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A look back at 2002, Bush's stimulus plan, the role of the Fed, and MUCH
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Jim Mahar
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Jan 07, 2003 12:19 PST
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FinanceProfessor News January 7, 2003
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FinanceProfessor.com
Bringing the Real World to the Classroom and vice versa!
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Top Stories
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1. A look back at 2002
2. Where are they now? A look at big finance stories of the past by
CFO.com
3. The end of the tax on dividends? What are the implications?
4. Recipe for high returns? Just add sunlight?
5. Fed’s Gramlich’s speech from the AFA conference
6. Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman on behavioral finance and
social security
7. To peg or not to peg.
8. Are the oil and gold markets predicting a war with Iraq?
9. It’s resume time
10. A great bunch of books!
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Happy New Year! Well I hope you liked the changes in the web-site and
now you can see another set of changes. The newsletter is going to be a
bit shorter. After surveying many of you, the biggest complaints seemed
to be the irregularity of delivery and the length of the newsletter when
it did come, so in an attempt to correct each of these complaints, I
will try to have shorter but more frequent newsletters this year.
However, I will not guarantee anything as I do have a tendency to get a
bit over extended in the time department.
There are many great articles this week. I would especially recommend
looking at some of the CFO articles. They are great!
Oh yeah, one more bit of admistrivia: in each of the past two
newsletters I have had many returned due to bounces. This is especially
a problem for RR.com accounts. I have no idea why and as of yet have
not found out what to do to correct it. Unfortunately those who bounce
more than once are automatically dropped from the subscriber list. So I
have added a link to join via Topica (I used to only use it for those
who I personally subscribed) and through a new Yahoo Group account.
Feel free to use either or try to re-subscribe to the main list. In any
event, your email will not be given, traded, sold.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FinanceProfessor/join
http://www.topica.com/lists/FinanceProfessor
Well that is it or now. Have fun!
JimM-@FinanceProfessor.com
and now the news:
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Top Story: a look back
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Looking back at 2002, it is very apparent that in the financial area,
the top story was the so-called corporate governance crisis. It began
with the Enron scandal and very quickly took on a life of its own with
Worldcom, Adelphia, Tyco, and other firms becoming the center of
attention. FMAOnline provides a very interesting and informative
roundtable on the crisis and the role of various parties to it. (The
round table includes Bob Jensen of Trinity, Julia Grant, Bob Jensen
and Rebecca McEnally.) Good Stuff!
http://www.fma.org/FMAOnline/ConferenceCall.htm
The Washington Post has put together a great “primer” on the scandals of
last year. It is REALLY good and includes Post coverage, pictures and
more from Adelphia, to Enron, to Global Crossing, and several other
large debacles.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/scandals/primer/index.html
While 2002 was dominated by corporate stories, it must be noted that the
spillover also hurt investments with all major US indices being down for
the third straight year.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/markets/us/2003-01-01-markets-cover_x.htm
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/Business/A73BB42E3B94E7E786256CA500000192?OpenDocument&Headline=Seeking+safety+might+not+make+much+sense+anymore
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Corporate Finance
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So what makes mergers tick? DeLong looks at the question in the context
of bank mergers and finds that “upon announcement, the market rewards
mergers of partners that focus on their geography and [focus]activities
and earnings streams.” However, in the long run “only…focusing n
earnings stream enhances long-term performance.”
http://www.fma.org/finmgmt/fmspring037.pdf
Stock options help to align shareholder and manager incentives, but they
can also magnify informational asymmetry problems by giving managers the
opportunity to exercise options prior to price declines. Thus, the
managers gain, but shareholders do not. Need an example of where
managers did well because of their well-timed exercise of stock option,
but shareholders did not? Look no further! The NY Times provides us an
interesting list.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/29/business/yourmoney/29CASH.html
Who says IPOs are not cyclical? Looking at IPOs that were backed by
venture Capitalists, 2002 was the worst year in quite a while. There
were only funds 22 VC backed IPOs. This was down from 268 in 1996.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/01/03/BU178473.DTL&type=business
10 years ago, the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) was the backbone of
much in corporate finance. For the last 10 years or so, this has been
troubling since CAPM does not work very well. In the newest edition of
FM, Jagannathan and Meier look at the current stat of CAPM and attempt
to answer the question of whether we need CAPM for capital budgeting.
