My Christmas Gift to You!

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3789373&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1

I promise you'll get something out of it.

Merry Christmas!

America's Worst Breakfast Foods

I recently came across this list and was in complete disbelief. You have to check it out. Here's a summary:

Worst side dish

Burger King Hash Browns (large)

• 620 calories
• 40 g fat (11 g saturated; 13 g trans)
• 1,200 mg sodium
• 60 g carbs

Calorie equilavent: 12 chicken wings

Worst breakfast sandwich

Hardee's Monster Biscuit

• 710 calories
• 51 g fat (17 g saturated)
• 2,250 mg sodium
• 37 g carbohydrates

Sodium equivalent: Six large orders of french fries

Worst kids' meal

Denny's Big Dipper French Toastix with margarine and syrup

• 770 calories
• 71 g fat (13 g saturated)
• 107 g carbs

Fat Equivalent: 23 chicken McNuggets

Worst pastry

Cinnabon Classic Cinnamon Roll

• 813 calories
• 32 g fat (5 g trans fat)
• 117 g carbs

Calorie equivalent: Seven bowls of Froot Loops

Worst smoothie

Smoothie King Grape Expectations II (40 oz.)

• 1,102 calories
• 256 g sugars
• 740 mg sodium

Sugar equivalent: 12 Haagen Dazs ice cream bars

Worst combo meal

McDonald's Deluxe Breakfast

• 1,360 calories
• 64 g fat (22 g saturated)
• 2,325 mg sodium
• 160 g carbs
• 49 g sugars

Saturated fat equivalent: 22 strips of bacon

Worst omelet

IHOP Big Steak Omelet

• 1,490 calories
• (No additional nutrition information available)

Calorie equivalent: More than seven glazed Krispy Kreme doughnuts

And the Winner is...

The worst breakfast in America

Bob Evans Stacked and Stuffed Caramel Banana Pecan Hotcakes

• 1,543 calories
• 77 g fat (26 g saturated; 9 g trans)
• 2,259 mg sodium
• 198 g carbs
• 109 g sugars

Saturated fat equivalent: 26 strips of bacon

Sugar equivalent: 12 chocolate chip cookies

Sodium equivalent: 12 small bags of potato chips

So, there you go. Most unfortunately I quite enjoy the McDonald's Deluxe Breakfast. It's quite a bummer.

Charles Ponzi vs Bernie Madoff

Why exactly is it called a "Ponzi Scheme?" Who was Ponzi? What did he do? All the answers to all your questions about the mastermind of the fraud named after him.

Click here: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/20995

Enjoy!

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Wall Street needs a makeover

I recently got to thinking about the role of Wall Street - asset managers, hedge funds, etc - and whether they really promote society's well being, and whether the field is over saturated today.

I certainly believe that we, as a society, are better off with the likes of Vanguard - low-fee index fund king - who allow the general public to invest at least part of their hard-earned money in stocks, which have shown to be a relatively good investment in the long term. However, I think the glitz and glamor of the industry has now attracted far too many individuals for the wrong reasons - greed and money - and society as a whole is probably worse off as these talented individuals go to Wall Street to - essentially - shuffle a deck of cards, instead of working as engineers to, say, build a better bridge, or come up with a new treatment for an illness, or research better ways to produce energy, etc.

Buying and selling stocks is really not very difficult - you click a button these days. So the question is what do you buy and what do you sell. Some generally ask why, but many do not. Regardless, in today's world, we have an industry in which people make 'careers' out of trying to shuffle around other people's money, and in the process they hope to become ultra wealthy. It's really ludicrous, but understandable if you are really producing something good for society, i.e. returns consistently in excess of the average like Warren Buffett. But, given that over 90% of asset managers cannot even beat the S&P 500, I really don't know why they exist. Moreover, I don't know why people happily give them their dough. Wait, I know - financial illiteracy.

Wall Street has become a gigantic card shuffling machine, where the cards are other people's money. This money has been earned by people who actually 'produce' stuff - tangible and intangible - and contribute to the economy's goods and services. Wall Street, on the other hand, simply tries to catch the wave and hopes that other people (those working at companies like GE, MMM, etc) will be successful at building stuff or providing services, but that they (Wall Street) will be enriched. Hedge funds engage in the most sophisticated form of gambling using options, credit default swaps, and other derivatives that are nothing but a zero-sum game, e.g. for the option buyer to win, the seller must lose. (It is not so with stocks in the long run). Anyway, the whole thing is absolutely absurd and I am not surprised that it is falling apart right in front of our delicate eyes.

Goodbye Madoff

Ah the world of finance - one giant card shuffling machine.

Snippets from the article:

"A Wall Street powerbroker for nearly 50 years who built an influential firm has confessed to a massive fraud scheme that will cost investors at least $50 billion, federal authorities say.

"In 2001, Barron's reported that Madoff's firm was one of the three top market makers in Nasdaq stocks and the third-largest firm matching buyers and sellers of securities on the New York Stock Exchange.

"The criminal complaint signed by FBI Agent Theodore Cacioppi said Madoff told at least three senior employees at his Manhattan apartment Wednesday that the investment adviser business was a fraud and had been insolvent for years, losing at least $50 billion.

"Madoff told the employees he was "finished," that he had "absolutely nothing," that "it's all just one big lie" and it was "basically, a giant Ponzi scheme," according to the complaint filed in court."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ExNasdaq-chairman-arrested-on-apf-13815890.html

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Time marches on...