HopsGuy

This is really a quality/quantity thing. The fact that A-B can produce a lighter beer (pilsner) in huge quantities at 12 different breweries to such exacting standards is a quite an achievement. And it's not me saying it, either. Jim Koch, the nerdy founder of Sam Adams even said so. Of course, he might have just been trying to be nice to entice a buyout. Who knows? I'm mostly drinking Yuengling these days. Now if you're talking about InBev's Corona, it's a minor miracle that they can sell that swill. The success of the marketing campaign is something PT Barnum would envy. Then there's Red Stripe...

I assume you're talking about your subjective view of their products. They don't suck at making money. That I can tell by looking at the balance sheet(s). Kinda like a Wonderlic test.

Fantastic example of what a weak dollar can do. It took quite a bit of tap-dancing for the CEO who was selling his own shares at $50 to say that $65 was a low offer. The Fed is sort of hamstrung at this point. Any action to prop up the market will further weaken the dollar and drive commodity prices higher. Any action to strengthen the dollar will destroy the markets. It's an election year and the best they can do is buy time and occasionally jaw-bone in different directions. Fun stuff.

I'll 2nd that. I moved from South FL to Charlotte. Now I have a "Harris Teeter" where I shop. It's similar to Wegman's in that it's clean and has everything. However, the prices are crazy and I'm talking Albertson's crazy. I get angry every time I'm there when I look at the prices. I use it mostly as a convenience store and actually buy most of my stuff at (wait for it) Target. The OPs problems are well understood. The same thing happened to coffee 15 years ago (try to find a 3 pound can these days). Just understand that inflation is a (huge) reality. Thumb through the ads and find those bargains. They're out there (even at Harris Teeter). Danny... please come to Charlotte!

I actually have sympathy here because I understand where you're coming from. The thing with clients in the financial world is that unlike in other retail endeavors there are losses. Sometimes these losses are painful. The thing is, they signed an agreement saying they understand the risks and are willing to invest (or trade like maniacs) anyway. Then they come up with suggestions that aren't feasible. So it goes like this: Client: Let's just buy T-bills that pay 10%. You: You can't there aren't any. Client: Why not? You: (sigh) Because that's the way the debt market works. Money is cheaper now that when you had your first passbook. Client: Really? You: Yes. Client: That sucks. You: It is what it is.

You better say 'with' (or a form of it) if you want onions at 9th & Passyunk. Now quit yer whinin', pack up the car and head down the shore.

That's the guy. [Peers over his glasses at Mitch] "You're eighteen, right?"

I agree with l2dg that D&C is a better movie, but not by much. I don't think you can go wrong either way, but the problem here is that we're talking about a 15 year-old kid that didn't live through either era (mid 70s vs early 80s). Will he appreciate the nuances? I give the edge to D&C based solely on "Convenience Store" scenes. The clerk at the store that sells Mitch the sixer while supplying nutrition advice to the expectant mother, barely out-paces "Way to go, Hamilton!" Can't the kid just get both or doesn't he have enough 'inspiration' to get through 3 hours?

My business partner made reference to something he recently did as a 'quantum leap'. Since this phrase is one of my pet peeves, I explained how the term defines the movement of electrons between orbits in an atom and is not much of a 'leap'. Furthermore, since on the quantum scale there is no movement from point A to point B, it's useless as an analogy in our world (unless someone invents a true 'hyperspace' button). Then I told him to not even get me started on 'Centrifugal Force'. You can read all about it in my upcoming book: "How to build a business while driving your partner insane".

Meh.

It is what it is.

That is a great scene. I have to go with the consensus that "Trading Places" and "Coming to America" were his best. I'm biased to TP because I lived in Philly and have actually traded futures, though not FOJC. "Looking good, Billy Ray." "Feeling good, Louis." Bill Simmons once said that it was hard to explain to anyone under 30 that Eddie Murphy was bigger than Will Smith, Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle combined.

