The Market

Two interesting graphics for today. The first represents the fact that we are now in the midst of the most volatile stock market EVER (in case you didn't know). Over the last 50 trading days, the average absolute daily percentage change of the S&P 500 has been 3.82%!!!!!

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/vix-abs-change.png



Here is an very appropriate look at how we got into this mess. Be sure to enlarge the image.

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/visualguidecrisis2.jpg

Daily Links

A CEO to Learn From: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/business/2008/11/02/lah.japan.ceo.pay.cut.cnn

Beware of these Gift Cards: http://www.forbes.com/2008/11/21/retail-giftcards-bankruptcy-biz-commerce-cx_lm_1121giftcards.html?feed=rss_news

Buy One, Get One Free (TRUCKS!!!!): http://www.local10.com/automotive/18022569/detail.html

Speed Golf

The average round of 18 holes of golf takes between 4 and 5 hours. It is not uncommon for the average Tiger Woods want-to-be to spend 5 hours plus on the links. Well we all could learn something from Christopher Smith.

In May 2005 Mr. Smith set the world speed-golf record by shooting a 6-UNDER PAR 65 IN 44 MINUTES AND 6 SECONDS!

The scoring system in speed golf adds strokes taken to the number of minutes consumed, a formula that places greater value on golf ability than on speed. It's far easier to lower your total score by saving a shot around the green than it is by running the course (typically five to eight miles) one minute faster.

Players may carry any number of clubs, up to the normally allowed maximum of 14. Some competitors use only two, but Mr. Smith has settled on six: a driver, a four wood, a five iron, an eight iron, a 52-degree gap wedge and a putter.

Christopher spends from five to ten seconds on each shot and completes par-four holes in about three minutes. Before he starts a round Christopher needs 15 empty holes in front of him .

As Mr. Smith puts it, "Speed golf proves what most of us know intuitively, thinking is the ruin of good golf."

If only it were that easy.

Comparing the Cost of the Bailout

All of the costs are expressed in 2008 inflation adjusted dollars...

Hoover Dam: $782 million

Panama Canal: $7.9 billion

Gulf War I: $98 billion

Marshall Plan (the strategy for rebuilding Western Europe after WWII): $115.3 billion

The Louisiana Purchase (the purchase of 829,000 square miles of land from France): $217 billion

Korean War: $454 billion

The New Deal: $500 billion

Gulf War II/War on Terror: $597 billion

Vietnam War: $698 billion

Wall Street Bailout: $700 billion (initial)

NASA (Cumulative 50 years of Spending): $851 billion

WWII: $3.6 trillion

Funny Links

Assault with Sandwich: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27793459/?GT1=43001

Library Book Returned After 61 Years: http://funnynewsstories.org/overdue-library-book-returned-after-61-years/

Man Breaks Out of Prison, Then Returns: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081118/ap_on_fe_st/odd_escapee_returns;_ylt=Aq40HTWTvP25pZkffQtwAC7tiBIF

NY Times Spoof- Obama Edition July 4, 2009: http://www.nytimes-se.com/

Time's Person of The Year

Time's annual Person of The Year edition comes out next month and journalists are already speculating as to who will receive the distinction.

The award, "features and profiles a man, woman, couple, group, idea, place, or machine that "for better or for worse, ...has done the most to influence the events of the year"

Here are the past winners:

2000- George W. Bush
2001- Rudolph Giuliani
2002- The Whistleblowers (Cynthia Cooper, WorldCom; Coleen Rowley, FBI; and Sherron Watkins, Enron)
2003- The American Soldier
2004- George W. Bush
2005- The Good Samaritans (Bono, Bill Gates, and Melinda Gates)
2006- You
2007- Vladimir Putin


The early indications are that Time is debating between Barack Obama and Sarah Palin.

Here are my suggestions beyond these two obvious choices:

Henry Paulson
The American Homeowner
The American Consumer


What are your thoughts and who do you think deserves the distinction?

Daily Links

Thomas Friedman and his 20 Pulitzer Prizes Visit the Daily Daily Show: http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=210159&title=thomas-friedman

How Famous Products Got Their Names: http://www.cio.com/special/slideshows/famous_tech_names/index#slideshow

History of the Bagel: http://www.slate.com/id/2204140/pagenum/all/#p2

Answers

With regards to the quiz the fame goes to Megan who answered 4 correct. Here are all the correct answers:


1) What company in the US spent the most on advertising in 2007?

