Professor Elam

Accounting & Investing Info for San Antonio A & M

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  • Professor Elam

    DC Solar Fools Berkshire Hathaway

    Weekend Jan 26 2020

     

    DC Solar solutions attracted $340M from Berkshire Hathaway.

    Decades ago Warren Buffet turned Gates down on Microsoft saying he did not understand it.  Gee Warren, MSFT was pretty straightforward they wrote sofware. 

    DC Solar Solutions provided solar generators for cell towers for phones and lighting at sporting events, or so they said. And you got a 30% tax credit for investing. Warren, better run these ideas by Barack Obama who created the framework that allowed this to happen..

    $140 M was siphoned off for fancy cars and such, $500 M has been recovered.

    I have to wonder if a stock market top is nearing if Buffet can be persuaded into a flimsy scam like this.  Remember maximum mood occurs at the end of a stock market move.

  • Professor Elam

    Conquer Accounting

    Weekend January 25 202

    Nathan Henke
    Conquer accounting updated
    Collapse
     

    The 12 steps to conquer accounting seems like a great guide to be successful in the study of accounting. While this guide was designed with accounting students in mind, it could also easily be applied to other subjects. One of my favorite parts of this guide is the first step: doing a self-assessment. I think many people do not like doing self-assessments. This is because I feel that people either don’t want to know their areas for improvement or they don’t think they have any areas to improve upon. Both of these attitudes are not going to help you become a better student, a better professional, or even a better person. It vital that we take an introspective look at ourselves if we ever want to get better. I feel David Goggins, former U.S. Navy SEAL, expresses that with his quote “The most important conversation is the one you have with yourself.” Another aspect of conquer accounting I like are the concepts of establishing and maintaining a schedule and a routine and going above and beyond looking at power points and the textbook. This requires students to establish discipline. I feel many students dislike this thought because they feel as if they are being stripped of their freedom and free time. After all, it is much easier to plop down on the couch and watch television or play video games than it is to take a more active approach to learning. In reality having discipline can lead to having more freedom. “Discipline equals freedom” is a mantra of Jocko Wilink, an author and former U.S. Navy SEAL. The idea behind this is that if you want to have more freedom to do something you first must be willing to put in the work to accomplish the more difficult things, which requires discipline. All in all, I feel that the 12 steps to conquer accounting are a great tool for students but ultimately it falls on the student to put these tools to proper use.

  • Professor Elam

    WFC CEO Stumpf Fined $17.45 M. Barred from Banking

    Friday Jan 24 2020

    Critics of bank and investment regulation have long complained about the lack of action against anyone personally involved in fraud. Now that is changing.

    Former Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf has een fined $17.5 M

    and barred from the banking industry.

    The scandal dates back to 2002 – 2016.

    Finally regulators send a message. One of the wonders to me is how the stock price of WFC has ss=tayed so strong.

  • Professor Elam

    Learning by Example

    Thursday Jan 23, 2020

    Our BUAD3191 class is pairing up in teams to address kids at public schools.

    I suggested in class that they study some of he famous duo acts,, to get pointers in how to bounce ideas off one another.

    One can put these names into youtube.com for a host of videos

    Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon

    These two hosted the /Tonight Show for many years. No matter who the other networks threw up against them, nothing worked. Johnny and Ed were the consumate team for late night TV

    Sony and Cher

    In the 1970s, they also positioned themselves as media personalities with two top ten TV shows in the US, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and The Sonny & Cher Show. The couple's career as a duo ended in 1975 following their divorce. In the decade they spent together, Sonny and Cher sold over 40 million records worldwide.[3]

    Performing under her first name, Cher went on to a highly successful career as a solo singer and actress, while Sonny Bono was eventually elected to Congress as a Republican U.S. Representative from California. The two performers were inducted to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1998, following Sonny's death in a skiing accident.

     

    Read the Whole story here, really interesting After the divorce all the experts were sure Sonny would be a solo success. Wrong, it was the far more glamorous Cher who reigned supreme.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny_%26_Cher

    Abbott and Costello

    One of the most famous comedy routines of all time, Who's On First?

    George Burns and Gracie Allen

    Vaudeville spawned a number of teams.  Many went on to radio careers and from there launched television shows in the 1950s.  In the day the female typically was a bit ditsy as if she did not quite understand what was going on. But it is clear from watching the perfect timing, that these two had 'the partnership' that typifies all great duos down pat.

