On Finance things

2 short notes

1. Our trading class yesterday had the good fortune of hearing Jerry Parker speak for about 1 hour 15 minutes. For the uninformed (including myself prior to Jerry Parker's arrival), this Parker dude was part of a team of "Turtle Traders" - a program started by a successful trader Richard Dennis to show that traders are not born but made. Considering that this guy has billions under management (he's the Chief at Chesapeake Management), the fact that he just decided to take an afternoon off to speak to guys at the McIntire School of Commerce at UVa is pretty amazing (despite the fact that he is an alum). The ability of UVa to tap on resources like this is something that has really stood out - I wish SMU had the ability to tap on such resources at times, though.

2. Today's Money and Banking class had the professor spouting some words of wisdom re the American attitude to bankruptcy.

"In Japan, bankruptcy is viewed as a badge of shame. But bankruptcy is a good thing. It simply means that the net worth of the common stock is zero. With bankruptcy, the company has a 2nd chance at a lease of life."

The positive attitude towards bankruptcy is certainly something I think we all need to adopt. Why are we so ashamed of bankruptcy and treat it as a failure? Crazy Asians and their concept of "saving face".