I Think That’s Called “Burying the Lead” (Of a Sort) It’s not for nothing that economics is known as “the dismal science.” In the same vein, The Wall Street Journal can have a decidedly “glass half-empty” perspective on things. Take, for example, its slant on this objectively happy news: “In its first revision of mortality...Read More
IBM Lowers Forecast, Stock Tanks “IBM forecast earnings for 2015 of $15.75 to $16.50 per share, below the $16.51 per share average estimate on Wall Street. The company’s stock fell 2% in after-hours trading.” –“At IBM, a Weak Streak Persists”; The WSJ (1/21/15) At first blush, it seems like a classic overreaction: a storied company...Read More
The Virtue of a Simple On-Off Switch — and Manual Toothbrushes “Homes already have interfaces that are remarkably robust. Imagine, for example, how revolutionary the light switch would seem if until now we’d all been forced to control our lights through our smartphones.” –“Why I’m Not in a Hurry For a ‘Smart Home'”; The Wall...Read More
Likely Culprit: Exploding Student Debt “Economists believe younger Americans now are much more likely to rent for longer periods than did earlier generations ” due not only to the rising home prices and high credit standards but also the high student debt levels and elevated levels of underemployment.” —Wall Street Journal (5/23/2014) With the caveat that...Read More
WSJ: ‘As Lockup Expires, Twitter Holders Fly the Coop’ 1twit noun \ˈtwit\ : a stupid or foolish person. In addition to the general definition of “twit” (above), I have a special case: momentum investors who bought Twitter’s stock and have now lost more than half their money this year (see also, “chump”). Yesterday’s not-so-randomly timed, 18% plunge...Read More
“Flash Boys” Fallout: The Various Shades of Red Michael Lewis’ list of enemies — many inspired by his new book, “Flash Boys” — just got longer. That’s because of the stock market fallout in the wake of Lewis’ book, out last week, which peeled back the curtain on how high frequency trading (“HFT”) really works,...Read More
