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The Adelphia verdict, Lay arrested, the problem with overpriced equity,
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Jim Mahar
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Jul 08, 2004 23:15 PDT
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FinanceProfessor News July 9, 2004
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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. John and Tim Rigas found guilty
2. Enron’s Ken Lay arrested
3. A look at capital structure
4. Jensen on the problem of stock prices being too high!
5. The option debate: good or bad?
6. Did you buy a car because your neighbor did? A look at herding.
7. Japanese economy rebounds
8. Russian troubles
9. The Subprime lending market: overall a good thing
10. A graduation speech from Alan Greenspan? Almost!
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Hi everyone!
I hope you are all enjoying your summer! I wish summer could last all
year. I love the warm weather! Even though it has not been very warm
this year.
While I have not been racing (running) much, biking has been going well.
I did a couple of charity rides: the MS ride from Pittsburgh to Lake
Erie (Highly Recommended!) and a local 100K ride. In addition last week
I did a beautiful 118 mile ride from Abingdon Virginia with Jonathan
Godbey. What a pretty world we have! I may do a few other charity
races and who knows maybe even a duathlon.
As for finance, well, much of my time has been spent on a paper that
looks at what happens to the sponsors when sponsored athletes do good or
bad. Not surprisingly, good events (world records, MVP awards, etc.)
lead to stock price increases, whereas bad events (arrests, poor
performances, etc) lead to stock price declines.
Be sure to check out the new FinanceProfessor “blog”. I am not sure how
I am going to use it yet, but I try to update it every day that I can
and so far I am having fun with it. :).
http://financeprofessorblog.blogspot.com/
ok, it is time for me to get out of the way and let you get to the good
stuff--there are so many greeat articles!!! ;)
jim
BTW I’ll try to get the newsletter out more often again in the fall.
Until then, maybe once a month? But the blog will be the main way to
stay current.
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Top Story: court time
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Adelphia:
Adelphia’s John Rigas and his son (and Adelphia’s former CFO) Tim Rigas
were found guilty of securities and bank fraud (but not of wire fraud).
Michael Mulcahey was found not guilty. The jury has yet to come to a
conclusion on Michael Rigas.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2004-07-08-adelphia_x.htm
http://www.cfo.com/article/1,5309,14540||T|2162,00.html
My question? Does the IRS come next? At some point the excess money
they were getting from Adelphia has to be taxed, doesn’t it?
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000006&sid=aWR_k9vFHH34&refer=home
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--adelphia-glance0708jul08,0,7962251.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire
http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=bondsNews&storyID=5623268
It is fascinating to see the reaction form little old Coudersport PA.
The NY Times provides a good view of the people of the “town that John
built.” Predictably, many are reluctant to say anything bad about the
family that funded the town’s prosperity. Best quote: "It doesn't
matter if he is guilty or not," said Shelley Cobb, 31, as she watched
the news on a television at Kay's Hometown Restaurant. "Everybody does
something in their life. Just because he did that doesn't make him a bad
person."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/09/business/media/09react.html
Enron:
Well we knew it was coming. Enron’s ex-chairman Kenneth Lay was charged
with 11 criminal charges including insider trading, bank fraud, fraud,
and “making false statements." He pled innocent so now it will be up to
a jury to decide.
I have had several people ask me "Why did it take so long?" My best
answer is that prosecutors wanted to be sure they had a solid case
before proceeding and the Enron case was/is so complex (on many levels)
that rather than make a misstep, they waited until there was apparently
enough information. (It will be interesting to see what Fastow and
Skilling have said).
Is he guilty? My guess is that the jury will find him guilty, but it is
not assured given the complexity. However, that said I sure would not
want to be him. If convicted Lay is facing 175 years in prison, which is
a LONG LONG time.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3875297.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3875941.stm
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/09/business/09enron.html
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B9FA778C3-FA46-4762-B374-FD6237B9401F%7D&siteid=google&dist=google
and finally Martha Stewart was refused a retrial so sentencing begins
next week.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/09/business/09martha.html
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Corporate Finance Research
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A must read! Philippon examines firms' capital structure empirically and
theoretically. He finds that firm value does not exactly fit the static
trade-off model. Specifically he finds that low levels of debt are not
accompanied by as low of firm values as would be expected. However, in
other areas, what we have been teaching seems exactly right: more growth
options means less debt, highly profitable firms do have higher target
debt ratios (even though they may not all be at the targets), and
expected future financing deficits makes financial slack more valuable.