Proctor & Gamble $5.1 Billion
AT&T: $3.2 Billion
Anheuser-Busch: $1.3 Billion
Apple: $490 Million


2) The most expensive movie ever made was (in 2008 dollars)?

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2006) $316.6m
Cleopatra (1963) $314.6m
Titanic (1997)$272.6m
Quantum of Solace (2008) $230m


3) Wal- Mart is far and away the largest employer with over 2 million employees. Who is second with 425,000 employees?

UPS 425,000 employees
McDonald's 390,000 employees
General Electric 327,000 employees
Starbucks 172,000 employees



4) Which of these movies is not one of the 15 highest grossing movies of all time?

Forrest Gump $329,693,974
Finding Nemo $339,714,978
Passion of the Christ $370,773,867
Spider Man $407,681,000




5) The Dow Jones Industrial Average consists of 30 of the largest and most widely held public companies in the United States. Which company below is not included in the index?

Goodyear: It was removed in 1999

6) Which of these presidential elections resulted in the greatest margin of victory in the electoral college:

Reagan defeats Mondale (1984) 525 to 13

Nixon defeats McGovern (1972) 520 to 17
Clinton defeats Dole (1996) 379 to 159
Obama defeats McCain (2008) 365 to 173

7) The greatest selling album of all time is?

Michael Jackson - Thriller 108 million

Back in Black - AC/DC 42 million
The Eagles - Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) 41 million
The Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd 40 million

8) What fast food chain came first?

KFC 1952
Burger King 1954
Pizza Hut 1958
Wendy's 1969

9) The winner for "word of the year" in 2008 as recognized by the Oxford American Dictionary was:

Hypermiling- to maximizes gas mileage by making fuel-conserving adjustments to one's driving techniques

The rest were all finalists in the 2008 search for Word of the Year

10) What was the most watched television series finale ever?

M*A*S*H 105 million
Cheers 80 million
Seinfeld 76 million
Friends 52 million

Update

Answers and results from the quiz to come Monday.

Be Sure to Post Your Guesses.

Good Luck.

In Honor of 50 Posts

This is the 50th post on the blog. I want to start off by thanking everyone for taking the time to read and comment. All of your suggestions and insight have been appreciated. In honor of this momentous occasion its quiz time:

Answer without the support of Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, AltaVista(I used to LOVE Altavista, Who Didn't???), or any other internet tool.

Use a number 2 pencil and work alone. Good luck. Answers to Come Tomorrow.

Post your guesses in the comments section and the person with the highest score will receive fame but unfortunately no fortune.

1) What company in the US spent the most on advertising in 2007?

a: Apple
b: Anheuser-Busch

c: Procter & Gamble

d: AT&T

2) The most expensive movie ever made was (in 2008 dollars)?

a: Titanic (1997)
b: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2006)
c: Quantum of Solace (2008)
d: Cleopatra (1963)

3) Wal- Mart is far and away the largest employer with over 2 million employees. Who is second with 425,000 employees?

a: McDonald's
b: UPS

c: General Electric

d: Starbucks

4) Which of these movies is not one of the 15 highest grossing movies of all time?

a: Forrest Gump
b: Finding Nemo
c: Passion of the Christ
d: Spider Man

5) The Dow Jones Industrial Average consists of 30 of the largest and most widely held public companies in the United States. Which company below is not included in the index?

a: Verizon
b: Home Depot
c: Goodyear
d: Bank of America

6) Which of these presidential elections resulted in the greatest margin of victory in the electoral college:

a: Nixon defeats McGovern (1972)
b: Obama defeats McCain (2008)
c: Reagan defeats Mondale (1984)
d: Clinton defeats Dole (1996)


7) The greatest selling album of all time is?

a: Back in Black - AC/DC
b: Michael Jackson - Thriller
c: The Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
d: The Eagles - Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)

8) What fast food chain came first

a: Burger King
b: Pizza Hut
c: KFC
d: Wendy's

9) The winner for "word of the year" in 2008 as recognized by the Oxford American Dictionary was:

a: Moofer- A mobile out-of-office worker

b: Frugalista- Person who leads a frugal lifestyle but stays fashionable and healthy

c: Hypermiling- to maximizes gas mileage by making fuel-conserving adjustments to one's driving techniques

d: Topless meeting- A meeting in which the participants are barred from using their laptops, BlackBerries or cellphones.

