#i took ap euro in 2011-2012

[purenguyening]

That last post made me wonder whatever happened to my copy of Wild Swans. I remember buying it at a used book store and stopping about like 15 pages in because it got too much (it went into great detail about foot binding).

There's a lot of books I remember buying but I have 0 clue where they are now. I really want to find them and read them....

Also me: proceeds to buy more books that I will procrastinate on reading.

#i think my most wild procrastination is me somehow NOW getting the motivation to read my assigned ap european history reading #i took ap euro in 2011-2012 #it's now 2023.... #pure rambling #i'm starting to understand that my executive dysfunction is extremely bad....

[gyrlversion]

George Soros made 8 predictions about politics, financial markets, and Facebook – heres how they turned out

Associated Press

The billionaire investor George Soros is known for making a series of predictions across topics as diverse as social-media networks, the Chinese economy, and Iranian politics.

Markets Insider examined eight of Soros’ predictions, as well as the outcomes.

Visit MarketsInsider.com for more stories.

The billionaire investor George Soros is not shy about making predictions, in financial markets or otherwise.

Soros is an investor of almost mythical status, having accumulated a fortune of nearly $40 billion from trading across currency, equity, and fixed-income markets. He started the Quantum Fund in 1973 before returning all outside capital in 2011 to focus solely on managing his own money.

Soros also has a great interest in politics, having donated the majority of his fortune to the Open Society Foundations, which he establish to promote democracy and human rights across the world.

“Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition there is no shame in being wrong, only in failing to correct our mistakes,” from “Soros on Soros: Staying Ahead of the Curve.”

Markets Insider highlights eight of Soros’ predictions – and their outcomes – below:

Democrats will win 2018 in a ‘landslide’

Associated Press

Date: January 2018

Prediction: Soros predicted a major win for the Democrats in the 2018 elections.

“I give President Trump credit for motivating his core supporters brilliantly, but for every core supporter, he has created a greater number of core opponents who are equally strongly motivated,” said the investor at the World Economic Forum.

“That is why I expect a Democratic landslide in 2018.”

Outcome: Kind of correct.

The Democrats took back control of the House, gaining 41 seats.

Nancy Pelosi reclaimed the title of Speaker of the House, but the Republicans maintained control of the Senate, picking up two seats.

Soros also predicted that Trump would not be re-elected in 2020, which remains to be seen.

Source: georgesoros.com

Bitcoin is a bubble

Reuters

Date: January 2018

Prediction: Soros slammed cryptocurrencies as bubbles and derided bitcoin in particular.

“Cryptocurrency is a misnomer and is a typical bubble, which is always based on some kind of misunderstanding,” Soros said.

“Bitcoin is not a currency because a currency is supposed to be a stable store of value and the currency that can fluctuate 25% in a day can’t be used for instance to pay wages because wages drop by 25% in a day. It’s a speculation. Based on a misunderstanding.”

Outcome: Correct.

Bitcoin plunged 70% to a low of $3,136 in December 2018. It has since made somewhat of a recovery, more than doubling off its low, and now trades just below $8,000.

Source: Forbes

The ‘days are numbered’ for Google and Facebook

Reuters

Date: January 2018

Prediction: Facebook and Google will face a reckoning.

“Facebook and Google effectively control over half of all Internet advertising revenue,” the 87-year-old told diners during a speech.

“They claim that they are merely distributors of information. The fact that they are near-monopoly distributors makes them public utilities and should subject them to more stringent regulations, aimed at preserving competition, innovation, and fair and open universal access.”

Outcome: Somewhat correct.

While both Facebook and Google still exist, both companies have come under severe pressure for privacy concerns related to their business models.

Facebook, in particular, has come under attacks from Congress for the way it was used as part of Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election.

The company’s stock fell nearly 44% from its July 2018 high before recovering in 2019.

Source: georgesoros.com

The next financial crisis will be in Europe

Reuters

Date: May 2018

Prediction: Europe is at risk of another major financial crisis.

“We may be heading for another major financial crisis,” said Soros. “It is no longer a figure of speech to say that Europe is in existential danger; it is the harsh reality.”

He added: “The euro has many unresolved problems and they must not be allowed to destroy the European Union.”

Outcome: Incorrect (at least so far).

European financial markets appear subdued with Italian 10-year yields at 2.7%, only slightly higher than the US 10-year yield of 2.4%.

Source: Bloomberg

Argentina will pay back its debts

Quique Kierszenbaum/Getty Images

Date: August 2016

Prediction: Argentina would pay off its 2001 defaulted debt.

A lawsuit filing revealed that Quantum Partners, controlled by Soros’ family office, held a position in defaulted Argentine government bonds. The defaulted debt, from 2001, was also held by billionaire and rival hedge-fund manager Paul Singer.

Outcome: Correct.

The hedge-fund investors ultimately realized a stunning return on their investments, with Singer’s hedge fund, Elliot Management, reportedly pocketing over $2 billion in profits.

Soros’ position was not fully disclosed.

Source: Bloomberg

The next financial crisis will be in China

AP Photo/Andy Wong

Date: April 2016

Prediction: China financial crisis

China “eerily resembles what happened during the financial crisis in the U.S. in 2007-08, which was similarly fueled by credit growth,” Soros said at the Asia Society.

“Most of the money that banks are supplying is needed to keep bad debts and loss-making enterprises alive.”