Interestingly, he also finds some evidence that managerial power (as
proxied by CEO tenure) is associated with lower levels of debt. READ
IT!!! :)
http://papers.ssrn.com/paper.taf?abstract_id=503863
Anothter cannot miss article!!! Jensen talks about what led to the
governance crisis we saw at Tyco, Enron, etc. A big part of the answer
may be overpriced equity. Why? A stock price that is overvalued is
caused when investors have overly optimistic expectations. Thus, if the
investors were to learn the truth, the stock price would fall. This
creates an incentive to hide information from investors. Moreover, to
keep the stock price high, management may be willing to take more
chances and further hide the bad results. Typical control mechanisms
fail to work on this problem. For instance, stock based pay makes the
problem worse and the takeover market fails miserably since no one would
want to take over an overpriced stock. Jensen suggests one solution: the
board providing more information (including to short sellers).
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=480421
A paper by Pukthuanthong and Walker that was presented at the European
FMA Meetings examines the use of options in pay packages of IPO firms.
It finds that "new public companies that have high use of stock options
outperform those that have low use of stock options from the lock-up
period until three years after the issue." The authors find similar
results when looking at operating performance. The authors also document
that firms with higher use of options (even after controlling for better
performance) experience lower managerial turnover. Now there is
somewhat of a problem with endogenity (i.e. Management has the ability
to select the use of options and will not if the future looks bleak),
but that said, this is an important paper as it reminds us all that
options are useful and can lead to higher shareholder returns. That is
something we may be tempted to downplay (especially in class) after the
problems at Enron, Worldcom etc.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=497286
The opposite side of the option debate is shown by Gibson and Chesney.
They point ou that call options are a staple in Executive pay packages,
but the use of the options has come under attack for giving managers the
incentive to take advantage of their informational advantages to the
detriment of shareholders and other stakeholders. In fact the authors
go even further and find that use of options can worsen what they call
an “incentive to cheat.” Interestingly one suggestion they have for
solving this problem? Make the pay package include put options! This
might lessen the incentive to “cheat” but would likely open a whole
other set of problems by creating an incentive to lower stock prices.
http://papers.ssrn.com/paper.taf?abstract_id=488565
For a more “real world” look at options, CFO.com provides a survey that
documents that at least some of the problems Gibson and Chesney suggest
do in fact happen. READ IT!
http://www.cfo.com/Article?article=14397
Yet more evidence that better corporate governance leads to happier
investors. Bauer, Guenster, and Otten look at the governance practices
of European firms. By grouping the firms into portfolios, the authors
find that valuation and governance are “positively related.”
Interestingly, they do not find the same relationship when various
“earning based performance measures” were examined. (my guess as to why
the latter finding exists: fewer accounting games are played where there
is good governance. This game playing would skew any ratio comparison
based on accounting numbers.)
http://papers.ssrn.com/paper.taf?abstract_id=444543
In a paper that was recently presented at the European FMA meetings,
Jones and Danbolt investigate what happens to stock prices around 158
joint venture announcements of UK listed firms. They find “significant
positive market-adjusted abnormal returns of 0.5% on the announcement
date.” Not surprisingly, they also find that larger deals are more
positive.
http://papers.ssrn.com/paper.taf?abstract_id=485668
Chung asks the interesting question of whether Financial Analysts
consider corporate hedging strategies when analyzing a company. By
examining the hedging strategies of two gold mining firms, he finds
evidence that suggest that analysts do incorporate financial hedging
into their estimates of future earnings. In his words: “Results of this
study confirm that derivatives can be used to reduce a firm's risk
exposure.
Specifically, the empirical results show a firm that employs intensive
hedging activities through derivatives tends to experience both
statistically and economically significant risk reductions on its future
cash-flows as well as equity returns.”
