Forget self-denial: Key to richer, healthier life is a good imagination - Red Tape

Forget self-denial: Key to richer, healthier life is a good imagination - Red Tape:


The "He" is Joesph Kable from Penn.

"Recently, his research took an inspirational turn. He found that subjects whose brains show added activity when imagining the future also make better decisions about money. Kable suspects that consumers who can really, viscerally imagine how great that new car will smell

Former Enron CEO Skilling's sentence cut to 14 years - Yahoo! Finance

 Former Enron CEO Skilling's sentence cut to 14 years - Yahoo! Finance:

"Former Enron Corp Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling's near decade-long quest to prove he did nothing wrong at the once high-flying energy-trading behemoth ended on Friday when a federal judge shaved 10 years off of his prison sentence."

Why would an organization enourage such a conflict of interest?

I realize organizations need money but sometimes conflicts of interest seem to dominate common sense.  A case in point:


The New Rules for Sunscreen - NYTimes.com:


"Take endorsements and seals of approval with a grain of salt. The Skin Cancer Foundation gives a “seal of recommendation” to sunscreens, but only if their manufacturer has donated $10,000 to become a member of the organization."

S&P cuts Berkshire Hahaway's rating, but barely.

S&P cuts Berkshire Hathaway rating by one notch to 'AA' - Yahoo! Finance:


"The lower credit rating on BRK better reflects our view of BRK's dependence on its core insurance operations for most of its dividend income," said Standard &Poor's credit analyst John Iten."
How to bond rating agencies work? Here are a few good links:

From Wikipedia:  (they have really cool tables showing defaults by

SEC subpoenas ‘political intelligence’ firms in a case of leaked information - The Washington Post

SEC subpoenas ‘political intelligence’ firms in a case of leaked information - The Washington Post:

" The latest case emerged April 1 when Height Securities, a Washington-based stock brokerage firm, alerted its clients that the government would soon make a decision favoring private health insurers who participate in a Medicare program.

The alert went out 18 minutes before the end of the trading

Futurity.org – Bad deeds can tarnish money’s value

Futurity.org – Bad deeds can tarnish money’s value:


"Our work suggests morality is an important force shaping economic decision-making,” says Jennifer Stellar, a doctoral student in psychology at University of California, Berkeley, and lead author of the study. “Though we often think $50 is $50, these results demonstrate that when money takes on negative moral associations, its value is

Are hedge fund investors beginning to relaize returns are not that great?

In some recent papers, researchers argue that the return from an investment mainly results from exposure to systematic risk factors. Jaeger, L., Wagner, C., “Factor Modelling and Benchmarking of Hedge Funds: Can passive investments in hedge fund strategies deliver?”, Journal of Alternative Investments (Winter 2005) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

First the "what": Investors are redeeming hedge

Mercury News interview: Meir Statman, Santa Clara University professor of finance - San Jose Mercury News

Finance (Photo credit: Tax Credits)

Mercury News interview: Meir Statman, Santa Clara University professor of finance - San Jose Mercury News:


"Santa Clara University finance professor Meir Statman believes that American employers should be forced to set up retirement plans for their workers for one simple reason: "People are stupid," he said.

Statman, an expert in behavioral finance,

Kill the 30-Year Mortgage - Bloomberg

Kill the 30-Year Mortgage - Bloomberg:

Bloomberg makes an interesting call for more adjustable mortgages that reduce the boom and bust cycles in real estate: 
"New homes are being built at the fastest rate in years and prices are increasing across the country....

What’s wrong with this picture? None of this would be possible without massive government support. Today, the government owns or

Insider trading at KPMG?

KPMG Fires a Senior Partner in an Insider Trading Episode - NYTimes.com:


"KPMG said late Monday night it had fired a senior partner in its Los Angeles office after learning that he had provided inside information to an unnamed individual “who then used that information in stock trades involving several West Coast companies.”"

It seems that the company involved was Herbalife:
Again from NY

Carl Icahn Unleashed: Wall Street's Richest Man Is On The Attack -- Just Ask Michael Dell - Forbes

Carl Icahn Unleashed: Wall Street's Richest Man Is On The Attack -- Just Ask Michael Dell - Forbes:

Forbes has a fascinating article on a fascinating man: Carl Icahn.


"He used to make runs at companies via junk bonds and other tools of leverage. Then he figured out how to use other people’s money via a hedge fund structure. Now, though, it’s all Carl–with a net worth that FORBES estimates at

Why Do Firms Pay Stock Dividends: Is it Just a Stock Split? by Xi He, Mingsheng Li, Jing Shi, Garry Twite :: SSRN

Why Do Firms Pay Stock Dividends: Is it Just a Stock Split? by Xi He, Mingsheng Li, Jing Shi, Garry Twite :: SSRN:

Abstract:

"This paper examines why firms choose to pay stock dividends. Using a sample of listed Chinese firms, we find that younger, more profitable firms, with lower leverage, high levels of retained earnings, private ownership prior to listing, investing more in fixed

Deregulation of Bank Entry and Bank Failures by Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Ajay Yadav :: SSRN

Deregulation of Bank Entry and Bank Failures by Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Ajay Yadav :: SSRN:

Short version: after deregulation there are fewer bank failures. 

From the paper:


"we find that deregulation of bank entry enhances bank stability by lowering instances of bank failures. Consistent with the effects being strongest in environments where the structure of banking markets changed the