New Stock Market Terms

AmyOops offers a few contemporary additions to Webster...

CEO --Chief Embezzlement Officer.

CFO-- Corporate Fraud Officer.

BULL MARKET -- A random market movement causing an investor to mistake himself for a financial genius.

BEAR MARKET -- A 6 to 18 month period when the kids get no allowance, the wife gets no jewelry, and the husband gets no sex.

VALUE INVESTING -- The art of buying low and selling lower.

P/E RATIO -- The percentage of investors wetting their pants as the market keeps crashing.

BROKER -- What my broker has made me.

STANDARD & POOR -- Your life in a nutshell.

STOCK ANALYST -- Idiot who just downgraded your stock.

STOCK SPLIT -- When your ex-wife and her lawyer split your assets equally between themselves.

FINANCIAL PLANNER -- A guy whose phone has been disconnected.

MARKET CORRECTION -- The day after you buy stocks.

CASH FLOW-- The movement your money makes as it disappears down the toilet.

YAHOO -- What you yell after selling it to some poor sucker for $240 per share.

WINDOWS -- What you jump out of when you're the sucker who bought Yahoo @ $240 per share.

INSTITUTIONAL INVESTOR -- Past year investor who's now locked up in a nuthouse.

PROFIT -- An archaic word no longer in use.

US Election explained in plain English

My daughter is leaning about politics in her school class. We were talking the other night about who gets to decide who's President. Yes, simplistically, I explained that we, as US citizens, get to vote to see who's elected, but I also explained a bit about the Electoral College. I had to explain that it's not jsut who gets the most votes (think Election 2000).

I don't think I did a thorough job, and I wasn't sure that she compeltely got it. I ran across this video on CommonCraft the other day that explains the US Election process in plain English. Very timely. After watching it, I think she got it.





There are a lot of other useful, plain English videos at CommonCraft as well that might be worth a look.

Waterboarding... Again!

No, not THAT waterboarding, something FUN, and COOL!

Bubblegum Pop music

Save on Gas

I think it's pretty safe to say that we're all trying to save money in one way or another nowadays. As things continue to get worse on Wall Street, and unemployment rises, and foreclosures continue, and gas prices continue to remain high, every little bit helps. But we can't always cut out the trips and errands that still need to be done. One thing you can do, though, is to combine all of your errands into one trip (or fewer at least) and make that trip the most efficient you can.

I wrote about the Travelling Salesman Problem a while ago, but now it has an even more direct benefit -- saving gas! One of the sites I mentioned in that post, the Optimap site, can help you get all of those errands done as quickly and efficiently as possible. Tell it the locations of the pet store, the grocery store, Johnny's football practice field, the recycling center and the oil change shop and let it calculate the best route.

Folding laundry is FUN again!

...or could be if you had something like this... Maybe the kids would like to help too!

Would you say something?

The building I work in has a little break room where people can go to eat their lunch. In this "lunch room" there is a table set up with snacks that one can purchase, with funds going to a company sponsored charity. All the stuff is out in the open and there is a coffee can to put your money in - the honor system. The table is managed by one of the Executive Assistants in the building and is quite well stocked. Each item's price is clearly marked.

While sitting at a nearby table today eating my lunch, I noticed a visitor glance over at the table, walk up to the can, tap it on the side with his knuckle (to make the coins rattle) and then grab a candy bar, stick it in his pocket and walk off. At first I wasn't sure I had just seen what I thought I had. Had he really just done that?

Do I say something? I had no proof. How high up the org chart was he? Certainly higher than me. What if denies it? Then what? Who was he meeting here? Had he done that before? He could certainly afford to pay for it. There was intent here. He knocked the can to make the noise in case anyone was watching (listening). Did I really see that right?

I decided not to say anything. But, as I got up to leave shortly afterward, I noticed that there was only $0.50 in change in the can, and someone had to break a larger bill earlier, so there was only a $20 bill sitting on top of it. The snack he took was labeled $0.65. Did he put in the $0.50? I don't think so, but I have no proof. I'm kind of mad at myself for not taking action. I can rationalize that it's because I don't want to risk my job security in this market. I'm not one that likes confrontation in general, either. I fuss and fume to myself when someone cuts me off on the road instead of even honking the horn most of the time (who knows what they've got in the glove box, or underneath their shirtsleeves). Still it makes me angry. This was, or was it, very blatant. I wonder if he's still in his meeting...