Culture: A Visit @ Casa Museo Pedro Nel Gómez, Medellin, Colombia

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - I like to visit museums, there is so much to learn & to discover. My wife and  I used our stay in Medellin, Colombia, for a visit @ Casa Museo Pedro Nel Gómez. The place collects paintings & sculpture by the name giving Colombian artist.

 

Pedro Nel Gómez was an engineer, painter, and sculptor, best known for his work as a muralist (wikipedia). According to Wikipedia the multi-talent started the Colombian Muralist Movement, inspired by the Mexican movement that drew on nationalistic, social, and political messages as subjects. The museums shows some of his murals, other paintings & sculptures. I display here my favorites, a very subjective selection as usual.

I like his strong brush strokes, which remind me of the German expressionists, and the dynamic style of his murals. It seems he was a connoisseur of the female body. I also liked the architecture of the museum building which includes an open atrium.

On the way to museum we could also see some reproductions of his works which were attached on house walls, a kind of street art.

Enjoy!

Traveling: Impressions From Cartagena, Colombia

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - I have traveled in Europe, Asia and all over the US. Now my wife and I are visiting Colombia, our first trip to South America. We started in Cartagena and stayed 5 nights in a beach resort maybe 3 miles from the city center. The place is perfect to collect some first impressions from an unknown continent  - terra incognita.

 

Cartagena is a harbor town on the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The Caribbean city has a population of about 900,000, roughly the same as San Francisco. The main attraction is the historic old town build in colonial style and surrounded by a city wall. Cartagena's walled city and fortress are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This district looks like a beautiful outdoor museum, but the the place is very touristy. The streets are filled with horse carts and the air is full with horse stink. Seems the poor animals are the last slaves America´s.

 

We really enjoyed our stay there. Even that the tropical city is close to the equator we didn`t suffer the steamy tropical heat I had experienced in Singapore at the same time of the year. Instead we enjoyed a pleasant spring climate with temperatures swinging between 74-84 F/22-29 C and a surprisingly low humidity. It also was also refreshingly breezy.

 

We stayed in a modern international hotel located on a thin stripe of land between the ocean the bay of Cartagena just east of the city. On one side is the Gulf of Mexico with a broad sand beach - on the other side is a busy street and behind a mangrove swamp.

 

Fortunately there were no mosquitoes, bugs, moths and other insects who are typical for such an environment. I seems they had fought a successful war against the bugs. The flip side is they I didn`´t spot any butterflies. There are no geckos who feed from flies. Instead we spotted flocks of majestic Frigatebird birds who were sailing in the sky. Their wings can span a up to 2.3 metres (7.5 ft) and they use the wind current to stay aloft for days (wikipedia).

 

The hotel was almost empty and the majority of the tourists are Spanish speakers. It looks like that most tourists come from Colombian metropolises like Bogota and Medellin. There were not many Americans and few Europeans and I didn´t spot  Asian tourists. Maybe the violent history & the negative reputation of the country scared the travelers away. But nobody bothered as and we didn`t spot the beggars and drug addicts who are frequent on the streets of Manhattan or San Francisco.

Thanks to the relative absence of international visitors few people speak English, not even in the restaurants. But the people are flexible & friendly, so we were able to communicate our basic needs (getting dinner etc) with them anyway.

The food there was a pleasure. Restaurants serve a lot of seafood - what you can expect at a Caribbean coast - even that I didn´t spot any fisher boat there. The delicious food is often flavored with tropical spices. We really indulged in the breakfast buffet at the hotel with a lot of tropical treats and juicese - and the local coffee is awsome.

It seems that Colombian are not so much into beer. In Cartagena´s old town we discovered a cool looking bar which offered craft beer. The Cerveza  Apóstol there from the tap was the worst beer I ever had. It was very bitter & sour - maybe it was just too old and it had turned. But we got comforted by the imported Malbec the restaurants aeyre serving (seems they don`t grow wine in Colombia). Another comfort was this funny piece of street art which we spotted in the maze of the old town.

It seemed to us as that Cartagena is an undiscovered jewel.
 

Stock Market: Quo Vadis Dow Jones?

(Drivebycuriosity) - Finally, this morning the Dow Jones crossed the mark 20,000. The stock market barometer is getting a lot headwinds from the economic environment: In the US the weekly jobless claims are at the lowest rate in 44 years, salaries growth is accelerating, the purchasing manager indices for manufacturing (barometer for industrial growth) in the US & Europe signal stronger growth and in China the retail sales are gaining speed as well (driveby). But the main driver for the recent stock market gains is the earnings season, which had an encouraging start: A lot companies like IBM, Netflix, Alcoa, Boeing and the leading banks (JP Morgan, City, Bank of America) reported more earnings than expected.

I assume that the stream of positive surprises will continue in the coming weeks - fuel for more stock market gains. The skeptics underestimate how good leading companies are at squeezing out climbing profits even in a sluggish economy. They are learning organisms because they are managed by humans who are getting better and better over time by continuously improving themselves and their companies. This is part of the evolution process described by Charles Darwin. As a result, companies also are getting leaner and more efficient over the time - the survival of the fittest (the term was coined by Herbert Spencer wikipedia). The 2008 recession especially forced them to squeeze out a lot of their costs, which now leads to strong productivity gains.

