Michael Howton dot com

Graduation Day

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 23:01:00 +0000

On 12/10/2011 I graduated from the Kellogg School of Business with a Masters in Business Administration. I loved it! The best people, the best professors, the best school and the best program I could have hoped for. On 12/15/2011 my graduating class photo was published in the Wall Street Journal.

Evaluating good leaders

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 15:30:00 +0000

This is a video from WSJ.com interviewing the CEO of American Express.
What AmEx's Ken Chenault Looks for in Hires

Buffett, Gates and Blankfein

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:01:00 +0000

I have read two very good articles this week and wanted to share. They are about investing and business so beware. The first was a town hall meeting with Bill Gates and Warren Buffett at Columbia University. The second was an article by John Arlidge about Goldman Sachs.

Here are some memorable quotes from the Town Hall:

"projecting out into the years ahead ... are we making the right investments, are we gaining on the competition, are we making it a little bit harder for people to replace what we're doing?"
- Gates

"the best systems are ones where you have good short-term metrics, great accounting, looking at profits, looking at risk and willing to do things long-term"
- Gates

"run this business like it's the only business that your family can own for the next 100 years. You can't sell it. ... Measure it by whether the moat around that business, what gives it competitive advantage over time has widened or narrowed. ... If the reason for doing something is everybody else if doing it, it's not good enough. If you have to use that as a reason, forget it"
- Buffett

Full transcript http://www.cnbc.com/id/33901003/

Insights from the Goldman Article
Inspect
"Staff rigorously price ... the bank's assets every day, down to the last cent, and forensically examine daily profit and loss. This helps the bank to see market trends clearly and early and, it believes, to manage risk better than most other banks. 'We think we make better decisions' says Beshel"

Work harder than everyone else
"you have to work harder than the average bear ... 'it's a 24/7 culture, When you're needed, you're here. and if you're needed and you're not answering your phone, you won't be needed very long"

Learn all you can
"You are programmed at an early stage to go out more than the other guy, to see more people - clients, hedge funds or private equity guys ... brain pick. You ask what's their best trade. How do they see the market? You offer something in return, but you always come back with something."

Work as a team
"then you feed it to colleagues who go to work trying to use the information to make money. It's a team effort" "we're in this together"

Develop systems that drive your values
"You can have a great career in banking as an individual, but it won't be here. The system weeds out those who can't play nicely with others"

Recruit the best talent you can find
"Most applicants are interviewed at least 20 times before they are made an offer and some more than 30 times."

Pay the best talent very very well
"Sachs isn't nicknamed 'Goldmine Sachs' for nothing. Some 953 employees got bonuses of at least $1 million in 2008"

Article http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6907681.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1

To Think

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:25:00 +0000

I heard or read a great statement the other day, "I want to think things I have never thought before."

You must obey: Unwritten laws of technology

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 19:35:00 +0000

Here is a great list of all the reasons why your computer, cell and gadget never work like they should.

Law 1: For every fix that a Windows Update patches, the update will break two more things on your PC. — Darren Gladstone, PC World

Law 1: For every fix that a Windows Update patches, the update will break two more things on your PC. — Darren Gladstone, PC World

Law 2: The likelihood that Windows will automatically install time-sucking critical updates is directly proportional to your need to get your PC started. — Steve Fox, PC World

Law 3: The hard drive always fails just before you were going to back it up. — Denise Paolucci, Dreamwidth Studios via Help A Reporter Out (HARO)

Law 4: Your data will get corrupted just before you plug in your new backup external drive. —Darren Gladstone, PC World

Law 5: Your backup plan is only as good as your last successful restore. — Michael Fisher, ElephantDrive.com via HARO

Law 6: The number of USB ports on your Mac will always be one less than you need at any given time. — Blair Hanley Frank, Macworld

Law 7: Feeling time pressure to make a computer fix quickly will cause you to take longer. —David Marshak, via PC World Facebook page

Law 8: If you close the PC case with screws before testing, it won't work. If you test before closing, it will. — Harry Liebman via HARO

There are more: click the link to read the whole story.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32393717/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets//

I got the flu

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:28:00 +0000

So I got, what feels like, the flu yesterday. Painful muscle aches, intestinal cramps, fever, cold sweats. Today I am feeling much better but still sick. My mother-in-law is visiting and she had the same thing 4 days ago. I'll have to wait to see who else in the family gets it. I did not go in to get tested for flu or swine flu, it's not that bad.

Santelli goes to Washington and the Chicago Tea party. Must Watch!

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 04:24:00 +0000

Rick Santelli has been a new man for CNBC for 15 years. He hit a nerve this week when he attacked the presidents housing plan.

Here is the White House reply to Santelli.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEZB4taSEoA&eurl=http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=44565&feature=player_embedded

Here is Santelli's reply back. This thing is heating up.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1041856849&play=1

White House hits back again. This is one of the worst atacks on the press.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1041856849&play=1

Here is some more.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1040944991&play=1

Are you concerned about Foreclosure?

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:11:00 +0000

This website is dedicated to providing people with the knowledge and tools needed to fight foreclosure. Very good resource. http://livinglies.wordpress.com/

Vegetable Shortage

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 18:44:00 +0000

You just might have to grow your own tomatoes this year as thousands of acres of farmland go fallow this spring due to California's continued drought.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28808767/

Hedge-funders are bullish on Gold, Guns and inflatable Lifeboats

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:45:00 +0000

It is interesting to see how even the wealthest people in the world are concerned enough to by Gold, Guns and Inflatable Lifeboats (to leave Manhattan) these days.

