Professor Elam

Accounting & Investing Info for San Antonio A & M

about

Professor Elam

On Line Computer Learning

June 4, 2014

Wednesday June 4 2014

Today I learned of two additional free resources for computer program learning

The first is at our own TAMUSA Library

From the TAMUSA main page go to University Library under quick links

Scroll down to On line Databases

Click on DatabASES BY a-z

Click ON L

Click on Learning Express Library 3.0

Use screen arrows to move to Computer Skills

Click on Popular Software Tools

And Bingo, you can pick from any of the MISFT programs at left, basic, intermed and advanced

The second option is

http://www.gcflearnfree.org

This is actually part of Goodwill Training to help all sorts of people learn these skills.

Again you have a choice of all kinds of different training
Professor Elam

Osprey Bulwarks Marine Supply Chain

June 3, 2014

Tuesday June 3, 2014

The vertical take off and horizontal flying capability of the Osprey has been a long time in coming, after many initial failures. The idea was to combine VTO with the longer range flying capability of a fixed wing arircraft, All you had to do was make the props pivot 90 degrees, right, well it was tougher than that.

But here is the result today. This is the same sort of game changer and advacnce that the ultra reliable CD 3 proved to be in the 1930s
Professor Elam

Seattle to Phase in $15 Minimum Wage

June 3, 2014

Tuesday June 2, 2014

The Seattle City Council voted a $15 minimum wage for those employing more than 500 people. This is clearly aimed at fast food and retail workers.

Yes if this eventually happens it will raise those wages to $31,000 a year. But what will your burger or pizza cost?

Let's debate this one in class.
Professor Elam

Financial Analysis

June 3, 2014

Tuesday June 3, 2014

Baker Avenue is a wealth management firm. The minimum investment is $500,000. Here is their latest update. Notice that it is a mix of both fundamental and technical analysis.

We are studying financial analysis in ACCT 3314. Intermediate accounting is a study of how financial statements are prepared.

We will take a look at this in class.

ECB = Ecropean Central Bank

http://www.ecb.europa.eu/home/html/index.en.htmlA

AAII American Association of Individual Investors

http://www.aaii.com

US equities finished higher for a second straight week in holiday-shortened trading. There was little change in the macro narrative and while the path of least resistance remained skewed to the upside, the market did struggle for direction ahead of some higher-profile, near-term events this week. The S&P returned 1.2% while the Russell 2000 was up 0.7%.

Close to eighty percent of the S&P is in an uptrend, as defined by a fifty day moving average above a two hundred day moving average. Stats like this reinforce our long term positive stance. Countering this trend is the fact that the market has narrowed out with fewer stocks leading the charge and small caps continuing to languish. Momentum is still tepid and our shorter term read remains “neutral with a positive bias”. The big story this week remained the unexpected strength in Treasuries (and thus lower bond yields), with the curve resuming its bullish flattening trend. We suspect it's more “flow” related but are watching developments closely. There was no "sell in May" this year as the S&P was up 2% for the month. The market is now trading at a 15.5x forward multiple with 11% EPS growth forecasted over the next three quarters…not overly aggressive but certainly there is little room for error. It will be important for the data to continue to accelerate in order to support the estimates. So far, so good. Sentiment gauges we monitor have bounced around all year with individual investors, as measured by AAII, seeing its biggest weekly increase since late April last week. Gold fell more than -3%, suffering its fifth straight weekly decline.

This week brings us Apple’s developer’s conference and the largest oncology conference of the year (ASCO). There will be no shortage of tradable headlines emanating from these events and most of us, outside of investor Carl Icahn, golfer Phil Mickelson and sports bettor William Walters, will need to wait for the press releases to act. The other big events this week include a much watched ECB meeting where some form of stimulus is expected, and the May jobs report on Friday.

Regards,

Simon Baker
Professor Elam

Don Sterling’s Tax Return

June 2, 2014

Monday June 2 2014

Don Sterling may have a $662 M tax bill. He bought the Clippers in 1981 for a mere $12.5 million. Now Steve Ballmer of MSFT fame is buying for $2 Billion. Now there is a Warren Buffet type investment for you.

Take a look at this article for what a really taxing situation it is.
Professor Elam

Phds and the Stock Market

June 1, 2014

Weekend June 1 2014

The number of Phds granted tracks the stock market.

