on millennials found.

That said, the majority of debt in Chinese households is property-based, Aw said, and household debt has been on the rise since the financial crisis. In 2020, household debt rose to 128% of income, according to a report from China-focused researcher Rhodium Group. At the end of 2018, housing-related debt accounted for nearly two-thirds of the average household’s total debt, according to a 2019 report from the International Monetary Fund.

Individual wealth in China is also heavily tied to real estate.

According to Moody’s estimates, 70-80% of Chinese household assets are tied to real estate, CNBC reported in August.

That’s more individual wealth tied to real estate than in just about any other developed country, Sun said: “In the west, people diversify their investments and the majority goes to capital markets.” But in China, where the capital markets are less developed and highly volatile, people keep much more of their money invested in real estate.

Household spending on real estate is also high, Aw said: “Some 30-40% of household spending is going into the real estate sector, be that rental payment or mortgages, for example.” This percentage is similar to how much Americans spend on housing.

https://www.businessinsider.com/china-housing-market-explainer-cost-debt-wealth-evergrande-impact-2021-9

5. Competition in online sports betting is fierce — and not profitable-Axios

Kate Marino

The growth potential in the nascent market for American sports betting is huge. But for now, operators are still losing money — a lot of it.

The big picture: Sports betting is taking a page from the playbook of tech giants like Netflix, Amazon and Twitter, sacrificing profitability in the early days in the hope of engraining themselves in customers’ lives.

Even if you’re not a sports fan, you’ve probably seen or heard the deluge of ads from online sports betting companies offering major financial incentives to use their apps.

What we’re watching: This NFL season will go a long way in determining which companies live to fight another day in the ultra-competitive sports betting arena.

• “This football season is crucial, as more states legalized sports betting going into this season, and football is really the culmination of the U.S. market,” Barry Jonas, equity research analyst at Truist, tells Axios.

Where it stands: The Supreme Court only opened the door to widespread legal, online sports betting in 2018, and the sector is still in its infancy.

• So far, a total of 21 states, representing 40% of the population, allow online sports betting, according to a Wells Fargo research note. Another 8 states allow in-person betting.

State of play: The weekly fantasy sports operators — FanDuel and DraftKings — have taken the lead with market shares of 33% and 19% respectively, in the first half of 2021, the Wells report says.

• DraftKings, which went public in 2019, is currently valued at $19 billion.
• Legacy casino companies are also in the running, most notably MGM’s brand, BetMGM (13%), and Caesars Casino & Sportsbook (4%) which just formally launched in August.

Those companies are shoveling money into marketing and promotions, sometimes including hundreds of dollars of free bets.

• “DraftKings and FanDuel are really customer acquisition platforms, operating as sports books,” Jed Kelly, equity research analyst at Oppenheimer, tells Axios.
• “It’s going to be highly promotional right now … The beginning of football season is the peak in terms of customer acquisitions,” Daniel Politzer, senior equity analyst at Wells Fargo, tells Axios.

What’s next: The operators are chasing a market that has massive growth potential — Politzer estimates annual U.S. sports betting revenue could grow to $11.3 billion in 2025, compared to $3.8 billion estimated this year.

• “At some point you have to start to show profit. But we’re so early that investors are willing to pay a decent multiple for revenue growth over profit. That’s where we’re at,” Kelly says.

Yes, but: Analysts think consolidation is ultimately the most likely endgame, with 3 to 4 players all but dominating the field.

• Amy Howe, CEO of FanDuel, last week told the FT (perhaps self-servingly) that the level of marketing spending that’s happening right now is unsustainable, and that many companies won’t make it.

There’s a Catch-22 for sports books: Making too little money is obviously bad for business, but if they start making too much money — it may attract the attention of regulators.

• “Certainly, states don’t want to see too much problem gaming and social consequences,” Jonas says.
• And there are lots of regulators — a gaming commission in each state, as well as potentially the federal government.

