Acha Etiendem

A few people may have been surprised to see me wearing the colors of the American flag today. I have never shied away from doing so, and even before today, I often wore my "God Bless America" hat. I am originally from Cameroon, one of the most beautiful and complete countries in the world. Its beauty doesn't lie in skyscrapers, advanced infrastructure, or architecture, but in its natural richness; it is blessed with a little of everything this planet has to offer. Still, I have found myself in foreign lands, sometimes due to circumstances beyond my control, and other times simply for my love of traveling. The primary reason, however, has always been that where I called home didn't offer me the room to chase my dreams. I know people who never left home and still reached commendable heights, so I often self-criticize. I admit that I wasn't smart enough to traverse the difficulties and become who I wanted to be while still in my country. Migration is ingrained in the...

I stopped at a red light today, about to make a left turn. A man was sitting there with a sign that read, "Help, I'm going through tough times." If you've been reading this blog, you know too well that I pondered those words a lot. I had a rush of emotions: one part of me was asking, "What could he be going through?" and another part was wondering, "What if he's a drug addict?" I had so many thoughts and emotions rushing through me that I just took a deep breath, reached into my wallet, and gave all the cash I had. It wasn't much, as it was mostly one-dollar bills. I looked into my side mirror and saw about five other people call him over to hand him cash, with one person handing him an apple. He immediately started eating the apple, and I almost caused a traffic jam because I spent about 10 seconds just watching him in my side mirror. As I drove away, I remembered reading this morning that Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, was potentially headi...

This is the first post of the second half of the year, and I'm glad to be writing it this early. For starters, I trust you’re having an exciting start. Hold on to whatever you're dreaming of and working towards. Time is your ally, and you need to believe that. As I arrived at my workplace this morning, an elderly man named Frank was out for a walk, and we had a short chat. He told me he just came out of surgery and had metal inserted into his knee. He was walking just fine and said, "Well, at 87, I'm glad to still be this active." I paused in amazement and asked, "Sir, what is the secret?" He laughed and replied, "I don't know, maybe walking a lot." I got into the office and prompted a colleague to look outside and guess Frank's age; he guessed "mid to late 70s." That was close, but even he could not believe Frank was in his late 80s, looking strong and walking faster than most young people I know. So you see, if you do it rig...

The natural sciences have laws that guide everything and make it easier to predict an outcome when certain actions are taken. For example, it's possible to calculate the time it would take a car traveling at a certain speed to cover a specific distance. Many such things have already been demonstrated to us by the giants of the past. Sometimes, however, you have to self-critique and "checkmate" yourself. Many are told to take it easy on themselves, but when you're really growing, being hard on yourself is not necessarily a bad thing.  Image by Google Gemini There's a vast literature of empirical evidence that now tells us how accurate this is. Please ignore or skip the equation below if you hated math back in school and still hate it to this day lol.  This equation is simply saying that your expected investment returns are the sum of the risk-free rate plus the extra return you get for taking on market risk. The "Beta of the portfolio" is simply what you...

I hope your month got off to a great start. If not, then welcome to my blog; I hope this bores you to sleep so you can get your much-deserved rest. I read about the US debt surpassing its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) today and have been thinking about it all day. If you want to be bored, then keep reading what I have to say here. I know many think of words like "scam," "stupid," "foolish," and other ugly terms when they hear about Bitcoin. I have always known myself to be something of a contrarian, and this has only become more evident as I have grown older. In the past, I held onto beliefs just because I had the conviction, but now, I self-critique, test my stance against the literature, and hold convictions that are grounded in objectivity. I've had to hold some very uncomfortable positions because the truth behind them was very telling. Bitcoin is no different, and I'm perfectly okay with being labeled stupid, foolish, or a scammer. Life is quit...

Wow! Did you really come to my blog? Let's try to get you to stick around by engaging our minds. If you had wished for one thing more than anything else, what would that be? For me, it should come as no surprise that it is my time. Okay! Maybe you didn't know that, but for those who know me, it's my time. The COVID-19 pandemic really left a lasting impact on many. For me, it was a moment of deep soul-searching; I went into it being upset that I missed several planned trips, only to embark on a new trip like no other. I emerged as a different person, seeing the world as a sort of puzzle with "time-freedom" as the perfect outcome of fitting the pieces together. A true milestone worth pursuing. And that brings me to the topic of this episode, which is simply what my 2007 Toyota Camry represents. It just clocked 250,000 miles and is still running smoothly. What a milestone! My best buddy - 007 Do you know what a car made in 2007 with 250,000 miles on it usually looks ...

