Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome - Charlie Munger
💡💡 Did you know?
The Resilience of Legacy Code: COBOL
Despite the rapid adoption of modern languages like Python and Rust, the COBOL programming language still processes approximately 80% of daily in-person financial transactions globally. This underscores a critical reality for CIOs and CTOs: the global banking infrastructure relies heavily on maintaining legacy technical debt, proving that durability often outweighs novelty in mission-critical systems.
Tech Talk
Tech stocks riding the “maybe-Fed-cut” wave: On 26 Nov, U.S. markets got a boost, renewed strength in AI/tech names (hello again, Nvidia & Dell) plus rising odds of a December rate cut by the Federal Reserve (Fed) pumped optimism across Wall Street.
Microsoft is holding steady: As of 29 Nov, MSFT stock hovered just under last month’s record, supported by strong cloud earnings, big-AI investments (including its deal with OpenAI) and a favorable EU regulatory moment.
Meanwhile, cloud-security firm Zscaler (ZS) is having a rough patch, despite a decent earnings beat, bearish sentiment and cautious guidance triggered a ~13 % drop since late November. Still up year-on-year, but volatile.
Money Matters
On 26 Nov, European markets followed the U.S. lead: Germany’s DAX rose for the third day straight, as investors cheered fading rate-rise fears and regained confidence.
In the U.S., weak retail sales growth + falling consumer confidence have further stoked hopes for a Fed rate cut, which investors treat as a ready-made holiday gift.
Meanwhile, as macro uncertainty looms (see: war, energy crunch, global instability), some “safe-haven” assets like gold and copper have seen renewed interest, though metals are bouncing more than soaring.
Science Scoop
This week was a bit quiet on flashy science frontlines, no major breakthroughs hitting the headlines. But what was loud: growing urgency from climate and humanitarian angles as global conflicts and geopolitical instability raise new questions about resource supply, energy use, and environmental stress.
Case in point: while global focus stayed fixated on markets, war zones, and diplomacy, pressing issues like humanitarian crises, migration, and climate backlash simmered quietly behind the scenes.
The Rest of the World
The world got a dose of brutal reality when war in Ukraine flared up again: on December 1, a missile strike in Dnipro killed four people and wounded 40 more.
Not sexy enough for big news, but global copper demand ticked up again (especially from green-energy sectors). This is usually a leading indicator of industrial activity kicking back to life.
Our Money, Our Risk, Real Investment, No Advice
We pledged approx. €4000 for you to see the ups 😀 and downs 👎 Defence stock down - Bitcoin & S&P up a bit
Market Watch
If you invested $100 at the start of the week on November 26, you’d have ended with roughly the same $100 in the S&P 500, gained about 30 cents in the Nasdaq, maybe 10 cents in the DAX, lost around 60 cents in the Sensex, and dropped about $7–8 if you were holding Bitcoin. It was the kind of week where equities mostly moved sideways, but crypto reminded everyone that volatility never really takes a holiday. This week was a gentle reminder that not every stretch delivers fireworks; sometimes stocks just shuffle in place while Bitcoin does the drama, and your job is simply to stay buckled in.
#Ticker / Name | Legal Annotation | Latest Value | 1-Week Change (approx) |
|---|---|---|---|
S&P 500 | S&P 500 | 6,813 | ~0% |
Bitcoin (BTCUSD) | Bitcoin | $86,830 | −7% |
NASDAQ Composite | Nasdaq Composite | 23,276 | +0.3% |
SENSEX | S&P BSE SENSEX | 85,138 | −0.6% |
DAX | DAX | 23,750 | +0.1% |
Physicists have finally cracked the code on how things break. Emmanuel Villermaux and his team at Aix-Marseille University discovered a "universal law" of fragmentation. Basically, when an object shatters, whether it’s a Ming vase or a sugar cube, it doesn't just break randomly. It breaks in a way that maximizes entropy (disorder).
They found that the size of the shards follows a strict mathematical "power law," meaning there’s a predictable ratio of small pieces to big pieces every single time. To prove it, they didn’t use a supercollider; they smashed sugar cubes against walls and counted the debris. The math checked out perfectly: what looks like total chaos is actually following a strict statistical script.
My Take: You have to love it when high-level physics is confirmed by throwing grocery items at a wall. It’s comforting, in a weird way, to know that when I inevitably drop my phone, it’s not just bad luck, it’s a localized entropy maximization event.
But seriously, the coolest part here is that "randomness" is a lie. We usually think of a shattering glass as the ultimate unpredictable event, but nature is basically running a very specific algorithm that ensures the mess is perfectly distributed. Next time you break a plate, tell your guests you were just testing a universal power law. They’ll love that.
Shenzhen-based robotics giant UBTECH just locked in a $37 million (264 million yuan) deal to deploy its industrial humanoid robots to the China-Vietnam border. The stars of the show are the Walker S2 models, which will be tasked with guiding travelers, managing crowds, and patrolling checkpoints in the Guangxi region.
The kicker? These robots are designed to be self-sufficient. They feature autonomous battery swapping, meaning when they run low on juice, they don’t need a human to plug them in, they just swap out their own battery pack in about three minutes and get back to work. Deliveries start this December, with deployments also planned for local factories to inspect steel and copper lines.
My Take: Getting through customs is already a stressful experience. Now imagine the officer judging your passport photo is a cold, unfeeling machine that literally never blinks.
