ctkrohn

58 ms·

1. 211.▲
   by ctkrohn 19y ago

   How is it socialism for the rich when one of America's leading financial institutions is completely wiped out?
2. 212.▲
   by ctkrohn 19y ago

   I think this is actually a positive for the market. Now that people don't have to worry about trading with Bear and know that the financial strength of JPMorgan is behind their obligations, there should be a return of confidence.
3. 213.▲
   by ctkrohn 19y ago

   Just to give you an idea of how ridiculous this is: - BSC traded at $30 a share Friday, and well north of $100 a year ago - Their building is supposedly worth $1.2bn alone. - They have a solid asset management business, and a world-leading
4. 214.▲
   JPMorgan buys Bear Stearns for $2/sh, ~$236mm total(nytimes.com)

   56 points by ctkrohn 19y ago|67 comments
5. 215.▲
   by ctkrohn 19y ago

   The author is right: this is a problem with hedge funds, mutual funds, and really any sort of financial investment. I don't think there's any real way to solve it though. The author picks an unrealistically simplistic investment strategy
6. 216.▲
   by ctkrohn 19y ago

   There's a reason why trading floors have three, four, or more monitors per computer. Where I work, most traders have four, but the FX and commodities guys have sometimes as many as eight monitors (one row of four above, one row of four bel
7. 217.▲
   by ctkrohn 19y ago

   I'd also bet there are plenty of people (like myself) who only comment and very rarely post links.
8. 218.▲
   by ctkrohn 19y ago

   Wow. Not sure which is more hardcore -- this, or the guy who built a complete programmable replica of the Apollo guidance computer using only the original manuals: http://klabs.org/history/build_agc/
9. 219.▲
   by ctkrohn 19y ago

   Awesome. I'm a junior trader at a major investment bank and I have to deal with Excel all the time... it would be great to be able to programmatically generate well-formed Excel files without having to deal with VBA, COM automation, or any
10. 220.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    For someone who funds a couple Flash-based startups, that's a little surprising...
11. 221.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    This has been rumored for a year or two now. I'll believe it (and probably buy it) when I see it. The Asus Eee is nice, but I'd like something I can comfortably touch-type on...
12. 222.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    Crude oil at $100 already happened yesterday. (Granted, there was only one trade done at that level).
13. 223.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    I think they received an investment from YC, but didn't do the whole summer camp thing. According to Wikipedia they are a YC company, though.
14. 224.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    Are there really enough good companies out there to justify four cycles? At 20 companies per cycle, 4 cycles per year, 3 cofounders per company, $6000 per cofounder, that's $1,440,000/yr for roughly a 5% stake in each company. Just to bre
15. 225.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    Eh, my brother and sister both have Macbooks... they're a good bit wider, and they feel flimsier due to the plastic construction. A Macbook Nano has been rumored for some time... I'll believe it when I see it. I'd like to see one 12" or s
16. 226.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    Absolutely agree. My work computer has triple 1280x1024 LCDs, and while I am not a professional programmer, I imagine that such a setup would make me immensely more productive. One monitor for documentation, another for your editor, a thi
17. 227.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    Too bad they don't make the 12" Powerbook anymore. Mine died a few months ago after 3+ years of service. Fortunately I don't need a laptop anymore.
18. 228.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    There are certainly plenty of firms that use AI-based investing techniques, but my understanding is that after being fashionable in the late 90s, they've fallen out of favor. After a couple AI-based systems "blew up," people realized that
19. 229.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    kn0thing -- when do we get tags, working search, and good recommendations? :-/ Fortunately these things aren't crucial to having a good time on a social news site.
20. 230.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    I was under the impression it was closer to 10-12mm. Now I love Reddit, but I do think the Reddit guys made out like bandits. It will be a while before Conde Nast recoups their investment, especially if the site continues to stagnate.
21. 231.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    Funny thing is, none of them (I think) are billionaires, in the sense of having at least one billion dollars in liquid financial assets.
22. 232.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    Notice the "Sign Up" link points to ConnectU, who is currently suing Facebook? Might be a little more at work here than mere satire... At any rate, it definitely took me a minute to realize that this was NOT real.
23. 233.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    The deficit is certainly a problem, and it is not sustainable. However, interest rates don't really have much of an effect on the deficit. Sure, the government has to borrow money at a rate determined by the market -- why would anyone inv
24. 234.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    There are certainly risks to cutting rates: it hurts our currency and increases inflation risk. I don't think your analysis is correct, though. First of all, the Fed hasn't been continuously cutting rates: the first cut was in September,
25. 235.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    A recession could potentially benefit startups by making venture capital more attractive than traditional investments. During a recession, you expect the Fed to lower interest rates, making traditional bonds less attractive. Stocks won't
26. 236.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    No. The Dow's large drop today was triggered by the Fed cutting the fed funds target rate by 25 basis points (0.25%). Stock market investors were hoping that the Fed would cut 50 basis points, giving a further kick to the economy. Howeve
27. 237.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    No... I think they are in the top 25 of US companies by market cap though. Even Microsoft ($323bn) is worth $100bn more than Google.
28. 238.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    They forgot the most obvious one: your local CD or record store. Sure, Tower Records is gone and Borders and Best Buy have crappy selections, but if you live in a college town or a big city chances are you'll be able to find a good place.
29. 239.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    I saw a Sony reader on the Subway the other day. I had to do a double take -- at a 5ft distance, it looks _exactly_ like paper. I didn't get a chance for a closer look, unfortunately.
30. 240.▲
    by ctkrohn 19y ago

    Why not? I don't see what makes books so much different from the iPod in this sense. Apple's certainly profiting from the content on many iPods...