There was some serious InCar Entertainment at the Street Cars Fest autumn show.
ICE at Street cars fest
Neil Hopcroft
A digital misfit
Street cars fest, autumn show
There was another Street Cars Fest, there were a few more proper street cars than last time, but still the older ones were more interesting than the modern machines.
Gamla Djurgården
Around the back of Gröna Lund is a small area called Gamla Djurgården, the old area of the Djurgården, which was built to house the performers coming to the fairground.
Book review: Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre
[Audiobook]
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre “Told through the fictional Larry Livingston—inspired by legendary trader Jesse Livermore—the book chronicles decades of Wall Street triumphs and disasters”
This book, over a hundred years old though it may be, is still referred to by many investors as a classic, an inspiration for their careers.
There are three parts, bucket shops, trading floor and market making, all of which have changed significantly since publication.
He cut his teeth in the bucket shops, where he learned to read the tickers and understand how stocks were going to move, then he moved to a trading floor where he got know about how the market was moved and some of the strategies used by other investors, finally he took on some market manipulation on behalf of some people who needed to move large amounts of stock.
The enduring nature of this book comes down to the detail it includes, not only what happened, but some explanation of his motivations. So although bucket shops don’t exist any more, we no longer have trading pits and market manipulation is illegal, there is a surprising amount of still-relevant information here.
What could easily have been three hundred pages of bragging is tempered by frank admission of failures, he busts out of the market several times and struggles to find a way back in, often treading on the toes of those who control his access.
Classic context for aspiring quants, although it won’t tell you how to run the numbers in the modern world.
Stockholm Chocolate Festival
We went to the Festival of Chocolate.
Take a seat
We found a Chaise Longue in a car park on Djurgården.
Some more Sigtuna runestones
There are some more runestones in Sigtuna.
Uppsala in the autumn
We took Stoo to Uppsala, when he came over last month.
Keeping up the good work
My aunt used to donate monthly to a charity that helped people obtain finance in places where ‘our normal financial institutions’ do not reach. I want to continue with this spirit of helping those who struggle to access financial resources, so I have taken another look at https://www.kiva.org/
I know there are ethical concerns around the kind of finance provided by the local lenders associated with Kiva, and I do worry about the interest rates that some of the money is leant out at. The borrowers seem like genuine people who would otherwise not have access to such finance, so tipping the balance in their favour seems like what I want to do.
The way Kiva works is not as an investment vehicle, I am making no gain by lending money, though there are lending partners who are, instead I am taking on some of the risk, making that more palatable to those lending partners, allowing them to lend to people with worse risk profiles.
So far I have made three loans:
- Bakhtbek, Kyrgyzstan
- Dorothy, Uganda
- Sunshine, Philipines
My plan is to add $25 per month to loan out, relending the repaid capital. I aim to focus on individuals where small loans could make a big impact on their lives.
If you have suggestions for similar organisations with a better ethical stance, let me know. Kiva is something I have been vaguely following for a few years, and I like the spirit of it, but the interaction with local lenders does give me pause.
Eskilstuna
Eskilstuna is a small town on the shores of Lake Mälaren.
