“Occupy Wall Street” Conundrum: What to Occupy One of my favorite political cartoons — from the 1970’s no less — shows a self-satisfied oil executive sitting behind a big desk, his feet up, smoking a cigar (I said it was from the ’70’s). “You want oil?,” he practically cackles (to no one in particular). “We own the wells.”...Read More
Second Time the Charm? The last time the public was this disgusted with Congress, term limits got a serious hearing. Then — as best I can recall — Bill Clinton got elected President, the economy picked up . . . and the issue just sort of faded away. Fast forward 20 years or so. Reading...Read More
Richer Players = Longer Holdouts? Here’s my theory about the long-lived NBA players’ strike (now on the verge of cancelling the 2011-2012 season). It’s all about the money. Not what the players are asking for, mind you. Rather, what they currently make (or made). Average Salary: $5 million Once upon a time, when pro athletes...Read More
Synonyms for “Receive”: “Charge,” “Levy,” “Assess,” “Subtract,” “Deduct,” “Reduce” “TFLIC receives an asset charge of 1.18% from the assets of the separate account.” –Prospectus On the list of really annoying things about a great many mutual funds and how they disclose their (too-high) fees, add this one: a bond fund sponsored by Transamerica Financial Life Insurance (“TFLIC”)...Read More
Swapping Underwater Mortgages on Craig’s List One of the most popular posts ever on this blog, “Groupon for Underwater Homeowners,” made the case that underwater homeowners could exert heretofore missing leverage over their lenders by teaming up and negotiating as a group (“groupon”). Seeing as no one (so far) has bit on that idea, I’m now offering up solution...Read More
Getting Busted for the Cover-Up — Not the Crime I have no idea — based on the handful of stories I’ve read — if MF Global broke any laws, and if so, whether it will face prosecution. But if so, here’s my guess what the company and/or its principals will ultimately be charged with: not engaging in the ruinous, numbingly...Read More
