Hmmmm. Raining this morning. I had gardening plans...but looks like they may need to wait for a day or two. Yesterday I finished weeding at auntie's. Today I was going to mow and then hit the yard with moss killer. Oh well...
Amanda got back from Sitka last evening. She had a good time and now it's nose to the grindstone for the remainder of her stay. Yesterday the first boat of the season arrived and her services will be needed at Annie Kails for the next week.
Last evening I was on the way home from the Club when I heard a most amusing tune on NPR. The song is called "Bet Against the American Dream" done in classic show-tune style. It also serves as a primer on Wall Street Finance for the majority of us who have had a difficult time sorting through the lingo of CDOs and Credit Default Swaps. Here we go:
Step one!
We write a check for ten million dollars, hand the check to a Wall Street Bank,
and ask them to make us a CDO.
Step Two!
They create the CDO using risky stuff!
Very Risky Stuff! EXTREMELY risky stuff!
Step Three!
Other investors commit hundreds of millions of dollars to the CDO.
Step Four!
We bet against the CDO using a Credit Default Swap!
Step Five!
The housing market crashes, the CDO's value drops to zero,
Our bet pays off, and we make hundreds of millions of dollars.
And before you can say Step Six
We're Rich!
We're gonna bet against the American Dream
We're gonna be on the winning team!
Purchase risky debt on a massive scale
Then place a bet that the debt will fail!
Hundreds of millions for Magnetar
The economy collapsin' like a dying star
No one will know 'til it's on NPR
And who cares?
It's time to hit the town!
This sucker could go down!
The housing market's losing steam!
And all we gotta do, to make our dream come true
Is bet against the American Dream!
Take a listen: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/04/americandream.html
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