Author: Editor

Asset Allocation Models – Protect Your Investment

Here is how to protect your investment with different models of asset allocation

By Guy Avtalyon

Asset allocation models are the way to split your investment into different asset classes: stocks, mutual funds, bonds, private equity, etc. That will give you the possibility to lessen the risk of your investment. Every asset class carries some level of risk but different. For example, if the value of bonds rises, the stocks will fall. When the market is falling, real estate may provide you a nice return.

The point is to have a diversified portfolio built by the asset allocation model among asset classes. Every investor has its own model of asset allocation. It is based on individual investing goals and risk tolerance.

Also, personal asset classes can be separated into different sectors.

You can use different types of asset allocation models.

Asset allocation model created by your needs

For example, for some investors equities are more favorable than other asset classes. Or if you are in serious ages you may prefer to put your money in some source of fixed income that can provide you stable retirement income because your goal is to save what you earned during your working life. Thus, you are not worried about market fluctuations. So, you may have the majority of your portfolio in stocks.
But if you are a younger investor you may prefer some investment with faster returns.

What are the different models

Most asset allocation models come into four models: growth, preservation of capital, income, balanced.

The growth asset allocation model is suitable for beginners interested in long-term investments. If you are at the beginning of your professional career you will be interested to deposit some amount every year in long-term investment such as common stocks that may not pay you dividends but can be good in the long run. Fund managers could advise you to invest in some foreign equities to diversify your portfolio.

But if you want to preserve your capital you will like some other model of asset allocation, like preservation of capital. This model will suit you if you want to avoid risk to lose even a small part of your investment because you would like to use it in the next 12 months, for example, to buy a house. In this case, your investment portfolio will have about 80% in treasuries or commercial papers. There is some risk in this model of asset allocation due to the inflation that can lessen your buying power. Think about that.

Income as an asset allocation model

The usual income investor comes from a group of people near retirement because the need for cash in hand is of essential importance.

The balanced model of asset allocation is kind of halfway between income and growth. It is a compromise between long-term growth and current income. This mixture of assets that can provide cash but also the growth of principal value.

Balanced portfolios is built of medium-term investment and stocks of well-established companies.

The investor’s needs may change during the time.

The asset allocation will follow that change. For that reason, it is always smart to switch a portion of your investments before the important life changes. Do it occasionally. For example, you could move 10% of your investments to the income allocation model yearly as you are approaching retirement. So, you will have the whole of your portfolio adjusted to your new goals.

8th September 2019
Limit order vs Market order – When and How to Use

3 min read

When you are buying or selling a stock, you have two main ways to define the price you want to trade. You can choose the market order and the limit order. If you choose the market order, you trade the stock at the current price, whatever it is. By using a limit order, you can set a price and when the stock meets it you can say the trade is executed.

This is the basic difference. But to understand more, several things must be taken into consideration.

Limit order gives you the price you want

The benefit of the limit order is that you can set your price. When the stock meets that price, the order will be executed. It is usual to set a limit order to be executed in a frame of 3 months after you enter the position.

A limit order can be placed for buy or sell a stock at a particular price. A buy limit order will be filled only at the limit price or below. Hence, a sell limit order will be filled at the limit price or more expensive. For example, you want to buy the stock at $20 or less and you place a limit order for this sum. The order will be executed if the price of the stock is at $20 or below.

The disadvantage is that you are not promised to trade the stock.

In case the stock never hits the limit price, the trade will not be executed.

The other problem may arise if there is not adequate demand or supply to fill the order. That could be the case with illiquid stocks Also, the stock price may change during the 3 months and your trade may be fulfilled at a price extremely changed from what you could have made.

For example, you want to sell some company stock at, say at $90. Those stocks are suddenly traded from $85 up to $120. But your limit order is at $90. So, what can you do? Be informed on a daily base to avoid to end up with less money when you can get more.

The opposite can occur with a limit order to buy. You may be forced to buy at a costlier price than you think the stock is worth.

Use a limit order when you want to name your price a much different from the current. The other reason, you aspire to trade stocks that are illiquid. Also in the case when the bid-ask spread is great or you are trading a large number of shares.