Great article! (Jim’s note …unfortunately it has moved from a
forthcoming article to an article imprint (the current FM), so I cannot
link to it. I will do a longer review of it and put it in my summaries
section.)
Speaking of things from the past, Dave Katz of CFO.com has an
interesting piece on “Where are they now”? He looks at things that have
been big news in the past, but no longer are. In reality however it
goes beyond just a “where are they now” piece and explains why they are
no longer in the spotlight. Very interesting. (For example, T. Boone
Pickens is now among other things trying to sell water and has
reportedly made more money now than in his raiding days.)
http://www.cfo.com/article/1,5309,8473,00.html the entire article
http://www.cfo.com/Article?article=8457 on corporate raiders.
USAirlines cleared another hurdle as the troubled airline and GECapital
have settled their differences. GECapital then agreed to lend another
$830 million to the bankrupt airline. The cash infusion was seen as
necessary to the airline’s plans to emerge from bankruptcy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3408-2003Jan2.html
2002 was a record year for corporate bankruptcies and some (including
Business Week) are predicting more of the same for 2003. Looking back
at 2002 it is rather amazing that the size of some of the firms that
declared bankruptcy: Kmart, Enron, United, Worldcom and many more. It
is also interesting to see some of the measures firms are now taking to
stave off an impending bankruptcy (selling assets, cutting costs, etc).
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/jan2003/nf2003012_8278.htm
If President Bush gets his plan to end the double of taxation of
dividends, what will it mean? Higher stock prices? A growing economy?
There is no simple answer. For example, if companies are only investing
in positive NPV projects anyways, then paying dividends would be
irrelevant. If managers are wasting the money, then giving it back to
shareholders is a good thing. The easiest prediction (and one that will
no doubt earn quick empirical study, is that firms that do pay dividends
now should see an increase in price.
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/jan2003/nf2003013_6478.htm
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Investments
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We always assume rationality of our market participants, but are they?
Are you? One argument against this rationality is the way humans are
“wired.” As a result of this wiring homo sapiens have developed a fight
or flight response that while may serve us well in the event of physical
danger, may be counter productive when facing financial risks. That is
in times of severe stress we may behave differently. Mauboussin and
Bartholdson examine this response and suggest that it may be behind the
high turnover and short-term orientation of many investors (both
individual and institutional). http://www.fma.org/FMAOnline/PortMgmt.pdf
Mmm? Data mining or more evidence that things are not as simple as we
would like to believe. Kramstra, Kramer, and Levi have found a fairly
large and statistically significant relationship between stock returns
and the amount of sunlight that is available at the location of the
market. (This is a fun article even if I am not totally convinced.)
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=361940
Still sure the market is always efficient? Try this one. It comes
from Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman and is excellent. It covers
ground in behavioral finance, the privatization of social security (he
is afraid of it), and more.
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=apwire&xlb=20&xlc=909410
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=apwire&xlb=20&xlc=909411
(the second link is a brief bio)
Don’t you hate those articles that tell you what is “hot” and what is
“not”? Well I want to try to do the same, so here goes: full service
brokers (err financial advisors) are hot, and discount brokers are not.
Why? Probably because investors need more handholding in down markets.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/02/business/businessspecial/02WALL.html
Similarly, dividends are hot, while high risk growth stocks are not.
This was a major shift from the 1990s when (as Fama and French reported)
dividends were largely out of favor. Interesting facts from the
article: “For the entire year, there were 1,425 announcements of
dividend increases, up from 1,326 in 2001. But that figure remains far
below the peak of 3,211 set in 1978. The number of companies announcing
dividend reductions or omissions last year declined 34.1 percent, to 135
from 205.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/03/business/03DIV.html
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/4890397.htm
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) will allow mutual
funds to buy and sell financial derivatives in a move that is designed
to allow funds to hedge potential loses. Only certain types of trades
will be allowed (essentially hedging) but the ruling is still seen as a
major step for derivative markets in India.
http://www.myiris.com/newsCentre/storyShow.php?fileR=2003010315523730&secID=fromnewsroom&secTitle=FromtheNewsRoom&dir=2003/01/03
Gold has long seen as a “safe harbor” and with talks of a war with Iraq
and trouble in North Korea both happening at once, the price of gold has
climbed to about $350 an ounce, a level not seen in years.
