From the Loony Bin: Byron Jones Takes the Leap, Etc…

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jump

Talk of the combine: In what is probably a world’s record, UConn’s Byron Jones jumps 12 feet, three inches from a standing start.  (Photo: sbnation.com)

Bud’s Round-up of Daily Drivel:

  • Moving up the draft board: UConn corner breaks NFL combine broad jump record by 2/3 of a foot, then does 44.5 inch vertical leap for an encore.  (YouTube)
  • Our politicians are even more incompetent in real life: House of Cards’ season 3 available Friday.  (trailer: YouTube)
  • $450K for a 10-day vacation? Ken Griffin, founder of Citadel hedge fund, and his free-spending wife continue to fight it out in divorce court.  (NBC)
  • Interesting: Pew Research’s poll results on Political Polarization in the American Public.  (Full report: Pew Research)
  • Lack of faith: Saudi man who renounced Islam gets the death penalty.  (NBC)
  • Start your engines: Consumer Reports announces its top 10 cars and SUVs.  (Consumer Reports)
  • Reporting on Bill O’Reilly: 3 questions that could decide his war-reporting controversy.  (Bloomberg)

From the Loony Bin: Shumpert to Smith Reverse Oop, Etc…

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obama-laughing

Double entendre? “Two years is a long time,” Obama tells attendees at a San Fran fundraiser two weeks ago. (Photo: Joshua Roberts, Reuters)

Bud’s Round-up of Daily Drivel:

  • Take that, Zen Master: As Cavaliers, Iman Shumpert and J R Smith return to the Garden with a vengeance.  (YouTube)
  • Stocks take a breather: Dow and S&P 500 retreat from records hit Friday.  (ABC News)
  • Apple juiced: Stock hits new high, $775 billion market cap more than 2x value of any other US publicly traded company.  (CNBC)
  • Watch your money: 5 ways a financial advisor can legally do you wrong.  (Bloomberg)
  • Picking on the Prez: 12-year-old grabs the baton from Rudy Giuliani.  (Daily Mail)
  • The heat is on: Head of UN’s Climate Panel, accused of sexual harassment, takes the Anthony Weiner route and says his computer was hacked.  (Independent)
  • What about A-Rod: New York Yankees retire the number of admitted HGH-user Andy Pettitte.  (CBS)
  • Cool it: Mission Athletecare, maker of cooling towels, gets $35mm in new financing.  (NY Post)
  • Cuban diplomacy: Red Sox ink deal with 19-year-old Cuban prospect Yoan Moncada.  (FOX Sports)

Happy Birthday, George: A Presidential Quiz

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george washington

Our first president, born on February 22, 1732, led the Continental Army against the British.  (Photo: Baltimore Sun)

Obama selfie

Our current president, shown in selfie, aka “narcisstick,” mode, has led from behind on many occasions.  (Photo: BuzzFeed)

On the Anniversary of George Washington’s birth, let’s contrast three statements from our selfless first president with three from our selfie president. It’s pretty easy to guess who said which. Continue reading →

From the Loony Bin: Nobel Prize for Sale, Etc…

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Nobel prize

Minimum bid $150K:  The 1971 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences is for sale.  (Photo: Nate D. Sanders)

Bud’s Round-up of Daily Drivel:

  • Always a good read: This year’s Economic Report of the President is out. Table B-21 on page 409 tells the real story.  (whitehouse.gov)
  • Nobel Prize for sale: Simon Kuznet’s 1971 award for Economic Sciences is on the auction block.  (Nate D. Sanders)
  • Car Wars: Apple hopes to begin production of an electric car in 2020.  (Bloomberg)
  • The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly:  Institutional Investor’s Alpha ranks the hedge funds.  (CNN)
  • Three NFL teams in Los Angeles?  Not so fast.  (Washington Post)
  • Oscar odds:  How to pick ’em if you’re in an Academy Awards pool.  (New York Times)

From the Loony Bin: Federal Reserve GDP Forecasts Stink, Etc…

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SF Fed_1

These charts plot the evolution of the Federal Reserve’s GDP forecasts for 2008-2010 (above) and 2011-2013 (below) vs actual results.  Left vertical axis indicates GDP growth, right axis is trailing 12-month percentage change in the S&P 500.  (Source: http://www.frbsf.org)

SF Fed

As you can see, your guess is as good as theirs. (Source: http://www.frbsf.org)

Bud’s Round-up of Daily Drivel:

  • Interesting:  Researchers at San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank say the Fed can’t forecast too well.  (FRB of San Fran)
  • Pinboard billionaire: Pinterest new $500mm financing round targets $11B valuation.  (Wired)
  • A-lister: Angie’s List (ticker ANGI) touch lower today after yesterday’s 60% increase on strong 4Q results.  (thestreet.com)
  • Hedgie Shack attack: Unsecured creditors accuse hedge fund of foul play in Radio Shack bankruptcy.  (WSJ)
  • US jobless claims fall more than expected. (Reuters)
  • Nein:  Germany rejects Greek request for loan extension.  (The Guardian)
  • Dropping the F-bomb on net neutrality:  Mark Cuban attacks plan to regulate the internet.  (re/code)
  • All contributions welcome: The Clinton Foundation lifts restrictions on foreign government money.  (Washington Post)
  • The fox guards the henhouse: NFL official fired for trying to steal Deflategate football.  (NBC Sports)
  • Cheated:  UNC whistle-blower’s new book exposes academic fraud in college sports.  (Bloomberg)

“Hair Cut”: Financial Expression of the Day

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In Finance land, there's no such thing as a good haircut unless you're doing it to someone else

In Finance land, there’s no such thing as a good haircut unless you’re the barber (Photo: galleryhip.com)

“Hair Cut”: verb phrase, in business and finance, to receive less than the amount due or expected on a financial obligation or investment (i.e. application of a discount to an amount owed or return anticipated).

