Strategy: Open, out-sourced, competition

Data is accumulating in firms at an exponentially faster rate than firms are learning to analyze it.  That mismatch, between the growth of data and firms\’ ability to make decisions based on it, is the biggest disjunction in global commerce.

Personal investing: The extra return to hybrid notes

Avoiding complex investments is a good guiding principal for investors.  Bank hybrid notes are an exception to that rule.  Yes, they are complex relative to plain vanilla shares and bonds.  But their reward-to-risk ratio, and their defensive qualities, are so attractive that investors should consider bank hybrids despite their complexity.