alexjcampbell's tumblelog

"We can’t really call economies like India or China ‘emerging’ anymore, and lump..."

Wed, 16 May 2012 22:05:00 +1000

“We can’t really call economies like India or China ‘emerging’ anymore, and lump them in with countries like Chad. I don’t know what to call them, but emerging doesn’t fit. Anyway, what are Western economies right now? Submerging?”

- David Rubenstein,founder of private equity giant The Carlyle Group at Davos in 2009

Cathay Pacific launches clever reverse loyalty scheme encouraging their top-tier frequent flyers to move to other airlines

Sat, 12 May 2012 11:38:00 +1000

Cathay Pacific launches clever reverse loyalty scheme encouraging their top-tier frequent flyers to move to other airlines

Photo

Tue, 08 May 2012 21:16:33 +1000

"For some reason, there appears to be an insatiable appetite by limited partners to invest in a..."

Tue, 08 May 2012 21:15:00 +1000

“For some reason, there appears to be an insatiable appetite by limited partners to invest in a category [venture capital] that cannot sustain even a fraction of the capital currently within it. It is the craziest thing that LPs are willing to invest so much in a category that has yielded so little and from so few. The returns have been miserable. If you take away a couple of exits, such as Google and MySpace, there haven’t been meaningful returns generated. There are [venture] firms that have never generated a positive return or have not even returned capital in 10 years that are raising money successfully. And that surprises the heck out of me. People talk about the top quartile [firms] — it’s not about the top quartile, it’s barely about the top decile, or even a smaller subset than that.”

- Sequoia Capital partner Doug Leone on the venture capital industry’s abysmal returns to investors (quoted on Paul Kedrosky’s Infectious Greed blog, circa 2006 so I guess you could say pre-bubble 2.0)

The Singapore financial district skyline, taken from the Ku De...

Tue, 08 May 2012 00:21:00 +1000

The Singapore financial district skyline, taken from the Ku De Ta bar atop the Marina Bay Sands hotel.

"Of course, since we are an LBO shop, eventually we have to find the “L” in LBO. The..."

Tue, 08 May 2012 00:14:32 +1000

“Of course, since we are an LBO shop, eventually we have to find the “L” in LBO. The debt. That means talking to leveraged finance desks. That means schmoozing the leveraged finance desks of a few (or many) firms in order to win their trust and (in theory) improve the interest rates you get on debt since the risk of us screwing them is lower. I highly recommend martinis as a means to reduce “reputation risk” in this way. Three martinis, ($60.00) can buy you 0.05% in interest which, over 7 years, is more than $1,750,000 in interest on a $500 million dollar deal. I don’t have any figures yet on what sleeping with the debt people will get you.”

- ‘The Hunt, Part II’ by Going Private

"If regulation is not the answer, then how can corporations and society prevent fraud in the future?..."

Sun, 06 May 2012 12:52:52 +1000

“If regulation is not the answer, then how can corporations and society prevent fraud in the future? Fastow said we can begin by understanding that structured finance is like steroids: a little can cure many illnesses, but a lot can destroy your organs. Its use needs to be limited, and investments in firms that use structured vehicles without a clear business reason should be avoided. Mark-to-market accounting can lead to more transparent financial statements but, if abused, can put a company in a hole that it can’t climb out of. The market must value transparency. Companies with the fairest disclosures must be rewarded, not placed at a disadvantage as is now the case. Finally, executives must ask whether a transaction is consistent with the principle and not just the rules. Are they doing it for window dressing or for valid business purposes?”

- Former Enron CFO Andy Fastow reflects on the importance of following principles and not just rules - “If the Auditors Sign Off, Does That Make It Okay?”

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Sat, 05 May 2012 19:01:00 +1000

"Obama fielded a facetious question from then-CEO Eric Schmidt: “What is the most efficient way to..."

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:40:10 +1000

“Obama fielded a facetious question from then-CEO Eric Schmidt: “What is the most efficient way to sort a million 32-bit integers?” Schmidt was having a bit of fun, but before he could move on to a real question, Obama stopped him. “Well, I think the bubble sort would be the wrong way to go,” he said—correctly. Schmidt put his hand to his forehead in disbelief, and the room erupted in raucous applause.”

- Obama is a True Nerd!

The A/B Test: Inside the Technology That’s Changing the Rules of Business | Epicenter | Wired.com

(via felixsalmon)

barackobama: “I’m President Barack Obama. And I too want to...

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:33:05 +1000

barackobama:

“I’m President Barack Obama. And I too want to slow-jam the news.”

Lost in Translation was shot six days per week in September and...