The New Paranoia: Hedge-Funders Are Bullish on Gold, Guns, and Inflatable Lifeboats - NewYorkTimes
http://nymag.com/news/features/all-new/53372/

Model railroad

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:09:00 +0000

I picked up a HO model train layout on craigslist.org for free. It is from the 70's and has a few issues but does work. I pulled the trains I have been collecting for the last 25 years.

Mouthwash linked to cancer

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:29:00 +0000

Just when you thought it was safe to breath ... on others. The Australia's leading experts have found "sufficient evidence" that mouthwash can cause oral cancer.

http://www.news.com.au//dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24896583-5001021,00.html

John Batchelor Predicts the next crash

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:30:00 +0000

John Batchelor predicts the next crashes to be first Cars, then New Papers, Retail and last of all Food. Farmers this year have planted less food this year even though we had a worldwide food shortage last year and continue to have one this year.

http://johnbatchelorshow.com/debrief/2009/01/de-brief---january-4-2009.php

The 'Super Banks' aren't so Super

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:03:00 +0000

The three new Super Banks, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and Wellsfargo now have more consolidated money and power than any institutions in US history and they are using that power to charge higher and higher fees. In fact, you could easily see $200 in fees for a single overdraft. Here is the situtaion, say you go shopping and you buy stuff from six different stores throughout the day, you know you went below zero in your account on the first transaction but no big deal, you can just move money into the account when you get home. Wrong! You just racked up $35 for each transaction. The new term is ‘fee-ed’ to death.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27441147/

700 Families foreclose each day in So. California

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:06:00 +0000

I found this very good video news report yesterday watching the News Hour. I was surprised by what people leave behind when they leave a foreclosed home. Some people leave everything and just walk out the door. Very sad but informative. Watch the video.

Click to view the video

Ron Paul on the bailout plan

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:17:00 +0000

Click to see Ron Pauls thoughts on the recent bail out plan.

I love the line, "if printing more money solved everyone's problems then why work. We could just print money"

Survivor - the TV Show

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 20:26:00 +0000

I am a fan of Survivor and although I have skipped a few show hear and there I mostly follow it. I found this article about what happens behind the camera and wanted to share it.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26726792/

Titanic (Global Economy) and deck chairs

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:29:00 +0000

This is a great blog post from Silvia Wadhwa. It's best if you read down to the video clip, start the video clip and continue reading as it plays.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/27043945

This Bailout won't be the last

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:19:00 +0000

To say that no on knew this wouldn't happen is just not correct. In 2003 Ron Paul a congressman from Texas gave the speech below outlining what would happen if the government continued to subsidize the housing market through Fredie and Fannie. Read below.

http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2003/cr091003.htm

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/the-home-front/2008/09/19/ron-paul-this-bailout-wont-be-the-last.html

Bailout will cause a US Depression, Says Hennecke

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 15:00:00 +0000

The end result of the global economic slowdown may be the U.S. announcing national bankruptcy as the government cannot afford the bailouts that it promised and the market will not bail out the government, Martin Hennecke, senior manager of private clients at Tyche, told CNBC on Thursday.

Full Article below:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/26656750

New Blog Items

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:50:00 +0000

I found a couple of items to add to my blog page today. The first is an electoral college vote count based on recent surveys. It's good to know who how the '08 race is going. I enjoy politics and am always willing to share my thoughts. More than most people want to know...
The second is a way for you to add my blog to your favorate website. You can add it to Google, Bloglines, Netvibes, newsgator or myYahoo. I think it is a cool little tool.
I was very excited to see McCain pick such a great woman for his VP pick. Not sure that it is enough to win. Not sure I want him to win??? Even so, Have A Great Holiday Weekend and don't work too hard.

There is no insurance fund for FDIC...

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:21:00 +0000

I found this to be a very interesting article. Basically, there is no more of a bailout insurance fund (FDIC) today than there was in 1901.:

http://www.thedeal.com/newsweekly/features/the-failure-option.php

Excerpt:
"The deposit insurance fund doesn't exist as a free-standing pool of money. Instead, it is a bookkeeping convention, like the Social Security Trust Fund.
The premiums banks pay to the fund are invested in U.S. Treasury bills, and, on paper, the fund grows with interest. In reality, the money is spent to help fund the federal budget. To cover the cost of the IndyMac bailout, the Department of the Treasury was forced to issue additional debt. Increased federal borrowing will also cover costs of future failures. Eventually, the industry as a whole must repay the federal government through higher annual premiums."

3D photo of yourself

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:33:00 +0000

This website is offering a very cool and free tool that lets you make 3d spaces from you pictures. Very cool.

http://mslabs-086.vo.llnwd.net/d5/oss/index.html

Oldest Bible going on-line

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 23:44:00 +0000

The oldest bible is going online this comming Thursday. The bible was written on calf skin some 1600 years ago. Hi-res photos have been taken of the Greek manuscript and will be available on-line. Very coo. http://www.codex-sinaiticus.net/

I just can't pass news like this up.

noreply@blogger.com (Michael Howton) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 23:40:00 +0000

The incidence of the deadly skin cancer increased by 50% between 1980 and 2004, a study finds. Use of tanning salons is cited as one possible reason.
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-melanoma11-2008jul11,0,2830770.story