Positive social mood has been expansive towards higher education. This may be changing as mood turns negative. Take a look at this article in our conitinuing series on the Highner Ed Crisis.
Professor Elam

University of Ottawa Students Plead Poverty

June 1, 2014

Weekend June 1 2014

I write a lot more on themarketperspective blog about what I call The New Civil War. It happens not only in different parts of our country, but in various fractals around the world and in different institutions.

Now U of Ottawa students resort to the Food Bank to make ends meet. While there have been some efforts to freeze tuition once one enters college, this ignores the fact that the current paradigm is unsustainable. Costs continue to spiral while 'college educated jobs' are not increasing in salary at the same rate.
Professor Elam

The Most Important Book You will Ever Read

May 31, 2014

Weekend June 1 2014

What a deal, How to Win Friends and Influence People is available at Kindle, just click the hyper link, for $2.95.

STtarbucks has lattes that cost more than that.

Carnegie was living at the YMCA when he began giving lectures on the topic. Finally a fellow from a publishing company took the class and urged him to put it in book form. It has sold over15 million copies since, perhaps a record for a non fiction book.

Yes it is a bit dated in references of movie stars and such that were popular at the time of writing. But movie stars come and go, times change people don't, be sure to get this one. I am not kidding..

Here is the Amazon Review

Amazon.com Review

This grandfather of all people-skills books was first published in 1937. It was an overnight hit, eventually selling 15 million copies. How to Win Friends and Influence People is just as useful today as it was when it was first published, because Dale Carnegie had an understanding of human nature that will never be outdated. Financial success, Carnegie believed, is due 15 percent to professional knowledge and 85 percent to "the ability to express ideas, to assume leadership, and to arouse enthusiasm among people." He teaches these skills through underlying principles of dealing with people so that they feel important and appreciated. He also emphasizes fundamental techniques for handling people without making them feel manipulated. Carnegie says you can make someone want to do what you want them to by seeing the situation from the other person's point of view and "arousing in the other person an eager want." You learn how to make people like you, win people over to your way of thinking, and change people without causing offense or arousing resentment. For instance, "let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers," and "talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person." Carnegie illustrates his points with anecdotes of historical figures, leaders of the business world, and everyday folks. –Joan Price

Review

"it changed my life" Warren Buffet "The most successful self-help book of all time… Carnegie has never seemed more relevant" The Times "It's helped me immeasurably in life. I think everyone should read it" Jenny Colgan, Independent on Sunday 20090607 "a no-nonsense guide to being a better person…an easy-to-read, practical guide" Spirit and Destiny
Professor Elam

An Accounting Job at the Witte

May 30, 2014

Friday May 30 2014

My dissertation was on Stakeholder Attitudes towards Giving to a Higher Ed Institution. I contributed five articles or so to TXNP. I found this accounting job on the TXNP site.

This is a good example of what is expected. Notice MSFT skills are required, as well as lifting 30 pounds, so I gather you are expected to join the party and help when needed outisde accounting chores.

Non Profits are big business. This might be a good site to book mark in your job search.
Professor Elam

A Fork in the Road

May 30, 2014

Friday May 30 2014

The markets are proving they do what they want to do regardless of the news. While Congress and the PResident are more unpopular than ever, the market is quite popular. The next few days will tell us if indeed the markets are going higher still.

Dow

Break out or Fake Out, the Dow has been consolidating this year and poked to a new high. Will the market move higher or succumb to the seasonal weakness of the summer by testing that 200 day MA again?

Russell 2000

This is the only index really to have broken down. Now what? IT really has nto broken yet, just consolidating.

SOX Semiconductors

Semi conductors are literally at the heart of tech, and this market is

consolidating

making a double top

getting ready to break out

We will know soon.

NASD Summation Index

As always we return to the internal indicators. It looks like the internals have been correcting. If this continues to turn up, up, up the NASD will go.

QQQ and Summation Index

Confirmation?

NYSE and Summation Index

I don't really see any big clues that the market was about to correct from January to february. Could that happen again, or is it equally likely the market goes higher?

Weekly NYSE

Observations

This has been an incredibly strong bull market

It is 2250 points above its 200 week MA. That is 26% above the 200 week MA.

It would take a tremendous change to derail this upward momentum.

recent posts

about

Amazon.com Review

Review