“The [stock] market in the short run is a voting machine, but in the long run it is a weighing machine.†So said Benjamin Graham (1894-1976), economist, professional investor and mentor of Warren Buffett. Hat-tip to Memex 1.1.
Oz stock market “crash” in perspective
Yes, there was a 7.1% drop in the ASX All Ordinaries yesterday, the 4th biggest one-day fall in our history. But before you throw yourself out of the window, let’s put that in context.
That’s a graph of the All Ordinaries for the last 20 years, thanks to Robert Merkel in Lavartus Prodeo. See that little wiggle at the far right-hand side? That’s yesterday. Short-term thinking is perilous.
Heath Ledger dead: jokes here please
Yes, Australian actor Heath Ledger is dead, possibly from a drug overdose. So now it’s time to collect all the jokes, ‘cos he can’t sue you for libel. Please add them in the comments.
Tasteless? Yes. Exploitative? Probably. Too soon for this? Yeah probably that too.
So why do it?
It’s an experiment…
Lolcat version of stilgherrian.com
For a lolcat version of this website, click here.
Facebook’s neocon financier
Speaking about politics and business, Laurel Papworth has posted a fascinating piece on The Philosophy behind the Men behind Facebook. Venture capitalist and “futurist philosopher” (whatever that is) Peter Thiel is an anti-multicultural neocon who sounds like a complete arsehole.
Is it really so wrong to mix business and politics (and religion)?
So last week Apple announced new products. Yawn. The Cult of Apple worshipped their God, and millions of words were written praising His Wisdom. However the most interesting comment I’ve read so far was about the political content of Steve Jobs’ presentation.
Alastair Rankine writes that the Macworld Keynote has moved from slick-but-reality-distorted marketing into the realms of straight-out entertainment, and then criticises Randy Newman’s performance. Not because it was crap (which, being Randy Newman, is inevitable), but because it was political.
Criticism of the Bush administration is something I obviously have a lot of time for. But is it suitable for a consumer product launch? …
Mix politics with business and you take a risk with a relatively small upside but a big downside. If your politics match mine, we are no more likely to do business together than before we knew each other’s positions. But if our politics disagree, this difference becomes a barrier that we each have to overcome in order to do business together.
I’m not arguing for censorship or anything. I’m just saying that the separation of politics and business is crucial for the success of both.
I disagree.
Business is about making money, yes, but sometimes I think it’s wrong to “leave politics at the doorâ€. In fact, is it even possible?
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