It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt
Australian Iron Ored Producers Cost Curve 2024
RBA Between Scylla and Charybdis
Increased participation rate, strong 3 months rolling full-time employment with inflation sticky in the mid-3s against some anecdotal consumer weakness. Might take a little more time for conditions to soften.
ART moving those under 50 into High Growth from Balanced for its MySuper Option
Australian Retirement Trust (ART) plans to move 1.4m members[1] under 50 invested in the MySuper option from balanced to high-growth. The MySuper default option is chosen for members if members do not elect an asset allocation strategy. It is mostly the balanced option. Whilst a good initiative from ART, it should be mandated by the government as part of its MySuper policy as it would be a better fit-for-purpose policy as we have previously argued[2]. This is especially true for the younger demographic who are decades away from retirement and more disengaged from super decisions. Our age-based switching strategy suggestion (listed below) is not far from what was suggested by ART, except for the balance to conservative section, which ART did not elect to pursue. We still think that going from balance to conservative has its advantages from a portfolio stabilization perspective, especially during the retirement phase of life when pension payment stability/ability takes precedence over accumulation.
| Age Range | Asset Allocation Choices |
| Below 55 | Growth |
| Between 55 and 70 | Balance |
| Over 70 | Conservative |
Furthermore, a government mandate age switching would preserve the homogeneity of the MySuper option, allowing for better apples-to-apples comparisons for the consumer. Perhaps an industry norm will develop going forward.
[1] This represents 8% of the working-age population in Australia.
[2] https://bambootrading.com.au/aged-based-asset-allocation-strategy/
10 Stages of Genocide
- Classification.
‘Us & them” categorization
- Symbolization.
Swastikas, Yellow Star
- Discrimination.
Deny rights to other groups.
- Dehumanization.
Equate other groups with vermin, diseases or insects.
- Organisation.
By State, militia or paramilitary force.
- Polarisation.
Propaganda that promotes extremism. Laws forbidding intermarriage or social interaction.
- Preparation.
Final solution paradigm.
- Persecution.
Identified and separated.
- Extermination.
Mass Killings aka genocide.
- Denial.
Deny that the crime has been committed. Destroy the evidence. Obfuscate the truth.
Dr Gregory H. Stanton Genocide Watch.
Herman Göring on War
During the Nuremberg Trails, Gustave Gilbert, an American psychologist told Herman Göring that the average person did not want to be dragged into war, Göring’s response was “Why, of course, the people don’t want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to the farm in one piece? … It is always a simple matter to drag the people along .. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to greater danger”
Excerpt from Sinai, J. (2022) Walter Barbara F. How Civil Wars Start – and How to Stop Them.
“Those who can make you believe in absurdities can make you commit atrocities”
-Voltaire
Notes on the book in the link below:
https://bambootrading.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/How-Civil-War-Starts-Barbara-Walters.pdf
Dimension of Populism
No sign of a bottom for beleaguered property funds
“Days before the end of the 2024 financial year, Dexus sold out of a stake in Sydney’s 5 Martin Place that it owned jointly with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for $310 million after an extended negotiation period, 34 per cent less than the building’s peak value.”[1]
“Dexus, one of the biggest landlords, indicated values across its entire office portfolio would be written down by more than 11 per cent over the past six months.”[2]
[1] Kwan, Campbell, “Office funds post their worst performance since GFC”, Australian Financial Review, 16Jul2024
[2] Ibid
A Martial Arts Story
A martial arts student went to his teacher and said earnestly, “I am devoted to studying your system. How long will it take to master it? The teacher replied casually, “Ten Years”.
Impatiently, the student answered, “But I want to master it faster. I will work hard. I will practice every day, ten or more hours a day if I have to. How long will it take then?”
The teacher thought for a moment and said ‘Twenty Years”
Expectation vs Agreement
Great audio by Steve Chandler, please see below for his Linkedin profile and the mp3.
In attempting to translate one’s expectation into an agreement, it gives the expectation a reality test. If the expectation can be accommodated or translatable into reality, it is feasible. If the expectation cannot transition to reality, it requires modification or elimination. Depending on the person and expectation, the modification or deletion could be a herculean effort. However, changing their environment/reality to accommodate their expectation, could also be a herculean effort or an impossibility. Cognitive dissonance will remain if both are left unsettled. Depending on the situation, from an energy/resource/effort perspective, it is often always easier to change or eliminate one’s expectations.