10) What was the most watched television series finale ever?

a: Cheers 1993
b: M*A*S*H 1983
c: Friends 2004

d: Seinfeld 1998

Good Luck

Notables

Here are some notable quotes from the past couple of weeks. As this marks the 49th post of the blog I have prepared a surprise for tomorrow's 50th post. Please try to contain your excitement.

"With the world in turmoil and doubt, the American people, faithful to the values that have always defined America's identity, have expressed with force their faith in progress and the future. At a time when we must face huge challenges together, your election has raised enormous hope in France, in Europe and beyond."

- Nicolas Sarkozy

"Unfortunately, never ever has a generation spent so much of our children's wealth in such a short period of time with so little to show for it"

-Doug Kass

Keith Olbermann's Rant Surrounding Proposition 8 in California: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/10/keith-olbermanns-prop-8-s_n_142862.html

Secret Service Code Names:

Barack Obama - Renegade

Michelle Obama -Renaissance

Malia Obama - Radiance

Sasha Obama - Rosebud

Joe Biden - Celtic

Jill Biden - Capri

The Message of Change

Here are the Word Cloud's I created from the three most prolific speeches Barack Obama gave during this election season. His acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, his speech on the state of race in America following the Jeremiah Wright controversy, and finally his speech last Tuesday in Grant Park:

Democratic National Convention "The American Promise"

Speech On Race in America: "A More Perfect Union"

November 4th Grant Park: "Victory"

Daily Links

Could You Outspell an 8th Grader? http://encarta.msn.com/quiz_310/could_you_out-spell_an_eighth_grader_quiz.html

Less Skippy????http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-shrink9-2008nov09,0,4372443.story

Tiger Woods' New Course: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=924186047&play=1


Did you know...

President-Elect Obama received full secret service protection in May 2007, much earlier than most presidential candidates. His secret service codename is "renegade".

According to polls, Americans are approximately as likely to believe in flying saucers as in evolution, and one-fifth of Americans believe that the sun orbits the Earth.

Lingering Questions

After 21 months of campaigning and one historic Tuesday in November...

They were written in advance, so what did the other speeches sound like? How does change fit into an Obama concession speech, and what would have been McCain's oratory path to unite the country?

How would the race have been different if McCain had chosen from his list of potential VPs:
Former Governor Tom Ridge (Pennsylvania) or
Former Representative Rob Portman (Ohio) or
Governor Charlie Crist (Florida) or
Governor Tim Pawlenty (Minnesota) or
Senator Joe Lieberman (Connecticut)????

E-Mail From Barack

Here is the e-mail President-Elect Obama sent to supporters before taking the stage in Chicago after his historic victory:

Friend --

I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.

We just made history.

And I don't want you to forget how we did it.

You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change.

I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign.

We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next.

But I want to be very clear about one thing...

All of this happened because of you.

Thank you,
Barack

Grant Park

"In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people."

"Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope."

"That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow."

Election Day

Some thoughts on this historic election:

-Voting Online: We pay bills online, pay our taxes online, yet we wait in line for hours on end to vote on a paper ballet. Why don't they just provide typewriters and we will vote by candlelight.

-At times it is impossible not to take America for granted. Then you wake up and see that people have been lined up since 4am ready to cast their ballot. Democracy is a concept that never ceases to amaze.

-At the conclusion of this election we will have elected either the first African-American or the first female to one of the nation's two highest offices. We also have the opportunity to have the first president who was not born inside the boarders of the United States. John McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone.

The NY Times Guide To Election Night: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/04/us/politics/04guide.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Daily Links

An Air-Powered Car? http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/106040/Air-Cars:-A-New-Wind-for-America's-Roads

McCain on SNL: http://www.hulu.com/watch/41829/saturday-night-live-mccain-qvc-open

$2,500 Tricycle: http://www.bornrich.org/entry/2500-titanium-tricycle-is-worth-its-mettle/

Diamond-Studded Credit Cards: http://www.bornrich.org/entry/what-credit-crunch-mastercard-bringing-diamond-studded-cards/