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1. Higher Earnings Equals Higher Stock Market

S&P 500 TTM operating EPS are on pace to hit another record high (75% of companies have reported Q4 earnings), up 9.5% over the past year.

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2. Hedge Inflation with Stocks. Change in S&P 500 Dividends, Median earnings, and Consumer Prices

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3. Euro Stocks Beating U.S. 2025…MSCI Europe Up 2x U.S.

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4. Share of EU Imports by State

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5. Male Vote 2020 vs. 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic reduced young people’s trust in authority and pushed them further to the right, a political writer argued. US youths have traditionally been progressive. But in 2024 they were nearly evenly split between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and Europe has seen a similar shift. One possible explanation is a global protest vote against inflation: Many incumbents were voted out in 2024 as prices soared. But Derek Thompson argued in The Atlantic that the pandemic reduced physical-world socialization, pushing young men in particular into online echo chambers: Thompson said that youths who experience pandemics “have less confidence in their scientific and political leadership,” which can persist for years because political ideology tends to solidify in one’s 20s.

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6. Average Time Spent with Friends Plummets

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7. Lowest Rents for Singles

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8. Four Ways to Get More Deep Sleep over 50

Via The Telegraph: While many of us tend to assume poorer sleep is a natural part of ageing, Dr Sabia urges over-50s to do everything they can to strive for more deep sleep.

“There are so many reasons for us not to get enough quality sleep – we live in a society where it isn’t prioritised,” she says. ‘But it is essential for brain health.”

1. Get into daylight every morning

If we do one thing to improve our sleep, she advises: “Get up at the same time every day and get outside into daylight to regulate your circadian rhythm.”

Studies have shown that bright light therapy, in which people with dementia sit in front of a light box for 30 minutes every morning, can help reduce their sleep disturbances by reinforcing their body clock. Scientists are currently exploring whether this kind of therapy could be used to prevent the disease.

In the meantime, research has proved that making efforts to regulate our circadian rhythm, including exposure to natural light in the daytime, avoiding blue light from screens before bedtime and blocking out light at night using an eye mask or blackout blinds, can help us get better-quality, deeper sleep.

2. Keep naps short

It’s tempting, following a restless night, to try to catch up the following day, but this doesn’t offer the same brain benefits as night-time sleep, says Dr Sabia.

“Napping doesn’t result in the same deep cleaning as happens during the night,” she says. “It can also interfere with good quality nighttime sleep, particularly if you enter deep sleep during the nap as this means getting less deep sleep at night.”

3. Try pink noise

Sleep researchers at the University of Cardiff are working on sounds that may help to boost deep sleep, including soft “clicks” played to sleepers as they approach the peak of their brain activity during slow wave sleep. Their research has shown this can increase deep sleep.

Until the technique is marketed as a gadget we can use at home, it’s worth trying pink noise. A small recent study by researchers in Zurich found that playing pink noise, which includes sounds such as falling rain, a flowing river, crashing ocean waves or rustling leaves, enhanced slow wave brain activity during deep sleep in some participants.

4. Limit alcohol in the evening

Moderate drinking has not been linked to an increased risk of dementia, but research has proved a link between alcohol and diminished sleep quality.

Drinking tends to increase slow wave sleep in the first half of the night, but in the second half, all stages of sleep are disrupted, leading to frequent wakings. Ideally, it’s best to avoid alcohol for three hours before bed. Avoiding caffeine for at least seven hours before bedtime is also recommended, as it significantly reduces slow wave sleep.

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9. Warren Buffett and Mark Cuban Agree: This Is the Best Investment You Will Ever Make

Buffett and Cuban certainly value investing in and owning businesses, but both agree this investment makes an even bigger difference. 

Via INC: Plenty of people ask Warren Buffett for investment advice. No surprise, since over his lifetime—and as a result, at least in part due to what he calls the Methuselah effect—Buffett has turned a $10 million net worth at age 30 into an estimated $147 billion.

