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."

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.'"

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

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."

Research from Rollins MBA Disputes Myth about the Financial Value of Pre-MBA Work Experience - Forbes.com

Research from Rollins MBA Disputes Myth about the Financial Value of Pre-MBA Work Experience - Forbes.com:

"The study investigated the economic benefits and costs associated with choosing to delay matriculation to a full-time MBA program to gain work experience, rather than enrolling immediately after completion of undergraduate studies. It concluded that there is a financial disadvantage to delaying matriculation into a full-time MBA program.

While students who have less work experience had lower starting salaries, the difference was overcome by the advantage of getting an early start on careers"

MBA 610

MBA 610: "Famous ' Smith-Masulis ' papers"

this is what we used in class for 401.

Simoleon Sense » Blog Archive » Free Book: Competitive Strategy By Michael Porter

Simoleon Sense » Blog Archive » Free Book: Competitive Strategy By Michael Porter

A MUST READ!

YouTube - New center at Stanford to study brain's role in compassion, altruism

YouTube - New center at Stanford to study brain's role in compassion, altruism: "A new Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education has been launched at the Stanford University School of Medicine, with the aim of doing scientific research on the neural underpinnings of these thoughts and feelings"



gee, sounds like Behavioral Finance class.

Skype and Job Interviews: Webcam Meetings on the Rise - TIME

Skype and Job Interviews: Webcam Meetings on the Rise - TIME:

"Get ready for a closeup: your next job interview might be on webcam. Looking to save time and money, companies are turning to video-chat software as a cheap, low-hassle way to vet job candidates. That means a growing number of people looking for work are meeting their prospective new bosses not at the office but in the comfort of their own home."

Ivo Welch, Teaching, Fall 2006

Ivo Welch, Teaching, Fall 2006:

"Recommended Curriculum For Students Interested in Finance

The following are my personal opinions for a good curriculum for students that want to specialize in financial economics. They have not been endorsed by any other faculty or committee."

Some links that might hep the assigment for fin 401

I have had a couple questions such as

* But I'm having a hard time finding a stock that has fallen because of bad news
* "I am working on the assignment to research a stock that has had a major collapse. I have been on yahoofinance, but I am really unfamiliar with searching for stock. Basically, I am at a loss on how to even start. Appreciate any help you can give me."

I am guessing a few others might be having trouble:

So, let's see, if I were doing this, I would start by looking for large losers for the year. Here is a very good stock screen from MSN Money that gives us the biggest losers for year.

Power Searches: Investing - MSN Money

Listing of biggest losers







Then go to the SEC Edgar site and look up some of the losers.



Hope this helps.

YTD Assets Class Returns: ...

Twitter / Lawrence McDonald: YTD Assets Class Returns: ...:

"YTD Assets Class Returns: Leveraged Loans 44%, High Yield 41%, Emerging Mkts 25%, S&P 15%, IG Credit 13%, MBS 7%, Treasuries -3%"

A good check of if you remember your intro finance? Check the S&P return using a spreadsheet and Yahoo finance.

Links we used in class

S0me of the links we used in 401 class:

Section:Business - Google Fast Flip

The News timeline

Here is the option calculator we used in SIMM

Here is the link to the Future Value Spreadsheet we used in 401

here you go! Future Value Spreadsheet.

From my 301/604 classes where I used it to show that small amounts do add up when you let them compound for a long period. (we used the cost of smoking as the spur)

Ethics-Matters: Share Price as an Indicator for Good Corporate Governance

This is almost exactly like what we were talking about in 401 class the other day. Interesting!

Ethics-Matters: Share Price as an Indicator for Good Corporate Governance:

"...acting ethical in a business means, “Trying to maximize the long-term value of the firm”. In a simple manner, if you don’t act that way, it is a long-term loss for your party.

I’ll try supporting this with evidence from one of the most popular examples of contemporary corporate crimes in United States, “Tyco International” case."

To Multitask Effectively, Focus on Value, Not Volume - Conversation Starter - HarvardBusiness.org

To Multitask Effectively, Focus on Value, Not Volume - Conversation Starter - HarvardBusiness.org:

"...let me suggest that the alternative to multitasking is not single-tasking. In this day and age, that would be too slow. Rather the answer is to shift our mindsets from a focus on volume to a focus on value. Instead of checking off all the boxes and trying to get everything done, let's identify those activities and initiatives that will truly add value. It's OK not to do certain things, or to do them later. For example, in a recent merger, a team was debating whether to adopt Lotus Notes or Outlook as the standard email system. It's an interesting discussion, but in the short term it's not a value-creator for the combined company.

We all have choices to make, as individuals and as managers of organizations. What can you do to make sure that those choices are based on value rather than volume?"

YouTube - CFA Exam Prep: Level 3 Preformance Evaluation

A couple of you have mentioned studying for the CFA, here is a one of many good videos to help your process.


YouTube - CFA Exam Prep: Level 3 Preformance Evaluation: "CFA Exam Preformance Evaluation."

Motivational DNA by Tamara Lowe: the #1 female motivational speaker in the world: Get Motivated! The New Science of Achievement: http://www.getmotivatedbook.com

As part of a "get to know you" exercise, I would like to do an experiment this year. I want each of you in class to take this test and email me the result page. It takes about 10 minutes (maybe less) and gives you (and me) a better understanding of what motivates/demotivates you.

HOPEFULLY, I can then tailor the class a bit more to you.

Motivational DNA by Tamara Lowe: Get Motivated! The New Science of Achievement: http://www.getmotivatedbook.com

BTW this is in no means an endorsement of the book, speaker, or even the method, but it is a low cost experiment that could be useful and if not has very little risk involved.

Duration hedge of bond portfolio [practice, market] | Bionic Turtle

Two good duration questions:

Duration hedge of bond portfolio [practice, market] | Bionic Turtle:

"...highlight the deficiency of a duration-based hedge: if it’s one-time (i.e., not dynamic rebalancing), then we know it has limited efficacy because duration (by definition as a first partial derivative and single risk factor) assumes a small, parallel shift in the yield curve. A one-time hedge (as below) can hardly be expected to perfectly immunize the bond portfolio - David"

For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word - Statistics - NYTimes.com

For Today’s Graduate, Just One Word - Statistics - NYTimes.com:

"Ms. Grimes is an Internet-age statistician, one of many who are changing the image of the profession as a place for dronish number nerds. They are finding themselves increasingly in demand — and even cool.

“I keep saying that the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians,” said Hal Varian, chief economist at Google. “And I’m not kidding.

The rising stature of statisticians, who can earn $125,000 at top companies in their first year after getting a doctorate...”"