Profits are also rising because the US company is getting stronger and rising household incomes (thanks to more jobs & climbing salaries) are fueling rising consumer spending. The global economy - especially the emerging markets China, India & Co - is also doing better which translates into increasing demand for American goods & services.

The profit growth is also fueled by the technological progress: Companies are using Internet, business software, robotics, nano- & biotechnology and more technologies to reduce costs continuously. The ongoing automatization process has been enabling companies to produce more goods & services with the same amount of employees. More and better machines are doing the work of people which translates into lower costs and higher profit margins.


If the Trump administration comes up to the expectations by reducing taxes & regulation and investing into infrastructure the economic growth in the US would accelerate which could give the company profits - and stock prices - an additional boost.

I am aware that there is the risk that Trump might start a trade war with China and other countries  (here my analysis  ). But I have the hope that he will learn - and will be taught by his advisers  - that Americans would lose most and that this could cost him the next election (china-trade).

I don´t fear that the Fed will spoil the expected stock market gains, even if Yellen & Co. will hike their interest rates three times as they had already projected. History shows that stock prices & interest rates can happily rise together: The Bank of America Merrill Lynch (finance) notices that “the 1950s was a period of higher stock prices and higher US interest rates. The US 10-year yield bottomed near 1.5% in late 1945 and the S&P 500 remained firmly within its secular bull market until yields moved to 5-6% in the mid 1960s. The S&P 500 rallied 460% over this period.”

There are more historic date which fuel my optimism. According to a study of the University of New York  the US stock market (S&P 500) created an average return of about 10% p.a since 1928! (dividends reinvested nyu.edu/ investopedia). History also shows that in the long run the stock market, represented by the S&P 500, is gaining around 7% annually on average - without counting dividends (ritholtz  ritholtz). On the average every day is in the green, though just marginally.

Pessimists, who shun stocks because the market could crash, are wasting money. Stock market crashes are seldom and they are less destructive as the scaremongers want you believe. Since 1896, when the Dow Jones ways founded, there were just 4 events with a daily loss of more than 10% (wikipedia). 4 massive crashes in 119 years - that gives them a very low probability! And 3 of them happened before Word War II. Dips, corrections & crashes are anomalies and just aberrations from the long term upwardly trend.

Enjoy! 

Culture: Binge-Watching Colombian Movies

 

(Drivebycuriosity) -  My wife and I have been binge-watching a bunch of Colombian movies in preparation for our trip to Colombia. Thanks to Netflix & Amazon we could enjoy about a dozen films produced & shot in this country:

We really enjoyed the erotic thriller "The Hidden Face/La cara oculta" (2011 imdb), which is set in Bogota. The girlfriend of a successful orchestra conductor had disappeared (this is a spoiler free blog. you can find a synopsis here  wikipedia). Director Andrés Baiz, who also shot the Netflix series "Narcos", and the writers Arturo Infante &  Hatem Khraiche created a lot of surprises which kept us on the edge. Even Alfred Hitchcock could have been proud of such a suspenseful thriller.

We also indulged in two movies by the Colombian director Ciro Guerra:
"Embrace of the Serpent/El abrazo de la serpiente" (2015 ) is set around the year 1940 and describes the journey of an American scientist through the Colombian part of the amazon rain forest - accompanied by a native shaman (imdb). They followed the trails of a German explorer who had traveled  there 30 years before accompanied by the very same shaman. The film is a fascinating & philosophical study about humans who are dealing with the untamed tropical nature.

The Wind Journeys/Los viajes del viento" (2009) (imdb) follows another journey. Here an accordion player hikes through the country, accompanied by a mule and a young apprentice. The movie is funny and shows gorgeous images of Colombia´s landscape shot by cinematographer Paulo Pérez.

"Rosario Tijeras" (2005) was another positive surprise. The movie is a reference to Colombia`s violent history and tells the story of a young woman, who is killing criminals as a revenge for being raped in her youth  (imdb). The film is rough but also partly erotic.

"Emerald Cowboy/Esmeraldero" ( imdb) focuses on a Japanese entrepreneur who has build up an emerald mining & trading empire in Colombia in a vicious environment.

"Maria Full of Grace" describes the fate of some girls who smuggle cocaine in their stomach from Colombia to New York, the so-called drug mules (imdb). I have seen the film before in German cinemas. It maybe the most commonly known of these movies. The well made film is co-produced by HBO and other American companies but shot in Spanish and partly set in Colombia.

"The First Night/Primera Noche" is another reference to the violent history, here the story of some victims of the Colombian civil war (imdb).

"Sins of my Father/Pecados de mi Padre" is a documentary where the son of Pablo Escobar tells the story of the late drug overlord (imdb).

All these movies are recommended for those who are seeking for an alternative to Hollywood and who wish to learn something about a fascinating South American country. Enjoy!