     

     

  • Professor Elam

    The Ethics of Rhetoric

    Wednesday January 22 2020

    One of the popular series on Amazon Prime is the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. It is the story of a 1958 house wife, mother of two kids, whose husband divorces her. She becomes a stand up comic.   I love the period pieces, the clothes, the cars,  the interiors, the props

    but not the language.

     

    Within eight hours of his announcement she is in a comedy club doing a faux Lenny Bruce routine complete with the four letter language. And it is not just her, everyone in the cast is talking this way,, all the time.

    I am no prude but

    Folks did not curse a stream back then and certainly not a Richard Pryor F bomb stream.

    Yes I lived through that era and not people did not talk that way.

    I rented a copy of IT Chapter II from the library. When the movie was announced two years ago, I bought a made for TV mini series off Amazon. While I had not read the lengthy book, it appeared to track the book and I Bought it a great job, especially on a low budget.

    As the newer version progressed I could anticipate what would happen. But  it was clear the first ten minutes this was a very different version of Derry, Maine.  No one in the cast  of now grown kids missed the chance to insert an F Bomb, usually multiple times, in their comments. Huh, this was not in the first movie  and I doubt in the book.  King the author states you can tell a lot more to the reader by letting your character talk than by describing the character.

    Such talk is now common among so callled rappers.   All of this goes back to Richard Pryor's act in 1973-74 at the bottom of the  1968-1982 bear market.

    What say you, have we made vulgar language so common place it loses its meaning, and now that is the norm?

     

  • Professor Elam

    Internships

    Tuesday Jan 21 2020

    Good morning!

     

    The Internship Grant application is open until January 29th. Please share this with your students who have secured unpaid internships and are looking for a way to fund their experience!  This video tutorial will help students with the online application in Handshake. Feel free to refer student to me if they have any questions or need help with their application.  I have also attached 2 flyers you can post in your offices, via email, or on Blackboard.

     

    In addition to this grant opportunity I wanted to take this time to introduce you to our Service-Learning coordinator Allie Beedle, abeedle@tamusa.edu, who is here to support your courses whether that be transportation for a student trip, background checks for placements, or bringing speakers into the class. Allie is also here to assist in any course designations you might have.

     

    Also, the Course Designation Committee, which is a faculty led committee, is currently accepting all applications to designate any courses you've taught, are teaching, or plan to teach in the future as experiential or service-learning (internship courses are experiential learning courses but you must submit an application to the committee for official designation). This designation directly responds to our university goal of having 20% of courses designated in each college by 2021. 

     

    We will also be hosting Experiential Learning Workshops for those who currently have courses designated or for those interested in the designation process. In the workshop we will go over the keys of an EL course, reflection and assessment as well as the application process. 

     

    Workshop Dates: 

    Thursday, January 23rd 4:00-6:00 

    Monday, January 27th 2:00-4:00 

    Wednesday, January 29th 3:00- 5:00 

    Friday, January 31st 10:00- 12:00

     

    If you'd like to join us for any of these workshops please feel free to reach out to Allie at abeedle@tamusa.edu 

     

    Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

     

    Regards,
    Kaelyn

     

     

    Kaelyn Dudley, M.S.

    Internship Coordinator

    Mays Center for Experiential Learning and Community Engagement

    Texas A&M University-San Antonio

    Science and Technology Building, Suite 111

    210-784-1356 | kaelyn.dudley@tamusa.edu | www.tamusa/mays

    Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

    Futuristic | Maximizer | Responsibility | Strategic | Arranger

    fbinstagramlinkedintwitterasdf1

    “Developing career-ready and community-minded students”

     

  • Professor Elam

    Up and Coming Intern Announcemeent

    Posted Tuesday Jan 21 202

    We will have a posting for TAMUSA students to apply for Spring 2021 Audit or Tax Internships, I hope we are able to speak with some of the campuses best and brightest. I will send the posting to you as soon as it is live.

     

    Thanks,

    AMP

     

    Anna-Marie Parker

    Campus Recruiter | Marketing Coordinator | BKD
    8200 W. Interstate 10, Suite 900

    San Antonio, TX 78230
    210.341.9400 Ext. 42656

    cid:image005.png@01D353B1.DCFDBE50

    SIGN UP FOR BKD THOUGHTWARE®

  • Professor Elam

    Getting Off to a Fast Start

    Tuesday Jan 21, 202

    It is our second week of class. In all my classes I assigned two things on BB

    Introduce your self

    and read and reflect oneither Emerson Self Reliance or Conquer Accouning

    With two days left be fore the next class day Thursday, and a three day weekend behind us, it is interesting to see what has happened to date.