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:21:55 +1000

Lost in Translation was shot six days per week in September and October 2002, over the course of 27 days. Many of the interior scenes were shot overnight, because the hotel did not allow the crew to shoot until after 1 a.m. Various locations were used during production; in particular, the bar featured prominently in the film is the New York Bar, which is situated on the 52nd floor of the Shinjuku Park Tower and part of the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

via Wikipedia

JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon takes on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria...

Sat, 21 Apr 2012 20:43:03 +1000

JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon takes on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria over the banks’ role in the crisis and financial industry reform.

"Harold & Kumar star Kal Penn braved similar disillusionment when he took a break from acting to..."

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 09:58:00 +1100

“Harold & Kumar star Kal Penn braved similar disillusionment when he took a break from acting to work in the White House Office of Public Engagement. As he told The New York Times last year, “I was there my first night until 11 P.M. and I was like, ‘Sweet, let’s order Chinese food.’ And everybody was like, ‘You can’t actually order delivery to the White House.’ I was like, ‘But they do it on West Wing!’ ””

- “West Wing Babies” in Vanity Fair

"President Obama is often credited with inspiring political idealism in young people (at least until..."

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 09:54:54 +1100

“President Obama is often credited with inspiring political idealism in young people (at least until the campaign ended and actual governing began). But before Obama there was Aaron Sorkin and President Josiah Bartlet. It’s been nearly 6 years since the series finale of The West Wing, and more than 12 since the one-hour drama, which Sorkin created and largely wrote, first walked and talked its way through NBC’s Wednesday-night lineup; and yet you might think the series never ended, given the currency it still seems to enjoy in Washington, the frequency with which it comes up in D.C. conversations and is quoted or referenced on political blogs. In part this is because the smart, nerdy—they might prefer “precocious”—kids who grew up in the early part of the last decade worshipping the cool, technocratic charm of Sorkin’s characters have today matured into the young policy prodigies and press operatives who advise, brief, and excuse the behavior of the most powerful people in the country.”

- ‘West Wing Babies’ in Vanity Fair

A key indicator of Eurozone sovereign default probability?...

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 20:23:39 +1100

A key indicator of Eurozone sovereign default probability? 5-year sovereign CDS spread vs percentage of men aged 25-34 who still live with their parents.

(I know, I know, correlation != causation, and the Y axis reflects CDS prices from much happier days e.g. a couple of months ago)

"The weirder strain of criticism concerns authenticity. People seem to feel that Del Rey is trying to..."

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 20:04:50 +1100

“The weirder strain of criticism concerns authenticity. People seem to feel that Del Rey is trying to trick us, though it’s impossible to figure out exactly what that trick would be, as we are dealing with an entertainer and her audience, not a naturally fractious relationship. Detractors cite a variety of presumed conspiracies, some involving the influence of her father, Rob Grant, who is a successful Internet entrepreneur; the rumor of manipulative managers guiding her; the reality of professional songwriters working with her; the question of who paid for the cartoons and the paparazzi footage of the actress Paz de la Huerta that appear in the “Video Games” clip; and how Grant’s top lip got so big so fast. (Grant says she’s undergone no surgical procedures.) Surely no equivalent male star would be subject to the same level of examination.”

- ‘Screen Shot - Lana Del Ray’s Fixed Image’ by Sasha Frere-Jones in The New Yorker

"The making of [The Iron Lady] poses a moral question. How fair and right is it to produce a movie..."

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:50:34 +1100

“The making of [The Iron Lady] poses a moral question. How fair and right is it to produce a movie that deals in such a deeply personal and judgmental fashion with the private relationships, including family ones, of a well-known public figure, still alive, through the prism of a debilitating illness - and in circumstances where any detailed response would only increase the distress felt by those nearest and dearest to her?”

- John Howard in today’s AFR

"The “rich” in America are not a monolithic, unchanging class. A study by Thomas A. Garrett,..."

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:58:11 +1100

“The “rich” in America are not a monolithic, unchanging class. A study by Thomas A. Garrett, economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, found that less than half of people in the top 1 percent in 1996 were still there in 2005. Such mobility is hardly surprising: A business school student, for instance, may have little money and high debts, but nine years later he or she could be earning a big Wall Street salary and bonus.”

- “Angry about inequality? Don’t blame the rich” by James Q. Wilson in The Washington Post

katespadeny: step brightly see street art from around the...

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:47:46 +1100

katespadeny:

step brightly

see street art from around the world

A press secretary’s nightmare: former Utah governor Jon...

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:35:45 +1100

A press secretary’s nightmare: former Utah governor Jon Huntsman’s daughters have taken to Twitter to help his campaign in the Republican presidential primaries. They’re having a lot of fun at the expense of their dad’s opponents and getting plenty of media attention along the way.