A market order is executed quickly

The biggest benefit of a market order is that it can be executed quickly since you are choosing the best price possible at that time. The market order will be executed no matter what price the seller is asking or the buyer is offering.

The most important disadvantage of the market order is that you can not determine the price of the trade. It may influence if the price changes fast which could lead you to end up trading at a much-changed price from when you placed the order.

For example, you placed the market order after the closing hours. Suddenly, over the weekend, the stock price increased. What you have to do is to cancel your market order before the market’s opening.

Also, the lack of buyers or sellers able to cover your order may cause the price to increase or decrease.

Use a market order if you want an immediate fulfilling at any price or you are trading an extremely liquid stock. Also, if you trade several shares, meaning less than 100.

Limit order vs Market order

Limit orders will help you to save money on commissions. But you can save your money by a buy-and-hold approach to your investment.

Both limit order vs market order has its drawbacks and advantages. The final selection depends on you. The limit order can be expensive. A market order is simple to execute but can be a difficult choice during volatile market circumstances.

6th September 2019
How to Calculate the Loss and Profit
2 min read

(Updated October 2021)

It is always useful to discover the percentage rise or drop. That is called profit and loss.
To calculate profit and loss we have to make clear some terms involved in the calculation.

We will use the stock as an example.

* Cost Price ( CP): The price at which you buy a stock is the cost price. That is the amount paid for purchasing stock.

* Selling price (SP): The Price at which you sell a stock is the sales price. That is the amount received when a stock is sold.

* Profit (also the gain): You get a profit when you sell a stock at a price higher than its cost price. You will like to sell your stock at a higher price. CP < SP

* Loss: If you sell a stock at a price lower than buying price, then you caught a loss. CP > SP

The percentage of profit or loss is always calculated on the cost price.

The formula for profit is

Profit = SP – CP

The formula for loss is

Loss = CP – SP

Let’s calculate the percentage of loss and the percentage profit. Percentage Loss and Percentage Profit are calculated based on CP

Profit% = (Profit/CP) × 100

Loss% = (Loss/CP) × 100

For example, one trader purchased a share of stocks for $1.000 and then sold it or $1.250.

What is the profit and profit in percentages? Is it 3%, 15%, 18%, 20%, 25%?

OK, this is basic.

The words “purchasing” or “buying” are indicated as CP, cost price.

In our case, CP is $1,000.

The trader sold the stock at $1.250.

The word “sell” is indicated as SP, selling price.

In our case, SP is $1.250.

We can easily find the profit. It is SP – CP, so

profit = $1.250 – $1.000 = $250

Don’t miss this What Is APY and How to Calculate it

Now, we have to find the profit percentage.

The formula is

[(profit)/CPx100]

so

[(250/1000)x100] = 25%

Our trader made a 25% profit in this transaction.

But what would happen if our trader sold the stock at $800?

CP is $1.000

SP is $800

loss = CP – SP

loss = $1000 – $800 = $200

or

[(200/1000)x100] = 20%

The trader’s loss is 20%.

Calculate the Loss and Profit in Percentages
- Divide the amount that you have profited on the investment by the amount invested. To calculate the profit, subtract from the price for which you sold the price that you initially paid for it.
- Now that you have your profit, divide the profit by the initial amount of the investment.
- The last step, multiply the number you got by 100 to see the percentage difference in the investment.
If the percentage is negative, you have lost on your trading. If the percentage is positive, you made a profit on your trade.

By calculating the profit or loss you are actually estimating the change. Our calculation is based on the relationship between the selling price, and cost price. The difference shows if we are making a profit from the transaction or will we have a loss.

You would like to READ: Gordon Growth Model – Mathematics of Trading
6th September 2019
Limit Orders – Use Them to Buy or Sell Stocks

3 min read

The limit orders are a type of orders in the stock market that lets traders to sets the wanted price at which they want to buy or sell the stock. In this way, the traders have more control for the execution of price, especially during the volatility. Possibility to specify their own price by using a limit order is a better choice than a market order. By using the market order traders can only choose the price but not to define it.

A limit order can be modified until it is completed.

It is intentionally practiced to get a guaranteed better price. So, it has to be put on the exact side of the market.

