Cat Best at Stock Picking

Investments: Orlando is the cat's whiskers of stock picking | Money | The Observer: "The Observer's panel of stock-picking professionals has been undone in our 2012 investment challenge by a ginger feline called Orlando who spent time paw-ing over the FT.The Observer portfolio challenge pitted professionals Justin Urquhart Stewart of wealth managers Seven Investment Management, Paul Kavanagh of stockbrokers Killick & Co, and Schroders fund manager Andy Brough against students from John Warner School in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire – and Orlando ... A spokeswoman for Orlando said he was not available to give an interview because of a claws in his contract."


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Cats, Investing, Irrationality, Trend-following

Investing: Irrationality, trend-following, and cats | The Economist: " . . . . What can we learn from this? As a first approximation, you should avoid trying to time the market. Unless you are a hedge fund superstar, you are probably buying high and selling low, just like everyone else. You would be better off letting a cat manage your money. As a second approximation, you may want to try to test out an investment strategy based on discount rates. *We are not actually endorsing this strategy. Please do not blame us if it fails to work out for you.* Finally, the paper presents us with an interesting puzzle: why do discount rates do a good job of predicting asset returns despite their complete disconnect from investor expectations? One possibility raised by the authors is that companies respond to over-eager investors by issuing more shares, but this is not fleshed out. It seems like an interesting area for further research."


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KitTea, Cat Cafe, Gourmet Tea and a Furry Feline Welcome

A Furry Feline Welcome From A Cat Cafe : NPR: KitTea, a gourmet tea house in San Francisco, where patrons mingle with "resident" cats. The felines will come from rescue shelters and be up for adoption... Courtney Hatt, the co-founder of KitTea, on starting a cat cafe:

COURTNEY HATT: "So I was in a cafe and just lots of people around, but nobody was really interacting with each other, and that's when I came across the story about cat cafes in Japan and I thought, wow, that's kind of the cafe I want to be in right now versus where I am at the moment. I just thought this is something not only, like, interactive where people are not just interacting with the cats, but they're interacting with each other 'cause they have something in common. Sort of like when you go to a dog park, the people at the dog park talk to each other; where there's not really anything like that for people who have cats, and a lot of people in the city own cats. So that's when I decided to build this cafe startup where I could save cats and also create a space that's very Zen and relaxing for people with stressful jobs or who don't have access to our animal friends...."

KitTea: kitteasf.com


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Edward Snowden, Action Figure, Rector of Glasgow University

Snowden now an action figure and rector of Glasgow University 
National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden received accolades around the world. He was elected the rector of Scotland's prestigious Glasgow University, a mostly symbolic position he will hold for three years. Another new title for the former government contractor is a member of the board of directors for the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Among a plethora of awards he has been nominated for, he received the Sam Adams Associates Integrity Award in 2012, and was also nominated for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. And, as RT's Anastasia Churkina reports above, the 30-year-old also has a new action figure modeled after him.


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