Accounting & Investing Info for San Antonio A & M
Wed Feb 15 2017
Tom Sowell refers to high brow decision makers as the anointed elite. Today Holman Jenkins reveals the folly of assuming diesel engines were a climate solution.
He compares this to the one child policy begun in 1979 in China. It turns out Chinese parents preferred males to females. Now there is a surplus of males without eligible
females to marry.
And at the heart of this is simply German unions demanding more featherbed jobs.
Tuesday Feb 14 2017
A student asks about firms bending the accounting rules and yes as Spiceland puts it, passing the rules is a very political process. The lashed out at Silicon Valley for its recent departures from GAAP.
Someone is always trying to 'cook the numbers' in a way to make them look better. If all did this we would not have any accounting standards or any accounting comparability.
Monday February 13, 2017
Matt Lampert, Research Director of the Socionomics Institute, will speak at our very own TAMUSA Student Research Symposium Saturday Morning May 6, 2017
in the Central Academic Building.
Meet Matt via his Atlanta NPR interview.
Matt discusses how socionomics turns conventional causality on its head, it's the mood that makes the moment, the news does not make the mood!
We are excited that Matt will be visiting with our students about their research projects. Bringing national individuals with a national standing to campus will elevate the perception of our campus.
Monday Feb 13
Weekend Feb 11, 2017
An alert student in ACCT 5308 noticed this article about the Michigan State Football Program.
As I say we never run out of bad examples for this class!
Friday Feb 10 2017
Hope your day is going well. Wanted to share an opportunity we are currently promoting. Harland Clarke will be recruiting for junior/senior level accounting and finance students to partake in an externship day being held March 24th. This is a fantastic way for students to network with key personnel and learn the different operations of the organization first hand. They are targeting five of our students to participate. Students will be given an opportunity to meet division management as well as participate in a case study analysis at the conclusion of the day. The application is currently open on their hr webpage with a id number of 5441. More details are included in the flyer attached.
We have scheduled an on-campus information session to help promote this. It will be held on Monday, February 20th from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in CAB 223 for any students wanting to learn more. If you know of anyone who may be interested, please spread the word. We want a great showing since their SVP of Talent Management will also be coming in to speak at the info session.
Also please note that Harland Clarke has extended an invitation to any interested faculty who would like to observe the day and learn more about their accounting/finance division. This could provide some great insight to a growing employer in our market. I plan to attend on behalf of my office, but would certainly appreciate your time and expertise if you can make it. If you would like to sign up, please let me know at your earliest convenience. Please note this will be an all-day event for the students; however, if you do have time conflicts that may not allow you to stay the entire time the organization does understand and would accommodate for any time you can offer.
As always if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Thanks as always for your support. Have a great evening!
Thanks,
Clarissa E. Tejeda
Career Advisor
Texas A&M University-San Antonio
Office of Career Services | Center for Experiential Learning & Community Engagement
Central Academic Building, Suite 211
Thursday Feb 9, 2017
Trump's latest tweet criticizes Nordstrum stores for dropping his daughter's fashion brand.
While of course this gives more energy to his many critics, this is pretty mild stuff compared to the famous Truman letter to music critic Paul Hume. Below is Hume's critique
and then Truman's prompt reply. Trump looks surprisingly Presidential in comparison!
We will be discussing other aspects of Truman's time in and after office. His take on the Office of the President was in sharp contrast to the Clintons. He swore to never personally profit from having held the offfice, and did not. The Clintons on the other hand, have apparently sworn to never miss a buck dispensing favors for cash.
Sure lots of ex Cabinet Members obtain lucrative jobs as lobbyists but the Clinton Foundation took that idea to new heights.
FAQ: Is the letter on display that Truman wrote in defense of his daughter's singing?
In response to Washington Post Music Critic Paul Hume's December 6, 1950, review of Margaret Truman's singing performance at Constitution Hall, stating,
"Miss Truman is a unique American phenomenon with a pleasant voice of little size and fair quality � (she) cannot sing very well � is flat a good deal of the time�more last night than at any time we have heard her in past years � has not improved in the years we have heard her � (and) still cannot sing with anything approaching professional finish."
President Truman responded with the following letter to Hume:
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
Dec. 6, 1950
Mr. Hume:
I've just read your lousy review of Margaret's concert. I've come to the conclusion that you are an "eight ulcer man on four ulcer pay."
It seems to me that you are a frustrated old man who wishes he could have been successful. When you write such poppy-cock as was in the back section of the paper you work for it shows conclusively that you're off the beam and at least four of your ulcers are at work.
Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens you'll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below!
Pegler, a gutter snipe, is a gentleman alongside you. I hope you'll accept that statement as a worse insult than a reflection on your ancestry.
H.S.T.
Since the letter was sent by President Truman to Mr. Hume, the original letter was in Mr. Hume�s possession, not President Truman�s, and consequently did not come to the Library as part of the President�s papers. Hume sold the letter in 1951, for $3,500. The original letter continued to reside in private hands as part of the Malcom Forbes Estate, where it hung in the family�s New York corporate art galleries. The Estate purchased the letter in 1983, from an unnamed individual for an unnamed, but "substantial" sum. A copy of the letter also hung in the office of President Bill Clinton. In 2002, the letter was puchased by the Harlan Crow Library, a private library at the Highland Park, Texas, estate of Harlan Crow, a real estate businessman.
Thursday Feb 9, 2017
Twitter shares have been falling for years.
And article in the WSJ today also discusses the problems. And this is so even with the most ardent fan, Trump, giving the brand free publicity every day.
Just because it is social media does not mean it will be a success. We will look at the financials in class today.
Thursday Feb 9 2017
Social Mood drives Social Actions.
Negative social mood drove viewers to Batman the Dark Knight in 2008, before the financial collapse.
Now positive social mood which has driven stocks to new highs will have them at The Lego Batman.
Here is a perfect example of how social mood causes people to respond to negative, 2008, or positive 2017, dynamics. This occurs in
music, film, and politics.
Learn more at http://www.socionomics.net.
Wed February 8, 2017
I have already mentioned Why They Do It, a book profiling White Collar Criminals.
Today I checked Board Games out of the SA Public Library. 
This is a slim 145 page tutorial on being a better board member. And the lead author is John Montford former Texas Tech Chancellor.
Professor Elam 