Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Ten Essential Time Management Tips - by Dumb Little Man

Ten Essential Time Management Tips - by Dumb Little Man:
"Over the past six years, I’ve picked up a lot of time management tips. Some of them have been helpful and, frankly, some have been useless. Here, I’ve compiled the ten that have served me best. And yes, I’m sure you’ll have heard some of them before ... but are you actually doing them?"

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

The Next Wall Street Hiring Hot Spots - WSJ.com

The Next Wall Street Hiring Hot Spots - WSJ.com:
"Wealth management, investment banking and research are expected to see a hiring surge in the coming years, according to Joseph Logan, founder and managing director of Pinnacle Group International, a New York executive recruiting firm specializing in the financial services industry.

'A strong background in accounting plus financial [knowledge in] evaluation is the key—and being well-rounded will help a lot,' says David Smith, an associate professor at the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia who specializes in corporate finance and banking. Strong social skills and the ability to think creatively are important to round out more technical and quantitative talents."

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

kaChing Raises $7.5 Million To Turn Mutual Funds On Their Heads

This might be something SIMM wants to look into. I can imagine many paper ideas out of it as well!

kaChing Raises $7.5 Million To Turn Mutual Funds On Their Heads:
"...invites top traders to publicly share all of their trades, revealing information that until now was only revealed to the likes of Ivy League institutions. Rachleff says the top traders benefit because they can accept many amateur investors as clients with very little extra work on their part. And everyone else benefits because they gain access to this data.

Here’s how it works: kaChing has gathered a dozen top investors, many of them professionals, which it has certified to be “Geniuses”. Anyone who comes to the site is free to look at the full trading history of these Geniuses, free of charge. If you like what you see, you can sign up for kaChing and create a brokerage account through its partner, Interactive Brokers (a well established and publically traded brokerage firm). Deposit some money (the minimum is $3,000) and you’re set. From then on, the site will automatically execute trades for you to exactly mirror the Genius you’ve signed up for."

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Assessing the Value of a College Degree - WSJ.com

Assessing the Value of a College Degree - WSJ.:
"...a long-term study of 6,335 college grads published in 1999 by the National Bureau of Economic Research found graduating from a college where entering students have higher SAT scores—a sign of exclusivity—didn't pay off in higher post-graduation income.

What matters more, it seems, is graduates' personal drive. In a surprising twist, a stronger predictor of income is the caliber of the schools that reject you. Researchers found students who applied to several elite schools but didn't attend them—presumably because many were rejected—are more likely to earn high incomes later than students who actually attended elite schools. In a summary of the findings, the Bureau says that 'evidently, students' motivation, ambition and desire to learn have a much stronger effect on their subsequent success than average academic ability of their classmates.'"

Monday, December 14, 2009

70 Words of (Unconventional) Wisdom for 2010 - Bill Taylor - HarvardBusiness.org

70 Words of (Unconventional) Wisdom for 2010 - Bill Taylor - HarvardBusiness.org:
"The idea is simple: Each of us suggests one word — literally one word — that all of us should think about in 2010, and then takes one page to explain why and how that word matters.

The result is an intriguing, inspiring, and at times downright moving collection of unconventional wisdom that is available free to everyone as of this morning."


What Matters Now

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

You Think The Google Interview Is Tough? Try Getting A Job At A PE Firm

You Think The Google Interview Is Tough? Try Getting A Job At A PE Firm:
"The Business Insider's story on Google's interview process sounds pretty fun to one banking analyst trying for a job at a major PE firm.

On his search for a job in private equity at KKR and TPG, two asset management
funds, he has been in interviews that are grueling in comparison.

First, he says, the typical interviewee is walked into a little room and told he has two hours to write out the steps necessary in something like an LBO (leveraged buy-out), for example."