Financial Bloat
Why bankrupt banks may be good for America There are too many 20-somethings running around Wall Street making tens of millions of dollars every year. They actually think that’s normal, it’s not. In any economy there is a finite amount of money available to be spent without introducing inflation and allocating a disproportionate amount of that money to financial institutions is a great way to create the conditions for inevitable collapse. Street goes mad
Let me see if I understand, people are depressed about a coming economic recession so they panic sell everything in exchange for… cash? That may be a natural instinctive response but it makes no sense in an inflationary cycle, especially when a stimulus package is on the way from Congress and the Fed has promised deep rate cuts. Why the hell would you hold US dollars when inflation is higher than it’s been in decades? Investment strategies for an irrational world
Everyone should invest their money, the last thing you want to do in an inflationary cycle is depend on cash as a store of value. But if you’re not prepared to work hard than you should leave decisions up to someone else. I would recommend periodically seeking advice from an educated friend or family member to keep you on track – but verify with a few sources, relying on people who have little knowledge but sound authoritative can get you in trouble. Stock brokers are generally useless, their only function is to deliberately complicate the entire process and intimidate you into feeling as though you need them. Rudy’s enemy to save America’s biggest bank?
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, the subject of Rudy’s scorn at last week’s New Hampshire debate, is about to invest billions more in struggling Citigroup, no thanks to Rudy of course. While it’s not a positive sign for America that foreigners are beginning to seize their assets, it does show a commitment by the Saudi Prince to saving America’s largest financial institution. Would you invest billions of dollars in a country you are trying to destroy? I didn’t think so. Is it finally time to end tipping terror?
The argument in favor of tipping at restaurants is always an emotional appeal to support poor waitresses that make a pitiful $0.50 per hour slave wage, or whatever. One of my friends actually tried to convince me that if restaurants paid their employees more they would all go out of business — think of all the poor waitresses that would lose their livelihood! Bull shit. Is this the coolest thing you’ve ever seen?
They say intelligent people point out the obvious and geniuses point out the obscure, so this idea may not be genius, but it’s pretty damn close. It’s so simple it makes me want to scream. Level 3 fraud on Wall Street
When normal people lose money on an investment, they can’t withdraw their assets from the market and assign them any value they choose. The only way those assets are valued is by comparing them with current market transactions — the last value at which it was traded. But for banks the rules are different, for many years they have been maintaining what is referred to as “level 3″ assets that have completely made up valuations. Is for-profit funding of research unethical?
I had a conversation today with a very bright individual just about to complete his PHD in computer science — he has inspired me to ask this important question. I was quite surprised to hear him describe his philosophical opposition to private funding for research. I couldn’t believe it. Ever? Is this common? UFC cash cow
For the uninitiated, UFC stands for Ultimate Fighting Championship, technically the sport is called mixed martial arts or simply MMA. Years ago it was criticized for being what some considered human cock fighting — there were no weight classes, no rounds and no rules. Competitors got in the octagon shaped cage and fought until one fighter either quit or stopped fighting back. The sport was banned in many states. SCO delisted from NASDAQ
All linux supporters should be quite enthralled with this news. SCO is of course the company (with Microsoft funding) that first claimed ownership over many parts of the open source operating system, but famously refused to indicate exactly which parts. They recently declared chapter 11 bankruptcy, and as a result will be removed from the NASDAQ exchange effective Dec 27. Read the news release here, read about their history here. |
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