Riots in Russia

OR WERE THERE?

Investors rely on news about companies, politics and economics to make informed investment decisions; it is therefore essential to obtain accurate news.

An easy way to seek truth in reporting is to compare stories from several different sources.  By “several different sources,” I don’t mean several news sources from the US, which all use the same news wires to get their information.  I mean getting news from the West’s traditional enemies as well as its allies, since the truth is usually found somewhere in the middle.

On December 7th, 2011, several US news stations carried footage of anti-government protests in Russia.

Some stations showed Russian protesters marching with flags.  Another station showed protesters waving flags and burning red flares.  Yet, Fox News had amazing clips showing protesters throwing Molotov cocktails, lighting bonfires, smashing windows, and fighting with police in riot gear.

The reason that Fox News had such exciting footage is because although they were describing protests in Moscow, they were actually showing footage of riots in Athens Greece!

Russian news agency Pravda - itself not known for the quality of its reporting - noted that the Moscow protests “appeared to be too boring and ordinary for Fox News producers.  They wanted some action, which was obviously missing in the video reports from Moscow.”

Pravda later drolly added that “it is quite possible that American and European TV viewers will soon have a chance to see drunken Cossacks riding bears, playing balalaikas and terrorizing peaceful demonstrators in the streets of Russian cities somewhere in Egypt.”

Awesome!

When the truth is boring, why not just make it up?

____

Note: The original Fox News link to this broadcast (Protester's Express Outrage Over Russian Elections) has been taken down.

____


"There's absolutely no truth in this malicious rumor that I starting running mad cow disease stories simply because Angus Black, the great British beef baron, lost ten thousand pounds against me in a game of poker and refused to pay up.”

“Elliot Carver,” evil news baron in the James Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies

____

Dear Workers of America

Actually, it IS your fault.

Barack Obama was raked over the coals this week (at least on Fox news) for suggesting that the US is not as competitive as it used to be, and that Americans are becoming complacent about their #1 position in the world.

What is interesting about Obama’s comment is that so many people agree that the US is not as competitive as it used to be, yet refuse to believe that they personally have anything to do with the situation.

I know many Chinese parents whose children are enrolled in soccer camp, take swimming lessons and piano lessons, have math tutoring, and yet still have time to meet their friends for several “playdates” per week – after finishing their homework, of course.  They have this much free time because they are only allowed to watch 2-3 hours of television per week, with another 1-2 hours per week to surf the Internet or play video games.  In contrast, I also know many American families whose children do almost nothing except watch television and play computer games.

The above is merely anecdotal evidence, of course, and doesn’t prove a thing.  But can we really call the average American family “motivated and driven to succeed?”

To find out if you are part of the problem or exempt from scorn, ask yourself the following questions:

1)      Do you watch 3 hours or more of television per day?  How about your children?

2)      How many books have you read in the last month?

3)      Do you currently have 3-6 months of emergency savings in cash, in case of injury, unemployment, or other unforeseen disasters?  If not, why not?

4)      Do you have trouble saving money?  If so, what have you recently done to drastically reduce your spending or increase your income (or both).  Or, do you just complain that bills are hard to pay but do nothing about it?

5)      During the last few years, have you purchased items like recreation vehicles, sports equipment, home decorations, electronics etc. on credit that you did not pay back at the end of the month?  Why?

6)      Have you been with your company for five years or longer?  If so, have you recently upgraded your skills/taken training courses etc on your own time?  Have you expanded your skill set to improve your employability outside your currently industry?

7)      Do you hate your job?    If so, what have you done to change careers or companies?  Have you updated your resume and practiced your interview skills?  How many jobs have you applied for?

In street interviews, website comments, and in social media, it is apparent that many Americans believe things will never get better: that they will always be unemployed, never get out of debt etc.   The more healthy reaction, of course, would be to say, “Wow, I was really stupid to rack up all that debt on my credit cards and house.  Now I’m going to have to study and train and work three times as hard.”

Of course, self-analysis is a difficult process and most people avoid it.  So, just continue to believe you are unemployed because of the President of the United States.


____

People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents."

Andrew Carnegie

____

see also:

The Worldwide Business Search Engine

At the top of this blog, you may have noticed what appears to be a regular Google search bar with the title, “WORLDWIDE BUSINESS SEARCH ENGINE.” Since many readers have not taken advantage of this little beauty, let me take a moment to explain what it is.

The first problem with regular Google is what I call “regionalization.” Many of The Frost Report’s readers are from the United States, where Google has particular drawbacks. Specifically, if you do any kind of search from the US, the results are likely to all come from US news organizations. Sadly, most American news sources are rubbish for investors.

The US media market demands constant action, sound bites and screen movement – and the results are predictable. The typical daytime “expert interview” on CNBC lasts less than 4 minutes. And, US citizens clearly love to be told what to think. After the last presidential debates on CNN, a panel of experts was ready to explain for us what was just said, what it means, and who won (there is no point wasting brainpower when someone can think for you). Famously, US media outlets such as FOX News and MSNBC casually mix facts with commentary, not even worrying about possible misrepresentation. All of this results in exciting and highly entertaining news that is of no use to rational investors, whose strength comes from being calmer and more logical than everyone else.

A second problem with regular Google or Bing is that far more than just investing news comes out of a search. For example, if I type “African Real Estate” into Google, the result is marketing websites, real estate agency websites, property developers and more. And again, most of the sites do not even originate from Africa.

The Frost Report’s “Worldwide Business Search Engine” eliminates many of the aforementioned problems. First, it filters out the more sensational news organizations from the listings. Second, it gives precedence to local news: a search about real estate in Africa will result in African sources. Whenever possible, news comes directly from the source rather than being an interpretation by a 3rd party; thus, a search about the latest Federal Reserve speech will likely pull up the Fed’s website directly. Finally, most of the sources are proven and reliable business news agencies. I say “most” are reliable because I intentionally included some unreliable sources - such as the Russian Pravda and DPRK news sites – because they are culturally important.

Give the search engine a try…you will find the results to be far different from what you are used to, and hopefully more insightful.

____


“Is there any other industry in this country which seeks to presume so completely to give the customer what he does not want?”

Rupert Murdoch, owner of The News Corporation Ltd.

____