Buy and Sell Limit Orders

Buy limit order must be set at a price lower than the current market price. Hence, the sell limit order has to be set at a price higher than the current market price.

For example, you want to buy 100 stocks, but you have a limit of $30 or below. If you want to sell that stocks at $35 that will not happen until the price of $35 is reached or it is more than $35.

A limit order means that you want to sell or buy some stocks only at the price which you put in your limit order.

It differs from a market order because the market order fulfills your buy or sell transaction instantly despite the price. Honestly, sometimes brokers don’t like limit orders. Your limit order will have good treatment only if the price is the best ask or bid price and your stocks will be sold very fast. But, if it is not, well, you will wait to come to the top of your broker’s list.

Some traders believe that limit orders have some defects but the others are convinced they are their best weapon. The most important feature of limit orders is that your order will be executed only at the price you placed, or better.

How to place a trade

Chart Image Source: StreetSmart Edge®

A limit order has five elements buy or sell as the first, number of shares, security, type of order and price.

For instance, if you want to buy 100 shares of stock and you want to pay $35 each. Your limit buy order would be expressed as – Buy 100 shares (ticker symbol should be added) limit $35.

This order indicates the market that you want to buy 100 shares, but without a doubt, you will not pay more than $35 per share.

The benefit of the limit orders is that your order will not be filled above the price you set but the price may drop and you can pay your shares at a cheaper price, lower than $35 as you placed. So, you see, the limit orders are not fixed orders.

The same thing comes for a limit sell order. When you open a limit sell order for $35, your stock will not be traded for less than the amount you set per share. When the stock grows over the set price before your order is fulfilled, you may earn more because the stocks you want to sell reached a higher price before the transaction was executed.

You will need the experience to recognize where to set limit orders. First, never set limit buy order too low. Why is that, you don’t have money? If you do that who will sell you the stock at that too low price? In that case, your order will never be filled.

The point of using limit orders is to protect yourself from buying a stock at too high or selling at a too low price. Keep in your mind, if the stock’s price never meets your limit price, your trade will not be executed.

The limit order could be a problem if you don’t pay attention to the market.

Here is a strategy, not very creative, but works.

Let’s say you placed a sell limit order at $3 over the market price. At the same time, you set a buy limit order at $3 under the market price. You will make a profit in any scenario.

But what if the price jumps for $10 per share?

Sadly, you missed the additional $7. Can you assume the opposite of this situation? The stock fell and your buy limit order was fulfilled as the stock was in a drop.

Limit orders are wonderful tools, but they are not absolutely sure-fire. In a volatile market, limit orders may be painful due to the possibility to be executed too soon.

The best way is to set a limit order that is not connected to daily price changes. The point is to have even minimum control over the price.

5th September 2019
Stop-loss Order Means How Much Are You Willing to Lose On a Trade

Stop-loss order is an easy and powerful tool when used properly. Find how to do that.

By Guy Avtalyon

Stop-Loss orders are suitable when conditions in the market get a bit out of control. If you never place the stop-loss order the risk potential is huge. You may lose everything.

The main characteristic of a stop-loss order is that it becomes a market order. It can happen when the price of your security is selling at or under the stop price. So, a stop-loss order is a great protection against falls in the value of your stock. Stock investing is risky, but you can control it and protect it with a stop-loss order. Wise investors always use stops. The others stay with losses. The stop-loss is an easy but powerful tool that will protect you when an unexpected turn in the market occurs.

How does Stop-loss Order work?

For example, you hold a stock of some company and it is currently trading at $30. But your stock is volatile and you place a stop-loss order at $20. If the price of your stock drop at or below $20, your order will become a market order and you’ll be able to sell your stock instantly at the best possible price.

If you want to be a day trader, for example, you have to place a stop-loss order on your every trade. The stop-loss order will tell you how much you can lose on a trade. So, you have to know how to calculate your stop loss. You have to determine precisely where your stop-loss order will go.

Basically, a stop-loss order is a method of investment risk management.

A stop-loss order is when you define a particular step to be taken at a particular price. For example, you bought a stock at $50 and you placed a stop-loss order at $40. This means your stock will be sold when the price drop to $40. Of course, you may place the stop-loss order at any price.

But not all is ideal with this order.