The big question: Whether regulators become concerned about the gamification of the old in-person betting process — too easy, too fun, too instantaneous — similar to the scrutiny that Robinhood’s received for gamifying stock trading.

https://www.axios.com/competition-in-online-sports-betting-is-fierce-and-not-profitable-25adfa3c-f3dc-41f0-bcdc-92f05bbd54de.html

6. Price of Airline Fares Rolling Back Over

Profile / Twitter

7. KKR Public Market Assets Explode to Half of Book.

This week two titans of the finance world, Henry Kravis and George Roberts, called time on their 45 year run at the top of high finance.

Kravis and Roberts were the second “K” and the “R” in KKR — the private equity giant that originally made its name, and their respective fortunes, in aggressive leveraged buyouts during the 80s and 90s.

Most famous of their deals is probably still the $25bn hostile acquisition of RJR Nabisco, a sprawling conglomerate that sold cigarettes and food, in 1989. That deal was immortalized by book Barbarians at the Gate, and was a rare mis-step in the history of KKR, which has otherwise delivered solid returns and has ballooned into a behemoth managing more than $400bn in assets.

Bread & butter

For years KKR’s bread and butter was in private equity. Take money from investors, borrow some more from lenders and buy a private company. Try and make it more efficient (read: profitable), pay back the debt you borrowed and sell it on in 5-10 years, for more than you paid. That is a formula that’s worked for 45 years, and will probably work for another 45.

But in recent decades KKR has expanded. Into public credit markets, real estate, other alternatives, hedge funds — and most recently insurance with the acquisition of Global Atlantic. The other formula that hasn’t changed? Managing more assets = more fees.

www.chartr.com

8. More than half of Bay Area residents plan to leave permanently: poll

BY JORDAN WILLIAMS – 10/13/21 09:19 AM EDT 870

More than half of the residents living in the San Francisco Bay Area say they are considering moving out of the area permanently, according to a poll from Joint Venture Silicon Valley released Monday.

The survey of voters in five Bay Area Counties found that 56 percent of respondents said they were likely to leave the region within “the next few years,” a higher percentage than in any of the think tank’s previous polling.

A separate 44 percent said they were unlikely to leave, with 14 percent of these people saying they want to move but could not.

Russell Hancock, president and CEO of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, told The San Francisco Chronicle that the issue comes down to the costs of housing.

“It’s housing, stupid,” Hancock told the newspaper. “That is driving almost all of the results we see in this poll.”

Among those who were likely to leave, 84 percent cited the cost of living as a major reason, 77 percent specifically cited high housing costs and 62 percent cited the quality of life.

• More shooting fatalities, injuries already reported in Seattle area…
• Collectives seek to lower cost of renewable energy, offer choice at…

Forty-eight percent of respondents said the region was headed in the right direction, while 52 percent said it was on the wrong track. Seventy-one percent thought the quality of life is worse now than it was five years ago.

But despite the problems, 71 percent said the Bay Area was still a good place to pursue a career. Fifty-six percent rated the region as good or excellent to grow up, and 46 percent said it was a good or excellent place to raise a family.

The poll was conducted by Embold Research and surveyed 1,610 registered voters in Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda, San Francisco and Contra Costa counties from Sept. 21 to 26. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/576496-more-than-half-of-bay-area-residents-plan-to-leave-permanently-poll

9. Master’s Degrees That Give You Greatest Pay Boost.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/24/the-masters-degrees-that-give-the-biggest-salary-boostup-to-87percent.html?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=Main&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1634127566

10. The Philosophy Of Stoicism: 4 Lessons From Antiquity On Self-Discipline

Stoic Exercises, Wisdom, and More

This is a guest post by Philip Ghezelbash.

***

Stoicism is an ancient Greco-Roman philosophy. The ideal for the Stoic, as with the Buddhist, is to show complete equanimity in the face of adversity.

The four virtues of Stoicism are wisdom, justice, courage and temperance. Temperance is subdivided into self-control, discipline and modesty.