In addition, the results indicate that financial analysts incorporate
the information of a firm's hedging strategy and that it is reflected in
their earnings forecasts.”
http://papers.ssrn.com/paper.taf?abstract_id=492722
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Investments
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I love this one! Much research has been devoted to what is often called
herding behavior. This is the idea that investors trade just because
others are trading. This is often cited as evidence of irrationality by
finance behavorialists. (Is that a word? It should be!) Grinblatt,
Keloharju, and Ikaheimo examine this type of behavior by looking car
purchases. No really. They find that “a consumer's purchases are
strongly influenced by the purchases of his neighbors, particularly
purchases in the recent past and by neighbors who are geographically
most proximate. There is little evidence that emotional biases, like
envy or an urge to conform, lie behind the interpersonal influence in
automobile consumption.” While I not 100% co
nvinced that envy does not play a role, the information angle is
compelling. GREAT read!
http://papers.ssrn.com/paper.taf?abstract_id=513945
From being the joke of academia to being supported by numerous studies,
the fortunes of the rules based trading have improved recently. Of
course many of these studies have been cited as evidence that the market
is not efficient. This interpretation is not always correct. For
instance, the most recent support for technical trading comes from Wang
and Li who find “significant evidence to support the predictability and
profitability of technical rules for Chinese foreign B-shares but not
for domestic A-shares.” Why and what does this suggest? The authors
claim that the result stems from non-instantaneous news “diffusion”
among foreign investors coupled with “the foreign share ownership
restriction, and, partly, to positive autocorrelations induced by thin
trading.” My interpretation? The market imperfections that create the
environment where technical trading can exist are largely the result of
governmental laws that prevent markets from quickly incorporating all
information. Thus external market imperfections, and not market
participants’ irrationality, lead to profitable technical trading. This
is a conclusion that fits the commonly held view of market efficiency
very well.
http://papers.ssrn.com/paper.taf?abstract_id=487783
Does socially responsible investing (SRI) hurt (or help) returns on a
risk adjusted basis? Of course theoretically it seemingly should lower
pecuniary returns, but empirically it seems that every researcher has a
different answer. Now Derwall, Guenster, Bauer, and Koedijk present
their views on the argument. The authors form portfolios based on
Innovest eco-efficiency scores. The finding? “After controlling for
risk and investment style we find that our high-ranked portfolio
outperforms the low-ranked counterpart. This performance gap widens
considerably and becomes statistically significant once industry-effects
are accounted for as well.” Which goes against theory and keeps the
debate alive for another day.
http://papers.ssrn.com/paper.taf?abstract_id=463382
There has been quite the debate on this one! The SEC recently mandated
that mutual funds be overseen by an independent chairman of the board.
It is rare that the SEC is so publicly split on an issue. I think the
decision was good however. It does strengthen investor protections
somewhat. Although I do admit that some of the benefits may be less than
advertised. Overall, I would agree with the SEC chairman on this one and
vote that having an independent chairman is good.
http://www.forbes.com/technology/ebusiness/feeds/ap/2004/06/23/ap1429627.html
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International Finance
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Hip hip Hooray! Hip hip hooray! In what may go further towards Middle
East peace than just about anything, Jordan and Israel signed a trade
deal. Now if others follow suit, it will be even better!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3721371.stm
Ok, so maybe, just maybe rationality can not explain everything in
investments. Morse and Shive find that patriotism (and not just
transaction costs) helps to explain why investors overweight investments
in their home country, i.e. the home country bias.
http://papers.ssrn.com/paper.taf?abstract_id=406200
Lerner and Schoar make available an interesting look at private equity
financing. For instance, did you know that “in developing nations, the
bulk of financings are private ones?” After examining 210 private
equity transactions in developing countries, L&S report that in
developing nations there is a much greater heterogeneity in private
issuances. “The choice of security appears to be driven by the legal
and economic circumstances of the nation and the private equity group.
Investments in common law nations are structured similar to those in the
U.S….. By way of contrast, in nations where the rule of law is less
established, private equity groups are likely to use common stock and
own the majority of the firm's equity if the investment encounters
difficulties.”
http://papers.ssrn.com/paper.taf?abstract_id=511202
After examining 500 UK firms, Zhou finds “a strong negative association
between foreign currency derivative use and firm exchange-rate exposure
suggesting that firms use derivatives as a hedge rather than to
speculate in the foreign exchange markets.” Additionally he finds
further evidence that larger firms are more likely to hedge.
http://papers.ssrn.com/paper.taf?abstract_id=488262
The African Continent is in real danger of being left even further
behind. It is facing disease, corruption, wars, and lack of property
rights. Last month the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) met to
discuss what could be done. In his opening remarks Gerald Ssendaula
nailed it! Africans need to develop more trade and not rely on more
subsidies!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3739815.stm>
Well Russia is also having some problems. The pending bankruptcy of
Yukos, Russia’s second largest oil firm, has drawn much of the coverage.
