Cuban’s thoughts should make people think.

It seems students are shying away from economics classes. Maybe this is not such a bad thing. Most economists spend their waking hours analyzing data such as “consumer spending” and “durable goods” to make market “predictions”. But how many times do we actually review those predictions to see how well they match what actually happens? So maybe this article means we finally have students saying to themselves, “hey, this stuff doesn’t seem so useful!”

A recent review of my second book seen:

A interesting book to read, the author obviously did a nice job of collecting all the info. In term of the trading methology [sic], I am not too impress with it. It is laughable that someone will trade the market without paying attention to current market condition and fundamental at all. May be that’s why Dennis would often loss 30% or more in one month and he often lost 9 trades out of 10. Sounds to me he got into the sucker rally all the time because he did not know and did not care what’s underneath. I bet if he spend more time studying the general market fundamental, he will do better than that. On the upside, there’s indeed one thing that interested me in this book, and that’s the profolio risk management. Although Dennis is a lazy dude that would not spend time studying the fundamental, but due to his skillful risk management, he managed to make money eventhough he’s wrong 90% of the time, and that’s what I try to learn from this book.

I don’t post this review and critique it because I don’t like critiism. Far from it. What I hate is mindless criticism while pretending to be smart. Reviews like the one above do more good than bad as they show that some people, even when staring at the black and white, the words in print, don’t get it. His 3rd sentence is a classic perfect for framing!

From the wires:

MOSCOW, Aug 26, (Thomson Financial) – Russia is not afraid of a new Cold War taking hold and is ready for “anything,” Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday in a television interview. “We’re not afraid of anything (including) the prospect of a Cold War. Of course we don’t need that … Everything depends on the stance of our partners and the world community and our partners in the West,” Medvedev told the Russia Today channel in comments translated into English.

Good times ahead?

A great term.

Some heavy hitters weigh in on the next bubble.

This is a great example of looking at life through statistics in a way that is digestible.

This excerpt from the wires struck me today:

Shares of mortgage finance companies Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae continued their plunge Wednesday as investors are increasingly convinced that the stocks will drop to zero if the government bails out the troubled companies…Fannie’s stock is down 87 percent so far this year, while Freddie has lost 90 percent of its value.

I have a question: Isn’t dropping 90% close enough to dropping to zero? Do you hang around for the last 10% down as some form of perverse “hanging on for the rebound”?

Why would investors give money to a trader with a 5 year lock up period who places “long” bets on a few firms? I am not sure why, but they apparently do. Billions of bets it seems.

I feel bad for this family (article), but blaming the appraiser is absolute nonsense. Doesn’t anyone take responsibility for their own errors? Ok, you got a faulty appraisal. Did you only trust? No verify? Did you not look around and ask yourself if the appraisal was accurate? No. It is easier to blame the appraiser hiding behind the tree and then let an AP reporter create a tear jerker article. Harsh from me? Or the truth?

So True.

What a system. Makes me long for communism…