Usage Note: Sharing some similarities with the gem of a phrase “Take a Hit”, this well-worn financial idiom is more versatile, and more widely used.  When you think about it, the haircut is a strange behavior unique to the human animal. Humans share 97% (or whatever) of our DNA with chimpanzees and although you’ll see a lot of people acting like monkeys, particularly in finance, you’ll never see monkeys getting a haircut.  But we humans just love getting our haircut. Something very relaxing and rejuvenating about someone tugging on your mane and snipping at it in tiny increments with a sharp pair of scissors.

Unfortunately, as is often the case with financial lingo, “haircut” has become an overused substitute for “discount” and as such has made its way into all forms of conversation where it really has no business being.  Finance geeks throw the term around for anything from a sale at Barney’s to short-changing a friend when repaying for last weekend’s bender. Continue reading →

The Personal Touch of Joe “The Handyman” Biden

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Welcome to ObamaLand: New Defense Secretary Ashton Carter already seems unaware of what is happening around him. (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)

It’s probably a good bet that Joe Biden hasn’t had any real responsibility since Barack Obama tapped him as his running mate in April 2008. Depending on what you think of politicians, his do-nothing streak goes back even farther because Biden won a Delaware US Senate seat in 1972 and was elected to the New Castle County council two years before that when he was 27. He was graduated from Syracuse University College of Law in 1968, leaving virtually no time to pad his resume before plunging into the cesspool of local politics with his bid for county council. So Crazy Uncle Joe has been a glad-handing, back-slapping, empty-headed, faux-pas machine of a politico for 47 years. He is a living, breathing argument in favor of term limits. Continue reading →

From the Loony Bin: Joe “The Handyman” Biden, Etc…

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Biden_2

Biden: Have you seen the size of my Obamacare voucher?  (Photo: Evan Vucci/AP)

Bud’s Round-up of Daily Drivel:

  • The Handyman strikes again:  Bawdy Joe Biden is up to his usual tricks.  (NPR)
  • Reservations at the Federal Reserve:  Policymakers hesitant to raise rates.  (Reuters)
  • Not Fade Away:  Snapchat seeking $19 billion valuation in current financing round.  (Bloomberg)
  • Not so fast:  Texas federal judge issues temporary stay blocking Obama’s executive order on immigration.  (Washington Post)
  • The pen is mightier than the bat:  Alex Rodriguez writes letter to fans.  (Deadspin)
  • We can survive without them:  Federal offices in DC get a snow day.  (Marketwatch.com)
  • The President’s Silly Summit:  Obama’s “Countering Violent Extremism” sit-in doesn’t look promising.  (Bloomberg)
  • The Regal Beagle:  “15-inch” version of the breed is top dog.  (NY Times)
  • Vlad the Thief:  Russia’s former largest foreign investor says Putin could be worth $200 billion.  (CNN)

 

Supreme Court Performs Remake of “Weekend at Bernie’s”

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ginsburg

From left to right, Justices Kennedy, a supposed Ginsburg, and Breyer reenacting a scene from “Weekend at Bernie’s.”  (Photo: freerepublic.com)

A fairly well kept secret, the US Supreme Court Follies are a great tradition. At a private dinner at the beginning of each year, the active justices poke fun at themselves and present a series of skits for the entertainment of retired judges, clerks, administrative staff, and friends. Unfortunately not much is known about the event because everyone involved takes an oath of omertà seriously enough to make a mafia boss weep with pride. The oath of silence makes sense: The Supremes’ juridical gravitas would be shot to hell if they were ever caught looking like ex-NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani when he dressed in drag and kissed Donald Trump.

This year, for the first time, one skit was so funny that the judges decided to reenact it for the entire nation at President Obama’s State of the Union Address on January 20. The press had a field day misinterpreting what happened that night, with major news sources incorrectly reporting that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, having had too much wine at dinner, fell fast asleep during Obama’s recited dog’s breakfast of liberal proposals 40 years past their sell-by date.

That’s not what really happened. A source attached to the court has told Bud Fox News the real story: Continue reading →

Vice President Biden Comes Out of Closet, Doesn’t Realize It

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Biden: Out of the closet in Iowa?!

Vice President Joe Biden hasn’t given a speech of any significance in a long time, if ever.  But Thursday he delivered one that still has the nation reeling.  Addressing a group of Iowans who were either paid to attend or were prison trustees given no choice in the matter, Biden, who’s been married to his wife Jill for 37 years, wondered aloud:

“Neal Smith,” Biden said, “an old butt buddy. Are you here, Neal? Neal, I miss you man. I miss you.”

Biden’s fondness for Amtrak is well known, but his affection for the 94-year-old Neal Smith, who  represented Iowa in Congress from 1959 to 1995, seems to be on an entirely different level.  A family member who asked not to be identified but seemed to share Biden’s gift of gobbledygook gab told Bud Fox News: Continue reading →