moss

10/10/08

Dow 9,000 and dropping

A little over a year ago the Dow closed at over the historic high of 14,000.
Yesterday it closed below 9,000. Today so far it's been as low as 7882. That's about a 43% drop in a year.

This isn't doing much to alter the fact that the stock market has traditionally done better while a Democrat was president. As this site mentions:

The Grand Old Party (GOP) is known for supporting big business. So it pays to elect Republicans to the White House, right? If you analyze the stock market performance under Republican and Democratic presidents, the answer is a resounding NO. Democratic presidents generate average stock market returns in excess of the risk-free rate of 10.69% -- roughly six times the 1.69% earned under Republican administrations.

Investopedia describes the research of Pedro Santa-Clara and Rossen Valkanov who analyzed the value-weighted returns on stocks between 1927 and 1998 under Democratic and Republican presidents. And they found that the excess returns of stocks over the risk-free rate of return -- as measured by the Center for Research into Securities Prices (CRSP) indexes versus three-month Treasury bill rates -- were far higher for Democratic presidents (10.69%) than for Republican ones (1.69%).

Of course, these are just long-term statistics. Under the last Democratic president, stocks rose an annual average of 17.4%. The current Republican White House occupant has presided over an average annual decline of 1.1% -- the S&P 500 was 1,342 when he took over and stands at 1,233 today -- the only president of either party of the last 11 to oversee a decline in stocks.

This market under Bush will drop the bar for quite a while...

10/9/08

How does Google AdWords work?

I signed up for Google AdWords and set up an ad campaign for Flat Out Press.

I only have a $50 ad budget, so I'll see how far that takes me. The image shows the dashboard for the ad campaign. The ad is only 100 characters, for my dad's book "The Age of Hot Rods." You can configure which keywords will trigger the ad to show up alongside your regular Google search. I'll track which words inspire clicks, and then focus more on those.

10/7/08

Observations on Japanese culture - Index

This is the index to a series of articles about my observations while on vacation in Japan.
Part 1 - Money

Part 2 - New and Old

Part 3 - Trains and Efficiency

Part 4 - Uniform

Part 5 - Shoes

Part 6 - Manners

Part 7 - Cute

Part 8 - English

Part 9 - Toilets

Part 10 - Bathing

Part 11 - Tea

Photos: Sights

Photos: Food

Observations on Japanese Culture - Part 3 - Trains and Efficiency

The interior of a 700 Series Shinkansen (Nozom...

Nozomi N700 is the newest, most elite train in the Japan Rail fleet. The clientele on this train looked like cabinet ministers, rock stars and Yakuza. We were accidentally booked on the Nozomi between Nagoya and Kyoto, although our JapanRail passes didn't allow it. The conductor was very concerned about the incident, but our reservations showed that we hadn't made the mistake -- most likely an inexperienced ticketing agent -- so he let us continue the journey without paying the $2000 or so that it would have cost! I'm thankful for that!

The train was scheduled to leave at 12:14. It pulled into the station at 12:12 and left before 12:15. The trains were very punctual, and it looked like all the schedules for 3 months were printed in fat paperback books about the size of an edition of the Guiness Book of World Records.

Here's a shot of the cab for a "Rapid" train, which was two slower than the Nozomi.

The dashboard has a slot for the driver's personal pocket watch. The watch was synchronized with another digital clock on on the train.
Every minute as the train ran from station to station the driver would check the time with a schedule from the central computer.

Also note the cute white gloves. Every time he synchronized he would point into the distance in front of the train with his white gloves.

Part of what helped keep the trains efficient were the markings on the floor. Passengers would be assigned a specific car, door, seat. They'd line up at the markings on the floor. When the Shinkansen came zooming up to the platform it would suddenly slow, and then coast to rest exactly in line with the markings. In less than a minute everyone would be on board and the train was ready to zip away.

10/5/08

More SPAM

SIERRA MADRE, CA - MAY 29: Seventieth anniver...

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeHere's a bit more info on SPAM Singles. Apparently they were introduced in 2007 as part of Hormel's 70th birthday of SPAM. These are the original pieces of SPAM from over 70 years ago, cut up, and sold in foil packages.

Newspapers love the new SPAMtastic stuff, probably because it gives them an opportunity to write about something positive other than pets and diets.

SPAM singles have their own website, as well as appearing on the SPAM stuff page.

If you want the facts about what's in SPAM singles, you can go to Hormel's site, or you can check out this taste test with eggs, or this one with a slide show.

Cheese Burger...grilled cheese burger...

Supersize with cheese? A hamburger with two grilled cheese sandwiches as the bun.

If nothing else, the kids will eat the grilled cheese and you can enjoy the low-carb, bun-less burger...Don't Tell The Dieticians..., Oct 2008

10/4/08

SPAM Singles: Just rip and tear your way to CRAZY TASTY(r) town

I was at the store and saw these SPAM singles. Perhaps the most unnatural food I've seen since Vienna sausage.

Isn't this the most easy and convenient SPAM(r) ever? SPAM(r) singles are already cooked! This might just blow your mind. For you own safety, stop thinking about how easy SPAM(r) Singles will make your life. It's type to enjoy. Take another bite and throw your head back and think wonderful thoughts of faraway places while you chew. Like a magical SPAM(tm) castle in the sky and what a delicious and convenient visit you'd have. This is the meaning of SPAM(r) Singles. Crazy Tasty!

The instructions have an odd lilt to them, as if something was lost in translation. The broiling instructions, for example: "Find out if you have broiler pan or fire up the grill. Broil or grill 2 minutes until golden brown. Flip it. Repeat."

Who are they addressing that doesn't know if they have a broiler or not? Adults? The instructions seem to assume you know whether you have a grill.

The baking instructions are similarly weird: "Use your oven, turn the appropriate knobs, and bake at 425 for 10 minutes."

Or, you can follow the instructions at the top of the package: "Just rip and tear your way to CRAZY TASTY(r) town. (Serves one)"

The instructions for opening are simple and illustrated:

Grasp top corner

Tear open pouch

Squeeze pouch

Enjoy tasty spam(r)

Meanwhile, I'm not suggesting you purchase SPAM singles. Au contraire: I suggest upping your SPAM filter.