Thursday, June 2, 2011

Mass Graduation Blocked - Best of the Web

Tornadoes in Massachusetts
The tornadoes that hit southern Massachusetts were actually very terrible! The damage to Springfield and surrounding towns is scary to see. We are not used to seeing something like this up here at all. Power of nature is no joke.

Mass Graduation Blocked
I do this every year but I forget the MIT and Harvard graduations are this week! The traffic is a nightmare and today it was just get out stupid. 90 minutes to go 9 miles to get out of Cambridge!!!!! Another 60 minutes to get home. I am not amused or happy. I usually have a post in mind for the blog, but I lost my train of thought in aggravation. Sorry. The best and brightest, ultra exclusive 10,000 or so graduates makes me laugh. Those schools are money machines. I will just rip off the best stuff I saw today so you have some good stuff to read.

Friday night is on tomorrow! I have the day off to start prep work on the deck and get supplies. After this weekend, it is fishing time!

Best of the Web
The best stuff I saw today across finance and other things.

China
I don't follow China anywhere near as much as I should. It is such an important part of the global story in so many way I am embarrassed to admit that. Luckily, Trader Mark has been watching for a long time, so grab a recent look:
China Now Beginning to Feel Hangover from Lending Boom - Government May Assume Some Local Debt
Snippet:
Just as in the U.S., China has been applauded (as Greenspan once was, and Bernanke has been the past few years) for somehow bending the shape of the economic cycle. Of course the actions of all these folk, just create mis-allocations of capital as too much money chases too few assets. This has happened in the U.S. as well as the 'real economy' does not need all the liquidity the Fed has pushed into the system - already the price is being paid by the lower and middle class via commodity inflation, but there will be many other bad outcomes down the road (i.e. "stupid deals" are once more being made in credit markets - as if we are right back to 2006/2007)
Now go read the rest.

Railroad Theft?
From Business Insider:
Gigantic Chunk Of Railroad Track Stolen In Massachusetts -- Workers Have Never Seen Anything Like It
Short take:
Two 8-foot sections of solid steel track weighing 900 lbs each were stolen sometime before Wednesday afternoon. And according to the Gazette, evidence suggests that the thieves were cutting away another portion when they decided to flee. Police are now investigating the crime.

After years working on the railroad with my Father, I can tell you no matter what steel prices are, scrap steel is a waste of effort due to the sheer size needed. Now if you had a side job lined up to fix rails at another site, and could steal the needed length and then charge big bucks for the "materials", now you got something! I would investigate side job operators in the region cops! Not that me and my dad EVER did anything like that!

Computer Savvy
My man and fellow 12631 member gappingandyapping has started his very own site, Parabolic Market. After reading a couple of weeks I am so paranoid about security on the computer I just want to shut it off! Just kidding, gapping covers so many easy to do things to protect yourself, how to get free stuff, and yes, how a trader can set up 8 screens to watch! Wowza!:
Because one monitor is never enough for traders!
Small part:
In order to have multiple monitors you need multiple video cards. I like to use dual head video cards combined with USB video adapters. I do this for a number of reasons but mainly because of the heat generated by internal cards and the lack of PCI-E and X slots in my trading rig. Right now I am running the HP dc7900 system for my trading box at work. Inside I have two (2) nVidia Quadro FX380 dual head video cards. These cards work fine for me and are decently cheap. I don’t use this rig for gaming so I could give a shit if they are not Killer FPS cards. They do what I need them to do.
I think that was english....
Gapping is helping me with my never ending connection issues as well, so stop on by and take a look.

Twitter Stream and Trading
Ok, I am getting a Droid smartphone this month (don't everyone gasp!) so that I can more readily trade my epic winning stock picks. I was thinking about starting a EconomicDisconnect Twitter stream as well! I know, it's scary. Anyways, Young Guns Trading writer TA_TRADER has a few questions about traders and the Twitter streams they have that are worth a look:
Trust and Twitter
Let's see them:
Think about your twitter stream:
…the guy that posts chart after chart relentlessly
…the guys that will admit he took a loss, but claims it was a “small loss”
…the guy that retweets every compliment he is given
…the guy who tweets all the textbook rules for trading (they MUST work, right?!)
…the brownnoser
What is everyone’s motive? Why do you give give give so much to the community? Maybe you want more followers. Maybe you want more subscribers. Maybe it’s pride. How come some people are on twitter all hours of the day, while others tweet occasionally? What do you want your virtual “friends” to think of you?
Good questions I would have to answer before I join Twitter.

Quantum Computing - Hoax or Breakthrough?
Fascinating stuff on D-Wave Systems and whether they are full of shit, or paving the way:
The World’s First Quantum Computer Finds A Buyer, But Questions About Its Abilities Remain
Short take:
What’s the News: Quantum computing is so complex an idea that even experts have a hard time telling whether a computer is actually “quantum.” But D-Wave Systems, a startup that’s made news and drawn skepticism over the last four years for claiming to have developed a quantum computer, has just made their first sale, to the defense contractor Lockheed Martin. And recent research shows that despite the suspicions D-Wave has endured, there may be at least something to their claim.
Plenty more at the link. I still like the gold-viral fragment computer idea so much better!

Added:
If you do not read this post by my friend chessNwine, you are not cool and not my friend:
The Legend of Dickledoo
Plenty to learn there.

Have a good night.

6 comments:

David Batista said...

Ah, quantum computing. An area of study I'm greatly invested in as a sci-fi writer. It's so exciting! And to think I might just get to see a real working quantum machine within my lifetime.

Future, here I come! :)

EconomicDisconnect said...

Stick with the DNA one, but that news on D-Wave was worth a look.

EconomicDisconnect said...

Wow, jobs number was a miss, who could have known???

watchtower said...

The Dickledoo analogy was pretty good.

I don't know if it's too late but I was thinking of this live version of the Red Hot Chili Pepper's 'Zephyr' song for Friday Night:

http://tinyurl.com/43k9a3

Even if you don't use the song you should check out the venue that they are playing at, there is a freaking castle in the background!
Too cool, it's like Highlander and RHCP all rolled up in one, lol.

GawainsGhost said...

I had to get up at 4:00 AM and take my mother to the airport. She's flying to Houston for some stupid mandatory Freddie Mac conference. If she hates continuing education as much as I do, I'm sure she's miserable. But at least she'll get to visit her sister.

Anyway, I'm home alone. Good excuse as any to get drunk.

For Friday Night Entertainment, I recommend Foghat, "Stone Blue."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGwU-NiT7-Q

EconomicDisconnect said...

Nice picks guys! After a day of washing the deck (harder than I thought) I think a few beers sounds excellent. Post up later on.