Friday Randoms
Sorry for the relative lack of posts this week, but I’ve been in and out of town and kinda-sorta busy.
More retardos with their upside-down “would you buy this chart?” charts. You know, the next time they invert a strong bull market chart with a “would you short this chart?” post title, will be the FIRST time they invert a strong bull market chart with a “would you short this chart?” post title. That’s one bias. The other thing to remember is that over timeframes longer than day-trading, stocks and stock indices have an inherent upward bias, meaning that reversing charts is an inappropriate analysis technique for them.
I don’t see anything in IC/IR that can’t be handled both more precisely and more elegantly by the concepts of expectancy and inventory turnover (see point 6), both of which are concepts that have been around for a while (nothing new under the sun!). Your mileage may vary. The major flaw in IC’s usage is the concept of measuring one aspect of a system, such as selection, in isolation. Can’t be done. The act of measurement presupposes either the manager’s timing and sizing, or superimposes the academic’s timing and sizing, inherent in their measurement.
Two for one on gas prices – actually three for one with this link:
* Paul Mooney says gas prices impact crime; there hasn’t been a drive-by shooting in L.A. for three months!
* IMO the poor are the LEAST impacted by gas prices, because they can most effectively economize. By eliminating lottery ticket purchases, and buying a full six-pack instead of single tall boys, they can easily save enough money to buy gasoline with.
Interested in shopping for munis? I put together some ideas for MarketThoughts on how one might screen for the fiscally fittest municipalities.
Next time you see a pro-life, pro-war Republican, ask them if they would support abortions for Muslims? Then watch the blood start pouring from their eyes and ears as the cognitive dissonance takes hold …
March 8th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Next time you see a pro-life, pro-war Republican, ask them if they would support abortions for Muslims? Then watch the blood start pouring from their eyes and ears as the cognitive dissonance takes hold …
Wouldn’t sterilization be preferable?
March 8th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
there is no such thing… you probably meant to say “pro fetus”, not “pro life”… as they become anti said life the minute it enters this world.
March 9th, 2008 at 12:26 am
As I have mentioned before, good propaganda is always devoid of precise meaning! Hence “pro-life” when they are actually specifically opposed to abortion and are generally in favor of killing foreigners, especially non-cooperative foreigners inhabiting locations rich in natural resources.
Noam Chomsky said it this way:
“…the point of public relations slogans like ‘Support Our Troops’ is that they don’t mean anything […] that’s the whole point of good propaganda. You want to create a slogan that nobody is gonna be against and I suppose everybody will be for, because nobody knows what it means, because it doesn’t mean anything. But its crucial value is that it diverts your attention from a question that does mean something, do you support our policy? And that’s the one you’re not allowed to talk about.”
It’s a very appropriate quote, as a general rule for propaganda slogans, special-interest group names, and whatnot.
The idea for that random came from two motions made at the local GOP precinct meeting after the primary last week. First, they wanted to have the GOP “re-affirm their commitment to life” through opposing abortion; second, they wanted to have the GOP continue its support for “the war against Islamic fascism.” Both passed with only one opposing vote. None of the regular GOPers seemed to see the irony, so I suppose it needs to be put in their face more directly.