But the real flex here is the battery swapping. While we humans are begging for a coffee break after two hours of work, these guys just pop in a new power pack and keep grinding 24/7. It’s also a bit of a shade thrown at the rest of the industry. While other companies are releasing slick videos of robots slowly folding a single t-shirt, UBTECH is apparently sending theirs to get actual government jobs.
Why It Matters: This is a massive signal that humanoid robots are graduating from "cool science project" to "actual workforce."
Commercial Reality: We’re moving past the hype phase. A $37M check means a client actually expects these things to provide value, not just look futuristic in a lobby.
The China Speed: It highlights how aggressively China is pushing "embodied intelligence" into public infrastructure and heavy industry, potentially outpacing Western rivals in real-world data collection.
Labor Shift: If a robot can handle complex environments like a border crossing or a factory floor, the "unskilled labor" shortage conversation is about to change dramatically.
The UK government has officially confirmed how it plans to replace lost fuel duty revenue as drivers switch to electric. Starting April 2028, electric vehicle (EV) drivers will pay a new "pay-per-mile" tax of 3p per mile (1.5p for plug-in hybrids).
Here is the kicker on how it works: it is essentially an honor system. Drivers will "self-report" their predicted mileage at the start of the year and pay a fee based on that guess. If you drive more or less, you settle the difference later. The government will verify your actual mileage annually (likely during your MOT), but they have already admitted this system creates a massive risk for "clocking", aka odometer tampering.
My Take: Alright, let’s be real. We all knew the "tax-free driving" honeymoon wasn't going to last forever. The government is addicted to fuel duty cash, and they weren't just going to let us all drive around on sunshine and good vibes for free.
Also, 3p a mile doesn't sound like much until you do the math. Sure, it’s still cheaper than petrol tax (which is roughly double that), but it’s a psychological blow. Nothing kills the joy of a silent, zippy electric car like knowing Big Brother is charging you three pennies every time you pass a lamp post.
Why It Matters: This is the beginning of the end for the "EVs save you money" golden era, or at least, the "tax-free" part of it. While analysis shows EVs will likely still be cheaper to run overall, this new tax adds friction to the adoption curve.
More importantly, it sets a massive precedent. Once the infrastructure for tracking mileage and billing drivers is built for EVs, it is very easy to roll that out to everyone else eventually. The age of road pricing has officially entered the chat.
🌎 December 3rd, 1967: The First Human Heart Transplant
On this day in 1967, Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the world’s first successful human-to-human heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.
Researchers at Cambridge analyzed thousands of MRI scans to map exactly how our gray matter ages, and it turns out it’s not a smooth ride. The study shows the brain shifts gears in five distinct "epochs," with major transition points hitting at ages 9, 32, 66, and 83. The standout finding is that the "adolescence" phase, where the brain is furiously rewiring itself, doesn't actually stop until you hit 32. After that, you enter a long period of structural stability until your mid-60s, when the brain switches tactics again to prioritize localized connections over long-distance ones.
My Take: I am choosing to accept this as immediate validation for every questionable decision I made in my late 20s. We aren't immature; we are just neurologically under construction. It’s honestly a relief to know that the brain finally decides to chill out right around the time your back starts hurting. There is something poetic about the fact that your "peak" stability era (32 to 66) coincides perfectly with the urge to stay home on Friday nights and obsess over lawn care. Enjoy the plateau while it lasts.
Why It Matters: We base our entire legal and social structure on the idea that you're a fully formed adult at 18, but your hardware disagrees. This research suggests we might be closing the book on development way too early. It also highlights the 30-to-60 window as the critical time for "maintenance." Since the brain is stable then, that is your best shot at building the cognitive reserves necessary to weather the structural shifts that arrive with retirement.
PODCAST THIS WEEK🎙️The Psychology of Human Misjudegment
Dont miss this one. This a fast paced masterclass in human psychology.
In his legendary talk The Psychology of Human Misjudgement, Munger outlined 25 psychological tendencies that quietly distort how we think.
From incentives and social proof to denial, envy, and authority bias, you’ll learn how these hidden tendencies shape behavior and how to build the mental defenses that helped Munger create one of the best decision records in history.
You’ll hear practical examples, powerful antidotes, and lessons you can apply to business, investing, and everyday life.
Caught My Eye…IN OTHER NEWS
Google CEO says AI now writes over 25% of company's code Google CEO Sundar Pichai touted the tech giant's AI transformation and the rise of "vibe coding" in recent interviews, declaring that his company has moved past the preparation phase and entered full implementation mode with artificial intelligence
Indian vehicle exports gain ground in European markets. Global automakers are increasing their car exports from India to Europe, building on last year’s success in Japan, Nikkei Asia reported. This marks a major shift for factories in India, which have so far mainly supplied Latin America, Africa and West Asia. Industry executives and analysts say the growing shipments to Europe reflect India’s rising role as a low-cost manufacturing hub, the news report said.
Revolut hits $75B valuation Established in the Republic of Lithuania, Revolut Bank UAB is authorised and regulated by the Bank of Lithuania and the European Central Bank, and today has 65m personal and business customers. Just last week it announced a partnership with travel giant Booking.com to allow all the travel site’s customers to easily pay with Revolut.
UN warns AI could reverse decades of global economic progress We think that AI is heralding a new era of rising inequality between countries, following years of convergence in the last 50 years," said Philip Schellekens, UNDP Chief Economist for the Asia Pacific Regional Bureau
Wishing you a productive week ahead!
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