Archive for June, 2009

  • Vacation
    , June 19th, 2009 at 11:25 am

    It’s time to head out on vacation. I’m off to a wonderful lakeside cottage in Maine. Best of all, the laptop is staying behind. It’s [...]

  • A New York Times Editorial on 2009 — Written in 1909
    , June 18th, 2009 at 11:47 am

    Enjoy.

  • Wall Street Is Close to Fully Bionic
    , June 18th, 2009 at 9:28 am

    I, for one, welcome our new computer overlords: Investors and pundits are left clutching at straws to explain big moves in the stock market, such [...]

  • I Really Like this Story
    , June 18th, 2009 at 9:21 am

    The BBC reports, Rats play odds in gambling task. (HT: Alea.)

  • Pew Center Poll
    , June 18th, 2009 at 12:58 am

    Americans are saying that they’re hearing more good news about the economy. Not mostly good news, but not all bad news as it was a [...]

  • Rainforest Discovered Through Google Earth
    , June 17th, 2009 at 7:59 pm

    This is a cool story. Scientists found a rainforest in Mozambique with the help of Google Earth. Here’s a similar story where Google Earth helped [...]

  • Looking at the Iranian Elections
    , June 17th, 2009 at 2:16 pm

    Whoever made up numbers apparently forgot about Benford’s Law: The results of the 2009 Iranian presidential election presented by the Iranian Ministry of the Interior [...]

  • Humans prefer cockiness to expertise
    , June 17th, 2009 at 1:48 pm

    NewScientist reports that Humans prefer cockiness to expertise (if you click through to the article, you won’t be surprised to see whose picture they’ve used): [...]

  • Obama's Plan For Financial Regulation
    , June 17th, 2009 at 1:27 pm

  • Obama’s Plan For Financial Regulation
    , June 17th, 2009 at 1:27 pm

  • Market Reaction to Unexpected Monetary Policy Announcement
    , June 17th, 2009 at 1:23 pm

    A bit wonky but interesting: This paper examines the daily response of euro area stock markets to unexpected ECB monetary policy announcements. We define ECB’s [...]

  • AFL Under $30
    , June 17th, 2009 at 1:02 pm

    If you’re looking to put free cash to use, Aflac (AFL) is a good buy under $30. That’s about six times the guidance they’ve given [...]

  • What's Behind Soaring T-Bond Yields
    , June 17th, 2009 at 10:48 am

    Many market observers have been alarmed by the surge in long-term bond yields. This has also sparked a debate on Wall Street: Are the higher [...]

  • What’s Behind Soaring T-Bond Yields
    , June 17th, 2009 at 10:48 am

    Many market observers have been alarmed by the surge in long-term bond yields. This has also sparked a debate on Wall Street: Are the higher [...]

  • Ex-con tried to get $15 trillion tax return
    , June 17th, 2009 at 9:35 am

    You might as well go all the way: Fresh out of prison on a money-laundering conviction, Marlon T. Moore tried to make a big score, [...]

  • CPI Came in Below Forecast
    , June 17th, 2009 at 9:19 am

    Both headline and core were up 0.1%: The cost of living in the U.S. rose less than forecast in May, culminating in the biggest 12-month [...]

  • People With Way Too Much Time on Their Hands
    , June 17th, 2009 at 8:55 am

    Here’s the original.

  • Swan Song
    , June 16th, 2009 at 3:17 pm

    Mark Gimein looks at Nassim Taleb: But the failures of the Niederhoffers and AIGs do not translate to a validation of Taleb-style catastrophism because these [...]

  • FactSet Beats the Street
    , June 16th, 2009 at 12:01 pm

    One of my Buy List stocks, FactSet Research Systems (FDS), just reported another strong quarter. For the May quarter, which is their fiscal third quarter, [...]

  • Naked Shorting Is a Phoney Problem
    , June 16th, 2009 at 10:16 am

    John Hempton has an outstanding post on the government’s absurd war on naked short-selling. He says that it’s costing taxpayers one billion dollars. It’s a [...]