Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Sidetracked

Well, I did say I was going to be writing less!

Busy at work, busy at home, and staying with the new workout regime has trimmed my time to post. I should have a more expansive item up tomorrow, and there is always Friday night!

Sidetracked
The question I get most often on this blog is "Why are you so clueless?" but a close second place finisher is "How do you go about writing a post?". Well I can shed some light on my writing process as i was going to write a post tonight but ran out of time.

Basically I scan items from around my reading list (the blogroll and many beyond) and collect tales or ideas that I think important or that support a thought I want to put out there. I then start typing away and tie it all together, or at least the better posts do that! Of course wandering across the internets can get you lost and sometimes I get sidetracked. Tonight's list of financial articles that I did not use include:

US insurers have limited exposure in Haiti
US insurance companies have limited exposure to massive damage from earthquake in Haiti

What a relief! I man the only thing worse than maybe 100,000 people or more being crushed to death is the idea that our banks and insurance companies might have to pay out cash that is badly needed for bonuses! Perhaps the most sickening headline of the day. Disgusting.

I will stay with Yahoo Finance (they are always a main source for me and they never disappoint) and offer another fine moment in journalism:
Will hearings alter big bank bonuses? Pay experts say, "No."
You can read the article if you like but no where will you find the question: "If this is all for show, why are they doing it and better yet, why am I reporting on it and being a party to such a sham?"

On the "Things are shaping up for the biggest recovery ever" common wisdom Calculated Risk has a pair of outliers:
2009 GDP: Britain: Worst Decline in 88 Years, Germany: Worst since WWII
The usual bulltard will argue that the recovery will be large WHEN measured against such a drop and they are right. What a thinking man says is "If my stock loses 50%, don't I have to be up 100% to get back to even?" to which the bulltard will answer "But think of that 40% run up after the 50% drop, that will be fun!".

A pair of Mish articles were pure gold:
Measuring the Effect of the Stimulus: If You Don't Like the Results, Change the Yardstick
Even in the face of hard facts the President and his people still trot out the "2 million jobs saved or created" line and use twists of logic to get there.

Even better is that the FED thinks they can model, mathematically, what effect more transparency would have on the markets. You have to see that stuff to believe it.

If you think I am bearish or a gloom and doomer try checking out this end of the world preparation post over at Survival Blog:
COA Analysis of Common Survival Strategies, by JIR

Of course I get sidetracked and here are two that are great.

How long after being bitten by a Zombie would you last until changing into one:
The Zombie Bite Calculator
Yours truly would last 1 hour and 11 minutes before joining the undead. How about you?

The following picture reminded me of those old pictures featured on the headers over at The Automatic Earth:

Gizmodo asks "How Did They Make Zeppelins?"
The obvious answer:
Ever wondered how a beast like the Hindenburg zeppelin—a gigantic 803 feet in length and 130 feet in diameter structure—was built in the 1930s? Here's the answer: With the biggest ladders you can possibly imagine. [Thanks David Keyes
Who would even climb those things!!!!!

Have a good night.

11 comments:

watchtower said...

That Zeppelin pic is incredible.

I bet the guys who were climbing those ladders didn't need to go to the gym after work.

EconomicDisconnect said...

Watchtower,
Yeah that picture is one of the best I have ever seen.

What are you trying to say anyways? LOL

Anonymous said...

Friday Night. Roy Orbison. "Crying".

watchtower said...

"What are you trying to say anyways? LOL"

Uh, real men don't need to go to the gym : )

Just kidding, I used to drive 20 miles (one way) 5 times a week in the winter to go to the gym when I was mountain bike racing, had to if you didn't want to get your clock cleaned in the spring.

Jim R said...

Just stumbled over here from TAE ... how do we know you're not already a zombie?

And here, look at this: Photo of Martian dune field

Unknown said...

Get

First of all sorry about your Pats. Bad year for both of us!

Nice post on how you approach your blog.

Thought I would add my opinion.

Your analysis is better then 90% of the posts you highlight.

If I were you I would focus more on your opinions because you are a really smart guy.

Early on when
I firs started blogging I linked many articles to my posts when I wrote. I slowly realized after building a following that most people just wanted my take on everything.

My advice(and take it with a grain of salt:)

BLog your thoughts because they are really good. I am always so impressed with your thoughts.

Best

J

sedentary state said...

Todays WSJ headlines mention China 5 times, and each time it's with regards to Google.

Didn't something really huge happen in China banking a few days ago? Not that faithful wsj readers would have a clue about that.

watchtower said...

GYSC

I think Jeffrey0007 has a point, and in that regard I would be interested if you would feel comfortable about giving your opinion on a question I have:

Do you think that in the future the government will negate the benefits of a tax deferred account by changing the tax rules (I'm talking about IRA's)?

Anonymous said...

Wow - hard to imagine how cheap human labor was back then if you had no shortage of people willing to risk life and limb building those things. I wonder what the death per zepplin (DPZ) rate was back in those days?

EconomicDisconnect said...

DIYer,
I have seen you in the comments over at TAE many times, welcome! I am pretty sure I am not a zombie unless it is Monday morning at 5am after an NFL playoff weekend, then its not so clear.

jeffrey007,
Thanks for the very kind words! I usually will use my own lines of thinking but when pressed for timer I use links too much you are right. I will try my best. Thanks again.

Watchtower,
I am always comfortable to offer my thoughts on any subject and I welcome questions in the comments about anythking. I read your question during the day at work, asked around, did some research, and will post a few ideas about it tonight. No problem at all, but never think my opinion (or anyones really) is right!

Anonymous said...

One hour, 19 minutes--BOOYAH--take that!!!! :)