Posted in General on Apr 21st, 2009
Slate has a pretty cool dramatization of the unemployment trends in the United States. Click here to go to their site to watch the animated graph. I have an image copy of the last page below. I think the graph does a great job of showing the impact of the collapsing real estate bubble and [...]
Posted in General on Apr 10th, 2009
Posted in General on Feb 24th, 2009
Great article on one of the primary reasons we have a financial crisis. With the Gaussian copula function Wall Street traders finally had the ultimate tool to calculate risk. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds and The Black Swan are two good books that help explain that these events occur periodically throughout history. [...]
Posted in General on Dec 29th, 2008
My son received a nomination to West Point from our Congress woman, Jean Schmidt, this month. She was gracious and had a little party to celebrate all of the nominations. After she handed out the certificates she was peppered with questions about the recent bailouts. The questions were friendly but pointed. It has been a [...]
Posted in General on Dec 2nd, 2008
For those interested in e-commerce statistics, the folks at Chase Paymentech provides us with the Pulse Index. They say that the average dollar value for an order is a little smaller than last year but there are more orders. When you look at total sales, the Internet retailers should be seeing slightly better than last [...]
Posted in General on Oct 5th, 2008
I think that the Wall Street Journal has finally noticed the crisis affecting local government for the next couple of years. In the article titled, California’s Dilemma, they point out the problem with the northern California city of Vallejo going into bankruptcy court to break labor union contracts. When you combine the price of real [...]
Posted in General on Jul 27th, 2008
With the imminent signing of the housing bill you have to wonder when the financial situation is going to improve at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I think it is fair to say that the stock prices fully incorporate the lack of faith the stock market has with these organizations. If you look at stock [...]
Posted in General on Jun 15th, 2008
O Lord Jesus Christ, I long to live in your presence, to see your human form and to watch you walking on earth. I do not want to see you through the darkened glass of tradition, nor through the eyes of today’s values and prejudices. I want to see you as you were, as [...]
Posted in General on May 11th, 2008
"Science has proof without any certainty. Creationists have certainty without any proof." Ashley Montague rss@quotationspage.com (Quotes of the Day)
Posted in General on Mar 3rd, 2008
A Day of Remembrance On this day, the Virginia Tech community reflects on the vibrant lives of the 32 students and faculty who were tragically taken from us a year ago. Through light, art, and music we pay tribute to each and every person we lost. We gather to honor our friends, colleagues, and family [...]
On this day, the Virginia Tech community reflects on the vibrant lives of the 32 students and faculty who were tragically taken from us a year ago. Through light, art, and music we pay tribute to each and every person we lost. We gather to honor our friends, colleagues, and family members. We will never forget.