Showing posts with label Entertainment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Entertainment. Show all posts
Monday, July 25, 2016
The Movie Star Speech
"You are the star of a movie and this is the part of the movie where you get your heart broken, where the world tests you and people treat you like shit. But it has to happen this way. Otherwise, the end of the movie, when you get everything you want, won’t feel as rewarding. There are assholes out there, but in the end, they don’t matter. Because this movie is not about them. It’s never been about them. All this time, the movie’s been about you."
Monday, June 13, 2016
Friday, May 1, 2015
Silly Trade Idea of the Day
Depending on who you think will win the fight this weekend, get long or short the Filipino bourse into the Monday trading day.
Friday, August 15, 2014
Quote of the Day
From Bill Barnwell at Grantland:
“You’ll hear a lot of quotes like this, and they’ll even occasionally get backed up by statistics; you’ve all seen the graphics that note how your favorite team is 37-2 when its star running back carries the ball 25 times or more. As noted in the very first Football Outsiders article from 2003, that’s a measure of effect, not cause. Teams chalk up large rushing attempt totals because they’re up by a comfortable margin in the second half and killing clock, not because they’re running the ball down the opposition’s throat in the first quarter.”
“You’ll hear a lot of quotes like this, and they’ll even occasionally get backed up by statistics; you’ve all seen the graphics that note how your favorite team is 37-2 when its star running back carries the ball 25 times or more. As noted in the very first Football Outsiders article from 2003, that’s a measure of effect, not cause. Teams chalk up large rushing attempt totals because they’re up by a comfortable margin in the second half and killing clock, not because they’re running the ball down the opposition’s throat in the first quarter.”
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Cheerleaders
Color me confused. In an article about disappointing U.S. home sales figures, the author put the following two sentences in sequence:
"Existing home sales are counted at the closing of contracts and March's sales reflected contracts signed in January and February, when the country was in the grip of an unusually cold and snowy winter.
Home resales rose in the Northeast and Midwest, but fell in the West and South."
He is either clueless or incredibly sarcastic.
"Existing home sales are counted at the closing of contracts and March's sales reflected contracts signed in January and February, when the country was in the grip of an unusually cold and snowy winter.
Home resales rose in the Northeast and Midwest, but fell in the West and South."
He is either clueless or incredibly sarcastic.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Term of the Day
"Specious Pettifoggery"
It comes courtesy of David Stockman and should be used to describe any instance when a politician, mainstream economist or mainstream journalist is moving his or her mouth.
It comes courtesy of David Stockman and should be used to describe any instance when a politician, mainstream economist or mainstream journalist is moving his or her mouth.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Thursday, August 1, 2013
The Red Pill
I find it difficult to watch financial television any more because practically every commentator is a cheerleader. Well, that's why this recent interview with Lakshman Achuthan on Bloomberg was so much fun. He performs an absolute ass-whooping on Tom Keene and Sara Eisen as they try to spin every data point to the most bullish case.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Four Kings
The book by George Kimball (2008) covers the last great era in boxing -- when Leonard, Hagler, Hearns and Duran challenged each other over 9 fights. A great read for anyone who has a passion for the sweet science, which I do. Gave me greater appreciation for Hearns and Duran, who are often given less attention than the other two.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Final Word
As the past few months have put on vivid display, I don't have a great feel for the gold market. Nevertheless, the fundamentals that support the story continue to be there in spades. So no selling for me.
On a less serious note, very much looking forward to the release of this song next week.
On a less serious note, very much looking forward to the release of this song next week.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Cultural Oddities
"Muslims believe that each human is flanked by two angels who record good and bad deeds. If a believer even thinks of doing something good, the angel records the thought as a single good deed. If the believer actually does what he or she says, God gives credit for ten good deeds. So perhaps this is why Saudis so often make promises even if they have no intention of keeping them. Partial credit is better than none at all."
-From On Saudi Arabia by Karen Elliott House (p. 42)
-From On Saudi Arabia by Karen Elliott House (p. 42)
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
High-lair-e-us
In the comments section to this post on Zero Hedge, someone suggested that green energy is making serious progress and you should ignore it at your own risk. To which someone else responded...
"My car has solar panels installed on its roof. In sunshine, it almost creates sufficient energy to make it actually move. It's really good downhill, though."
I laughed out loud.
"My car has solar panels installed on its roof. In sunshine, it almost creates sufficient energy to make it actually move. It's really good downhill, though."
I laughed out loud.
Monday, January 21, 2013
More Internet Maroons
A slow day around the office, so I checked in at the various blogs that I follow. Somehow I got pulled to a recent video of Mike Norman lambasting the Kyle Bass thesis on Japan.
For those who don't remember Norman, he's the guy who was laughing at Peter Schiff during an interview in 2006 as Schiff warned of a housing bubble. Even though that video subsequently went viral, and he was shown to be something of a dope, he still has people paying attention to him. I guess some people never learn.
In any event, his main criticism of Bass' idea (and Norman has a way of being a real condescending gasbag in making the case) is that any country which controls its own currency, and holds all its debt in that currency, can never be in danger of default. His position is not new ground here on our little blog, but it did get me thinking about it again and why I would never invest money with this clown.