    A minority of students in each class have introduced themselves.

    Only a few, as in two to four, have read and replied to the reading and reflect assignment. Yet a three day weekend passed when there was amply opportunity to reply.

    My point here is that yes the Early Bird Does Catch the Worm.  Procrastination does not pay. 

    With plenty of time, three days, it would have been easy to write a reply to both, let it sit over night and then re write and submit.

    But few did this. 

    When one reads Conquer Accounting, one of the 12 steps is Practice. I highlight four distinctly different fields of endeavor,

    tennis, boxing, classic piano, car racing

    But when you read quotes from each individual in the field, they all say the same thing

    Practice!

    Yes writing about your self as a intro is practice,, it is the kind of practice you need before a job interview.

    How many of you have a prepared two minute talk on

    Yourself

    A current event in accounting

    Globalization

    Economy of San Antonio

    This kind of preparation will put you ahead of other college students vying for a job.

    But I can only suggest

    You have to make it happen.

     

  • Professor Elam

    Chinese Virus

    Tuesday Jan 21, 2020

    The Coronavirus is spreading in China. This may be simillar to  the  2003 SARS outbreak.

    The Chinese New Year is Saturday. Three billion trips are scheduled across China.

    UBLIC HEALTH

    Dangerous Virus Comes at Worst Possible Time for China

    Coronavirus might sound like Day 2 of your Cabo trip, but it's causing concern across China ahead of one of the country's busiest travel seasons. 

    On Monday, Chinese authorities reported the virus, which causes pneumonia-like symptoms, had infected 200+ people with three confirmed deaths. U.K. experts said the number of cases may be closer to 1,700.

    The situation is triggering memories of China’s 2002 SARS outbreak (another coronavirus strain), which infected 8,000+ people and killed 774.

    • Health officials say animals passed the virus to humans at a market in Wuhan, China. 
    • There are now confirmed cases in major metro areas (Beijing, Shenzhen) and Thailand, South Korea, and Japan. 

    What scares health officials even more: They believe the virus may be spreading from human to human. The Chinese New Year is this Saturday, and an estimated 3 billion trips are expected across the country. Shares in Chinese travel and hospitality companies sank yesterday. 

    Looking ahead…the World Health Organization will meet tomorrow to decide if this needs to be elevated to a global public health emergency.

    Here is  the plot of a potential fictional thriller.

    __________________

     

    The World Health Organization always plays a delicate balance.  Disease can spread faster than ever now that humans travel further and more often than ever. Think of the possibility of spread in an crowded airport where, due to weather, flights are canceled thousands of people are crammed into  spaces created for hundreds of people.

    The WHO is watching Coronavirus. The Chinese government is reassuring WHO they have this contained nothing to worry about. Translation, don't put a a freeze on travel to China.

    A freeze on Chinese travel can only lead to less business, fewer deals, and, remember the dog food scandal, fears of infected Chinese Goods.

    As number 10K is identified with the virus the WHO 'suggest' a Chinese Quarantine.  Thousands of flights are cancelled.  Travelers are not just stuck in China but unable to leave.  Ship with Chinese cargo are unable to leave port. Others waiting for goods sit empty, with no alternative routes or cargo.

    The Shanghai Stock Exchange trades  down 10% in pre-market. That surpasses the 5-7% circuit breaker limit set in 2016.  Chinese officials reluctantly suspend trading.  When  trading resumes, a second limit is hit.

    Markets around the world follow a similar pattern……

     

  • Professor Elam

    San Antonio Institute Internal Auditors Upcoming Meetings

    January 18, 2020

     

     

    Upcoming Events

    		  

     

    Register as a student here

    https://chapters.theiia.org/san-antonio/Events/Pages/default.aspx

    The joint luncheon will be at Maggiano's at the Rim shopping Center 11 00 – 1 30 AM

    11 30 – 1 30 Persentation

    Conference at the Marriott SAn Antonio Hill Country Resort, a chance to network all day

    https://chapters.theiia.org/san-antonio/Events/Pages/default.aspx