Monthly Archives: May 2012

Women: Be Neither Go-fer Nor Golfer 5/18/12

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Mayo

I was asked what I thought of the ninth recommendation among Julie Steinberg’s “nine rules women must follow to get ahead”: Dress well and play golf.

“You need to learn how to play golf. You don’t have to be good, but you have to be competent enough to be invited for quality bonding time.”

The idea of recommending a woman take on a sport or hobby that is popular with male colleagues but which she wouldn’t have pursued otherwise is, in my opinion, absurd and bound to be self-defeating. Continue reading →

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PhilStock: just handwringing: 5-16-12

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Mayo

PhilStock: I have been asked why I haven’t posted a PhilStock in so long.  It is not that I don’t have a lot to say as regards recent stock events/performance (basically terrible), I just don’t think any of it is especially philosophical. I might note that the “mascot” stock for this site, Diamond Offshore (DO) (chosen because of the “deep-drilling” metaphor, and the fact that I own it) is ~60, oversold,  as low as its been since January.  Anyone recommending Facebook’s IPO? I never use it.

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When it is an error to think admitting error matters: 5-7-12

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Mayo

Gelman has a blogpost today where he wrings his hands over those who make mistakes and won’t admit it (the example he gives is rather distant but amusing in its own right):

http://andrewgelman.com/2012/05/the-hare-the-pineapple-and-ed-wegman/#comments

Well as it happens I was discussing just today (in relation to philosophy of statistics) how common it is for people in this arena to admit error and still  just go on and repeat the identical example and argument (in print!) without even mentioning the criticisms that earlier, allegedly, led them to disown their own example/argument.  I mentioned a case in relation to my April 28 post, and several others throughout this blog. It’s perhaps a brilliant strategy: Continue reading →

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Banks and Meta-Meta-Derivative Horse-Racing! 5-20-12

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Mayo

I am posting an article with which I agree below . These unreal markets in meta-mata-derivatives, with their power to hurt real markets/banks, constitute sheer gambling. It’s not more regulation that’s needed, just recommend that banks who want to bet on air to become horse-racing bookies/betters, rather than bankers. Betting on horses is likely safer, without the feedbacks of this fiasco. And why has “I don’t know where the depositor’s money is” Corzineof IMP chicanery gotten off scott-free?   Pearlstein is one of the few openly questioning the existence of the credit default swamp. (I do not claim expertise on credit default swaps, but my initial suspicion about these “products” is pre-crash, and would be interested to hear any counter-arguments.)

You can read the article at: JPMorgan’s soap opera makes clear that Wall Street is detached from reality

 

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