Final Jeopardy

Category: Award Namesakes

Answer: His "A Little Pretty Pocket-Book" of 1744 was one of the 1st books published specifically for children.

My Response:  Franklin (wrong)

Correct Response: Newberry

The Immediacy of Bad Decision

Have you ever made a decision, acted upon it, only to immediately realize it was a bad decision?

I've done this a few times.  Here are a couple examples of what I mean - 

• I recently made the decision to purchase "Meet the Spartans" on demand.  As soon as it was too late to change my mind, I realized I would be wasting the next 90 minutes of life.
• I went on a date with a girl I met online once.  She seemed eager to meet me, so I didn't vet her through rigorous IM conversations and text messages.  Immediately upon seeing her, I realized she had egregiously misrepresented herself.  I sought a dating exit strategy for the next hour.

I think our economy had one of those moments today.  Despite unprecedented public resistance, the Bush Administration and Congress passed a bailout measure that was supposed to save the day.  However, immediately after the applause ceased, the sell orders started pouring in on Wall Street.  On the Dow, a 250 point gain turned into a 160 point loss, after the bailout decision.

It is peculiar how once faced with the immediate reality of a decision, its true repercussions become infinitely clearer.  

Our economic situation is now as dire as ever.  As soon as Wall Street street was appeased, they were making more bailout demands.  The black hole of debt our society is built around was just fed $800 billion.

Perhaps the smartest thing I heard today is that the economy needs to bottom out, as fast as possible.

Entrepreneurial Objective

Boulder has a very strong tech entrepreneurial scene.  Through my connection into this tech savvy culture, I come across a myriad of neat new widgets, web applications, effectiveness tools, and such. 

This stream of information creates a stark contrast to another culture I am well connected in.  Having attended a southern liberal arts university, I have many future success-story friends who couldn't be less connected to the emerging web application scene.  These are lawyers, doctors, financiers, etc. who don't read any blogs, have one email account, are just getting used to texting, and are very reluctant to adopt new technologies.

I am realizing that as a young entrepreneur, a significant factor in determining my own success will be my ability to take the new technology from the tech-savvy crowd, and implement it for the success-story crowd.  

The vast majority of the concepts that I see are ways to make the tech-savvy guy "techier".  My objective is to create technology which makes the success-story guy more successful.

Stock Purchase

Today I bought SKF @ $101.98.  SKF is an ETF which bets that financial stocks will go down.

View the full SKF chart at Wikinvest

My reasoning for this play -

• Stocks rose big today, despite bad news for financials in that lending rates are rising, this suggests a downward correction in the near future.
• Financials are sheltered by the current ban on short selling.  When this ban is lifted, presumably at the end of the week, financials should fall due to the reintroduction of a downward correcting force.
• While a bailout may well be passed by the end of the week, the market largely factored in a bailout today.  Also, for a bailout to pass, it will need to be less favorable for financials than the one that was voted on yesterday.
• On Friday, a myriad of bad economic news will be released.  The first target for this bad news will be financials.

Final Jeopardy

Category - 20th Century America

Answer - Experts say Glenn McDuffie is the mystery man in the classic Eisenstaedt photo taken in this year.

My Response - 1945 (Correct)

New Business Idea

In light of our current economic discombobulation, I've begun to pursue scams and thievery to grab the scraps of the US economy.

Here is an email I've drafted - 

FROM Mr JACOB BARSTRAND
12 MIDWILL EASTRAND
NEW YORK CITY,
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

DEAR Sir,

My name is Jacob Barstrand the first Son of Nigel Barstrand, former COMPTROLLER of the US TREASURY. As you are aware if you listen to news on CNN or BBC, my country is in great turmoil. My father has resigned and handed over office to Mr. Moses Silverton having been given an automaton by America to leave office.

We have been granted Asylum in Nigeria, but which the Nigeria's Emissary seem to be fighting against, and has created a lot of misunderstanding or civil disorder in Nigeria since the 11th of August 2003. Nigeria is in West Africa and across the Atlantic Ocean from The United States, therefore there is no guarantee for security, hence my father sending me to South Africa to safeguard my life and that of my family. I came into South Africa with some money, which I have successfully deposited in Security Company, which would need your help to take this money out of Africa.

If you are interested and ready to help me, I will gladly give you 15% of the total sum of (US$700B) Seven Hundred Billion United States Dollar Which is currently laying in the Security company here in Johannesburg, for you effort and 5% can be set aside for any expenditure that may be incurred by you for saving me from the predicament while the 80% is for investment in your country.

Kindly treat this matter with high confidentiality, as you know the current situation, which you can verify from CNN or BBC. I would like you to reply urgent as to enable me know where you stand as time is of essence.

Thank you and God bless.

Best Regards

Jacob Barstrand.

I just had a terrible weekend...

Thursday night during one of my numerous information absorptions, I was ecstatic to learn the USC had fallen to unranked OSU.  I thought that the football gods were going to bless me with yet another wonderful weekend.

Coming into the weekly cycle of American male-validation, my teams were all undefeated.  Sadly, they're all leaving this cycle no longer able to make such boasts.

Nebraksa lost to Virginia Tech, Colorado lost to Florida State, and the most hurtful, the Broncos lost to Kansas City.

So to all USC, Florida, and Georgia fans, I'm there with you...