We distill down the week’s best reads. Mar-A-Lago, the SnapChat IPO, Tom Brady, and the most unexpected witness in a court trial, a man’s pacemaker…

Food for Thought:

1. VF – How Donald Trump Beat Palm Beach Society and Won the Fight for Mar-a-Lago.  As a general rule, we stay away from politics here at FoF.  This piece from Vanity Fair is anything but that.  Consider it an inside look at how The Donald competes strategically to get what he wants.
2. NYT – His Doctors Were Stumped. Then He Took Over.
3. WSJ – The Myth of the Trigger-Happy Cop.  Contrary to public perception, fatal shootings by police officers are relatively rare and have gone down dramatically in places such as New York City
4. SP – I just spent $1,207.40 on Books?  You’re already paying for the knowledge you need but don’t have yet.
5. WashPo – Nashville’s challenge: How to be a mythical place that moonlights as an ordinary city

Business/Economics:

1. WSJ – Big Investors Cut Back on Commercial Property as Bull Market Loses Steam.  Lofty prices, recent rise in interest rates among reasons for investors’ caution.
2. BI – A $200 billion investor just made ‘a special decision,’ and it highlights a huge risk in the stock market.  Is it time to underweight equities?
3. BD – Digesting Snap Chat’s S-1.  In light of Twitter’s results, who would want to pay 50 times revenues for the rapidly growing Snapchat?
4. FPA – FPA Crescent Fund – Q4’16 Letter – Credit JC.  “Passive investing, however, is only as good as an investor’s ability to buy and hold those funds in periods of volatility”
5. Bloomberg – When Your Hedge Fund Manager Buys a Ferrari, Find a New Manager.  Study shows link between sport car owners, volatile returns

Culture/Tech/Science:

1. Ringer – Tom Brady Was Already the Greatest Quarterback of All Time.  But a stunning, record-setting Super Bowl comeback against Atlanta left no room for doubt.
2. FS – Meet the Heroes Who Snuck Into the Super Bowl.  Two Houstonites beat a multi-million dollar security operation thanks to friendship and luck.
3. ZH – Man’s Pacemaker Used To Track And Charge Him With Crime
4. WSJ – Superhero Costumes Come to Parents’ Rescue. Children encouraged to dress like Batman, Superman or Iron Man tend to focus more to overcome obstacles.
5. NYT – The ‘Esquire Man’ Is Dead. Long Live the ‘Esquire Man.’  Esquire magazine, long the man’s bible, looks to chart a new course