Another big Earthquake in SE Asia

Apparently there was another big quake, 8.3, off of the coast of Sumatra, big Indonesian island west of Singapore. According to the news reports some people in Singapore felt it. I did not, and as far as I can tell, Singapore is safe.
We'll see more details about the quake on news tomorrow.

Emre

How smart is your right foot?

This is a good one. Read on!

This is so strange that it will boggle your mind. And you will keep trying at least 50 more times to see if you can outsmart your foot, but you can't.
1. While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles
2. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand.
Your foot will change direction.
I told you so .
And there's nothing you can do about it!

Book Review: "The Broker" John Grisham

Well, just like every other Grisham book, I read this one in a couple of days too. The book is about a power broker in DC who happens to broker a dangerous deal involving high tech military surveillance stuff. And of course is chased by many different secret agencies and spies. The quality of Grisham books are coming back. I think "A painted house" was the absolute low point of Grisham career. The one thing he started to write too much about in his books is the new places he has visited and hence chosen for the story to take place. This time the most of the story takes place in Bologna. The book tells too much about the architecture and history of Bologna as well as the social life there. On a 1 to 10 scale if "A painted house" were 0.5 and "The Firm" and "The Client" were 10. "The Broker" is somewhere around 4.5-5.

emre

Scalp-ache

I have a killer scalp-ache. Not to be confused by head-ache!
The pain is right between my skull and scalp, andhas been giving me trouble.
Today is the second day. I am hoping it will go away tomorrow. It is the
most annoying thing ever! Usually I used to have similar aches when I went
out with wet hair in the winter. However, the weather is pretty nice in
Singapore and my hair is pretty dry in the mornings. If anyone reading this
knows the pain and has a remedy, please do not hesitate to contact me.

emre

Posting via EMail

I like this blogger thing. It allows me to make posts from virtually
anywhere in the world that has an internet connection. You can simply send
an email to a secret email address that you define, and voila! Your email is
published in your blog. This actually is my test posting. If it works, know
that I like this technology even more. This would be a great tool for people
who are on World travel, and would like to tell their status/stories to
those who care.
I would like to consider myself as a world traveller :-)

Ciao
Emre

Golf @ Bangkok Airport

As I was landing in Bangkok yesterday, I saw something that would never happen in Europe or America. In the middle of the airport, between two runways where airplane land and take-off, there is a 9 hole golf course open to public! There are no fences or barriers between the asphalt of the runway/tarmac and the green of the course. This immediately prompts the question, what if the golfer slices it!? I guess people over some handicap limit cannot play there :-)

People playing golf, riding their golf carts across taxi-ways to the other holes, and the inexistence of any kind of fence or barrier make me think that either the crime level is very low, Thai people are very trustworthy, or terrorist ideas of harming planes is not present in Thailand.

emre

Harvard Commencement Speech 2004

By Ali G

It is wikid!


http://www.hbo.com/alig/harvard.html

Who needs Corporate Finance

Who needs corporate finance as long as there are some investment bankers around.

For the past 5 days I have been studying for my exams that are next week. Statistics make great sense. There are formulas, you apply them, voila! Accounting makes sense too. As long as three statements are in line and balance each other out, you know that you are doing great and you are correct.

Finance makes sense as long as you are talking about bonds, interest rates etc. However, when it comes to company valuation, it is CRAP! Too many variables, too many assumptions etc, that turn out to be not exactly the same in real life anyway. How many trades/purchases in your life have you made that you felt that you paid the exact right price for something. In your experience, haven't you always felt either got ripped off or made a great deal?! Therefore, there is no correct valuation. Corporate Finance and company valuation blows! Nonsense! It is just another big conspiracy to make people, called bankers, richer. It economically adds no value!

Anyway, you have just witnessed my frustration with understanding company valuation, leverage, financing etc etc.

emre