The Dark Knight - On Sir Allen Stanford
posted by Gyan on Apr 29, 2009 - 9 comments

Another stock market post. Technical traders (or charters) don't look at the fundamentals of an investment, like the earnings per share or even macro economic indicators to understand how a stock will move. Instead, they look at the movements in the market. While many of us might think prices are now low, technicians have the reassurance of fibonacci sequences, relative strength indexes, support levels and other "blackbox" ratios to determine their investments. There are some who blame them for a lot of woe, but they also provide a ray of light when everything else looks glum. Despite some evidence it doesn't work, or at least doesn't work over the long term, the number of true believers in the market mean even true fundamentalists can't ignore their impact. [more inside]
posted by bystander on Oct 28, 2008 - 74 comments

China, Africa see closer cooperation since Beijing Summit. Others see it a bit differently: 'We never pay,' he said, 'because once you pay you become their bitch; you will pay for ever and ever.' The phenomenon even has a name on the ground in the sub-Sahara: the Great Chinese Takeout. China, Africa and Oil: China's national oil companies are, in some cases, politically stronger than the government agencies charged with regulating them. previously
posted by allkindsoftime on Oct 21, 2008 - 22 comments

Bringing Down Bear Stearns, from Vanity Fair's August issue.
posted by SeizeTheDay on Jul 1, 2008 - 17 comments

Sellaband launched in August of 2006. You get the chance to buy $10 shares in a band and when they reach $50,000 they get to record an album - it was met with cynicism in some quarters. Ten months later six bands have reached the $50,000 mark and the first two albums are available [Dutch nu-metallers Nemesea & Hawaiian singer-songwriter Cubworld] with four other artists about to enter the studio - Second Person from the UK, Clemence from France, Lily from the US and Maitreya from New Zealand.
posted by meech on Jun 26, 2007 - 10 comments

"The great thing about the market is that it has nothing to do with the actual stocks." Jim Cramer--probably most famous for his CNBC show "Mad Money"--comes clean in a TheStreet.com interview about the tactics he used while managing his hedge fund and how he, you know, might influence Apple's stock if he were in the game today. Feathers get ruffled.
posted by quite unimportant on Mar 21, 2007 - 53 comments

Bubbleprice.com is the handy guide for Internet startup entrepreneurs to use to calculate their next investment round. If you've recently raised money for your startup, how do you plan to use it? If you're working for a startup, better hope Matt Marshall doesn't tag you with the dreaded bubble tag.
posted by gen on Jan 7, 2007 - 7 comments

This might be the only time in your life you get to hear this because the finance industry survives soley on large-scale ignorance, so listen very closely. There is NO housing bubble in the US. NEVER invest in actively managed funds. Financial lamers do better than financial jocks (and almost everyone else). .

Sadly however most of you won't have the mathematical knowledge to differentiate the advice backed by several Nobel laureates and world-renowned academics from the "advice" of any of the thousands of horny little evangelists spruking their financial "theories" for profit or fame.
posted by DirtyCreature on Jun 20, 2005 - 78 comments

Worse Than the World Bank? Export Credit Agencies--The Secret Engine of Globalization The amount of investment that export credit agencies (ECA) support worldwide is significantly greater than the total amount of lending from the World Bank, IMF and all other multilateral institutions combined. ECA's account for the single biggest component of developing country debt and half of all new greenhouse gas-emitting industrial projects in developing countries have some sort of ECA support. Investments in places like Guatemala, South Africa, Pakistan, Chile [PDF], have had unacceptable social, environmental and economic consequences. Administered or backed by a government, an ECA uses taxpayer money to make it cheaper and less risky for domestic corporations to export or invest overseas. ECAs privatize the profit and socialize the risk while negatively impacting indigenous cultures and enironments, all with little or no governmental oversight or public awareness of the matter. So what can we do about it? [PDF]
posted by faux ami on Nov 26, 2004 - 14 comments

Become a GLM (Galactic Lord and Master) Your chance to invest in an expanding market (or is it steady state now, I forget), the Universe is up for grabs! Do you have a favourite astral body that you'd like to lay claim to? From Newscientist - Feedback.
posted by asok on Jul 6, 2003 - 5 comments

