The Drunkard's Search: The tendency for people to search in the easiest places, rather than the ones that are the most likely to yield results. The name comes from the idea of a drunkard seeking his car keys under a street lamp because the light is better instead of where he most likely lost them. The drunkard's search manifests itself constantly. I think there is an argument to be made that the drunkard's search concept can be expanded into behavioral economics. For example, with the … [Read more...]
Do the Civilization a Favor and Watch This
March 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment
God, please. Please, God. Make it stop. Please. Seriously. Opposing the current health care bill that is in Congress is a perfectly rational position if you can state your reasons and back them up with facts and analysis. Being unable to explain why, or what is actually in the bill, is inexcusable. The fact that people like this can vote hurts my head. You know, it brings up a point a friend of mine once made: There are not more stupid people in the world today than there were 100 … [Read more...]
Dan Dare (Pilot Of The Future) – Rare Elton John Song
March 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I can't stop listening to this ... I think it is the syncopation in the piano rhythm that I appreciate. Something about it reminds me of the Tumbleweed Connection album a la "Son of Your Father". … [Read more...]
The Wholesale Varsity Jacket Award Catalogs Are Going to the Printers!
March 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment
MOA Team Supply, the wholesale varsity jacket award division of Mount Olympus Awards, has finally finished its catalog and after being proof-read, they will go to the printers for mass dispersion throughout the nation's school districts. We offer factory direct pricing, fast (if not the fastest) delivery in the industry at 2-3 weeks for most standard custom varsity award products, and low minimums. The best part? All (yes, 100%) of our custom chenille products such as varsity letters are … [Read more...]
Sun Trust Bank and the Coca-Cola Stock
March 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I'm reading the Sun Trust annual report and I realized that many, if not most, of you are probably unaware of the Sun Trust connection to Coca-Cola and how it gave rise to one of the greatest investments in history. (As many of you know, we used the Coca-Cola direct stock purchase plan and dividend reinvestment plan to teach my youngest sister about stocks when she was a child.) When Coca-Cola went public in 1919, the underwriting was handled by two institutions, one connected to J.P. … [Read more...]
A Brief Flirtation with a Cinnabon Franchise
March 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I mentioned yesterday in the article on Dairy Queen franchise owners that after graduating from college, Aaron and I had looked into putting capital to work by opening several franchises in the town where we grew up. We thought it would be a good place to invest the money we were earning from our other businesses without having to be involved on a day-to-day basis. In other cases, we thought it might be a good way to structure companies so that our immediate family members could make an … [Read more...]
The Dairy Queen Franchisee Revolt
March 18, 2010 By 6 Comments
In the year following graduation from college, Aaron and I looked into opening several Dairy Queen franchises in Kansas City, Missouri and the surrounding suburbs near where we had grown up before leaving for the east coast. Even though we figured we'd end up in a no-income-tax state such as Texas, Washington, or Nevada (paying an extra 6% to 7% of your income in state income taxes per year starts to add up over time), we really liked the idea of owning local businesses that hired local … [Read more...]
Mental Model: Satisficing
March 18, 2010 By 1 Comment
Satisficing: A psychological and economic phenomenon that results from consumers choosing a product that meets criteria at an adequate level, rather than expending a great deal more time to find a fully optimal solution. Put another way, people are not looking for optimal solutions in their life. They are looking for a combination of "just good enough" or "better than average" weighted by the total effort or cost expenditure necessary to acquire said solution. People don't want a better … [Read more...]
I Finally Understand Buffett’s Comment …
March 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
When I was a kid, I recall watching a recording of a speech Warren Buffett gave to a college group and he said it would be incredibly boring to watch him work if you had the opportunity to observe Berkshire Hathaway for a day. When I began building my company, Aaron and I wanted a system put in place so that we could do nothing but read, study, invest, and play video games as we earned ever-increasing sums of cash from our holdings. That was the mandate. A few minutes ago, I was having an … [Read more...]
An Evening in the J.C. Penney’s Men’s Department
March 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
As promised in Department Store Sales Make Me Really Happy, Aaron and I headed out to J.C. Penney to follow up on the stuff I had mentioned and, sure enough, the sales were spectacular. It's clearly a different feel from the regular Nordstrom, Charles Tyrwhitt, and Thomas Pink shopping experiences from my New York days, but the amazing thing is I was able to get 1 pair of blue jeans, 2 t-shirts, 3 polo shirts, 5 dress shirts, and 5 ties. Before the sale, the total would have cost $540.74. … [Read more...]
I'm a private investor who loves architecture, furniture, clothes, history, philosophy, books, cooking, and music as much as I do finance. 
