In Chapter 12 in Intermediate Accounting  we studied Investment Rules.  The Mark to market FASB rule passed a few days after the all time high in the Dow at 14,000 in 2007.  It has been down ever since. So, now that mortgages have morped into toxic assets, the FASB is being pressured to relent.  And so…

Nicholas Taleb, author of Black Swan takes on the bystanders of the financial world. He has no use for modern portfolio theory or the quants that promote it, a good read. Click for his interesting home page here. 

  Selective Outrage Surely the most ironic twist this year is the international interventionists  on the right decrying the Government GM Intervention on the left.   Indeed, Usama bin Laden has bedded down with Senator Shelby of Alabama, both decry the intervention of the US Government. Bin Laden is distressed that the US wants to run…

The Governor of Kansas, up for Health and Human Services, and her husband, a Federal Magistrate Judge, discovered another $7K in taxes owed. The question all this should prompt is if a governor and her Federal Judge Husband cannot understand the tax return process, who can? How about some real change, an elimination of the…

A bankruptcy judge has ruled that Vallejo, CA can void its contracts with union workers while the City is in Bankruptcy.   The Vallejo, CA Chapter Nine case is being closely watched by cities across the country. Its historic parallel is New York city in 1975-6. Back then the garbage workers making $45,000 finally did bankrupt…

Laura Morales  estimates that she embezzled some $131,000 from a Section 8 Housing Fund.  The numbers mentioned in the article run much higher.  I have noted the importance of internal auditing in class. The importance of internal audit will only grow in the future what with SARBOX. And in a declining economy there will be more…

Now banks are failing to foreclose on homes, the cost of demolition is more than the value of the house. This NY Times article is getting a lot of buzz on CNBC this morning.  This is true deflation.The value of the collateral goes not just to zero, it goes negative. The cost of demolition makes…

Rick Waggoner resigned at the Admin request.  He was not able to get the unions and the bond holders to an agreement that removes enough of their claims to go forward, in the view of just about everyone. The Administration appears to be moving as one observer said this morning to an airline type managed…

Donald Trump has a blog. He writes about Madoff as follows.  The sad thing is that so many people trusted him, and unfortunately some of them trusted him completely. Some people gave 100 percent of their money to this guy, and now they’re literally selling their houses in order to live. It’s a great lesson in…

I spotted this review in the Books Section of the SA Express News.  Roberto Escobar   is clearly and admirer of his brother, Pablo, of the Medellin Cartel fame.  He became the accountant running a ten person staff. They quickly exhausted the the world capacity for secure bank accounts. So the money was hidden in warehouses and…