In a literal sense, he is right. But there are obviously unintended consequences. Even if the bonds can always be paid off because the central bank can print up endless currency units, the value of those currency units are likely to suffer. So, imagine you are an island nation with few natural resources, that recently shut down most of its nuclear plants because of a tsunami, what is the impact of a depreciating currency unit as you try to import the stuff you need?
Also, he tangentially makes the point that somehow Japan has been suffering through decades of deflation because of tremendous efficiencies and productivity. Really? They keep having to import more and more as the savings rate goes down and down and the debt-to-GDP level goes up and up, all in the context of troubling demographic trends. Ouchie.
For those who don't remember Norman, he's the guy who was laughing at Peter Schiff during an interview in 2006 as Schiff warned of a housing bubble. Even though that video subsequently went viral, and he was shown to be something of a dope, he still has people paying attention to him. I guess some people never learn.
In any event, his main criticism of Bass' idea (and Norman has a way of being a real condescending gasbag in making the case) is that any country which controls its own currency, and holds all its debt in that currency, can never be in danger of default. His position is not new ground here on our little blog, but it did get me thinking about it again and why I would never invest money with this clown.
In a literal sense, he is right. But there are obviously unintended consequences. Even if the bonds can always be paid off because the central bank can print up endless currency units, the value of those currency units are likely to suffer. So, imagine you are an island nation with few natural resources, that recently shut down most of its nuclear plants because of a tsunami, what is the impact of a depreciating currency unit as you try to import the stuff you need?
Also, he tangentially makes the point that somehow Japan has been suffering through decades of deflation because of tremendous efficiencies and productivity. Really? They keep having to import more and more as the savings rate goes down and down and the debt-to-GDP level goes up and up, all in the context of troubling demographic trends. Ouchie.
Exhibit 1
Last week, we touched on the projected "surplus" in California, largely based on greater revenues expected to follow from the approval of Prop 30. Well, if Phil Mickelson is any indicator, those anticipated revenues are probably a lofty and unrealistic goal. And then where are we?
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Battle of the Villians
I happened to have the TV on this morning tuned to CNBC and caught an interview with David Boies. He is representing Hank Greenberg in his lawsuit against the U.S. government regarding its takeover of AIG in 2008. As usual, Boies was a captivating speaker and with those of his interviewers (mostly Becky Quick) who tried to argue from a moralistic standpoint (rather than a legal one) against his client, he did a rather effective job of quickly exposing the flaws in their position.
Anyway, having just finished up Financing Failure, this case has become a lot more interesting to me. It sounds like the primary defense that the government will offer revolves around the notion of systemic risk and how the financial system would have imploded but for the government’s extraordinary acts. McKinley’s book points out over and over how the guys at the Fed and Treasury talked about how the world would end without the intervention, but never really laid out the case beyond rhetoric. It was almost as if, by stipulation, that assumption was correct. Well, through this case, maybe the government will really have to lay out that argument once and for all.
From a rooting standpoint, I think it would be rather satisfying to see the government lose. But, in the bigger scheme, there are no heroes here. AIG should have gone bankrupt.
Anyway, having just finished up Financing Failure, this case has become a lot more interesting to me. It sounds like the primary defense that the government will offer revolves around the notion of systemic risk and how the financial system would have imploded but for the government’s extraordinary acts. McKinley’s book points out over and over how the guys at the Fed and Treasury talked about how the world would end without the intervention, but never really laid out the case beyond rhetoric. It was almost as if, by stipulation, that assumption was correct. Well, through this case, maybe the government will really have to lay out that argument once and for all.
From a rooting standpoint, I think it would be rather satisfying to see the government lose. But, in the bigger scheme, there are no heroes here. AIG should have gone bankrupt.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
More Funny Money Shenanigans
For those not paying attention, one idea gathering steam lately (in econ blogosphere land) is to have the Treasury mint a $1 trillion platinum coin in order to evade the pending debt ceiling showdown.
The basics go something like this: under the law, the Treasury is able to mint commemorative platinum coins without any restrictions as to face value. Thus, those of a more donkey-like persuasion see a potential loophole – get the Treasury to issue a coin with face value of $1 trillion, deposit it with the Fed, and the Bernank can gin up some new dollars and no additional debt needs to be issued. Thereby, Obama and team can avoid Republican efforts at re-visiting the debt ceiling episode from a couple years back.
In particular, Paul Krugman has really gotten on-board with the idea (here, here, here and here), most recently linking to an article where esteemed Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe weighs in on the absolute legality of the plan.
But, it seems that Professor Tribe is glossing over some relevant details and recent case law – J.P. Koning does a great job of summarizing. Specifically, a Las Vegas man was convicted in 2009 of tax evasion for paying his employees in gold coins at the face value amount ($50) of the one-ounce American Eagles. The court said that it’s the intrinsic/market value that counts. In addition, under Section 16.2 of the Federal Reserve Act, the Fed is only supposed to collateralize notes where the underlying securities are sufficient in amount. Put differently, it would be a blatant disregard of the rules to pretend that a $1,500 platinum coin (at market value) is sufficient collateral to issue $1 trillion in freshly-printed moolahs. But, as the past few years have demonstrated, and the book Financing Failure highlighted so well, those rules are often glossed over for political expediency. In any event, there is a compelling argument for why the platinum coin loophole is not copacetic.