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20030104/RGOLD/Business/business/business_temp/3/3/4/
http://www.msnbc.com/news/855418.asp
http://www.eh.net/hmit/goldprice/
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Financial Institutions and Markets
(also Money and Banking)
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\What is the goal of Moentary policy? It should be price stability
according to Fed Governor Edward Gramlich who made his views known in a
recent speech at the ASSA conference (AKA the AFAs) in Washington DC.
“The long-run anchor is clearly price stability. Following Milton
Friedman, inflation in the long run is a monetary phenomenon, as is
deflation. Hence, the long-term goal of the Fed is to keep prices stable
by some definition, avoiding either inflation or deflation”
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2003/20030104/
Settlement date (the day the money changes hands and all of the
paperwork associated with a stock trade is completed) and the actual
transaction date (when the trade occurs), have been getting closer
together. The stated goal of the SEC is Transaction day plus 1
(abbreviated T+1), but in the US the current state of affairs is T+3.
This week India jumped ahead and implemented T+2.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/bline/stories/2003010402500100.htm
Oh what tangled webs we do weave. Jean-Claude Trichet, head of the
Banque de France and seen by many as the next head of the European
Central bank, is now on trial for allowing the French Bank Credit
Lyonnais to hide losses. These losses are now costing the French tax
payers about $31 billion.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2630821.stm
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International Finance
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Saudi Arabia is considering changing its stock market. The current
stock market in Saudi Arabia bank controlled and dominated and has seen
few companies list their shares and volume/liquidity shrink. The new
proposal (which must be approved) would create an “independent stock
market commission to oversee a new legal framework for all
capital-related activities” and
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2615453.stm
Speaking of Saudi Arabia, they just completed the largest privatization
(when a government owned business is sold to the public---i.e. private
sector) in over 20 years with the IPO of roughly a third of their Saudi
Telecom. The deal raised about $4 billion.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2633301.stm
Denmark has decided to vote again as to whether they should adopt the
Euro as the national currency. If you remember, they rejected the
adoption in 2000. Currently the UK, Denmark, and Sweden are the only
three members of the EU who do not use the Euro.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2622475.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/2417245.stm
One way to combat money laundering and other illicit activities is to
periodically change currencies. (Thus if you had been hoarding money for
illegal purposes, you would have to explain your self (or at least in
theory) when you came to convert the old money. In light of that, one
of the first things done after the ousting of the Taliban from
Afghanistan was to initiate a new currency. So if you are still holding
the old currency, you lose.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2621617.stm
Speaking of common currencies, the six members of the Cooperation
Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates) are continuing with their
plans for a common currency by 2010, but a report by the IMF suggests
that the currency will have little impact since trade between the
countries is not great (their major exports continue to be oil) and 5 of
the 6 have currencies already pegged to the US Dollar.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2622003.stm
Bangladesh has decided (for now) to keep its pegged currency and not
allow it to float. Pegged currencies can lead to economic trouble when
the price is allowed to be much different than what the market would
set. This can lead to central banks using their foreign reserves on
maintaining the peg and eventually the market will drive the price lower
if it wants to anyways. On the other side, a pegged currency at least
temporarily protects the nation from currency fluctuations and for
markets with little liquidity, the peg MAY reduce the risk of trading
leading to wild fluctuations.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2624147.stm
On the other side of the equation however, whenever someone (or a group
of someones) are setting the price of something, politics and personal
interests can enter the picture. That is no less true with currencies
than anything else. So it should not be a major surprise that China
(who has a pegged currency) is not lowering the value of its currency
since the low valuation gives the export-based economy competitive
advantages.