Thanks. I'm not sure who said it first, but I'll always remember the first time I heard someone say "All fiat currencies eventually go to zero" and everyone in the room sighed, took a drink, and shook their head. (Sigh)

Thanks for the link. That's an interesting blog and I'll add it to my favorites. In the interest of the well documented theory of the need for reciprocation (best outlined in Mauboussin's "More Than You Know"), here's one of my favorite market blogs. I'm curious, you mentioned the 1930s as the beginning of poor monetary policy. However, it wasn't until the Nixon administration that the dollar was taken off the gold standard, pushed by those believing that US economic growth had been stunted by the gold linkage. What happened in the 30s other than the two acts that created the regulation of the capital markets?

I'm not ready to join the chorus of exaltation. It seemed to me that it was a whole lot of held serves with a few nice points mixed in. Federer had a ton of opportunities (1 for 14 on breaks?!?) and came up small. Nadal played better, but he couldn't seem to rise to the occasion in the 3rd for 4th sets, either. Blowing a 5-2 lead in the tie-breaker? Think Sampras would have let that happen? Christ, Jimmy Arias wouldn't have blown that. It was all errors rather than winners. My view was that it was a shame that either one of them had to win. Give me Borg-McEnroe any day. Of course, I'm just an Irish-Swede (explains the Borg-McEnroe bias). I'm probably jealous of these guys. Jeeze, I see these two dudes and I think of the Euro-trash magazine-model bad guys in the original "Die Hard". Where's John McClane when you need him? [/rant] Sorry Lana.

Thanks folks! It was a stellar Fourth here in Charlotte. My buddy's wife was telling their 3-year old that the fireworks were for my birthday. My buddy's b-day is the 5th, so logically the kid asks, "Will we have them tomorrow for Daddy?" They all looked at me. I just replied, "I know. It's not fair."

It should have a magnetic buffalo 'nickel' in the brim for a ball marker.

I'll pick a nit here. While to the user the differences are subtle, an ACH transfer is more like an electronic check, which is really why this thread came about. Because the checking account system has holes that allow for fraud, there can be problems like this. Remember the part in "To Catch A Thief" when Leo is using the routing numbers on the bottom of the check to steal? It's kinda like that, though much more sophisticated. At my old job I constantly had to explain that ACH transfers required a few days to 'clear' because they were not true wires and could theoretically 'bounce' (a few did). There are some good examples in this thread that show ways to mitigate any damage that could occur should you become a victim. In the traditional sense, a 'wire' is sent over the Federal Reserve system. When you wire funds, your bank will provide you with a "Federal Reference Number" for the wire. Our margin department were sticklers when it came to this stuff. A lot of thought goes into ways to steal. I've seen some brilliant instances of this. I shudder to think of the ones that don't get caught.

I remember Allison Janney saying in an interview that she toured the real Oval Office and commented to the tour guide "Ours is nicer" or something along those lines.

Pooj has a greater chronological-age-to-maturity ratio than even me. That's a good thing. Happy B-day, man.

I never knew. Ed remembers Ron Hunter

I have stated before that my dad once bought me "Bat Out of Hell" (Meatloaf) and "Kiss Alive II" (Kiss) on consecutive weeks. I'm pretty sure those were my first albums. By the time I had enough money to buy my own (and even though my dad had no problem buying me any music I wanted), I bought J. Geils Band's "Freeze Frame" on cassette. all the way around.

Did Vegas in March. Golf trip in Myrtle Beach. Had a wedding in Boca Raton this past weekend (is it a vacation if you visit a place you just moved from?). Hitting (ahem) beautiful Olean next month (playing Holiday Valley). After that I've got folks pressuring me for Bimini or the Bills-Fish game in Miami-Dade. I'd like to see my nephew play football this fall (he's a senior co-captain at a small PA school). Is that too much?

Make sure you have a bar nearby. My buddy did it right. Greatest. Pool Bar. Ever.

Charlie Jones passed, too. He announced the Comeback game with Todd Christenson. Sad days for our nostalgia.