Outcome: Incorrect (at least so far).

China’s economy has slowed notably in 2018 and 2019, weighing on financial markets. However, there do not appear to be signs of a US-style crisis despite high corporate-debt levels.

Source: IndustryWeek

Iran will undergo a ‘regime change’

Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images

Date: February 2012

Prediction: Iran’s present regime is not going to last the year.

Outcome: Correct.

Hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was voted out of office in the 2012 elections as reformist Hassan Rouhani took over the presidency.

However, it was not a total regime change as Ayatollah Khamenei, in office since 1989, maintained his role as supreme leader.

Source: Tiger21.com

The British Government will devalue the pound

UK

Date: September 1992

Prediction:

The British government would be forced to dropped out of the European Exchange Rate mechanism and devalue the pound, creating a windfall of profits for those short the currency.

Outcome: Correct (and potentially caused by his actions).

Despite hiking interest rates as high as 10% to squeeze short-sellers, the British government was forced to devalue the pound on September 16, 1992.

This was the same day Soros increased his short pound position from $1.5 billion to $10 billion. “We must have been the biggest single factor in the market in the days before the E.R.M. fell apart,” The Times of London quoted Mr. Soros as saying.

“A billion is about right as an estimate of the profit, though dollars, not pounds,” Soros said. The profits were attributable to funds managed by Soros and not his personal gain, as reported by the New York Times.

Source: NYTimes

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[investmart007]

Spain replaces fired Lopetegui with Hierro

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/o9ZggG

Spain replaces fired Lopetegui with Hierro

With only two days to go before Spain’s opening match at the World Cup, Julen Lopetegui was fired as national team coach because he accepted a job to lead Real Madrid next season.

Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales, who made the announcement on Wednesday in Krasnodar, later said Fernando Hierro would replace Lopetegui as coach for Spain’s match against Portugal in Sochi on Friday.

The 50-year-old Hierro, a former national team player and Real Madrid captain, had been acting as the federation’s sports director and was already in Russia with the national team.

Rubiales said firing Lopetegui wasn’t the best solution but it was needed after the federation was caught by surprise by Real Madrid’s announcement.

“The federation cannot be left out of a negotiation by one of its workers and be informed five minutes before the press release,” Rubiales said. “We have been compelled to act.”

Rubiales, who took over as president last month, said Lopetegui betrayed the federation’s values and it was the only decision he could make.

“It’s a difficult situation, but we are not the ones who determined the action that had to be taken. The federation has its values and it has to maintain them,” Rubiales said. “It may look like a weakness now, but with time this will make us stronger.”

Lopetegui did not attend the news conference but was expected to talk to the media later.

“We have to work on a series of decisions that come just two days before the opener,” Rubiales said. “There’s a lot to do.”

Hierro spent most of his career as a defender for Real Madrid and finished his playing days with English club Bolton in 2005. He played in four World Cups with Spain, from 1990 to 2002, and in two European Championships, 1996 and 2000.

Hierro was Carlo Ancelotti’s assistant at Real Madrid after Zinedine Zidane left the post in 2014.

He coached second-division club Real Oviedo two seasons ago and was Malaga’s general manager after leaving his sports director position with the Spanish federation in 2011.

After Madrid’s announcement that it hired Lopetegui, critics immediately began questioning some of the coach’s decisions with the national team, including his choice to leave some Barcelona players such as Sergi Roberto out of the World Cup squad. There were also questions about how Lopetegui would be able to fully focus on the national team while also having to discuss off-season signings for his new club.

There are six Madrid players in Spain’s team for the World Cup.

Lopetegui’s name had not been mentioned by Spanish media among the probable candidates for the Madrid job, which opened up after Zidane unexpectedly quit. Last month, Lopetegui agreed to extend his contract with the national team through 2020.

“I admire and respect Lopetegui a lot. He is a top coach, and that made it harder to make this decision,” Rubiales said. “Winning is important, but above that, we need to know how things have to be handled.”

The 51-year-old Lopetegui took over from Vicente del Bosque after the 2016 European Championship. He was credited with reviving a team that was on the decline after winning Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.

By successfully blending talented youngsters and veterans from its golden generation, Lopetegui kept Spain unbeaten through 20 matches in charge, comfortably leading the team to the World Cup from a qualifying group that included Italy.

He won European championships with Spain’s under-19 and under-21 teams in the early 2010s, but had a lackluster stint with Portuguese team Porto in his only job with a major club. He was fired after failing to win a title during almost two years in Portugal.

Rubiales took over a federation which was in the hands of embattled official Angel Maria Villar for nearly three decades. He was elected president over Juan Luis Larrea, the federation’s former treasurer and its interim leader since Villar was suspended following his arrest last year on suspicion of corruption.

In one of his first actions, Rubiales canceled a previously arranged “vacation” trip by officials to the World Cup that would cost nearly 2 million euros ($2.3 million). He got the money reimbursed and spent only about 500,000 euros ($590,000) with new travel arrangements for sponsors and federation officials.

“We are all affected,” Rubiales said about Lopetegui’s departure. “We have to think about what is best for the entity, for the federation and the team, and from this afternoon we will all be together to go forward.”

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By TALES AZZONI, AP Sports Writer, By Associated Press

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#Spain replaces fired Lopetegui with Hierro #Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales #TodayNews