Since last time…everything has happened.
Deadliest U.S. mass shooting in Las Vegas, Catalonia and Kurdistan vote for separation, Robert Mugabe resigns as President of Zimbabwe, Raul Castro steps down as President of Cuba, & Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is re-elected for his 4th term.
U.S. ‘Net Neutrality’ regulations removed, Wildfires devastate California, Trump threats UN to accept Jerusalem is Israel’s. Declassified JFK files expose CIA and FBI, Paradise Papers expose Bermuda as Tax Haven, sexual harassment allegations expose every industry.
Business
Ø Disney – purchases 21st Century Fox finalizing a strong set-up for a streaming platform in 2019
Ø AT&T – merger with Time Warner for $82B is being challenged by the Justice Department
Ø SpaceX – 18th Flight in 2017 stuns California with dazzling chem trail (NASDAQ:GOOG owns 7.5%).
Ø Amazon – is taking advantage of U.S. Postal Service, according to Donald Trump
Ø Retail – brick & mortar holiday spend is up 4.9%, yet 2018 will continue to move to online retailers with mix of unconventional offline pop-ups and strategic mergers and acquisitions.
Ø Gold – rallies to 3 month high, with a weak US Dollar and concerns over Fed Rate Increase.
Ø Oil – closes 2017 at 2½ yr. high, with high Chinese demand and low supply from OPEC & Russia.
Ø Cannabis – Canadian markets are ripening and prices are through the roof.
Forecast
Everything vs. Tomorrow
Crypto Currency - Is digital encryption currency a solid investment or a bubble set to implode?
The History of…
The origins date back to the early ‘90’s, when Cypher Punks raised ideas of decentralizing monetary exchanges through cyberspace. It was not until the ‘08 ‘Great Recession’, that the illusive Satoshi Nakamoto released a whitepaper renewing interest in these ideas. On Jan. 3rd 2009, Hal Finney received the first Bitcoin (BTC) exchange as a peer-to-peer currency.
The key to the success of Bitcoin is the Block Chain design, and has been adopted by other Cryptocurrencies (e.g. Ethereum and Palladium) and even large banks are reviewing the model.
Block Chain – Encryption based protocol acts as a ledger to capture multiple transactions and even contract details. Each ‘Coin’ is validated through consensus building via multiple computers (‘nodes’). The proof-of-work calculations are completed by decentralized ‘nodes’, which act as “Miner’s” and these miner’s are rewarded with Bitcoin for their use of computing power and electricity.
The design utilizes ‘honest’ nodes to outpace any potential ‘attack’ nodes, to ensure legitimacy of the ledger and Bitcoin itself. The principle is to ensure a Coin is not double-spent by the same user. As long as the ‘honest’ CPU power is stronger than an attacker, the system remains authentic as each exchange requires a historic proof-of-work. As a fail-safe in the system, if an ‘attacker’ has stronger CPU power they would best to act as a miner and receive legitimate coins for their work.
Nodes can enter and leave the system at will, and upon return when they interface with any Bitcoin, the most recent Block Chain will be updated to the current status based on the longest length of the Block Chain.
In short term use, Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency is a viable form of exchange. There are currently no taxes, purchases can remain anonymous and varying outlets accept it as a monetary exchange.
If Cryptocurrency finds a foothold in the developing worlds, which currently lack centralized banking structures – global remittances and monetary systems may arise as a forerunner for Cryptocurrency systems. In longer term principals, many folks have done well investing in Bitcoin and other platforms, seeing value rise. However, the volatility of the market is entirely dependent on its reception and regulations in the accepted markets – which is a very a high risk.
Consideration (High Risk) – Bitcoin is highly saturated, if an investor has interest and money to gamble – the best bet would be to purchase Ethereum (ETH) on GDAX.
Politics and Religion
Cryptocurrency vs. the Exchange
Cryptocurrencies were designed to decentralize the monetary system and directly connect the payer to the supplier. Ironically, with the rise of cryptocurrencies being accepted by the population, particularly with the anonymity through illegal purchases on sites like Silk Road, markets have been created to service the exchange.
