Readings & Viewings

Welcome to this week's Readings & Viewings, a collection of news, analysis and other interesting snippets we've spotted from around the world during the latest week for your reading pleasure.

Bank of America is banking on the economy surging next year – markets, not so much. This has something to do with the Da Vinci theory.

With all this talk of Trump repealing Obamacare in the US, this article claims the only certainty in the healthcare industry right now is that it's going through a period of consolidation. Whether the average American will benefit in the end is anyone's guess.

Despite sky-high prices, in historical terms at least, M&A activity is accelerating. Here's a look into who would stay and who would go if the Murdochs decide to sell 21st Century Fox.  

How does your workplace compare? Facebook has been ranked as the best place to work for 2018.

The irony of our new high-tech world is that it often depends on the ‘old world' to get things moving. The online shopping surge is crimping parcel deliveries in the US.

Legacy brands are trying to shake things up. The world's largest Starbucks is like a coffee amusement park, and KFC has created an ‘internet escape pod' which you can enter for $10,000. Sorry, no chicken included.  

So many missed opportunities (but be glad you didn't take up this opportunity).

How, the hackers are cashing in on bitcoin. This company has lost $US60 million. And, it seems, hackers are taking New Zealand by storm too.

Whether bitcoin is in a bubble or not, check out what journalists at Newsweek were saying about the internet in 1995:

And now, over at MarketWatch (owned by the Dow Jones Network), bitcoin's homepage blackout:

This is liquid gold. Up to one-third of London's buses will be powered by a fuel extracted from coffee grounds.

Londoners may be more fuelled by coffee than ever, but across the sea and down the road, the Germans are a step ahead. Germany's high-tech train of the future includes spin bikes and big-screen TVs.

And you might be surprised to hear this – although, let's face it, everything with Kim Jung-un is a surprise – but he is markedly different to his father and grandfather. It looks like he's really trying to tell the world something.

Some decisions are very hard to make. One of the world's leading poker players, Annie Duke, shares her experience in moving beyond cognitive biases. Her insights about three-quarters down are definitely relevant to investing, coming back to a common term in poker called 'resulting'.

Talking about gambling, this multi-billion dollar UK takeover bid for Ladbrokes is one serious punt.

Lastly, are you a manager or a maker? Depending on whether you manage people and systems, or primarily create tangible value, different types of work require different types of schedules. For peak productivity, it's important to know where you fit in.