Wow! I'm only now realizing how long it's been since I last posted. Before we start, I'd like to check in with you and see how those New Year's resolutions are going. If you haven't kept many, trust me, you're not alone lol. However, I must say, the fact that there are so many is probably the problem. I guess it's true what they say: "always start small." As for me, I’m a little sad that I haven't read as much as I would have loved to, but I'm glad to be kicking it in other areas. Okay! Enough checking in already. Let's get to the matter at hand and "yield" something. Yield is certainly an ambiguous word. You can look at it as I just did in the last sentence of the last paragraph. However, I want to look at it in terms of markets. I know what you're thinking; here he goes again. Sorry to disappoint you, but this is how I see the world because markets mean more and have a greater impact on our lives than most of us are awar...

This year is moving really fast. I hope yours is going according to plan; if not, don't give in to frustration. Remember, someone is always fighting a harder battle. This is not to undermine yours, but rather to say that one must keep going. A famous quote says, "Time heals all wounds." This is very true, and I spoke indirectly about this in my last post. Time is our best bet for becoming, achieving, and bringing to life that which is within us.                                                                       “ The family is the test of freedom, because the family is the only thing that the free man makes for himself and by himself.” –Gilbert Chesterton I could give thousands of examples to illustrate this simple yet powerful concept. It is one of those naturally occurring laws of nature that we subtly disrega...

Hey there, and welcome to this episode where I reflect on a question I first asked myself five years ago: Why live a life of mediocrity ? In light of the global market chaos and panic, where even what many considered safe, like gold , lost so much value in one day, I once again reflected on that question. It’s not because I’ve arrived at my destination, but because I found peace when others trembled. Do you live a life of mediocrity? Well, as you answer, sit still because this one is long........ It was the Christmas season, December 2019, and my friend and I had just separated as he headed back to Portsmouth while I remained at a cafe reading a book in York Way, London . My phone rang; it was my boss calling from another country while I was on a short vacation. She was calling to ask when I would be coming back. This was surprising to me because she knew I was on vacation. I was heading back the next day, but all through that night, I kept wondering why I couldn't even spend enoug...

Hey there, thank you or nkongte (in my language) for tuning in. I see you enjoy uncomfortable conversations, so let’s get uncomfortable, shall we? Since I already covered this money topic three years ago, this will serve as a continuation and a deeper look into the subject. Of course, a link is available if you’d like to revisit my raw take on money. For now, I want to pivot toward the crucial role played by the U.S. military . But before that, let me lay the foundation for this episode. Read on, please. Photo credits: VoxEU Column International Finance At the end of the day, money is a tool that helps you receive or give value. You can read about my previous ( here ) money talk for more context. Please don’t misunderstand me when I mention value. I know time is also another way of giving value. For example, someone recently told me they were too busy to see me. In that sense, time becomes a form of value exchange, where my value is not worth their time. This is also why a caregive...

Hey there! How's the new year been for you? hopefully yours is as productive as mine has been, and I hope this momentum continues. Let's talk empathy, shall we?  Empathy ensures we are able to understand why individuals and groups of people act in a certain way. It doesn't have to be about agreeing with certain actions, but more about understanding where some people are coming from. It helps our clarity and gives us a better way to approach situations or perhaps be more self‑aware. I'm saying this because, on the surface level, it makes perfect sense to nurse hate and resentment with events such as land grabs. The US's push to acquire Greenland, Russia's advances in Ukraine, China's push to claim Taiwan, Israel's advances in the West Bank, and a whole host of others. These are not only matters of today but trends that have existed since the beginning of time, and literally a key characteristic of living organisms. When you go through taxonomic classifica...

Hello and welcome. For starters, this write-up will portray the current events in Iran as a special case study for the appeal of Bitcoin (BTC). So, if you don’t want to hear another person talk about BTC, you’re more than welcome to go about enjoying your beautiful day. Since you’ve chosen to read on, I want to state that I’ve spoken a lot about BTC and will use this piece to perform a sort of data visualization of BTC trends emerging from Iran as the government shuts down the internet amidst nationwide protests. Iran has been struggling for a while. I had a classmate back in 2018 who was from Iran, and we would often talk about geopolitics and the country as a whole. At that time, their currency was faring poorly against the US dollar, and as I write today, the Iranian Rial (their domestic currency) has no value. Read that again, it’s not a typo. The Rial has no value, meaning you can’t exchange it for anything because nobody wants it. What happened? Who is behind this? A host of ques...