To create easier access to Bitcoins’ necessity bred an exchange Mt. Gox, created by Jed McCaleb. Yet in 2014, when run by Mark Karpeles the exchange collapsed removing 6% of the currency from the market and gaps were revealed within the system.
Despite the failures presented in centralizing Cryptocurrency, the success of the currencies persisted and in 2018 large governments are taking their turn at regulating and even considering their own exchanges.
In late October 2017, Russia and China began to discuss a merger of their accepted payment systems, China’s UnionPay and Russia’s Karta Mir. The intent is to shake of the global dominance of US systems like Visa and Mastercard, and also redefine value based on traditional rating agencies. Development of a shared cryptocurrency, could reinforce this merger and its strengths.
Similarly, Goldman Sachs has been reviewing the cryptocurrency technology and could potentially create their own unit of currency, in the interim they have plans to establish a trading desk in June 2018 – while the study the market.
2018 is a big year in defining if cryptocurrencies are used, by who and how.
Sport & Combat
Show Business vs. Sport
Vince McMahon, CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Inc., has the rumour mill churning about his plans for 2018. The WWE.NYSE stock is at its highest price in 5 years, trading above $30/USD, and he has filed to sell $100M USD worth of his shares. With his own personal fortune, McMahon has established a new company ‘Alpha Entertainment’ predictably for his future venture.
He has officially stated there is an announcement coming January 25th 2018, which will outline his proposal. Based on his previous ventures, everyone suspects his plans are to return to professional football. In 1999, he tried to buy the Canadian Football League (CFL). In 2001, McMahon sponsored a new league with WWE and NBC called the XFL. The league comprised of 8 teams in 2 divisions, but only lasted one season and ran during NFL off-season. The loss was $35 million in total, split between both parties. Despite this, McMahon has filed for a trademark on UFL ‘United Football League’ with a tag line ‘For the Love of Football’, along with ‘XFL’ trademarks.
McMahon’s original plan with the XFL was to try and bring showmanship and rougher game to the fans who felt this was missing in the NFL (which he branded ‘No Fun League’). However, when the plan came to reality – the league had trouble recruiting talent, there was a lack of team unity as they had no exhibition games and the new rules lost the audience (and players).
Despite its failing’s as an official league, the camera work that XFL brought to the game was eventually adopted by the NFL, along with a few rule changes to enhance the game.
With rhetoric surfacing that the ratings for the NFL are dwindling, due to boring games, aging fan base and political protests – does McMahon see a renewed chance in 2018?
Mixtapes
Best vs. Best
Tweet of the Year (2017)
Top Five Tracks of 2017
1. The Story of O.J. – Jay-Z (Roc Nation)
2. Mi Gente – J. Balvin and Willy William (Scorpio Music)
3. Signs – Drake (Young Money Entertainment/Cash Money Records)
4. Fear – Kendrick Lamar (TDE)
5. Expect the Bayonet – Sheer Mag (Wilsuns Recording Company)
Top Five Albums of 2017
1. More Life – Drake (Republic Records)
2. Saturation II – Brockhampton (Question Everything Inc.)
3. I See You – The XX (Young Turks)
4. Mura Masa – Mura Masa (Anchor Point)
5. Melodrama - Lorde (Universal Music New Zealand)
Playlists – for fireside hangs, bundled up chill sessions and resolution exercises.
1. Hitlist 2017 – my favourite 75 songs of 2017
2. It Happens! – 1980’s and the return of trickle down economics
Comicsape
A Grand Design in X
Ed Piskor, the writer-artist behind the critically acclaimed Hip-Hop Family Tree series, requested Marvel allow him to remix the first 300 issues of the Uncanny X-Men, into a 240 page story. The result is series X-Men: Grand Design, which will be presented in 6 extra sized issues.
Ed is a devoted fan of X-Men, been so for over 20 years, even incorporating early childhood designs and referencing original X-men comics, cartoons and toys to pay homage to the overall lore of this part of the Marvel universe. The style is uniquely Piskor, but he ensures to credit character influences from Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and design from Stan Lee, Jim Lee and other legends who have previously worked on X-Men books.
One interesting component is the role of ‘Uatu the Watcher’, who Piskor utilizes as the prime storyteller of the events – and in turn providing context to the narration in yellow boxes in the series as his voice.