Stop-loss orders are static. They don’t move. Imagine the following situation. You set a stop-loss order at $40 but the stock price goes up at $80, which is much more than you bought it. In this case, when your stop-loss order is at $40 your protection is worthless.

How to calculate stop-loss?

A stop-loss order is created to reduce your loss. For example, if you place a stop-loss order for 15% below the original purchase price, your potential loss will be limited to15%. For instance, you bought a stock at $100. What you have to do is to set a stop-loss immediately after buying and you set it at $85. This is important in case the price of your stock falls below $85. Your stop-loss will automatically be recognized as market price and even if the stock continues to fall, you will obtain your $85 per stock or the amount close to it.

You may choose whatever percentage you want, all is up to you.

Some advisors will tell you to set a stop-loss order at 10%. But if you think your stock is a good player you may decide to take more risk and set a stop-loss at 20, 30, or even 50%. For long-term investors, this may be a good solution, the bigger percentage will give space to the range and enough time to annulate the losses that can occur over time because they have a bigger investment horizon and have hope for a great return one day.

But if you are a day trader just avoid big percentage, 10% of the initial price is quite a good solution to protect your trade.

Defining a stop-loss order placing is all about targeting an individual risk potential. You should determine this price to limit loss. That’s the point.

How to place stop-loss orders when trading

Stop-loss orders are usually market orders, as we said. But if your stock doesn’t have a buyer at that price you may end with a lower price. That is slippage.

Stop-loss points shouldn’t be set at unplanned positions. Placing them is a strategy that should be based on your experience with different methods. This means you must have a trading plan. You have to know how to find the best way to enter the trade, how to control the risk, and how and when to exit the trade.

If you are a beginner, just use a simple stop-loss strategy. That will give you the opportunity for the price to move in your benefit. Also, the simple stop-loss strategy will diminish your loss promptly if the price goes against you.

Where to set stop-loss orders when buying

One of the easiest ways is to set it below a swing low. A swing low happens when the price drops and then hops. That is the price support at some level.
When you buy, the swing lows should be going upward.

Where to set a stop-loss order when selling

Set it above a swing high. A swing high happens when the price grows and then drops. That is resistance.
If you want short selling the swing highs should be going downward.

What is important with stop-loss orders

There are several things you have to know about stop-loss orders.
They are not suitable for dynamic traders and large chunks of stock because you can lose more in the long run.
You must be sure that your stop-loss order has confirmation, never assume.

5th September 2019
What Is EMA in Stock Trading?
5 min read

by Gorica Gligorijevic

EMA in stock trading is a tool for tracking the progress of stock prices. Term EMA is actually the exponential moving average.

Moving average should be one of the crucial parts of your education as a stock trader. But EMA differs from simple MA.

EMA is created from an easy mathematical equation. Nevertheless, it is one of the most valuable and relevant chart indicators. By using EMA in stock trading you can easily recognize buy and sell signals and build an individual technical stocks trading method.

EMA is related to historical data of closing prices. The information given by EMA is extremely helpful because those data provide you to determine trends and find future price action. EMA is a data point.

Since EMA is moving average, let us evaluating Moving Averages.

It is easy to find a simple moving average or SMA. All you have to do is to sum all closing prices in some period, for example, 10-days. That number now, divide by 10. The result is SMA.

Also, you can use the chart and add changes in every single trade every day. After, in our case 10 days, will show you the trend in the average closing price. The SMA line trending upward shows stock is rallying, and vice versa, the SMA line trending downward, shows a stock falling in prices.

Exactly, the EMA shows the current price trend.

The longer the period covered by the EMA, the lower the relative weighting for recent trading.

EMA chart lines such as 10-days can be used to simply see stock price trends. The slope of the EMA line will show you if the stock is in an up or downtrend. One interesting image may appear in the chart, it is the cross. When the price hits an EMA line and passes it, you can recognize the cross. That is the sign of a reversal trend.

EMA line for a short period as in our example is, can tell when the trend is changing. The other EMA lines for 50-days or 200-days periods shows resistance and support levels for the stock price.

How to use EMA for trading strategy?