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=A75A5111-B42B-4ECD-9BA03DF49FD1781C&title=China%20Unlikely%20to%20Revalue%20Currency%20Anytime%20Soon&catOID=45C9C785-88AD-11D4-A57200A0CC5EE46C&categoryname=Business
Talk about having your work cut out for you! Brazil’s new president
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva definitely has his work cut out for him.
Trying to balance a need to improve the economy, reduce the government
deficit, pay off loans, end corruption, create a more equitable playing
field, all without further devaluing the Real or scaring off the needed
foreign investment. Good luck!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2623453.stm
One of the hard aspects of globalization is what to do with the heavy
debt loads that some nations are facing. On the one hand many people
(including U2’s Bono) advocate debt forgiveness, but this could foster a
tradition of not paying off the debts which would hurt future attempts
to raise money. The issue is coming to a head in Zambia where the
president is saying they can not make the debt payments and the IMF is
saying continue with privatization activities and continue paying off
debt or you will not receive any more money.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2622357.stm
Before rebounding on the news of the new economic stimulus plan this
week, the US Dollar had fallen by nearly 20% against the Euro in the
past year and had fallen even further against the Japanese Yen. While
some say this is bad news (in particular importers who can buy fewer
foreign goods), the decline will likely help the US trade deficit and
help the US manufacturing sector.
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/jan2003/nf2003013_6478.htm
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Economics
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So how is the US economy doing? Not good, not bad. Well at least not
as bad as the popular press is suggesting. For several months now, GDP
has been growing more than we expected. New Home starts were at record
levels, and now The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) has released
its index for December, which was less than expected, but still growing.
New factory orders were down for December, but only slightly more than
expected.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2632853.stm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7924-2003Jan3.html
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20030104/RCOMX/Business/business/businessMoneyMarketsHeadline_temp/7/7/11/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21487-2003Jan7.html
One way to determine what the economy is going to do is to ask people in
the know. Fleetbank has done this for us with their survey of CFOs at
“middle-market” companies. These are firms with revenue under $1
billion. If they are correct (a big IF), then the economy should pick
up even more steam in the coming months.
http://www.fleetcapital.com/resources/capeyes/a12-02-133.html
President Bush doesn’t want to take any chances on the economy and is
expected to introduce an economic stimulus plan (including tax cuts) and
more unemployment training designed to spur job growth. (including the
phasing out of double taxation of dividends.)
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=E5676C17-D2C1-4E3E-AD2DA72CC25A93B9
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/03/politics/03TAX.html
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/jan2003/nf2003013_6478.htm
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/01/03/MN243197.DTL
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2630603.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2635557.stm
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Energy Markets
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Several factors (most notably the strike in Venezuela and Iraqi war
fears) have combined to drive oil prices up to above $30 a barrel. This
increase was only slightly tempered when OPEC (and later Russia as well)
said it had the capacity and willingness to increase production if it
were deemed necessary. As normal, an oil price increase brings up fears
that the higher prices may be a drag on the economy of oil importers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2621019.stm
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=110&xlc=909064&xld=110
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/PEstory/TGAM/20030104/ROILL/Business/business/businessCanadianHeadline_temp/3/3/4/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2630993.stm
http://ogj.pennnet.com/articles/web_article_display.cfm?ARTICLE_CATEGORY=GenIn&ARTICLE_ID=164926
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/06/business/worldbusiness/06OPEC.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/oil/story/0,11319,870220,00.html
One concern voiced by OPEC officials is that if oil prices get “too
high”, users will switch to alternative sources of power and OPEC
nations will find themselves with much oil but no buyers. While the
extreme case (no demand) will likely never happen, it is interesting to
see that some of the conversion away from oil is happening. For
example, on January 3rd GM announced a new Hybrid power system that can
get up to 50% more miles per gallon of gas. Lesson, in the long run,
price is more elastic than in the short run.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6319-2003Jan3.html
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Financial Service Industry
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Henry Blodgett appears to be the next analyst in trouble with the NASD.
