Traders Profit With Computers Set at High Speed:
Soon, thousands of orders began flooding the markets as high-frequency software went into high gear. Automatic programs began issuing and canceling tiny orders within milliseconds to determine how much the slower traders were willing to pay. The high-frequency computers quickly determined that some investors’ upper limit was $26.40. [...]
I received a call today from someone claiming to be calling on behalf of Discover with some entity called Monumental something, wanting to sell me some kind of a disability policy (maybe this?) paid for the first three months by Discover, then by me thereafter and charged to my card.
The first person I spoke to, [...]
Paper Avalanche Buries Plan to Stem Foreclosures:
Hanging in the balance is more than the fate of individual homeowners. The administration portrays its mortgage program as a crucial piece of its broader effort to restore vigor to the economy. If the effort fails, foreclosures will continue to surge and home prices will probably keep falling, sowing [...]
Another must read piece by Matt Taibbi, scanned from Rolling Stone. Gangster Capitalism is an apt name.
From tech stocks to high gas prices, Goldman Sachs has engineered every major market manipulation since the Great Depression - and they’re about to do it again
By MATT TAIBBI
The Case for Working With Your Hands:
If the goal is to earn a living, then, maybe it isn’t really true that 18-year-olds need to be imparted with a sense of panic about getting into college (though they certainly need to learn).
Mandating a degree is the refuge of a lazy HR lacky.
Interestingly, software development and systems [...]
Some excellent, must read articles today about credit, credit cards, and the place of financial services in the (British) economy.
Steve Randy Waldman on the critical difference between transactional and revolving credit:
We won’t get very far in the debate about credit in the US economy if we fail to distinguish between transactional and revolving credit. These [...]
If you’re tired of having your hard earned dollars looted, please read Alan Grayson’s letter to members of Congress to support H.R. 1207 and then sign the petiton at FireDogLake. Also read Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism on this.
It’s time we learned where our money is going. All U.S. citizens are ultimately accountable [...]
Edward Harrison has a great article on GDP calculation on nakedcapitalism:
Recovery does not mean recovery
My final thought on the statistics here has to do with starting from a lower base. Before the Great Depression in 1929, the U.S. had nominal GDP of $103.6 billion. By 1933, this had dropped to $56.4 billion due to deflation [...]
Seriously. This is bullshit. Full stop.
WASHINGTON - The federal agency that insures bank deposits, which is asking for emergency powers to borrow up to $500 billion to take over failed banks, is facing a potential major shortfall in part because it collected no insurance premiums from most banks from 1996 to 2006.
The Federal [...]
I’d define small business as a company with only a handful of employees that manages payroll internally and less than $1 million in net income.
With that in mind, I have been looking for any accounting software I can find. Sadly, the contenders are all the usual suspects, offerings by Intuit, Sage, and Microsoft. [...]