Geek Speak: Understanding Your Industry
It is really important to know your industry. Often in the workplace, we get caught up in the daily grind. Procedures become the norm, after A is B. We miss the big picture. How does this help my customer? How does this make/save money for my company? Today's workforce must be adaptive because industry standards are at a constant change (financial regulation, →
I want to be noticed!
What is the key to getting noticed in life and work? Confidence! Being noticed is the key to success. It will land you the girl and it will land you the next promotion. Hard work should not go unnoticed but all too often it does. People will slowly begin to expect you to continue performing at your current workload and ethic, without realizing →
Funny Money
I have not posted in a long while. Hey! I have been busy. This post is materializing because I am using it as a tool to further my procrastination. I am supposed to be studying for the CFA exam but I find myself here talking to myself (or maybe you). A few days ago I was surfing on Drudge (this was →
Update: T-Mobile investigates possible security breach
Update from CNET: A T-Mobile spokesman said on Tuesday that data someone posted to a security e-mail list over the weekend was legitimate T-Mobile data but not customer information, and that the phone company's network was not hacked or breached as the poster claimed. The statement raises more questions than it answers. If indeed there was no network hack, could there have →
I am agreeing with Barney Frank?? WTF?!?!
Rep. Frank is a really smart guy. I love his style in conducting committees. However, his handling of the financial situation has not really been good. He has denied any kind of responsibility (even though he said on camera that Fannie is a good investment before their fall and has been a member and is the current chair of House Financial →
Stressed Out!
Long-present unease about soured loans bubbled over on Monday after Bank of America Corp. said it set aside $13.4 billion to cover lending losses, even as it posted a profit for the first quarter, and as anxiety grew about the results of the government's "stress tests" to determine if banks will need more government bailout money.Link
Death of a bailout?
Is the death of the auto bailout coming soon?I really can't believe the news, considering it is the Senate and the package already passed the House (aka the people's chamber). YEAH!
Bye-Bye 8,000
MARKET UPDATE DJIA7,997.28-427.47-5.07%NASDAQ1,386.42-96.85-6.53%S&P 500806.58-52.54-6.12%
Big 3 Congressional Hearings and Romney
A few blurbs and comments:Representative Walter B. Jones (R - NC, 3rd District) was on fire today in the auto bailout hearing. He brought up great connections that the big three manufactures many of their cars in foreign countries.Sen. Shelby (R-AL) called the Detroit model a dinosaur.A Congressman said that the three CEOs flew to DC in private jets with →
Gordon Brown calls for global tax cut
Gordon Brown has called for a coordinated global tax cut to rescue the world economy from a devastating recession. Wow, Labour is calling for tax cuts! Is Europe on the right track now? In the US, we have B.O. here who wants to see the Bush tax cuts expire!Link<!--google_ad_client = "pub-4134560458200465";/* 728x90, created 11/11/08 */google_ad_slot = "0590871650";google_ad_width = 728;google_ad_height = →
Hello 9000!
Last Change →
A Critique of Greenspan
Greenspan Has No Free Market PhilosophyOctober 24, 2008Washington, D.C. --Opponents of the free market are giddy at Alan Greenspan's declaration that the financial crisis has exposed a "flaw" in his "free market ideology." Greenspan says he is "in a state of shocked disbelief" because he "looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholder's equity"--and it didn't.But according to →
Fwd: FNC Alert
WOW!Phillip RomanSent from my iPhoneBegin forwarded message:From: BREAKING NEWS<breakingnews@foxnews.com>Date: October 24, 2008 4:01:20 AM PDTTo: BREAKINGNEWS Subscribers<BREAKINGNEWS-Subscribers@foxnews.com>Subject: FNC AlertDOW FUTURES PLUNGE 550 POINTS, HIT SELL-OFF LIMIT **Watch FOX News Channel or go to http://foxnews.com for more →
`Flaw' in Greenspan's Market Ideology?
I saw the hearings this morning. They were harsh on Greenspan. ``Yes, I found a flaw,'' Greenspan said in response to grilling from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. ``I was shocked because I'd been going for 40 years or more with very considerable evidence that it was working exceptionally well.'' Greenspan added he was ``partially'' wrong for →
The DOW free-falls 733 points
The Dow fell to its worst percentage drop since October 1987.
Bye-Bye 10,000!
MARKET UPDATE DJIA9,955.50-369.88-3.58%NASDAQ1,862.96-84.43-4.34%S&P 5001,056.89-42.34-3.85%
The Pope on the Financial Crisis
''He who builds only on visible and tangible things like success, career and money builds the house of his life on sand''. ''We are now seeing, in the collapse of major banks, that money vanishes, it is nothing. All these things that appear to be real are in fact secondary. Only God's words are a solid reality''.Link
Suspend Mark-To-Market Now!
I am watching the Greta/Gingrich interview and am very happy to hear that Gingrich has jumped on board to suspend mark-to-market (for the record, I want to abolish it but a suspension is good for now).Read Gingrich's Article on Forbes
Markets do not like bickering
Did anyone notice that the DOW ticker plummeted as the Democratic Caucus had their press conference?Update: DOW suffers worst point loss in history but did not make the top 10 in percentage terms. Conclusion: Markets react poorly to political "food fights" because they show political uncertainty.
Bye-Bye Bailout!
The bailout failed 205-228 in the House.House Republicans vote 2-1 against the bailout.Roll Call Vote
A Defense of the Paulson Plan
From Greg Mankiw's Blog:The Treasury proposal to rescue the financial system has gotten a lot of grief lately, especially from the community of economics professors. A smart friend, who knows more about this topic than I do, emails me his response to the critics:Academic economists don't like the Treasury plan, but nearly all of the Wall Street economists are for →
Financial Socialism!!!
Republican Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky came out swinging during a hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday, calling Treasury's plan for the biggest financial bailout since the Great Depression "un-American." From Bunning's prepared statement: The Paulson proposal is an attempt to do what we so often do in Washington—throw money at a problem. We cannot make bad mortgages go away. →
