Forbes: An Antidote To The Tiger Mom? -- Book

By SIMON CONSTABLE

There is something about the sting of asphalt on the palm of your hand when you fall off your bicycle that makes you never want to let it happen again. Of course it will happen again, but you learn, you get better and so on. That is the way millions of people learned to ride. At least they did. But not so much lately.

A couple of years ago I met a woman who had never fallen from a bicycle or seemingly had any major failure in her life. Unfortunately, she wanted me to write her life story. It was unfortunate because narrative’s with no struggle don’t work so well. Obstacles overcome, after all, make a better tale. The bigger the obstacle the better the story. A story without such tension is just lacking. And now we are learning that it doesn’t really work so well in life either.

That brings me to Jessica Lahey’s recently published book, “The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed,” which addresses the issue of over protective parenting and how sometimes it’s just a better gift to let kids learn through trial and error. Lot’s of emphasis on the error, please! Read more here.

TheStreet: You Need Nerves of Steel to Make Money in the Metal Market

By SIMON CONSTABLE

NEW YORK (TheStreet)-- Steel stocks may shine soon, after losing their luster during a brutal summer, but only investors with an appetite for turbulence should consider buying them.

What makes them attractive is the relatively low prices. The Market Vectors Steel  exchange-traded fund, which holds a basket of steel stocks and iron-ore producers, is down 25% over the three months through Thursday, more than three times as much as the Standard & Poor's 500 index. U.S. Steel fared even worse, falling more than 35% over the same period. Read more here.

TheStreet: How to Make Your Big Idea the Next Facebook: Take a Break

By SIMON CONSTABLE

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- If you want to create the next disruptive technology, it's going to take much more than a flash of inspiration during your morning shower: One vital ingredient is slack time.

Why? Because then you'll have time to do all the boring administrative work that's necessary for success. Nobody said building the next Facebook, Uber or Apple would be all glamour.

Read more here.

OZY: What Our Unemployment Rate Really Means

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Like lucky lottery numbers, few figures get as closely scrutinized every month as America’s unemployment rate. Now hovering at just 5.3 percent, down from 6.2 percent a year ago and close to half what it was five years ago, things seem to be on the up-and-up in the job market, right?

Well, turn to an elderly loved one, sitting back in a big comfy armchair sipping a mint julep, and they’ll probably tell you things just aren’t what they used to be. And they’d be right. Read more here.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Forbes: Why Apple Should Steer Clear Of The Car Biz

By SIMON CONSTABLE

This is an open letter to the management of Apple.

Dear All,

If you are considering entering the car business, please reconsider. This is not something you should undertake likely. Trust me, I know from experience. I worked for years with General Motors and its subsidiary Delphi. Yes, the tech industry is brutal, but the auto business has other issues. Here are just some of the things you need to know: Read more here.

Photo by Sumudu Mohottige on Unsplash

TheStreet: Federal Reserve Employees Need Finance Refresher as Rate Hike Looms

By SIMON CONSTABLE

NEW YORK ( TheStreet)-- It turns out that Federal Reserve employees really are smarter than the rest of us about finance, but a majority of them would still benefit from reviewing the textbooks periodically. And that's a lesson for everyone else. 

The findings are from a new report by the National Bureau of Economic Researchtitled, " Employee Financial Literacy and Retirement Plan Behavior: A Case Study." The study, conducted in 2013, used five questions to test the knowledge of 3,357 Fed employees, approximately 16% of the total Federal Reserve System workforce. 

On the first three questions, which were considered relatively basic, the Fed employees easily surpassed the achievement of the general population with a much higher proportion of correct answers for the same questions.  

Read more here.

TheStreet: Twitter Can Help You Cash In on Corporate Earnings

By SIMON CONSTABLE

New York (TheStreet)-- If you want to make more money from trades linked to corporate earnings, then head for the Twitter-sphere. It could give you a better result than Wall Street's best, according to new research. 

The findings come from a recent study by scholars at New York University, Arizona State University and the University of Toronto. The paper, titled  "Can Twitter Help Predict Firm-Level Earnings and Stock Returns?" finds that the wisdom of the Twitter  crowd can be a pathway to trading riches. 

Read more here.