By drawing EMA and SMA on the chart, you can detect a potential shift in a stock price. If you notice the EMA line crosses over SMA line you can be sure the price is reversing from the current trend. Moreover, SMA will show you the support level and resistance level.

To remind you, the support level is the point when the price is falling, and the resistance level is the point where the price starts to rise.

The best moment to enter the trade is just when the price breaks the trend line or bounces against it and reverses. These points are made by crossing the EMA line and that is the reason why EMA is called a data point.

How to calculate the EMA

First, measure the SMA over an appropriate time period. It is the total of the stock’s closing price divided by the same number of periods. For example, a 10-day SMA is simply the amount of the closing prices for the last 10 trading days, divided by 10.

The formula is

SMA = (N−period sum) / N

N is the number of days in a specified period

the sum represents the sum of stock closing prices in the observed period

Further is somehow more complicated but not impossible :).

Calculate the multiplier for weighting the EMA.

The weighted multiplier is calculated as

2÷(selected time period+1)

2÷(10+1) = 0.1818 which is 18.18% in percentages.

[2 ÷ (selected time period + 1)]

or

[2/(10+1)]= 0.1818

And the last step. To calculate the EMA, use this formula

[Closing price-EMA (prior day)] x multiplier + EMA (prior day)

Let’s calculate the EMA in stock trading:

EMA=Price(t)×k+EMA(y)×(1−k)

The legend:

t – today

y – yesterday

N – number of days in EMA

k – 2÷(N+1)

Bottom line

Due to different trading strategies, underlying security, and traders affinities, you can find different types of moving averages. But one thing is sure, EMA is extremely popular because it gives more power to current prices, and has more advantages than other averages.

EMA relies entirely on historical data. Some economists think that market prices carry all information. According to them, we don’t need EMA because the historical data will tell us nothing about the price movements in the future. Also, there is the question of where to put more attention. On the current data or past data. Some traders think that fresh data quite good match the current trends.

But one thing is sure: EMA is popular. If it cannot provide a good result, why traders would use it.
- Chart source: TradingView
4th September 2019
Take Profit Order – Limit Your Risk

3 min read

Take Profit order or shorter TP is extremely essential element in all tradings. How to place the Take profit order? The question of how to place stop-loss order is one and those two are related and connected.
So we have to make some distinctions.

Stop-loss order linked to the risk when you take a position.

Take profit is related to the gain for your open position.

Both of these elements form what we call – money management. We told you about Stop-Loss in the prior posts. In case you missed it, you can read it HERE or HERE.

But let’s stay awhile with the definition of “Take Profit” order.

Take Profit order is a limit order. Traders use it to close a position when the market touches a specific price level. To be more clear. Take profit represents the reward that a trader planned before taking a position. Take Profit order has to follow, must go in the same direction as the market. The trader is free to define the level of reward depending on his/her feeling of how much risk is taken to obtain adequate profit.

Take Profit order is similar to Stop Loss order, meaning, it is an exit order. Yet, Stop Loss order will limit your loss on a trade, but Take Profit means a price at which a successful trade will be automatically closed. To make this simpler – Take Profit is your profit target. That is the reason why you always have to set Take Profit order at the level you are expecting the price will catch. When you buy, for example, a stock, your Take Profit order must be higher than the current price. But if you are selling a stock, your Take Profit order should be below the current price.

Yes, we know you have an excellent idea.

But do you know how to place a Take Profit order?

If you do it wrong, you will not make a sufficient profit.

Levels of resistance and support will help you to place a proper TP. This strategy is the most successful and we will show you why.

First, locate a resistance level in your chart. Then place a Take Profit order a bit below the resistance. In this way, when you place TP under the resistance level, you will increase your chances to match the level that the price will hit. The next step is simple, just close your position and make a profit. This profit will always be higher.

This is in case you notice an upward trend. But if you notice a downward trend, you have to determine a support level.

In that case, TP has to be a bit over the support.

Contrary to the situation with resistance, a TP level should be a bit over the support.

Experienced traders have some TP tips. One of them is that the TP must be 2 or 3 times of the SL value. But this advice is doubtful. You have to consider more indicators, not just one. If you are trading Forex, this strategy will work for you.

But if you are trading stocks some other rules are more convenient.

You will make the most gains in the 20%-25% range.