Big Business As Usual. "In announcing their record settlement with 10 Wall Street firms accused of misleading investors with bogus recommendations, [the Securities and Exchange Commission] also released new e-mail records showing stock experts chortling about how they were making out like bandits at the expense of the average investor", and revealed troubling insights into the way Wall Street really works: "Merrill Lynch initiated coverage of LFMN on September 28, 2000 with a 2-1 [10-20% appreciation forecast short term, 20% appreciation forecast long term], when LFMN traded at $22.69. At that time, Merrill Lynch was pursuing an investment banking relationship with LFMN. After Merrill Lynch initiated research coverage, LFMN's price declined to the....$3-5 range in December. On December 4, 2000, Blodget e-mailed a fellow analyst,'LFMN at $4. I can't believe what a POS [piece of shit] that thing is. Shame on me/us for giving them any benefit of doubt.' Merrill Lynch's research report on LFMN dated December 21, 2000, [reiterates] a 2-1 rating..."
And the "record settlement" with these common swindlers in three piece business suits from our brave SEC? For Wall Street, Fines Are A Day's Pay.
posted by fold_and_mutilate on May 7, 2003 - 23 comments

Sunday's Investment Tip: Snark Inc. This wasn't the sort of snark I was looking for but it's too amusing to pass over. Worth singling out: the Globalization game; the Snark, Snarquila and Serf commercials (this last one good enough to go legit, imho); the Corporate Culture documentary and the Careers questionnaire. All in all, healthy anti-capitalist fun for the whole family! [Click on "View"; Flash required.]
posted by MiguelCardoso on Jul 14, 2002 - 6 comments

Scientists will tell you that Hydrogen is the most common element in all of nature. Me, I think the scientists have it all wrong. I think the universe is really made out of irony
posted by BentPenguin on Mar 12, 2002 - 9 comments

Fake profits are causing the stock market to descend. Could someone explain to me the meaningful difference between Enron and Amazon.com? One company recently reported fake profits of $5 million, while having billions in debt. Enron, well...no profits either, and billions in debt. So why is Amazon.com considered "promising"? Enron had a revenue stream too.... Prediction: Amazon.com's stock will be "revalued" sharply lower as people get lucid about real profits and as the accounting/profit scandals spread.
posted by ParisParamus on Feb 4, 2002 - 19 comments

The Catch with Wells Fargo's Share Builder Some of you may have seen Wells Fargo's ads touting $4 per transaction and unlimited transactions for $12. The main catch is that you cannot trade every day. From their FAQ- "ShareBuilder trades can be made the first, second, third or fourth Tuesday of each month. You select which day you would like your trade to take place when setting up your ShareBuilder Plan. In the event of a month with five Tuesdays, no ShareBuilder trades will take place on the fifth Tuesday." When the rest of the world is going to real-time trading, why do you think Wells Fargo is pushing this? Do you think it is deceptive that this is not mentioned up-front?
posted by SandeepKrishnamurthy on Dec 12, 2001 - 10 comments

Nader Responds to Accusations of Hypocrisy “I will fight for the U’wa and investor accountability by backing a shareholder resolution at the next Annual General Meeting of Fidelity Investments–one of the largest shareholders in Occidental Petroleum and I urge social and environmental screens as a filter for all holdings."
posted by snakey on Nov 3, 2000 - 13 comments

"I wasn't doing anything wrong..." So says Jonathan Lebed, the 16-year-old who paid out $285,000 to the SEC to settle his pump-and-dump case. His father agrees: "He earned it. He did a lot of work. He didn't sit behind a garage smoking pot, or stealing wheels off a car." Yeah, right: after all, he bought his parents a Mercedes with the profits of his stock manipulation.
posted by holgate on Oct 22, 2000 - 17 comments

It seems to me that this kid is only getting in trouble because a bunch of people are sore losers. Aside from the legal trappings that they used to frame him, don't you think that people stupid enough to take financial advice via postings on Yahoo (or other sites) shouldn't whine when they turn out to be bogus? thoughts?
posted by ooklah on Sep 22, 2000 - 9 comments