Various and Vicarious

Georgia (the ex-Soviet union kind)

2008-08-11T17:27:00.000-07:00

Well I was reading the Wall Street Journal's section on the Georgian conflict and I got this shot in the arm that motivated me to blog again. So as I'm sure people know there is a conflict in Georgia that involves Russia. It's being told in this manner: Russia and its seperatists in South Ossetia cause a fuss again about seperating/annexing. Georgia attacks. Russia retaliates in a much bigger magnitude than expected, taking over the area. Georgia retreats saying it wants peace. Now they're in a big hullabaloo and Georgia wants help. Russia is testing how far they can go and are bringing up old grudges about genocide from Georgia.

So what are the implications of this? Is this the start of a new cold war? Georgia is a staunch U.S. ally and its president Sakashvili has brought along Western ideals. He is spinning it as a anti-democratic move and we should all be alarmed.

My thoughts:

Did this come at this time for a reason? The Olympics has brought the worlds attention to international relations. Georgia should know that it can't hope to hold a candle to the power of Russia, so it seems that they are leveraging the attack now to garner attention from the World.

What should the next president do about it and what are Barack's and John's stances on it? John McCain already strongly denounced Russia. He has had a few very anti-Putin quotes. Barack has been playing the fence a little bit but later put a little blame on Russia. Ok...Russia wants its old Soviet Union back and its ability to fight for it is only going to INCREASE in the future as it gets filthy rich off of oil and other commodities. I haven't done much research on it but why not? Give them a spot on the table. I really think that trying to intimidate Russia is not going to happen. As Russia gets richer they are less likely to listen to anyone.

On this issue I think I would rather have Obama who doesn't have any pre-disposed feelings towards Russia.

I just want to iterate I have not chosen a candidate and don't hope to until election time. Hopefully this blog will help me make a decision.

Someone get J.P. Morgan to bail me out of my Honors project!

2008-04-04T19:01:00.000-07:00

Well I'm back! I am about to graduate in April and I have yet to finish my honors project! Honestly, I've barely started and I have about three weeks to get it done. So that means I'll be coming across a few interesting things that have to do with investing, stocks, economics, credit crunches, credit crisis, subprime messes, and maybe even about life (ooooh!).

Anyways, I just found this on the web. Someone is making Trader of the Year Awards and this is one of them:

The Iron Balls McGinty Award: Angelo’s Ashes

Say what you will about Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo. Sure, he’s terrifyingly tan — and, as the helmsman of America’s biggest subprime-mortgage lender, he more or less abetted a situation that might plunge the country into a steep recession or worse. But give him this much: The guy’s got some set of stones. Countrywide got torched in 2007, its shares dropping 80 percent amid massive write-downs. What was Mozilo doing? Selling hundreds of millions’ worth of shares at pre-meltdown prices. With his company going up in smoke, Mozilo’s trading yielded him an estimated $200 million profit. Two weeks before the entire mortgage market began to fall apart, the controversial executive dumped $10 million worth of stock at $28 per share. As of press time, it languished at $5. Insider selling at its most brazen.Sleep tight, Angie.

Cuba del futuro

2007-06-02T06:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a peak into the upcoming Cuban administration. Slippery slope towards China type markets?

Virginia Tech and a sidenote on the media...

2007-04-17T17:52:00.000-07:00

As you all know, Virginia Tech just had the worst shooting in U.S. history. This is horrible and I don't have to remind you that it is. These 33 who have died have also affected pretty much all of America and even the South Korean government.

The reason I would like to post on this is that I want you to think about how horrible you feel about this and think about this. In one day over 100 people died and this wasn't state ordered either. Yet, this had little affect on us. There was not much news coverage, probably because either we've gotten use to it, or frankly we don't care because its not close enough...or maybe we even hate Iraqis.

On the same note, here was MAJOR coverage over this whole Don Imus hoopla. But was anyone talking about this? Which one do you think is worse?

Hmm...

2007-04-10T20:42:00.000-07:00

Should I be more concerned?

Battle of the Brands

2007-04-08T17:11:00.000-07:00

Interbrand's 2006 Best Global Brands

It's for the birds and silver chopsticks

2007-03-27T07:16:00.000-07:00

This is Kim Jong Il, the man who eats from silver chopsticks, in what appears to be a horrifically awkward picture.

Anyways, the South Korea/North Korea issue is at a real turning point. This is going to be one of the biggest stories in the upcoming year. As you may know, South Korea and North Korea have never signed a treaty to conclude the Korean War. They are technically still at war. In the recent month or two, there have been major, major changes. Just recently:

"Let's lead the rest of our life in joy and become reunited after reunification."

BTW, This is a good article of the story that is the basis for many B-movies.

The investor's theory of relativity.

2007-03-20T10:16:00.000-07:00

Compare apples to apples? Or compare apples to oranges like Mr. Kiyosaki?

The dollar in your pocket decreased 9% last year in relation to the Euro (i.e. for every dollar in your pocket at the beginning of the year, you now have 9 cents less! You didn't have to do anything!)

Also, this is pretty cool: Terminator 4: Rise of the Mosquitos

Chavez's visible hand*

2007-03-18T18:18:00.000-07:00

Hugo Chavez is quite entertaining. This is my favorite. There are probably very few people happier than a Venezuelan short seller.

Also, more currency news for you to ponder.

*reference to Adam Smith's invisible hand.