Here's a little something for all you bitchin' rock stars from Mars with tiger blood dripping from your fangs. WINNING!
1) From Goldman to Grunt (ABC News) - Been wanting to run this story for a while, but other things always got in the way. It's about Kevin Mincio, a 31-year old VP at Goldman Sachs who traded in his banking career for a rifle and boots after 9/11. Bad ass. The article rightly compares Mincio to Pat Tillman. Ooh-rah.
2) The $251 Million Question (MarketWatch) - What did $251 million in bank bribes lobbying buy for Wall Street? Mostly toothless "regulation" that sounds really tough. When you hear firms like JP Morgan Chase and Goldman claim that they're not making any political donations anymore, it's because they already got what they paid for.
3) Pushing Back on Mediocre Professors (Seth Godin) - Inside Job won the Oscar for best documentary, and a big part of the film was about the lack of ethics in academia. Also, this week there was a thread on WSO about professors with no real world experience. Here's marketing god Seth Godin's view on what to do when your professor sucks and you're not getting what you paid for.
4) Why I Gave Up A $16 Million Career On Wall Street To Work At A Startup (Business Insider) - We cover the banking vs. start-up topic quite a bit here on WSO, and I thought this was an interesting take on the subject. The best part is his layout of wealth expectations. He says 20 years in finance should bring in $20 million with an 80% success rate, so a nominal $16 mil. But 20 years at a start-up can be measured in billions, with a 1% success rate. In his words, what's 1% of Priceless?
5) How to be THE LUCKIEST GUY ON THE PLANET in 4 Easy Steps (Altucher Confidential) - James actually had a couple of really strong posts this week, the other being this one. But if luck is what you seek, you have more to do with it than you might realize. They say luck is an acronym for Labor Under Correct Knowledge, and I've always found that the harder I work, the luckier I get. His method might be worth a try.
6) How Common Is Financial Infidelity? (NY Times) - Lying to your spouse about money is never a good idea, because the truth always comes out, and usually at the worst possible time (uh, honey, we have to go BK...). That said, up to 80% of married people lie to their spouse about their debt load or how they spend money. Take it from someone who has been married 3 times: one of the foundations of a solid marriage is separate checking accounts.
7) How to Not Be an Asshole American (Travelated) - Being an American living abroad, this guy hit on some of my biggest pet peeves about my fellow countrymen. I'm still stunned that two-thirds of the State Department employees dispatched to set up a provisional government in Iraq had to apply for their first passport. How the fuck do you know anything about another culture when you've never even left the United States? Don't even get me started...
8) 'Twilight' Star Leads Cast In Latest Hollywood Take On Hedge Funds (FIN Alternatives) - While I'm not too sure about the casting, this one might actually be pretty good. The movie is Cosmopolis (based on the book) and it's all about a 27-year old hedge fund manager trying to get across Manhattan in his limo to get a haircut all the while blowing himself up in a Yen trade. At the very least, it's an interesting premise and it's got Paul Giamatti. I'm in.
9) Your Short Course On Why The US Is Screwed (Business Insider) - Henry Blodget obviously took his time on this one. He says we certainly spend too much on defense, but the real budget busters are Medicare and Medicaid. Very well laid out and very scary.
10) Don't Believe The Scary Words You Hear About The Debt Ceiling (Captial Gains & Games) - No one will tell you that exceeding the debt ceiling isn't a problem, but it's not the catastrophe some would have you believe. There won't be an immediate shut down of government, nor immediate defaults. Here is what happens, step by step.
As for my boy Charlie, he's either a complete genius or this is the most epic public meltdown in history. Either way, he's aces in my book:
Have a great weekend, guys!
Great post! These two were particularly relevant to my thoughts this week. I appreciate it.
Great post on the "how to not be an American asshole"...good stuff Eddie. I lived in Brazil and Costa Rica for 4 years each and I can't begin to tell you how many loud ass/obnoxious Americans there were--essentially making fools out of themselves, and honestly making our country look bad. Of course not everyone from USA is like this, but for those of you who are: People should think twice about acting this way, and if you want to show that you are "patriotic"-- show some class/dignity first, then you will get some respect... and ultimately this might be one way you can show people abroad that your country is not full of loud cowboys. Well I don't want to go overboard on this topic, but yeah solid posts!
Did, uhh, did Charlie Sheen call Thomas Jefferson a "pussy"? Lord tell me that was tongue-in-cheek.
Damn, I really gotta pick up some SBs, awesome post Eddie!
The bonus bananas posts are brilliant eddie. Especially love the one about college professors.
Sheen has obviously been on some serious drugs. Talk to any random crackhead on the street and he or she will behave in a similar fashion.
+1 on Americans (or people from the US) being extremely loud. I was often embarrassed by my fellow countrymen while quietly sipping my espressos in France. I'm sure you notice the same thing Eddie. But British people are by far the most obnoxious imo.
Am I the only one who finds it a little ironic that non-Americans can make all these generalizations about Americans being loud, obnoxious, etc., but when someone from America makes any generalizations about people from another country, we're often called xenophobes?
I'm from Washington, D.C. so I can say this from vast experience: I hate foreigners in general from all over the world. Foreigners don't even feign respect when in the nation's capital by more often than not criticizing either American culture or foreign policy. The kinds of stuff foreigners have said to me about America in our capital would never be uttered from my lips about another nation while I'm visiting. America is the proverbial white male Christian at Harvard: the only group that is allowed to be criticized without anyone feeling guilty or racist for generalizing an entire group of people.
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