It will be interesting to see what happens. The firm owes $3.4 billion
in back taxes and does not have the money to pay it. Look for the firm
to be taken over by the government.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_29/b3892098_mz054.htm
http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=3205021
In a related story, Russian banks may soon be facing a full blown
crisis. Already some banks are restricting the amounts of money
depositors can withdraw and imposing penalties for taking their own
money. What they do not want is a run on the banking system that could
easily happen again.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3877677.stm
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1087373601990
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/09/business/worldbusiness/09ruble.html
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Economics
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Fed Governor Gramlich just gave an interesting and informative speech on
the Federal Budget Deficit. He points out the difficulty in forecasting
it, the fact that it is based on cash basis accounting which brings its
own problems (example future social security problems!), and even
suggests ways to improve the budgeting process. My take is that budget
deficits are not in and of themselves bad, but the resulting debt does
raise interest rates and if not controlled can cause an economic
slowdown. Moreover, governments are notoriously bad at picking positive
NPV projects, so smaller is better!
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2004/20040624//
Hurray! It has taken half a generation, but it appears the Japanese
economy is doing better. Now in the 9th consecutive quarter of growth,
the economy grew at 5.6% in the first quarter which was well ahead of
forecasts.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3731061.stm
I am sure many of you have noticed that both Yahoo and Hotmail have had
to respond to the new Google mail service by increasing storage. And
some people say competition is not good. Ha…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3835495.stm
Productivity is growing and, if we believe the Fed’s Roger Ferguson,
should continue to grow in the future. (includes a discussion of
productivity growth through history—including around the US Civil War)
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2004/20040707/default.htm
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Institutions (Money and Banking)
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Cash may be king, but it is no longer #1 in the UK. For the first time
credit cards and debit cards have replaced cash as the most common form
of payment.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3872817.stm
Fed Governor Edward M. Gramlich gave a great talk on the subprime
mortgage market. This market, which is relatively new but has grown
sharply, deals with making loans to those that are seen as being high
credits risks. On one hand these loans “created new opportunities for
homeownership and has allowed previously credit-constrained homeowners
to borrow against the equity in their homes to meet a variety of needs.
At the same time, increased subprime lending has been associated with
higher levels of delinquency, foreclosure, and, in some cases, abusive
lending practices. On a social level, one question is whether the gains
afforded by these new market developments outweigh the losses.” His
answer? “Despite the caveats, the net social evaluation of these trends
is probably a strong positive. The 9 million new homeowners, more than
half of whom are minorities and many of whom have lower incomes, suggest
that credit and ownership markets are democratizing. Millions of
lower-income and minority households now have a chance to own homes and
to build wealth; and the vast majority of these new homeowners do not
appear to be having credit problems.”
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2004/20040521/
Fed Vice Chairman Roger W. Ferguson stressed the important role Central
banks play in the global financial system and also provided a great look
at the changing landscape of commercial banking. This one would make a
great introduction or conclusion to a Money and Banking course!
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2004/20040517/default.htm
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Of interest to Students (past and present)
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Monster.com has this good advice for job hunters. “Job interview
questions fit into three categories: Can you do the job? Will I like
working with you? Can I get you at the right price? The rest of the
discussion is about confirming your initial answers.” Prepare for these
three questions and you will have a leg up on competition for the job.
With recent graduations, many students ate now weighing job offers.
Here is a pretty cool site I found when trying to help a former student.
It has cost of living information as well as salary information on many
jobs.
http://www.salaryexpert.com
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Greenspan to graduates??? No, but it should be!
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While the following is not technically a Graduation address from Fed
Governor Alan Greenspan, it could be!
“Today it is rare that one will finish school and then engage in the
same job until retirement, which was the general experience of
generations past. Many of you will switch professions once, possibly
many times. Almost all of you will have several jobs, some many jobs.