If you see a notable increase of 20% to 25% – sell.

Why this 20%-25% range?

Stocks tend to rise 20% to 25% after breaking out the support, then fail and set up new support. Sometimes this game resumes their progress.

In Traders-Paradise’s Full Trading & Investing Course – Secrets Revealed

(don’t forget to subscribe while it is free of charge, the time is limited) you find a fantastic lesson about the rules and among them an explanation of the Rule of 72.

Following Rule 72 you can easily calculate why the 20% to 25% is adequate Profit take range.

How to calculate?

Divide 72 by the percentage gain you have in stock. The result will show you how many times you have to compound that gain to double your capital. Let’s say you get 3. Re-invest your capital plus gains 3 times. You will double your money easier than to make 100% profit from one stock. The net profit will be greater. But as we mentioned, you have this all and detailed explained in Traders-Paradise’s Full Trading & Investing Course – Secrets Revealed

Why place a Profit Target?

Determining where to exit before trade begins allows you to calculate the risk/reward ratio.

The stop-loss defines the possible loss on a trade. But the profit target defines the possible profit. Logically, the possible reward should exceed the risk.

By trading with a profit target, it is possible to estimate whether a trade is worth taking. If the profit potential doesn’t exceed the risk, don’t take a trade. By establishing a profit target you can eliminate weak trades.

4th September 2019
The Low-Interest Rates Could Lead You to Great Earnings

3 min read

When interest rates are low you may think: Oh, what a good opportunity. Loans are cheaper, banks or and peer to peer sites will fight for loan clients. Yes, at some point of view and for a short time it is favorable.

But on the other side, the low-interest rate means lowering returns for lenders. If interest rates are low for a long time, where is the benefit for lenders? That is the very clear relationship between demand and supply. Low-interest rates can damage lenders, and the borrowers can be damaged too because borrowing money becomes difficult.

In periods when the interest rate is low, banks are in a difficult situation. They don’t have a strong deposit base, the income from loans is lower too which causes the banks to don’t want to take a risk by giving cheap loans to borrowers with the lower credit rating.

And here we come to the point. It is difficult to finance, for example, small businesses, and investing becomes more difficult too. But not impossible yet.

Low-interest rates inhibit investors from putting money in savings accounts. They rather use the funds to pay their debts or use their money to invest in shares or buy some property.

For example, if the interest rate on deposit is about 1%, why would you put your money on savings? The better choice is to buy shares, the return is bigger.

Instead to put your money on your saving account, invest it

When the interest rate is low, investing is a great opportunity for many people. The truth is, if you put your money in the bank, the returns will not follow the inflation rate. Investing demand more risk, that’s the fact. But the returns, if not defeat the inflation, will follow the speed of it.

You don’t want to miss this: Economic downturn – How to prepare for it

The point is that you will take more risks to get bigger returns. How much risk you should take and stay calm? You can decrease risk by diversifying your investment portfolio. Investing in higher-risk assets gives higher returns.

So, where to invest when you withdraw your money from the bank account?

The most popular are bonds and stocks that are paying dividends.

The yield is what every single investor wants, no matter if it is an individual investor or institutional. The aim is the same.

Invest in fixed income assets, that will give you a high return. But if you invest in different asset classes, meaning you build a diversified portfolio which is the best strategy, you may be sure you will have increased yields.

In any case, bigger than if you leave your money in the bank while the interest rate is low.

The stock market is one of the best long term capital raising opportunities.

Yes, the stock market levels are high at this moment. To explain this. When interest rate drops, people will think they are safe and accumulate their capital or savings into stocks.

This action is driving the markets higher. The demand is bigger and the prices are high.

Increased stock markets are a difficulty for many people. So, what you have to do is to keep your money for a while, just wait for the market correction or invest for the long term. The long-term investing is a good choice because how could you know the market will weaken.

The stock market doesn’t like high-interest rates but likes the low-interest rates. High-interest rates can boost costs for companies which can lead to lower profits, hence lower stock prices. But it is a great opportunity for everyone who wants to buy. Low-interest rate rises the price of the stocks because the people will rather invest in stocks than to keep their money in the banks. So, the demand is bigger, hence stocks prices are higher.

