Financial Rounds

Amazing Dance Video

prof — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:50:36 -0500

A friend just sent this. They call this guy (Robert Muraine) "Mr Fantastic" after the rubber-limbed comic-book hero in the Fantastic Four. Here's a clip of his entry on "So You Think You Can Dance". I used to have what's called hyper-mobile joints (before I got old and still) - I could easily get
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Scott Adams Must Be Eavesdropping on My Email

prof — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:41:11 -0500

This sounds like a couple of my students. For some reason, family deaths always seem to increase around exam time.
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Spreadsheets, Spreadsheet, and More Spreadsheets.

prof — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:01:07 -0500

Yesterday, I thought I was coming down with something - I had a sore throat when I went to bed, and I woke up this morning feeling kind of blah. So, I thought I'd muddle through my classes (unfortunately, it's my long teaching day), and then come home and go to bed. But, it was the Unknown Daught
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Damodaran on the Equity Risk Premium

prof — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:48:31 -0500

The Equity Risk Premium is one of the central concepts of finance theory and practice. However, when we teach it in class (usually as part of the CAPM), we tend to do a lot of hand-waving and tell students to use historical ERPs. Aswath Damodaran of New York University has an excellent piece on SSR
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The Unknown Colonoscopy

prof — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:36:05 -0500

Disclaimer: the following post is not for the faint of heart (or for those who have an overly developed sense of propriety). But then again, most of my readers aren't in those categories anyway. read more »

I'd Eat That

prof — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:35:10 -0400

I just stopped by my favorite (on campus) coffee, bagel, and sandwich shoppe - I'm spending the afternoon grading exams that are due back tomorrow (groan). Their latest sandwich offering is a Veggie Burger with Tomato, Onion, Provolone cheese, and Bacon. That's right - a veggie burger with bacon
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Talking With Practitioners

prof — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:29:24 -0400

Unknown University recently had a function where they brought back a number of prominent alumni to talk about various topics. At dinner after the function, I ended up at a table with an MD from a major investment bank who manages about 10Billion overall in both traditional funds and alternative inve
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Best Headline Ever

prof — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:11:58 -0400

I'm a big fan of satire. But sometimes reality comes out with something that's far funnier and more bizarre than anything I could have come up with (even during the 70s, which were very, very interesting). Here's a newspaper headline that I just can't get out of my mind: One gay man, two lesbia
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Occam's Razor vs. Occam's Professor

prof — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:48:02 -0400

I try not to be Occam's professor - unless it's thte right thing to do.
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Williamson and Ostrom Win Nobel In Economics

prof — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:38:13 -0400

The announcement just came in - The Nobel Prize in Economics (actually the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, to be precise) was awarded jointly to Elinor Ostro read more »