Sweet Sound of Sport

Even as large swathes of the world’s population sit eagerly awaiting the start of their joyously anticipated month of football, cities burn in the host nation’s glare of protest and demonstration. Brazil’s dismal economic situation has seen a worrying lack of support for the upcoming festivities, hunger and strife acutely more present than a celebration of goals – for now. Other parts of the world are not faring much better…Eurosceptics abound as national results show worrying support for parties such as UKIP and France’s National Front, China rattles the cyber-war cage (and much of Asia as a consequence) by essentially kicking-out all US consultancy firms and related tech equipment (funny considering they just bought IBM’s server business), Middle East tension was only slightly ameliorated by the Pope’s recent visit to Jerusalem..calling upon all religions to work for “peace and brotherhood”..limitations still teem with even the kissing of two symbolic walls..but hey..nice try, we witness a sharp U-turn by once banker-loving Carney of the Bank of England, as he is now reported to declare the extravagantly compensated “lucky superstars” and blames the current environment for creating such extreme income discrepancy..he certainly will not have been impressed then with the news that one of London’s iconic towers is to be unceremoniously renamed to match its highest paying tenant (one such tenant makes delicious pancakes all the way up at the top)..from “Heron” to “Salesforce”..pity those residing tech-firms having to advertise their competitor emblazoned across their stationery..oops…time to move one thinks?

There’s a lot of aggression in the world at the moment…but we have something to hold onto, something to look forward to and even something to provide hope that there is a way out for humanity and a lasting desire for good and peace. With the resurgence in attendance of live music and sporting events, what better unifying factor than entertainment carried by the arts and sports. Almost everyone has a particular passion. Transcending culture, language and much of the time even playing its part to douse the fires of hatred and misunderstanding, that all too often develop over hundreds of years of distrust and forgotten conflicts, music and sports bring people together like no other. A wonderful evening spent at the Royal Albert Hall being delighted by a live orchestral rendition with the screening of a modern classic (Gladiator – yes ok..slightly ironic a violent film is being used to make such a point..but bear with me..it works!) reminded the lucky attending audience of the sheer importance of music as a soundtrack to our lives. It amplified that without the emotive response dictated by the masterful control of musical instruments, the spectacle and experience of much that we hold memorable would simply be as flat-as-a-drunken karaoke singer’s Whitney Houston rendition.

Where the high-definition sword-fighting and political intrigue on the screen was effortlessly outdone by the majestic orchestral notes of power and sweetness, sheer admiration and delight for the grandeur of human creativity proliferated..tellingly with the greatest applause provided for the end-credits nod to the original composer. Bravo!

When another present day gladiator was interviewed about his apparent love for his sport, Mohammed Ali once said “it’s just a job, grass grows, birds fly, waves pounds the sand. I beat people up.” Anyone that knows the man and the history of his approach to his profession knows that is not quite how he lived it.  Ali brought a poetic wisdom to his chosen sport, sadly ironic considering he brutally submitted himself, not to mention countless opponents, to mental deterioration as a result. Without wanting to sound too philosophical, there is a certain inherent desire displayed by humanity to destroy itself, to constantly conquer and battle against those that do not for some reason or another tally their thoughts, dreams and aspirations with their own – outside the “norm” whatever the norm may subjectively be. Find yourself on the wrong side and without the overwhelming might of crowd support, you are all of a sudden subjected to Tocqueville’s long-stated “tyranny of the masses”. In the numbers game of survival, the greater absolute always wins.

What can we do to serenely conquer this dangerous and perfectly self-destructive nature? Well..by watching others battle it out for starters..and not always in such brutally violent arenas. Stadia the world over routinely extend a helpful conduit (from baseball to ice-hokey) for man’s violent nature to vent itself harmlessly through competition and the desire to win. Brazil's unhappy population will soon almost certainly revel in the communal and spiritual-like adoration of watching their skilled players dominate on the cauldron like field of their most loved sport. Their troubles will be momentarily forgotten and hopefully lastingly diminished. Despite George Orwell negatively describing sport “as war without the bullets”, most people would gladly chose the bullet-less form and adhere to Nelson Mandela’s strong belief that “sport laughs in the face of all discrimination".

Gladiatorial prowess was a sport often used in ancient Rome to delight and placate the baying crowd. Nothing was more efficient in spreading the image of might and power as gory renditions of historic battles fought and won by Rome’s imperious forces, creating a powerful and coherent link between a people – strengthening the very fabric of peace and cooperative living amidst those that shared the same values and felt the same support. We need this now more than ever. In today’s world and our own restless always-connected-online-crowds, we can equate this to global televised sporting events…in fact, with so many distractions all around us - from “KimYe” getting married (harmless fun)…to which of the One Direction not-so-squeaky clean boys is getting high on more than just love - the only event that appears to have us stop and collectively gather these days is either a live music performance or important sporting event. The World-Cup…our modern day Gladiatorial event…is due to take place in a couple of weeks, pitting global teams against one another for 90 minutes at a time, causing entire national populations to stop their daily activity and vent their various emotional hang-ups in a (mostly) non-violent manner, apart from the usual Italian primadonnas prancing around and others..yep..you LatAm teams..bafflingly stumbling over imperceptible obstacles, the beauty of the sport unifies and delights in no other way.   

