David O. Russell doesn’t make bad movies. And lately he gets Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence (and Robert De Niro) to act in them. His most recent movie, Joy, is set in the early ‘90s and is based on real events. Many popular films this year were set in the past, some in the 1950s and ‘60s. My sense of this phenomenon is that through these films, we peer longingly behind us for evidence of a more authentic, more human reality. I mention movies set in the past because Joy takes three very contemporary themes and examines them in the form of a pioneering example twenty years ago: a single mother who thought and acted like a star entrepreneur. The three themes embedded in that

[Important: This post is for education and entertainment only. Investment decisions should be made on the basis of suitability and risk tolerance and with the help of a professional] Anyone who makes predictions about the stock market without admitting that they could be very wrong is either a liar or a fool. And anyone who listens to predictions about the stock market is hoping to get an easy solution to a very difficult problem; there is no such thing. I know a man who invested a year’s earnings (six figures) based on a conversation at Starbucks. My best guess is that he’s still down over 75% eight years later. Investing takes work and self-study (I don’t mean studying by yourself; I mean knowing yourself). Having

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the latest in a series of seven Star Wars films. If you mention your interest in it, enough of the people you talk to who are not afraid to hurt your feelings will dismiss it as popular culture and unsophisticated pablum. I do not come from that group and while I can be snobby enough about other tastes, I waited in line for this one. Star Wars is not simply popular culture and part of a passing fad; it is a narrative ark that safeguards important modern myths and prepares several generations for a new era of humanity. The saga began nearly four decades ago: in social terms, a long time ago and a place that seems far, far

With new shootings in the news every week, and after months of headlines delivering the latest samples of hatespeech from presidential candidates, the concerned citizen should be asking “where did all the animosity, the anger, the hate come from?” –I have some ideas that could serve as a starting point for an answer–as well as a simple suggestion for those who wish to reduce the negative energy in their lives. The first idea is that since 1987, the FCC stopped enforcing the Fairness Doctrine, then eliminated it in 2011. This policy was designed to preserve “honest, equitable and balanced” use of the airwaves—which belong to the public. It seems no coincidence that within a few years, talk radio became increasingly provocative and outrageous. The TV

A very good film like Spotlight surpasses entertainment: like all good Art, it inspires, instructs, and even admonishes. It is a powerful predictive tool, too, if you view it in the context of the present condition of the US media. It helps when a film is closely based on real events, as Spotlight is. While I would have seen this film for the cast alone, the story and subject matter was very compelling. I do not refer to the specific story about the priests of the Catholic Church and the history of sex abuse—I have already processed that reality. But I AM interested in the story about a newspaper in Boston that broke a story that sent shock waves around the world: I am interested

(Disclaimer: The following piece is educational and entertainment only. It does not constitute advice of any kind. Investment advice should only be taken in the context of an individual (or household) examination of suitability and risk tolerance by a professional advisor.) If there is one strategy that is anathema to the vast majority of investment advisors, it is electing to reduce exposure to stock and bond investments and increase holdings of short-term CDs or “cash.” There are several reasons they hate this: They usually don’t get paid when you go into cash: advisors typically do not charge a fee on cash holdings. Their bosses don’t like this either. One of the commandments (there probably aren’t ten of them) of modern investment theory is that you

The indie film “Any Day Now” contains none of the ingredients that the big studio films seem to insist upon.  There is little sex, no violence or special effects, and a setting that focuses on  a few years in the lives of a handful of people. Yet the film redefines what it means to be a hero and inspires you to search for moments in your own life when you rode into battle hopelessly outnumbered, your heart at the vanguard.  For the great majority of viewers, the  heroes  of  Any Day Now make you despair that you would inevitably fall short of their example, but they also give you the formula in case you find yourself in a similar position: take a worthy cause, side

Life  will suddenly confront you:  “Look at me, do you still want me–even if I am like this?”  Michael Haneke, the Austrian director of “Amour,” a French film, suggests that when life poses such a question, we answer “Yes, I still want you.”  He also suggests that Love is capable of confronting us: “Look at me, will you give up everything for me?” and that we might answer “Yes, because there’s nothing without you.” His movie has a pace to match the deliberate  movements of the elderly subjects he follows; this is not an action film. Yet it is the most honest film you will see–perhaps for the rest of your life. It’s a film about an elderly couple who were connoisseurs and teachers of 

We have all encountered persons whose demeanor could be said to be neatly reflected in one of the four seasons. Some souls are so chilling in their outlook and so despairing in the barrenness of their emotion that we feel certain they belong to Winter.  Others are hopeful and flexible and nourishing; they think to the future, perhaps as Eliot suggests “mixing memory and desire.”  These, entrepreneurs among them, must surely belong to Spring. The children of Summer are the lightest, of course.  They practically float through life upon clouds. They seem to get their energy from the Sun. Smiles don’t wrinkle their faces, though frowns do. They experience rain as a chance to shower, and look up into it while others turn their heads

If you don’t follow the stock market, you might not know that after a few weeks of declines, global stock indexes surged north for five days (if it stays up today). You might not even think that it was unusual, unless you watch the market daily, as I do.  Let me assure you: After twenty years of watching and sometimes trading the markets, this is some very odd stuff! Though I have seen about five market “bubbles” (and nearly as many crashes) in my career, I am still amazed when I see markets do things they are not supposed to do. When I am amazed, I become curious. I want to know “Why?”  And even if I have to resort to conspiracy theories to get