Blodgett, most famous for his bullish Amazon and other internet
forecasts, has been under investigation for much of last year. USToday
reports that Blodgett is trying to strike a deal with the SEC.
http://www.smartmoney.com/bn/index.cfm?story=20030103061536
JP Morgan settled with 10 of the 11 insurance companies that it was
suing over Enron’s failure to complete energy forward contracts. The
suit was for $1 billion, but it is reported that the settlement was for
about 60% of that figure.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2623251.stm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3499-2003Jan2.html
http://www.cfo.com/article/1,5309,8620,00.html?f=features
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/03/business/03ENRO.html
Bear Stearns is thinking of moving. Currently their offices are in
Brooklyn. However, their lease expires in 2004 and they seem set on
moving. Where to move is the question. The contenders are to lower
Manhattan or to New Jersey. Not surprisingly, the company is playing
each side off against the other for tax concessions and even cheap
electricity. Stay Tuned. (BTW Bear’s CFO is a Bonaventure Graduate)
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/06/nyregion/06BEAR.html
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Derivatives
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Talk about real options. Some financially savvy Israelis are buying
option on hotel rooms away from urban areas so they will have a place to
stay in the event of a war. (It is sad that these options are
necessary, but I have to admit it will make a great in-class example.)
http://www.marketplace.org/play/audio.php?media=/2003/01/02_mpp&start=00:00:10:37.0&end=00:00:13:55.0
The CBOT has a tough decision to make. They are considering which of
two electronic systems (one from LIFFE and one from Eurex) to use. The
decision is of its own right difficult enough, but the loser will likely
enter the US market causing the CBOT to lose business in the bond
futures market.
http://www.nytimes.com/financialtimes/business/FT1039524180468.html
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Real Estate
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While much of the nation cooled off, construction spending stayed hot in
November as it rose a larger than expected .3% giving further evidence
that the economy was rebounding.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/854448.asp
Home foreclosures were up for 2002 as a slow economy came home to haunt
many who had purchased large homes due to low interest rates.
Interesting facts: Overall in the last quarter 1 in 270 home mortgages
“entered the foreclosure process” but this number was about 1 in 50 for
those in the subprime market. Similarly, about 4.7% were delinquent for
the regular mortgage market but he number soared to just under 15% for
the subprime market.
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/030107/economy_foreclosures_6.html
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Accounting News
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Accounting Web gives us the top 10 accounting stories for 2002. Drum
roll please…
#10. Convergence of US and International Accounting Standards. #9
http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=96824
What accounting changes are needed to help clear the air after the small
of last year financial (and accounting) debacles? Standard and Poors
(and FMAonline) provide a very interesting look at what has been done
and what still needs to be done.
http://www.fma.org/FMAOnline/accounting%202.pdf
Ouch…E&Y was sued for $1 billion by four clients who claim the
accounting giant led them astray and as a result the clients made
“currency option trades to create paper losses that offset real capital
gains”.
http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=96903
As promised, the FASB has changed its accounting for executive stock
options. http://www.fasb.org/news/nr123102.shtml
http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=96929
CFO ran a pretty cool article on how to tell if your corporate
finance/accounting department is up to par. For example: If your Days
Sales Outstanding (DSO) are going up, you may be in trouble.
http://www.cfo.com/article/1,5309,8287,00.html
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Personal Finance
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New to the newsletter or didn’t read the last one? Read a list of
financial resolutions that are sure to fit everyone!
http://www.financeprofessor.com/personalfinance/NewYearResolutions.html
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Of interest to students
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Smartpro’s com reports that now is the perfect time to be graduating
with an accounting degree. So if you don’t have that double major, you
may want to think about getting it.
http://www.smartpros.com/x36570.xml
Speaking of perfect timing, now is also the time to work on your resume
before you get bogged down with assignments.
http://jobstar.org/tools/resume/index.cfm
http://www.free-resume-tips.com/10tips.html
http://www.mbadepot.com/career/resume_center/resume_center.php
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FinanceProfessor.com Site of the Week
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Smartpros.com it has information and news on accounting and corporate
finance. It is really a pretty cool resource! It is technically an
accounting site, but it has tons on corporate finance material as well.
http://www.smartpros.com/management.xml
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Financial Trivia/History/future?