The worse scenario is to leave the money in the bank during the period of low-interest rate or inflation. You don’t want to watch how smart people defeated inflation and you were the victim. Don’t be the looker-on, take your place in the game.

3rd September 2019
The Boys Are Not All Right

3 min read

History of the Silicon Valley goes as far back to ancient 1951 when the dean of the School of Engineering at Stanford, Frederick Terman, has spearheaded the creation of the Stanford Industrial Park. Place where Stanford University was leasing the office space to nascent high-tech companies. Hewlett-Packard, General Electric, Eastman Kodak, and Lockheed were some of the very first tenants.

It was also a place where the silicon transistor was born, integrated circuits, MOSFET, the concept of the Intergalactic Computer Network, video games, and many other things without which we couldn’t imagine the modern life. Once it was a hotbed of innovation, the forefront of technological progress, today it is a shadow of its former self.

Silicon Valley today is more of a state of mind

Though the southern part of the San Francisco Bay still exists, and towns like Palo Alto, Cupertino, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, and others of the Santa Clara County; Silicon Valley today is more of a state of mind than a physical place.

Back in the day, it was inhabited by people who had extraordinary talent and knowledge of everything techy and sciency, the geeks. Today, by know-it-all Bros who will from time to time get some very bright ideas.

For example to make a steel one person cigar-shaped submarine for rescuing people trapped in an underwater cave. And to pretend that it can swing around the bend in a submerged tunnel, where a U shaped bend is roughly twice the circumference of the submarine. And when subjected to the public criticism of such an “ingenious” piece of engineering, the Silicon Valley mentality demands that one hurls the most abhorrent insults at one’s critics. After all the Bro knows it all, he’s a software engineer.

We come to Elon Musk

And yes, Elon Musk is a prime example of everything that is wrong about the Silicon Valley mentality. That, born in the primordial soup of buzzwords and overhyped software applications, arrogant attitude that any problem in the world could be solved by a software engineer.

But reality has a nasty habit of rearing its ugly face. Especially when software engineers try to solve hardware problems.

For example Tesla Model 3’s rear wheel arches.

According to Sandy Munro of Munro and Associates, a manufacturing analyst company with analyzing more than 400 models of various manufacturers under their belt, they are made out of 9 separate parts which are welded, glued or riveted to each other. Other car manufacturers make this body part out of a single piece of sheet metal.

Also, Model 3 features some of the body sub-assemblies which are made out of parts joined together in several ways, welding, glueing, riveting or bolting. Sometimes using all four of them. Something which is utterly foreign to other car manufacturers, who prefer to use one joining technique throughout the sub-assemblies as such a solution keeps manufacturing costs as low as possible. Overall, Mr. Munro has suggested 227 practices which are standard for car manufacturing, and which would lower production costs of Model 3 by at least $2,000. “This body is their single biggest problem. It’s killing them.” Those are the words of manufacturing analyst, Sandy Munro.

But, why is it so?

By all appearances because Tesla has a corporate mentality characteristic for Silicon Valley. From what an observer can deduce, they prefer to hire software engineers over car engineers. While in the past five years many big engineering names from the likes of Ferrari, Mercedes, BMW, Peugeot… were poached by their competitors, none of them was snatched by Tesla.

By all appearances, Tesla is throwing software engineers at car manufacturing problems. And those boys lack the old school knowledge of car engineering and production. But they have a quite ample attitude. For example, about their Autopilot system. On the official webpage, it is described quite dubiously capable, even though featuring a warning that the Autopilot features “do not make the vehicle autonomous”.

Fake it till you make it

The system is touted as having 40x computing power of the previous system, features the Autosteer+, it is twice this and thrice that, and all “new Tesla cars have the hardware needed in the future for full self-driving in almost all circumstances”. And that is the lingo of Silicon Valley mentality, overstate everything no matter what, and curb the confusing and often misleading language just enough to satisfy the regulators. Convince the potential customers that your widget is the life-changing experience, without which their lives have no meaning.

The Silicon Valley Mentality of Boys.

Disruptiveness, insurgent, start-up, “fake it till you make” it are the epitomes of it. It’s a place where everyone can be miserable. Where working “9 to 5” means from 9 am to 5 am. Place where every CEO is the man who will fundamentally change our world and way of life with his “disruptive app”.