Plenty of people also ask Mark Cuban for investing advice. Not necessarily for the stock market, but as a longtime panelist on Shark Tank, for investing in startups and small businesses.

Those are clearly different forms of investing, but what does each say when asked to name the best investments they’ve ever made?

Warren Buffett’s Best Investment

Buffett doesn’t feel investing in stocks, or even businesses, is the best investment you can make.

As Buffett says:

Mark Cuban’s Best Investment

Here’s what Cuban said when asked by Men’s Health to name some of the best investments he’s ever made:

Learn to sell—a skill Cuban feels is crucial to business success—and you can forever generate revenue. Learn to understand the basics of accounting and finance—a skill Buffett feels is crucial to business success—and you can forever analyze and improve your business.

Put in effort. Get a return. Guaranteed ROI. No wonder investing in yourself—your knowledge, your skills, your experience—is the best investment you can make.

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10. Martial Arts Training Can Help You Change Your Mind

Key points

• Martial arts training can have widespread holistic health benefits.

• Changes in brain activity patterns related to mindfulness and meditation occur even with 12 weeks of training.

• Martial arts training stimulates neuroplasticity benefiting health, function, and creativity.

Via Psychology Today: When I was an undergraduate in the late 1980s, I did several research projects on the physiology of martial arts. At that time, there were only a handful of published scientific research on physiology, psychology and martial arts. There are now hundreds appearing every year. Often such studies are cross-sectional, meaning a group that do some martial arts are assessed on various measures and contrasted with "control" folks who don't. There are far fewer experimental studies, especially related to measures in exercise neuroscience, which is why a recent study caught my eye.

Young Adults Kung Fu Fighting Are Also Fast as Lightning

Min Wang, Kurusart Konharn, Wichal Eungpinichpong, Sawitri Wanpen, and Paramaporn Sangpara from Huzhou University in China and Khon Kaen and Rajabhat Mahasarakham Universities in Thailand wanted to know if there were measurable changes in electroencephalographic (EEG) power bands arising from martial arts training. To answer this question, they conducted an intervention study that saw young (18-22) adults train tai chi forms for about 45 minutes, three days per week for 12 weeks. The comparison age-matched non-intervention group maintained their activity levels. Before and after the intervention, resting state EEG power bands were assessed along with measures of physical capacity including handgrip strength, explosive leg power, balance, and flexibility.

Much Ado About Brain Power

The key outcome from this study was that alpha band (8-12 Hz) power increased in the martial arts but not in the non-intervention group. Alpha band power is associated with performance of skilled motor acts, creativity, meditation, and mindfulness. As such, the martial arts training led to measurable changes associated with a calm and focused mindset. The authors also note that "....alpha band have been associated with the relaxation response, which is the body’s natural counterbalance to stress...." and thus martial arts training may contribute to overall holistic health. It is also important to point out that often studies of tai chi in particular are done with older populations. These results are important to emphasize the important role of martial arts as lifelong health activities.

Neuroplasticity Spills Over to Other Activities

That tai chi training, even for only 12 weeks, can enhance physical fitness and alpha-band power in college students highlights possible health benefits. Additionally, the authors of this study suggest that, since alpha band power was enhanced after training, it "may contribute to the experience of 'flow' or being in the zone during exercise. Flow is a state of optimal performance characterized by deep focus, heightened awareness, and a sense of effortless action. Alpha band have been observed in individuals experiencing flow states during various activities."

This observation underscores an important characteristic of health benefiting activities—that they apply to other things. Martial arts training not only improves health related to the trained activity but may enhance capacity in many other activities. This nicely highlights my all time favorite martial arts quote from the 16th-century Samurai Miyamoto Musashi: "The true science of martial arts means practicing them in such a way that they will be useful at any time, and to teach them in such a way that they will be useful in all things.”

Martial arts training can clearly enhance many aspects of holistic health. So, if you are already training, please continue, or if you are considering giving martial arts a go, please do so as well. Many benefits for body, brain, mindfulness, and creativity await.

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