Whilst some only see a growing divide between the inhabitants of this wonderful world we all share, others are doing what they can to bring us all closer together and provide a more level-playing field, aiding those that would otherwise be left behind to enjoy many of the better pinnacles of human achievement. Google has just announced it is moving into working-prototype production of 100 fully automated vehicles, intended to be deployed on the streets of forwardly-eco (hippie?) thinking California. It is the brainchild of the Google X camp, part of those moon-shots we looked at last week and a real triumph for ambition in the face of legal and regulatory hurdles, moving streets closer to cleaner, safer and possibly more enjoyable journeys - no steering wheels and pedals to contend with will leave a lot of free time “behind-the-wheel”, to be filled, no doubt, with endless hours of Google internet related fun…or those riding with an actual human that is attracted to them, may be able to find other ways to relish the journey..go long heavily tinted windows!

South Korea may well be spared a few blushes as a result of this great innovation, they had begun to allocate special “female parking bays” in busy shopping mall carparks, that are..err..quite a bit wider than the normal parking bays. Oohh..Touchy. No one is saying women need more space when gently manoeuvering their vehicles into a tight spot…noooo…but hey..with Google’s help no one will have to anymore!

Let’s hope we are still allowed to kit-out those cars with fantastically powerful entertainment systems so we might all listen to music and watch live sporting events. Brazil’s mood will surely turn the instant the first whistle is blown in what is today’s modern equivalent of Rome’s Coliseum. Bringing together the world for even a month does great things to help us avoid autonomously hurtling down a path of destruction, rather helping us serenely drive down the music-filled road to peace.

** CHIPS and PEACE ** - Monday 27th July

Calorific….
All the excitement in the markets and global stage, what with China’s Shanghai index now actually doubling for the year (buoyed by the year’s largest IPO expected in a few days, index actually returning +103.51%!), UK shrugging off worse than expected economic contraction numbers, the rise in infected sufferers of swiftly-spreading-swine-flu (the initial “over-reaction” was indeed justified), as well as the latest pleasing developments in the Middle East and its elusive search for peace, all appear to have created a little too much excitement for Sarkozy to bare. France’s President fainted with disappointment at not being credited for either the economic recovery or signs of progress in the Levant, despite his energetic attempts to place himself at the centre podium of the world-stage. Okay, it was actually during one of his rigorous runs – a young wife will do that to an ageing man.
I’m not sure if it has anything to do with his collapse, but a report today exposed Starbucks for having a so-called “frozen coffee” that contains close to 571 calories – that’s like having a Big Mac and fries for lunch – now of course, in France it’s known as “Le Big Mac” – and when you consider the fact that there are no Starbucks outlets in France, the finger must be pointed at the great US fast-food chain – how “freedom fries” ironic.

Mid-East Peace… The Middle East is in a state of excited anticipation as the special US envoy jets around following Obama’s watershed speech in Cairo back in June – several visits with the once-shunned - but always considered a great potential Western facilitator - Bashar Assad, a little apparent pressure on the Israelis to cease their settlement expansion against UN wishes, and we are now facing a very viable solution to the near-60yr problem faced by those living in the Levant – peace.

Of course, Syria signing peace with Israel, and more so Lebanon signing peace with its southern neighbour is a rather more difficult notion to put into practice than putting pen-to-paper, as only the Oslo accords too painfully taught us. Nevertheless, the very fact that Obama’s administration is close to starting the conversation in all seriousness is testament to the energy and advantage-taking of the wind-of-change flowing through the region since the globally-loved US President came to office.
Now, the solution to what is essentially an age-old programme will not be easy and no-one is of course expecting it all to take place within a week, but the positive overtures being made by all parties, and the return of a US-Ambassador to Syria, only further isolates Iran in the region and amplifies the differences between those willing to put long-standing animosities aside in the name of a lasting solution for the greater good of the people and a brighter future for all. Israel’s role here is naturally the most crucial aspect. We’ll discuss this in more detail as the week, and developments in the Mid-East discussions, progresses.

…pleasantly peaceful markets...
Good timing on the meeting with the US’s banker, as China’s huge reserves may come into question again when the credit-card crisis that is now gaining momentum in the press (first few articles appearing in the FT and Economist over the weekend) hits for real later in the year. Following last week’s look at the US + China relationship, today sees the start of the long-awaited “strategic discussion” between the two, as they seek to maintain the momentum created through the energetic policies already responsible for the impressive (but for how long) return to form of global markets. Even the S&P500 is now returning 8.4% YTD, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq +24.6%.
Gold has started to flirt once more with the $70/brl level, although some here believe it is a reversal of trades put on a month-back when the rogue trade distorted the market – whatever the reason may be, it has certainly helped the Mid-East markets post their best performance in a month.

Cheap-as-chips…
One of the more macro indicators some fund managers like to monitor (apart from our favourite BDIY – which has been falling for the last 5 days), is the Chip-Manufacturing Index. South-East Asia is of course the primary market here, and if they are producing more chips, that means Apple and Intel are asking them to produce more chips, which means they are feeling more confident about tech-sales, which means consumers are spending disposable income on high-priced tech-goods, which should mean that people are actually making money again and feeling confident enough to buy expensive tech goods, right? Well actually…no, wrong.

You see, it all comes back to the human emotion factor again. There have been studies conducted to determine just exactly how long the average individual can veer away from their usual course of lifestyle – the average duration is 18mths. This would lead to the suggestion that just as many look to the “lip-stick index” (apparently women purchase more lip-stick during recessions to make themselves feel better with a relatively inexpensive purchase) the chip-manufacturing index may only be reflecting an “enough-is-enough” reaction from some and explain why the likes of Apple and other classy “must-have” high-tech goods producers are experiencing bumper sales.

For some it seems, nothing makes them feel better than brandishing the latest I-Phone 3GS and flashing it about in the local downtown Starbucks, as they sip on a 571-calorie iced-coffee watching the plain-clothed-ex-banker sitting in the corner e-mailing his CV out on the free in-store WI-FI.