As to my personal take – the whole debt ceiling issue is all about theatrics anyway. The current brand of Republican is as much austerian as Krugman is neocon. In other words, much like the “fiscal cliff”, don’t expect anything substantive to come out of this dance. No meaningful grand bargains, so why even bother with the charade in the first place.
The basics go something like this: under the law, the Treasury is able to mint commemorative platinum coins without any restrictions as to face value. Thus, those of a more donkey-like persuasion see a potential loophole – get the Treasury to issue a coin with face value of $1 trillion, deposit it with the Fed, and the Bernank can gin up some new dollars and no additional debt needs to be issued. Thereby, Obama and team can avoid Republican efforts at re-visiting the debt ceiling episode from a couple years back.
In particular, Paul Krugman has really gotten on-board with the idea (here, here, here and here), most recently linking to an article where esteemed Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe weighs in on the absolute legality of the plan.
But, it seems that Professor Tribe is glossing over some relevant details and recent case law – J.P. Koning does a great job of summarizing. Specifically, a Las Vegas man was convicted in 2009 of tax evasion for paying his employees in gold coins at the face value amount ($50) of the one-ounce American Eagles. The court said that it’s the intrinsic/market value that counts. In addition, under Section 16.2 of the Federal Reserve Act, the Fed is only supposed to collateralize notes where the underlying securities are sufficient in amount. Put differently, it would be a blatant disregard of the rules to pretend that a $1,500 platinum coin (at market value) is sufficient collateral to issue $1 trillion in freshly-printed moolahs. But, as the past few years have demonstrated, and the book Financing Failure highlighted so well, those rules are often glossed over for political expediency. In any event, there is a compelling argument for why the platinum coin loophole is not copacetic.
As to my personal take – the whole debt ceiling issue is all about theatrics anyway. The current brand of Republican is as much austerian as Krugman is neocon. In other words, much like the “fiscal cliff”, don’t expect anything substantive to come out of this dance. No meaningful grand bargains, so why even bother with the charade in the first place.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
On Presidential Elections
This situation reminds me of an incident with my Uncle Ken. He was on the street in Mocksville one day when a stranger stopped and asked if he could recommend a restaurant in town. Ken said, “We have C’s Café at one end of town and the Barbecue Pit at the other end. It won’t matter which one you go to, you’ll always wish you had gone to the other one.”
-Gene A. Hoots
(h/t Valueinvestingworld.com)
-Gene A. Hoots
(h/t Valueinvestingworld.com)
Friday, October 5, 2012
Mish Mosh
A few things to cover:
-Today's jobs report was probably a big boost to the Obama campaign, as the unemployment rate dropped to 7.8% -- the lowest it's been during his presidency. The meaningful decline from 8.1% was triggered by a household survey that suggested 873,000 jobs were added in September. Sounds great, right? Well, a full two-thirds of that number (582,000) were part-time. So, that's the society we're becoming. We create jobs, they just aren't terribly good.
-This guy doesn't typically view the world as I do, but he captures well my complaint about the "great" thinkers of the dismal science: "Economists generally focus purely on the efficiency/growth effects of inflation..."
-I have been running again with some regularity (after suffering through foot tendinitis in my initial foray two months ago). My shins are barking a little bit, so I have started doing an interesting exercise designed to counter shin splints. You stand on a step, heels in, with most of your foot hanging off. Do 60 seconds non-stop of flexing your feet all the way up and all the way down (30 seconds with legs straight and 30 seconds with knees bent at a 45 degree angle). 3 sets, one-minute rest in between each. By the end of the five minutes, it feels like your legs are going to fall off.
-And, finally, it gave me a good laugh...
-Today's jobs report was probably a big boost to the Obama campaign, as the unemployment rate dropped to 7.8% -- the lowest it's been during his presidency. The meaningful decline from 8.1% was triggered by a household survey that suggested 873,000 jobs were added in September. Sounds great, right? Well, a full two-thirds of that number (582,000) were part-time. So, that's the society we're becoming. We create jobs, they just aren't terribly good.
-This guy doesn't typically view the world as I do, but he captures well my complaint about the "great" thinkers of the dismal science: "Economists generally focus purely on the efficiency/growth effects of inflation..."
-I have been running again with some regularity (after suffering through foot tendinitis in my initial foray two months ago). My shins are barking a little bit, so I have started doing an interesting exercise designed to counter shin splints. You stand on a step, heels in, with most of your foot hanging off. Do 60 seconds non-stop of flexing your feet all the way up and all the way down (30 seconds with legs straight and 30 seconds with knees bent at a 45 degree angle). 3 sets, one-minute rest in between each. By the end of the five minutes, it feels like your legs are going to fall off.
-And, finally, it gave me a good laugh...
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