Contemporary Art: Neo Expressionism & More @ Gallery Artifact, New York

(Drivebycuriosity) - The year is just some days old. But there are already some fresh art shows @ New York´s Lower East Side vibrant art scene. Last week I reported about an exhibition @ Taittinger (driveby). Gallery Artifact on 84 Orchard Street (artifactnyc) also has a fascinating new show. I display here my favorites, a very subjective selection as usual.

I enjoyed especially the neo-expressionist paintings by Melba Juez-Perrone (melbajuez). They remind me of the Californian Expressionism, the "Bay Area Figuartive Movement", and painters like Richard Diebenkorn & Elmer Bischoff  (wikipedia). This style is also called "Abstract Expressionism".

Above more examples.

I also liked the funny figurative paintings by Wilhem Shenrok (shenrok) .

The black & write abstracts by Ken Denning (kendenning) were interesting as well.

Enjoy!

Stock Market 2017: Reasons For Optimism

(Drivebycuriosity) - The stock markets started positive into 2017. In the first two weeks of the year the S&P 500, the gauge for the US stock market, gained 1.6%. I think that we will see more gains in the coming months because companies will report rising profits, which are the engine of the stock market.

The earnings season started well last week. On Friday some big banks - Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase & PNC Financial - already reported better than expected Q4 profits (seekingalpha). I assume that the majority of the S&P 500 companies will follow in the coming weeks and will also deliver positive earnings surprises. The pessimists underestimate how good leading companies are at squeezing out climbing profits even in a sluggish economy. They are learning organisms because they are managed by humans who are getting better and better over time by continuously improving themselves and their companies. This is part of the evolution process described by Charles Darwin. As a result, companies also are getting leaner and more efficient over the time - the survival of the fittest (the term was coined by Herbert Spencer wikipedia). The 2008 recession especially forced them to squeeze out a lot of their costs, which now leads to strong productivity gains.

Profits are also rising because the US company is getting stronger and the solid job market fuels climbing consumer spending. The global economy - especially the emerging markets China, India & Co - is also doing better which translates into rising demand for American goods & services.

The profit growth is also fueled by the technological progress: Companies are using Internet, business software, robotics, nano- & biotechnology and more technologies to reduce costs continuously. The ongoing automatization process has been enabling companies to produce more goods & services with the same amount of employees. More and better machines are doing the work of people which translates into lower costs and higher profit margins.

If the Trump administration comes up to the expectations by reducing taxes & regulation and investing into infrastructure the economic growth in the US would accelerate which could give the company profits - and stock prices - an additional boost.

I am aware that there is the risk that Trump might start a trade war with China and other countries  (here my analysis  ). But I have the hope that he will learn - and will be taught by his advisers  - that Americans would lose most and that this could cost him the next election (china-trade).

I don´t fear that the Fed will spoil the expected stock market gains, even if Yellen & Co. will  hike their interest rates three times as they had already projected. History shows that stock prices & interest rates can happily rise together: The Bank of America Merrill Lynch (finance) notices that “the 1950s was a period of higher stock prices and higher US interest rates. The US 10-year yield bottomed near 1.5% in late 1945 and the S&P 500 remained firmly within its secular bull market until yields moved to 5-6% in the mid 1960s. The S&P 500 rallied 460% over this period.”

There are more historic date which fuel my optimism. According to a study of the University of New York  the US stock market (S&P 500) created an average return of about 10% p.a since 1928! (dividends reinvested nyu.edu/ investopedia). History also shows that in the long run the stock market, represented by the S&P 500, is gaining around 7% annually on average - without counting dividends (ritholtz  ritholtz). On the average every day is in the green, though just marginally.

Pessimists, who shun stocks because the market could crash, are wasting money. Stock market crashes are seldom and they are less destructive as the scaremongers want you believe. Since 1896, when the Dow Jones ways founded, there were just 4 events with a daily loss of more than 10% (wikipedia). 4 massive crashes in 119 years - that gives them a very low probability! And 3 of them happened before Word War II. Dips, corrections & crashes are anomalies and just aberrations from the long term upwardly trend.

Enjoy!

Contemporary Art: Paintings From Transylvania @ Richard Taittinger, New York

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - Contemporary art is global.  Richard Taittinger Gallery, which is founded and owned by a heir of the French Champagne empire Taittinger (at 154 Ludlow St. taittinger), has now a fascinating exhibition, called "The Wanderers: Contemporary Painting From Cluj (through February 19, 2017  wanderers). They show paintings collected from the art scene @ Transylvania`s capital Cluj-Napoca. According to the press release the place has been  a thriving  contemporary art center for Romania and the international art world.
         
I display here my favorites from the show, a very subjective selection as usual. On top of this post you can see "Guardians of the molecules" by Marius Bercea (2016, Oil, acrylic, and spray on canvas. 74.5 x 93 in. / 160 x 190 cm). Unfortunately the other paintings  aren`t  tagged, so I am displaying them without further information.

I like the painting above because it shows a mystery which reminds me of Neo Rauch`s works (driveby).

Above more fascinating figurative works.

Some paintings have a surrealist charm.

I also liked some of the abstracts.


Enjoy!