The full 60 Minutes segment on high frequency trading, with Steve Kroft.
Risk should not be defined by volatility - Howard Marks
In his new book, Oaktree Capital's Howard Marks takes issue with the traditional definition of investment risk as tied to volatility.
Einstein's force of compound interest
Tim Harford produced a brilliant one-scene dialogue between a father edifying his son on the eternal, universal power of compound interest and his confused offspring, seeking in vain the interest necessary to apply the principle. Excerpt: “I learnt about Albert Einstein.” “Aha! A fascinating fellow. …
Google and accurate contrarian theories (GOOG)
Chris Dixon points out one of the key reasons Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) became one of the great contemporary business success stories. There's a lesson here for contrarian investors of any stripe. - - - When Google released its search engine in 1998, its search results …
The money-shredding alarm clock
Have a hard time waking up in the morning? Try this alarm clock, which begins shredding a dollar bill (your choice of denomination) from the time the alarm goes off. Be careful, though - Mashable reminds us that willfully destroying American currency is a federal …
The European debt crisis explained
The Australian satirical comics Clarke and Dawe take on the European debt crisis and the fragile world economy: Source: "Clark and Dawe: Lending merry-go-round" YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D0VhS8qXT0
Our desire for financial peace
Another great sketch from Carl Richards: From Richards’ newsletter accompanying the sketch: In my conversations about money, the most common desire people express is a simple desire for peace. We all just seem to want to get out from under the constant stress that so often comes …
In HBO's 'Too Big to Fail,' the Heroes Are Really Zeroes
By Jesse Eisinger, ProPublica HBO's "Too Big To Fail" - I just caught up with it last night; thank you, HBO On Demand - is extraordinarily revealing about the financial crisis. Only its revelations are almost entirely inadvertent. The movie is set up in the …
Dominique Strauss-Kahn in jail - SNL skit
From this weekend's Saturday Night Live: SNL - Dominique Strauss-Kahn by Palmking512 Source: Dailymotion, 5/22/11 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xiufnv_snl-dominique-strauss-kahn_fun
Is Bitcoin a good idea?
Bitcoin is a digital currency that has no central bank issuer and can be exchanged directly online, with no bank intermediary. The goal is to mitigate the instability of fiat currencies, including unpredictable inflation. Here's how its creators present it: Sounds interesting, and as Matthew …