I think that with discipline everything else falls into place.

Discipline is the fundamental action, mindset and philosophy which keeps one in a routine and making progress towards whatever one is pursuing.

Stoicism cultivates iron will in anyone who adheres to its teachings. Here are 4 lessons I’ve taken away which have helped me develop discipline in regards to my health and overall quality of life.

1. FIND WISE PEOPLE TO EMULATE

Seneca wrote that,

“Without a ruler to do it against, you can’t make crooked straight.”

We need to recognise the importance of having wise people in our lives which we look up to for inspiration.

These figures serve as models for ourselves to emulate.

Pick carefully and choose someone who is living a good life. By good life I mean someone who morally sound.

Envision the person you wish to become and find someone who is one step ahead of you.

Watch what they do, listen to what they say, learn from them and more importantly, pay attention to what they don’t do.

Humble yourself and embrace ignorance. Follow the words of Socrates and admit wholeheartedly to yourself then you know that you know nothing.

What is motivating this person’s actions, their ambitions, why are the consequences they experience happening to them.

Changing your mindset will build confidence and trust in yourself to stay on track and become more self-disciplined.

Apply this knowledge actively in your life and you will be rewarded.

2. REVIEW YOUR DAY

It’s not enough to go to sleep without considering the implications, lessons and knowledge you gained throughout the day. It’s a shame to forget to do this.

Thinking about thinking late at night were referred to as ‘evening retrospections.’ Today one may call this journalling.

Ask yourself,

What did I do well today?

Where were my discipline and self-control tested, where did I do good?

What did I do bad, why did this occur? Furthermore, how can I improve?

One of the best ways to become more disciplined is to scrutinize yourself, find your weak spots. Be brutally honest and use this time to connect with your subconscious.

Practicing evening retrospections on a consistent basis will allow you to become more self-aware through every step of your day because you will be actively gathering information to formulate and articulate constructive answers to the latter questions.

The moment you find something which derailed you from your pursuits, recognise it, don’t ignore it. Never regret your actions or words and most importantly strive to never make the same mistake moving forward.

3. YOUR DISTRACTIONS ARE YOUR OWN DOING

Marcus Aurelius said,

“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”

Being distressed, being bothered by small things instantly is terrible for discipline. You have a goal, you’re working and then thoughts and distress about something external [meaning it’s out of your control] de-rails you.

The best thing you can do in these circumstances is to apply Epictetus’ dichotomy of control.

Reinforce to yourself what is within your control and what is out of your control; if you embrace what is out of your control and accept it, you will experience tranquillity.

Refer to the following wording next time you’re distressed and distracted:

Do you have a problem in your life?

No? ► Then don’t worry.

Yes? ► Can you do something about it?…

Yes? ► Then don’t worry.

No? ► Then don’t worry.

4. EVERY DAY IS A NEW LIFE

Seneca said,

“Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life.”

A bad day doesn’t have to become a bad week, a bad week doesn’t have to become a bad year.

The moment you wake up, remember that the new day is a new life. The past shouldn’t be forgotten, but it most definitely should not be something which holds you back.

All previous actions from previous days are now out of your control and if pondered on too much, serve no good other than to drag you down like an anchor.

Release the anchor and move forward by opening your eyes and focusing on what’s in front of you, which is life itself.

If you binged on your diet yesterday, it does not mean you’ve failed and now there’s no point in continuing.

If you didn’t exercise when you know you should have, this doesn’t define your character. Your ability to keep going is what moulds you into a disciplined and strong person.

Get back on the horse as the expression goes.

***

Philip is a health nut, writer and trainer. His mission is to close the gap between health and philosophy. He is the upcoming author of the book The Stoic Body. What he is striving to do is combine the seemingly unrelated fields of nutrition and health in with the philosophical world and in particular, Stoicism.

The Philosophy Of Stoicism: 4 Lessons From Antiquity On Self-Discipline (dailystoic.com)