I'm currently a Private Equity Analyst in Shanghai, China. Academically, I graduated from a target school majoring in Economics and Chinese. I also spent my time at college as the president of an on-campus student organization related to Finance and Economics and a volunteer for a local school program. I have always had a nose for digging deeply into matters that I can't grasp as first, and thus trying to make sense of financials and business strategies in China seemed like a perfect challenge after college.

After spending some time as an Analyst for a publicly-listed Chinese company, I networked my way to my current position through meeting a few members of the firm and eventually the stars aligned. At this point my role is mostly in portfolio company management and deal screening, but have strong exposure to the Directors and Investment Managers in the firm as well. I'm happy to speak about the daily life of a private equity analyst here in Shanghai, differences between PE in the U.S. and China, networking in China, and general topics related to finance in Asia.

For better or for worse, there’s a very unique feeling when everything goes completely according to plan yet nobody seems to care or notice. Such is the case with our favorite company of the moment, Tesla Motors. For those unaware, TSLA has rocketed upwards since its Q1 earnings release, mostly the result of the auto industry’s biggest short squeeze since the VW/Porsche debacle, and currently sits at about $90 and a $10+ billion valuation. While I wish I could spend all night listing the million and one reasons why nothing has changed with this company except for its obscene price tag, I have no incentive to really do so, but my investors know and can be assured that everything we have predicted for this company has been 100% spot on. So, for their benefit, I will recap and add to the observations that have kept this business from ever really accomplishing anything close to worthy of its current valuation.

With the latest earnings, Tesla seemingly fulfilled its promise that it would achieve “full profitability,” whatever that was supposed to mean, when it reported an approximately $11M net income on the wings of $6M in foreign exchange gains and a $10M non-cash reversal of the liability they were carrying associated with the DOE’s future right to buy shares of the company. Tesla said they delivered approximately 4900 cars in the quarter, which net of credits, put their average price tag in the mid $90K range… still significantly higher than the base price on the higher-capacity battery Model S offering. Tesla said in their news release that they earned about $68M in 100%-margin regulatory credits sold to other car companies, and came away with a total gross margin in the 17% area.

Mode note: Blast from the past - "Best of Eddie" - this one is originally from December 2010.

Monty09 may have gotten the best plug yet for his Energy Rodeo in Houston next month, and it came from none other than the New York Daily News. The Daily News piece on the ridiculous cost of living in New York pointed out that it takes six figures just to make it into the middle class in the city, and a New Yorker has to earn $123,322 a year just to match the lifestyle $50,000 a year buys in you Houston. On top of that, $60,000 a year in Manhattan is the equivalent of just $26,000 a year in Atlanta - just over the poverty line.

What the article doesn't mention, however, is perhaps the most compelling reason to choose Houston or another southern city over the Big Apple: GRITS.

No, I'm not talking about the delicious breakfast staple. I'm talking about Girls Raised In The South.

Look, I can understand counterfeiting Gucchi or Prada stuff and even electronics like Iphones. But Condoms... Really?? That is just... absolutely absurd.

Editor's note: SAT scores for all of South Korea have been invalidated because of rampant cheating. Many students are leaving the country to still take the test. More here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014241278873237...

Editor's note 2: SB to anyone that can give a compelling reason as to why you shouldn't cheat (other than getting caught)

My question: Why not cheat ? Prevailing anti-cheat wisdom asserts that a habitual cheater will eventually run out of options and that his misdeeds will eventually catch up to him. In the real world, this doesn’t appear to be the case. Morality and afterlife concerns aside, where are the disincentives? Consider the following examples:

There was a recent story of a senior from Downingtown East in Pennsylvania that lost his D-1 scholarship for football because of a rap video he uploaded showing the incumbent rapper extraordinaire smoking weed in a car. Here's the post. This was one of nine videos uploaded in attempt to kick start his career. This kid was also no chump on the field as ESPN had him ranked as the no. 17 senior and second best wideout in the state. Add to that the binding letter of intent he signed to Michigan State where he would be an instant campus celebrity. Would any of you ever consider giving up your career aspirations in (enter finance field here) for something as retarded as this?

There are times as a trader when you are having a bad run. One loss leads to another and another….and another. After a period of time, even the most battle hardened veteran may find himself putting his balls in the desk drawer when he sits down at the screens.

Daniel Kahneman’s excellent: Thinking Fast and Slow, provides an assessment of system 1 and system 2 and their roles in your behavior and thought process. System 1 is the reactive, the intuitive, the low energy consumption function. System 2 is the rational, deep thought, energy intensive function. In a slump, you are heavily weighted to system 2. In trading, you need to be able to shift and work frequently in system 1.

In what will go down as one of the worst trading decisions in my PA of all time, I sold all my GOOG back in January at $721 to buy more AAPL at $460, $450, and again at $427, and I don't even like AAPL. What's worse, all that averaging down only brought my average cost on AAPL down to $535, so I still need a 25% run up from yesterday's close just to get back to zero.

Meanwhile, GOOG continues to rampage through the market, closing up another thirty bucks yesterday to finish at $915 a share. It'll probably hit $1,000 today, and AAPL will probably go below $400 the way my luck's been running lately. But let's talk about what's driving Google's rise.

Yesterday they announced their new streaming music service (I love how Reuters felt the need to point out that they beat Apple to the punch in the article's friggin' HEADLINE). But the more immediate impact will be felt by their overnight upgrades to the Google+ platform. I'm usually pretty skeptical about changes to a social network (thanks Facebook), but this one is really good.