Traders were left sitting idle on December 17th, as Canada's main stock exchange, the Toronto Stock Exchange, and it's young disciple, the TSX Venture exchange decided to take the day off. The pair reportedly left the building after spending eighteen minutes on the job. Rumor has it that the TSX took the junior exchange to the clinic, while others report that the two simply went home.
The holidays do tend to be a stressful time of year for a lot of people. This year, it's combined with the stress of a severe decline in both the stock markets, frozen credit markets, and commodity markets that have seen their own bubble form and pop. It also seems entirely plausible that the entire shutdown was a stress related event.
Other speculators suggest that the pair leaving together seemed to indicate a family emergency. Both exchanges were on time and ready to get to work the following day. The cause of their sudden disappearance however remains a mystery as people have been reluctant to inquire, fearing another down day.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
News For Newspapers Not All Bad After Tribune
Further bad news for the media industry as the Tribune filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 8. The Tribune media empire includes the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, WGN-America, the Chicago Cubs and various other assets.
Industry news is not entirely negative however. The young start-up Behind The Times released an early earnings report showing an amazing number of zeros. Income is nil, expenses are nil and profit is nil making traditional ratios impossible to calculate due to difficulties incurred by division by zero.
Using rules written in 628 by Brahmagupta in his book Brahmasputha Siddhanta, zero divided by zero is zero. Others say that division by zero results in either infinity or negative infinity. Some say that there's a special case involving zero divided by zero, which is undefined. Hand calculators say that the answer is, "error," while more sophisticated computers calculate the result to be, "NaN."
No end to the disagreements is in sight. The issue does not seem like it'll resolved before the release of the annual report.
Industry news is not entirely negative however. The young start-up Behind The Times released an early earnings report showing an amazing number of zeros. Income is nil, expenses are nil and profit is nil making traditional ratios impossible to calculate due to difficulties incurred by division by zero.
Using rules written in 628 by Brahmagupta in his book Brahmasputha Siddhanta, zero divided by zero is zero. Others say that division by zero results in either infinity or negative infinity. Some say that there's a special case involving zero divided by zero, which is undefined. Hand calculators say that the answer is, "error," while more sophisticated computers calculate the result to be, "NaN."
No end to the disagreements is in sight. The issue does not seem like it'll resolved before the release of the annual report.
New Terrorist Threat Emerges
US President George W. Bush was unhurt following an attack on Dec. 14 during a visit to Iraq. Sources say that the incident involved the throwing of a pair of size 10 men's shoes. The President was successfully escorted to safety. Reaction to the attack has been mixed.
The President was quick to down play the incident, however events that followed the security officials say that the threat level remains high. In the days that followed, a group of anti-war demonstrators threw shoes at an effigy of the President outside of the White House. Additionally, a shoe-throwing contest was held at a university at Tehran on Christmas eve.
While these events could be considered as a playful jest, no chances are being taken. Early reports say that the White House has held their own internal shoe throwing contest to attempt to gauge the destructive potential of various shoes. A White House intern remarked that it was unlikely that they would need to reinforce the presidential motorcade, which was not designed with this particular threat in mind.
The President was quick to down play the incident, however events that followed the security officials say that the threat level remains high. In the days that followed, a group of anti-war demonstrators threw shoes at an effigy of the President outside of the White House. Additionally, a shoe-throwing contest was held at a university at Tehran on Christmas eve.
While these events could be considered as a playful jest, no chances are being taken. Early reports say that the White House has held their own internal shoe throwing contest to attempt to gauge the destructive potential of various shoes. A White House intern remarked that it was unlikely that they would need to reinforce the presidential motorcade, which was not designed with this particular threat in mind.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Open Source Cars
Workers cleaning up a former General Motors corporate jet revealed a contingency plan for securing a federal bailout package. The four hundred and seventy two page document revealed plans similar to that of former internet giant Netscape. As collateral for a bailout loan, they would effectively secure the loan with detailed instructions on creating an auto giant, ensuring the survival of the North American auto industry.
Inside the document were details on a five step plan starting with open sourcing the design of their cars. Executives rationalized that since they wouldn't be able to afford a severance package for their employees, the least they could do was provide them with a head start. Experienced auto plant employees will be able to band together and start producing their own automobiles before anyone else. The final step involved releasing details about their supply chain and distribution system, allowing everyone the freedom to create their own international auto giant.
Other loose documents revealed that Ford was in, while Chrysler had yet to join in on the deal. When approached about the open source plan, GM president Frederick A. Henderson said, "Well, it's a lot of information to go through, but should it come to that I'll be happy to help sort out the details. Of course it's still a bit of a challenge even for someone with my background but I know a bunch of guys from work who are really into cars and known a lot about business that are getting awefully nervous about their jobs. I'm sure they'd be on board too."
Inside the document were details on a five step plan starting with open sourcing the design of their cars. Executives rationalized that since they wouldn't be able to afford a severance package for their employees, the least they could do was provide them with a head start. Experienced auto plant employees will be able to band together and start producing their own automobiles before anyone else. The final step involved releasing details about their supply chain and distribution system, allowing everyone the freedom to create their own international auto giant.
Other loose documents revealed that Ford was in, while Chrysler had yet to join in on the deal. When approached about the open source plan, GM president Frederick A. Henderson said, "Well, it's a lot of information to go through, but should it come to that I'll be happy to help sort out the details. Of course it's still a bit of a challenge even for someone with my background but I know a bunch of guys from work who are really into cars and known a lot about business that are getting awefully nervous about their jobs. I'm sure they'd be on board too."
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