3rd September 2019
Leonardo DiCaprio As Environmentally Responsible Investor

Celebrities like to be connected to famous brands but only a few are investors. This is one of them.

By Gorica Gligorijevic

Leonardo DiCaprio became an investor and advisor to an environmentally responsible financial business this spring.

The Aspiration company seeks to provide users with a socially responsible option to conventional banks.

“Each year, $100 billion worth of pipelines, drilling, and other fossil fuel-extraction projects are funded with money deposited at traditional banks,” DiCaprio said in a comment. “To bring about long-term solutions for our planet, we need alternatives that empower everyday consumers to take action against climate change,” added the famous actor.

This investment is the latest in a series of environmental aims for the actor. DiCaprio also signed on to advise a climate technology fund, a venture capital firm Princeville Capital. DiCaprio already has experience as an advisor, he helps to the same profiled start-up Bluon Energy.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s investment portfolio is wide-ranging.

He supports businesses from virtual reality ventures to organic drinks companies. Moreover, he founded the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, an organization committed to the stability and “wellbeing of all Earth’s inhabitants.”

Leonardo DiCaprio Investor

Mobli

In 2011, DiCaprio managed a $4m funding round in Mobli. It is a company founded by Israeli businesspeople and Moshe and Oded Hogeg. It is a website for sharing photos and videos providing users to interact with visual data. Di Caprio was very excited about this investment.

“I’m very excited to be a part of Mobli,” he said.

Unfortunately, Mobli bankrupted in 2016. The race against rivals Vine and Instagram were lost.

Cue

Only three years later, DiCaprio contributed to a $7.5m funding round in start-up Cue.

In an effort to develop a home health monitoring system, the company develops a variety of technologies with that purpose. One of the most important products is wireless diagnostic equipment that enables users to monitor their own health.

Runa

DiCaprio invested in organic beverage firm Runa.

The company uses guayusa (gwhy-you-sa), a leaf that is found practically only in the Amazonian forests in Ecuador to produce tea and energy drinks. That was a support to the 3,000 families that grow it and the Runa company hired them all.

“Sustainable farming practices are key to helping ensure a brighter future for so many local people,” stated DiCaprio.

MindMaze

MindMaze is a Switzerland-based high-tech start-up. We found on their website:

“MindMaze builds intuitive human-machine interfaces through its breakthrough neuro-inspired computing platform. Our innovations at the intersection of neuroscience, mixed reality, and artificial intelligence are poised to transform multiple industries.”

This product can be very helpful in the movie industry, and that was DiCaprio’s opinion too:

“I am excited about the possibilities of MindMaze’s technology, especially for its potential to be a driving force in media and entertainment in the years to come.”

He invested in this company in 2017.

Casper

In the same year, he took part in a $55m funding round for this online mattress company. Thanks to his engagement along with Tobey Maguire, 50 Cent, and Adam Levine, the company surpass $500m in value that year.

Casper is founded in 2013 in New York-based. They are selling mattresses, pillows, and sheets online.

Diamond Foundry

Two years before Casper, DiCaprio invested in the Diamond Foundry.

The company creates diamonds by using plasma reactors and eliminates human labor, which is usually connected to this process.

After he invested, DiCaprio posted on his Facebook profile: “I’m proud to invest in Diamond Foundry – a company that is reducing the human and environmental toll of the diamond industry – by sustainably culturing diamonds without the destructive use of mining.”

Kingo

Last year, in 2018, DiCaprio invested in a solar power company Kingo based in Guatemala.

The company installs solar capacity in rural regions. In that way produced energy costs less per hour than the people would have to pay for a single candle.

Kingo is currently powering 60,000 homes and every month has a new 7,000 users.

As we can see Leonardo DiCaprio investor is focused on environmentally responsible businesses. This famous actor, born in 1974 in Los Angeles is known for his roles in Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time in Hollywood today, or previous Catch Me If You Can, The Wolf of Wall Street, Blood Diamond, The Great Gatsby, Gangs of New York, and many others, is a socially responsible investor. Respect!

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2nd September 2019