In 2010 hedge-fund manager John Paulson had the best year in the history of investing. Paulson's net income from his various ventures, but mostly his own personal investments in his own funds, was more than $5 billion. $5,000,000,000!
This tops Paulson's previous record of $4 billion which he made betting against the housing market in 2007. This time most of his riches came from investing in gold, which rose about 45% during the year.
There's two ways of looking at this: crediting Paulson for his daring and his intelligence and saying it's proof that our system is for the most part a meritocracy where the achievements of the individual are unlimited. Others say the system that allows one individual to profit that much, while others suffer is broken and in need of repair. Especially considering that most of Paulson's earnings are considered capital gains and not ordinary income and will therefore be taxed at a rate of only 15%.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Song of the Week
"You Are" - Charlie Wilson
Most songs I pick just for the song but this one has a really good video. Plus Billy loves Charlie Last Name Wilson.
Most songs I pick just for the song but this one has a really good video. Plus Billy loves Charlie Last Name Wilson.
Monday, February 07, 2011
Super Bowl Ads
An underwhelming crop of Super Bowl ads this year. Nothing really stands out to me. The two I liked best were both subtle sexual innuendos, big shocker.
Faith Hill Teleflora. No one had heard of this company before so they needed to do something to get noticed. This probably worked,
Pepsi Max First Date. Another ad taking advantage of the one track minds of men.
Pepsi Max Love Hurts. All the ads for Pepsi Max and Doritos were user generated. This one was clearly sent in by the Concierge.
Snickers Logging. A lot of people liked this one and I did too but it was too similar to last year’s Betty White ad to really be a standout.
Volkswagen The Force. This one was really great the only problem is so many people (14m hits) saw it before the Super Bowl. But if you hadn’t, this could definitely be your favorite. I love the remote starter.
Doritos Pug Attack. Anything with a dog being cute is bound to be liked by 90% of the people.
Bud Light Dog Sitter. This is one the exception. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love dogs, I love poker but I hate dogs playing poker. We don’t need to see dogs walking around on two legs serving beer. Of course evil Mrs. Poop says this is her favorite.
CareerBuilder Parking Lot. I know it’s a running gimmick with CareerBuilder but I feel like the monkey thing is already played out. And once again, animals dressed as or behaving like people is an immediate turnoff to millions of Americans.
Doritos Best Part. This ad got the worst reviews of any Super Bowl ad I saw. I thought it was kind of funny because the creepiness was obviously very intentional.
Kim Kardashian Skechers. I love Kim Kardashian and I thought she looked great here but I thought the dumping my trainer bit was a little stupid.
NFL Best Fans Ever. I loved this one. A little obsession of mine is remembering where various television shows are set. I loved the superimposed jerseys/shirts/hats and foam fingers. I’m not complaining about Sofia Vergara being a Redskins fans but Modern Family is set in California. I actually wish they included “Family Ties” because they were well known Bengals fans. And how could the Eagles biggest fan, Cory Matthews not make this montage?
Sealy Afterglow. A very racy commericial for such a staid and boring company. I noticed they had a lot of interracial couples which I appreciate.
Carmax Kid in a Candy Store. Kind of clever, wrestler in a folding chair factory. I think I will start using that one.
Faith Hill Teleflora. No one had heard of this company before so they needed to do something to get noticed. This probably worked,
Pepsi Max First Date. Another ad taking advantage of the one track minds of men.
Pepsi Max Love Hurts. All the ads for Pepsi Max and Doritos were user generated. This one was clearly sent in by the Concierge.
Snickers Logging. A lot of people liked this one and I did too but it was too similar to last year’s Betty White ad to really be a standout.
Volkswagen The Force. This one was really great the only problem is so many people (14m hits) saw it before the Super Bowl. But if you hadn’t, this could definitely be your favorite. I love the remote starter.
Doritos Pug Attack. Anything with a dog being cute is bound to be liked by 90% of the people.
Bud Light Dog Sitter. This is one the exception. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love dogs, I love poker but I hate dogs playing poker. We don’t need to see dogs walking around on two legs serving beer. Of course evil Mrs. Poop says this is her favorite.
CareerBuilder Parking Lot. I know it’s a running gimmick with CareerBuilder but I feel like the monkey thing is already played out. And once again, animals dressed as or behaving like people is an immediate turnoff to millions of Americans.
Doritos Best Part. This ad got the worst reviews of any Super Bowl ad I saw. I thought it was kind of funny because the creepiness was obviously very intentional.
Kim Kardashian Skechers. I love Kim Kardashian and I thought she looked great here but I thought the dumping my trainer bit was a little stupid.
NFL Best Fans Ever. I loved this one. A little obsession of mine is remembering where various television shows are set. I loved the superimposed jerseys/shirts/hats and foam fingers. I’m not complaining about Sofia Vergara being a Redskins fans but Modern Family is set in California. I actually wish they included “Family Ties” because they were well known Bengals fans. And how could the Eagles biggest fan, Cory Matthews not make this montage?
Sealy Afterglow. A very racy commericial for such a staid and boring company. I noticed they had a lot of interracial couples which I appreciate.
Carmax Kid in a Candy Store. Kind of clever, wrestler in a folding chair factory. I think I will start using that one.
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Super Bowl XLV Prop Bets
I wrote a whole entire post on all the prop bets I was going to do for the Super Bowl and blogger fucked up and cost me the entire thing. There is no way I can recreate it with the neatness I had so I will just go through it quickly.
I'll take the Steelers +2 1/2.
I think the final score will be 34-27.
I am taking combined score of 51-55 and 56-60, both at 12-1 odds.
I also like each team to score exactly 28 points at 12-1 odds.
I like Rashard Mendenhall to score a touchdown.
I like the total interceptions to be over 1 1/2 and I'll take Polamalu to get one at 5/2 odds.
I think Tim Masthay will have punt with gross yardage over 54 1/2.
I think the Steelers total points will cover a 7 1/2 point spread over Blake Griffin's rebounds.
I think Christina Aguilera will sing the National Anthem in less than 1:54.
I think Fergie's first halftime show outfit will be shorts.
I think FOX will show Jerry Jones under 2 1/2 times, but mention Brett Favre more than 2 1/2 times.
I think a player will do the Aaron Rodgers belt celebration, but it will be a Steeler (though that doesn't matter for the wager).
Green Bay will have a higher TV rating for the game than Pittsburgh.
There were a lot more the first time but blogger fucked me.
I also liked under 5 sacks combined by both teams, and over 13 1/2 rushing yards for Roethlisberger.
I'll take the Steelers +2 1/2.
I think the final score will be 34-27.
I am taking combined score of 51-55 and 56-60, both at 12-1 odds.
I also like each team to score exactly 28 points at 12-1 odds.
I like Rashard Mendenhall to score a touchdown.
I like the total interceptions to be over 1 1/2 and I'll take Polamalu to get one at 5/2 odds.
I think Tim Masthay will have punt with gross yardage over 54 1/2.
I think the Steelers total points will cover a 7 1/2 point spread over Blake Griffin's rebounds.
I think Christina Aguilera will sing the National Anthem in less than 1:54.
I think Fergie's first halftime show outfit will be shorts.
I think FOX will show Jerry Jones under 2 1/2 times, but mention Brett Favre more than 2 1/2 times.
I think a player will do the Aaron Rodgers belt celebration, but it will be a Steeler (though that doesn't matter for the wager).
Green Bay will have a higher TV rating for the game than Pittsburgh.
There were a lot more the first time but blogger fucked me.
I also liked under 5 sacks combined by both teams, and over 13 1/2 rushing yards for Roethlisberger.
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