To succeed, you will soon learn, as I did, the importance of a solid
foundation in the basics of education--literacy, both verbal and
numerical, and communication skills. But beyond that you will need to
acquire the on-the-job skills that you will need as you move from one
job to another. At some point, almost all of you will lose a job and
will want to be reemployed as quickly and as productively as possible.
That means you will need the capability of learning a wholly new
activity….Decades from now, as you begin to contemplate retirement, you
will want to be able to say that whatever success you achieved was the
result of honest and productive work and that you dealt with people the
way you would want them to deal with you. It is decidedly not true that
"nice guys finish last," as that highly original American baseball
philosopher, Leo Durocher, was alleged to have said.
I do not deny that many appear to have succeeded in a material way by
cutting corners and by manipulating associates, both in their
professional and in their personal lives. But material success is
possible in this world and far more satisfying when it comes without
exploiting others. The true measure of a career is to be able to be
content, even proud, that you succeeded through your own endeavors
without leaving a trail of casualties in your wake.
I cannot speak for others whose psyches I may not be able to comprehend.
But in my working life, I have found no greater satisfaction than
achieving success through honest dealing and strict adherence to the
view that, for you to gain, those you deal with should gain as well.
Human relations--be they personal or professional--are not, and should
not be treated as, zero-sum games.”
http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2004/20040513/
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Of interest to Teachers
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CFO.com reports that “Applications to business schools are down this
year” Allan Conway of the University of Calgary, and programme director
of the MBA Roundtable, an industry body, estimates that applications
this year for MBA programs in America are down by between 15% and 25% on
2003.” Why? One reason is an improving economy which supplies more
jobs.
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Accounting News
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The rising and unpredictable costs of complying with the Sarbanes-Oxley
Act are causing some companies to consider going private to avoid being
forced to adhere to the law's provisions, CFO.com reported.
http://www.accountingweb.com/item/99208
In a related story, the BBC reports that the new accounting rules that
followed the Enron collapse (and accompanying “governance crisis”) have
made it increasingly difficult on European firms who are having to make
major changes in their internal accounting systems to comply with the
US’ Sarbanes-Oxley Act by the June 2005 deadline.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3849867.stm
In a paper to be presented at the European FMA meetings, Carnaghan and
Sivakumar find evidence that shows that regulation FD did reduce
information Asymmetries. Additionally they "find that the information
disclosed by managers has improved in terms of frequency, specificity
and verifiable information provided." And therefore " Regulation Fair
Disclosure has achieved one of its stated goals of providing a more
level playing field to all investors." YEAH! :)
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=492662
While it is not news anymore, the problems that Shell faced stemmed
largely from a improper accounting of the firms oil reserves. This
problem has resulted in at least 4 revisions this year and cut about 20%
from original estimates.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3742827.stm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5050483/
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Finance Links
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Riskcenter.com. What a Great site!! How I never found this before is
beyond me, but thanks HW for sending me the link! News, and articles,
and even teaching modules to help students. GREAT!
http://www.riskcenter.com/
BankingRisk.com. Do you remember the great newsletter that was put out
by Erisk.com? Well they no longer publish it, but some of the people
who did have now started BankingRisk.com. It looks like a sure winner!
http://www.BankingRisk.com
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PSU, JMU, and SBU news
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Made it back to JMU and PSU this past trip. Wow, they are different. A
few of the things that I noted:
JMU: new track and field complex, new softball complex, new something at
the stadium—I would guess athletic offices, but still under
construction), MANY new houses on my old running areas.
PSU-State College is no longer a small college town. Indeed, I am glad
I was there when I was. Sprawl is the only word that comes to mind. As
for the campus itself: new MBA building, new building for engineering (I
think) that goes across Atherton to the Golf Course side of campus),
terrible traffic on Park Ave, a new religious building (thanks to
JoePa), and a new back to the library.
So in fairness I will also update SBU: the fitness center on campus
(currently named the Richter Center---I hope it is renamed as we do not
need two RCs) is coming along, Rob-Fal has been separated with the
removal of the lounge, and there is a new gate going up at the main
entrance to welcome people to campus.