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Ok, so I usually have history in this section. CFO ran an interesting
article on the future. More specifically how business and finance may
change with increasing technology.
http://www.cfo.com/article/1,5309,8432,00.html
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Of interest to teachers
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Start off the year by introducing yourself to your students. I usually
devote the fisrt day to administrative things such as handing out the
syllabus, discussing the text book and other requirements, but also
always spend time introducing myself and having the students fill out a
brief “bio” so that I can get to know them. I tell them my likes, my
dislikes, as well as a brief background of education etc.
Why Reinvent the wheel when it comes to a syllabus? Check out FMA’s
online collection of syllabi or feel free to use any of mine.
http://www.fma.org/FMAOnline/Syllabi.htm
Speaking of syllabus making, why not require the FinanceProfessor
newsletter? It is free and I promise you will get your money’s worth.
:-)
One of the largest financial conferences every year is FMA conference.
This year it is in Denver Colorado. The submission date for papers to
be presented at the conference is January 15! So get to work, I hope to
see many of you there!
https://secure.azc.com/finman/KarenWright/DenverSubmitStepOne.htm1
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What I am reading
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Rarely have I ever had such a streak of great books! There is not a bad
one in the bunch!
I finished To America by Stephen Ambrose. I really liked it. Ok, it
may not have been an academic history, but it was entertaining and
largely historical. A great read! I even highlighted it and read it
as if for a class. In the next newsletter I will include several quotes
from it.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743202759/finpapers/104-9378365-5272442
I finished ristening to 6 Nightmares By Anthony Lake. While it really
was many more than 6, it was very good and quite educational. I think I
oculd have lived with it being a tad shorter, but highly recommended by
me. I have no idea what some of the others on Amazon are thinking. Yes
he defended Clinton occasionally and yes he wandered a bit, but come on
it was very interesting regardless.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316559768/finpapers/104-9378365-5272442
I just started April 1865: the month that Saved America by Jay Winik but
it is already one of the best books I have read in months. The basic
premise so far is that before the Civil War, the US was really just a
group of states and not a nation. Fascinating. I have long thought we
oew Robert E. Lee a great deal for not turning the Civil War into a
guerrilla war, but this is making the point (and others) even more
clear. GREAT.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/
1402502192/finpapers/104-9378365-5272442
I am maybe a third of the way through Thomas Jefferson: Genius of
Liberty. The introduction by Garry Wills alone is worth the price.
Which is good since much of the rest of the book is pictures.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0670889334/finpapers/104-9378365-5272442
and lest you think I have totally forgotten about finance: I am also
reading Globalization and Its Discontents by Nobel Proze Winner Joseph
Stiglitz. I think I will require it the next time I teach a MBA
International Finance class. While not the page turner of those above,
it is very interesting and I agree with most of it. Especially the idea
that one size need not fit all at the same time. Globalization is good,
but getting there in one piece is more important than crashing and
burning on the way.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0393051242/finpapers/104-9378365-5272442
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Quotes of the week:
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When a great question is first started, there are very few, even of the
greatest minds, which suddenly and intuitively comprehend it in all of
its consequences---John Adams
My moral or religious creed…Be just and good---John Adams
The way to improve society and reform the world is to enlighten
[people], spread knowledge, and convince the multitude that they have,
or may have, sense, knowledge and virtue. Declamations against the
cunning of politicians and the ignorance, folly, inconstancy, or
effrontery of the multitude will never do---John Adams
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If you have anymore ideas for the site or the newsletter please let me
know. Also join the yahoo group we set up. It should be fun to hold
“chats” or other discussions on the news, or on teaching etc.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FinanceProfessor/join
Thanks!
Jim
JimM-@FinanceProfessor.com
Who in the course of a week had the heat go off, a sink back up, and the
dryer quit working. Not a stellar week!
Who is very ready for spring!
Who has to say a job well done to Auburn for their victory over PSU.
Where the Bonaventure men’s team has survived (albeit not with the
record they would like), the hardest stretch of schedule I remember a
Bona team playing. )
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Oh and a final favor…pass this on to someone you think would like it….a
fellow student, a past teacher, your current teacher, your parents,
anyone who it might help. Thanks!
Thanks for forwarding this so much. That is the only way I know this
newsletter is growing so fast. :-)
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copyright 2003 FinanceProfessor.com
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