What I have learned today [2015/6/3]

1. Jamie Dimon is banker billionaire. No doubt Dimon is a brilliant banker but I disagree that JP Morgan should be huge. The financial market would be safer if there are smaller banks that can come and go, letting the market do the work. However, I do agree there will be always large banks to handle massive and complex transactions but I am not sure if these banks should be so huge.

2. There are plasma tubes floating above the Earth.

3. Best time to coffee is between 10:00-12:00 am and 2:00-5:00pm.

4. Disney is outsourcing its jobs to immigrants on temporary work visas from an outsourcing firm based in India. As long as Disney paid a fair compensation and gave enough time for the fired employees to transition than I believe it is fair. However, if Disney asked them to leave without much notice than this is an issue. For the laid off employees, they can work as a freelancer at odesk, elance, and guru.

5. Sometimes microcap stocks fall when the investor passes away and the family sells the stock and the broker just keeps dropping the price to get the order filled. Wow...this explains a lot! 




*From Penguin Watch

What I haved learned today [2015/5/16]

1. Sriracha is made in CA by Huy Fong. Siracha sales has increased every year for 30 years. And there is a supply risk because Siracha only buys from one supplier.

2. Sriracha was originally created in Thailand and it's called Siraja. For a short documentary of Sriracha, please see  Sirracha on Amazon Prime.



3. Chinese hackers have been hacking US universities that do research for the US government. Wow...really?! We have to draw a line somewhere. You can't just attack anywhere you want just because you can. This really shows that we really have to increase the cybersecurity and also have more ethics. If they are willing to hack schools what else are they doing?!

4. There are not many pension papers than I expected...hmmm

5.  The war on drugs has perverted the cop's incentives as they could fill their arrest quotas more easily by booking people on drug charges rather than investigating crimes. As a result, other crimes such as burglary, theft, and fraud are less likely to be investigated, leading to increase in these types of crimes. 

6. Some hedge funds keep changing names...hmmm...I wonder why? Should investigate this phenomenon

7. Times goes by fast when you enjoy your coffee in the morning :(



*From Snapshot Serengeti

What I have learned today [2015/4/27]

1. Labor abuse is still prevalent in the clothing industry. We really need to stop this...Please only buy the cloth that you need and at a proper price.

2. The modern tea bag was made by two women in 1901. Such a clever idea ^^

3. Estimated  cost of a cup of coffee is $2.54. Since most coffees are about $3.50 range, hmmm a nice 37% profit. This are nice margins :D I am sure with the labor, rent, and other operation costs the profit would be somewhat lower but still it's a lovely profit margin.

4. Bloomberg compiled a list of super hero items. I just like the bullet proof suit. Also sounds nice.

5. I have learned that people really don't check data. Trash in and trash out...repeat...repeat...






*From Penguin Watch

What I have learned today [2015/4/21]

1. You can clean dirty carpets with thick salt. Rub it hard and the dust will come off.

2. Coffee with butter may be good for you? The argument is that butter and caffeine work well together and makes you super energetic.Putting on my to do list :p

3. Mr. Womack was a rice farmer and hog raiser who never lost money in market for 40 years. He invested in undervalued solid companies when markets were crashing. The principle is solid but implementing is quite difficult. Now we face more competition from smarter investors and screaming undervalued firms are rare. Also, it is really hard to define what is a solid company. A company may seem great for one person but look quite risky to another. So in sum, Mr. Womack's lessons are important but hard to implement...

4. Very soon machines will replace a substantial number of  minimum wage workers...

5. Wow...did not know that restaurant profit margin was about 4%. According to a journalist estimate, 36% goes to labor, 30% for food, and 30% for other operational costs...

6. America's population is aging fast, meaning senior residential properties will be good investments. I also predict that adult diapers will be a good investment. You can already buy them in bulk in Costco.

7. Matching data is trickier than you think :p Randomly  looking data does not imply randomness....




*From Penguin Watch

Edible Coffee Cups....

KFC made edible coffee cups...

Hmmm...I would give an "A" for attempt but "are you serious?" for the product.



Here are five reasons why it is a bad idea.

1. It will probably cost more and more likely to be energy intensive given the processing, meaning I am not sure if it is helping the environment much.

2. Most people have bad hand hygiene. Yes, they don't wash their hands. And now you can eat the cup that is infested with your germs. I will expect more sick people from eating edible cups.

3. You will have more food waste. I doubt people will eat the whole cup given that the bottom is touching an unclean surface.

4. There will be people who leave the cup on their table or desk forgetting that they are edible and will surely attract ants and other insects.

5. Aren't we getting too much sugar already? For sure, this will increase sugar intake of people, more obesity and diabetes.

I think a better idea would be to encourage usage of reusable cups/ mugs through lower prices or create cups that decompose quickly as soon as they are soaked with water (breakdown within a year).