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What I am reading
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I have been reading a lot. Even by my standards. So rather than bore
you with all of the books I will only give the high points. But that is
hard since most of the books have been very good.
I liked Lance Armstrong’s Every Second Counts (with Sally Jenkins) a
lot. It was surprisingly good. Yes it focuses on biking, but really is
about much more: how to build a team, how to live a life, how he deals
with setbacks, etc. Really good!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0767914481/finpapers/104-9378365-5272442
On the way to and from the MS 150 Ride in Pittsburgh (which by the way
was great fun and highly recommended!!) I ristened to Steinbecks’ Of
Mice and Men. I had never read it before. It was short and well
written but depressing in a way. That said, it is easy to see why it is
a classic.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565117700/finpapers/104-9378365-5272442
I loved Bleachers by John Grisham. In fact I liked it so much I ristened
to it twice! It is about a former HS football coach (Coach Rake) and
the impact (good and bad) he had on his players. GREAT!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/073931016X/finpapers/104-9378365-5272442
I am about 95% done with the Teller of Tales: the Life of Arthur Conan
Doyle. It started out great (he was involved in everything), but I am
getting a bit tired of the end where Doyle seemingly lived every moment
to show his belief in spiritualism, ghosts, and the ability of psychics
to talk to the dead. That said, I am glad I read it and have learned a
lot.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805066845/finpapers/104-9378365-5272442
Surprisingly good was Naked in Baghdad. It gives the view of Baghdad
before and during the war began through the eyes of NPR's Anne Garrels.
The focus is on the people of Iraq and how they felt. Very interesting!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1593973586/finpapers/104-9378365-5272442
On a totally different tack, overall I enjoyed Clive Cussler’s Trojan
Odyssey. It was not his best book by any stretch, but it was still
interesting and entertaining. While I doubt highly that Troy was in the
Atlantic, the story is well told. BTW I hope Dirk changes his mind ;)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/039915115X/finpapers/104-9378365-5272442
I am now ristening to A Walk at Gettysburg by James McPherson. More of
a tour guide than anything else, but good. (BTW if you get to go to
Gettysburg, I highly recommend seeing the battlefield on an early
morning run. I think I enjoyed that more than the car tour and walking
tour combined!)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0739306812/finpapers/104-9378365-5272442
Caroline Alexander’s The Bounty is also very good. I have been
ristening to it when I do my indoor biking. It is the “true story of
the Mutiny on the Bounty.” If you liked that classic nearly as much as
I did, you owe it to yourself to read/risten to this. It is fascinating
in sections.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0142800309/finpapers/104-9378365-5272442
And last but definitely not least is William Styple’s Writing and
Fighting the Civil War. He compiles articles from the Sunday Mercury
that had been writtten by Civil War soldiers to make a first persons’
account of the war. Fascinating. I met the author at Gettysburg and am
very glad I found his book. It is quickly turning into one of my
favorite Civil War books (at least top ten).
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1883926130/finpapers/104-9378365-5272442
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Quotes of the week:
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Show me a [person] who is afraid to look bad, and I’ll show you a
[person] you can beat every time---Lou Brock
Rapid motion through space elates one---James Joyce
A great team is a mysterious thing, hard to create, much less to
duplicate, and there are a lot more bad teams in the world than good
teams.---Lance Armstrong
I do not need to ride for the money. I do it because I love it and I
would happily ride for nothing---Lance Armstrong (who makes an estimated
$16 million per year for his efforts on the bike!)
No one automatically gives you respect because you show up. You have to
earn it.---Lance Armstrong
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Well that is it. I hope you enjoyed it and maybe even learned
something! I will try to get these newsletters out more regularly.
They are fun to do, I just need more time in the day! Maybe I waste too
much time, but it seems that I am always busy. Now adding biking to the
mix just makes the time all that much more precious. Plus travel,
research, and family matters, and I simply have not had the
time/motivation to get a newsletter out. Sorry, but that is a problem
when you subscribe to a free newsletter ;) But I have been better on
the blog, so try to check that.
Thanks again for reading!
Jim
Who is super excited about the Tour de France and the Mets!
Where the tomatoes are just beginning to be seen. Small, but they are
coming.
Who can not decide if biking hurts running or not, but I am tempted to
say yes.
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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!
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copyright 2004 FinanceProfessor.com
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