Jeff  Carter

Jeff Carter

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In Flanders Fields the Poppies Bloom

By Jeff Carter (May 28, 2012)

Every Memorial Day, I try to read this poem. If you have a moment, please go to the website, My Memorial Day and record a video. It means a lot to the people that have... more

Should Fat People Pay More For Insurance?

By Jeff Carter (May 27, 2012)

In our long road trip to my grandfather’s memorial service, we had a conversation I would like to invite you to be a part of. It’s clear that America has an obesity problem.... more

Stock Splits; Winners or Losers?

By Jeff Carter (May 26, 2012)

Are stock splits good for the share price or not? Deceased Nobel Prize winning economist Merton Miller didn’t like them. “Everyone recognizes that’s a joke because obviously... more

Governments are Never Cheap

By Jeff Carter (May 25, 2012)

Two editorials today are interesting when you cross pollinate them. One is David Malpass piece on the Greek government. Governments want austerity for everyone but... more

Pitching Hyde Park Angels

By Jeff Carter (May 23, 2012)

Today I am going to hold office hours at 1871 in Chicago. I posted them a long while ago and people made appointments. I know other people that do this randomly. I have tried... more

Metrics of Capitalism

By Jeff Carter (May 22, 2012)

There is a raging debate on the outcomes of Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s investments at Bain Capital. Romney did pretty well. His investors made money. In... more

End of Day Protestor- Occupy Your Backyard

By Jeff Carter (May 20, 2012)

At the end of a business week, or sometimes after you close a business day, associates will get together and rehash over beers or snacks. They analyze what went right, wrong,... more

Occupy The Board Room

By Jeff Carter (May 19, 2012)

Yesterday I went to a fabulous presentation on board governance hosted by Katten Muchin in Chicago. The speaker was Baruch Lev from NYU. He covered a wide range of issues... more

Limits on Oil Trading Won’t Change the Price

By Jeff Carter (May 18, 2012)

Legislators have ramped up efforts to curb oil trading. They think that somehow, if no one is able to trade, the price will go down. Unfortunately, many at the CFTC agree... more

JP Morgan and MF Global Caught Chasing Yield

By Jeff Carter (May 17, 2012)

Anyone find it ironic that JP Morgan ($JPM) sustained a big loss in Euro debt, and that Jon Corzine brought down his company chasing yield on Euro debt? To add to the irony,... more

The Difference Between GM and Ford

By Jeff Carter (May 17, 2012)

Warren Buffett bought ten million shares of GM($GM). Interesting. GM and Ford ($F) are very different companies. Neither stock has performed particularly well over the past... more

Obama Illinois Re-election Strategy

By Jeff Carter (May 15, 2012)

Obama came out in favor of gay marriage last week. It’s all a part of the strategy formulated in the 2010 Illinois gubernatorial election. We will see if the strategy works... more

Our Energy Future

By Jeff Carter (May 14, 2012)

At the Chicago Booth Graduate School of Business Management Conference Friday, I listened to a panel discussion on energy. It was interesting, primarily because the two... more

The Volcker Rule

By Jeff Carter (May 13, 2012)

The Volcker Rule has been fought by banks ever since its proposal. If you checked out bank operations and their income statements, you would know why. Since the repeal of... more

Landing the London Whale

By Jeff Carter (May 12, 2012)

No one is bigger than the market. No one. I learned that lesson early in my trading career. One day, a huge trader decided to retire. He covered his positions and was gone.... more

Incredibly Efficient Way to Build a Company

By Jeff Carter (May 11, 2012)

Back in 2000, if you wanted to build an internet start up company, you had to raise a bunch of capital. There were servers to buy, and talent to procure. Fast forward twelve... more

Why Senator Dick Lugar is Out

By Jeff Carter (May 10, 2012)

Indiana Republican Senator Dick Lugar lost his primary bid yesterday. The spin is amazing. Obama is spinning it to frame the new Republican party as uncompromising. The... more

On Turning 50

By Jeff Carter (May 09, 2012)

I turn 50 today. I don’t feel any different. My perspective on life hasn’t changed. Maybe it’s because my grandfather is still alive. He’s 98. I don’t feel like I am on the... more

Warren Buffett Says Invest Like A Smarteys

By Jeff Carter (May 08, 2012)

This morning on CNBC Warren Buffett dispensed with a lot of folksy wisdom. My politics are different than Warren’s but I agree with him on a lot of investing points. That’s... more

Entrepreneurship is Merit Based

By Jeff Carter (May 07, 2012)

One of the great things about working with entrepreneurs is that there isn’t any concern as to class, race, creed, sexual orientation, or politics. All an investor really... more

I Hate Illinois Communists

By Jeff Carter (May 05, 2012)

I have no use for communists and Democrats shouldn’t either. Why do they embrace them? Anyone asking that? 100,000,000 dead in this world thanks to communism. Chicago... more

How Do You Keep Score?

By Jeff Carter (May 03, 2012)

People keep score in different ways. Even different games keep score differently. Tennis isn’t like basketball. Rugby isn’t like Football. In business, most people look at... more

Groupon’s New Board

By Jeff Carter (May 02, 2012)

Groupon ($GRPN) revamped its board a little bit. the company hopes that by adding to its board Daniel Henry, the chief financial officer of American Express, and Robert... more

MF Global Conspiracy Theory That Might Not Be Far Off

By Jeff Carter (May 01, 2012)

MF Global stole money from it’s customers. The government is still sorting through the messy details. One of the reasons it’s taking so long is because a lot of the funds... more

An Ode to Elizabeth Warren

By Jeff Carter (Apr 30, 2012)

If you haven’t followed the election in Massachusetts, you are missing some pretty good pandering. Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren has gone deep off the... more

Contempt For Holder? Not a Wise Move

By Jeff Carter (Apr 29, 2012)

Republicans actually have a nice story to tell. The economy sucks. Anyone with a brain knows it is being floated with money printed by the Federal Reserve. The world economy... more

Will Second Tier Cities Benefit From Virtual?

By Jeff Carter (Apr 28, 2012)

Did you catch this in today’s Wall Street Journal? In a recent Forbes ranking of tech growth in the nation’s largest 51 metro areas, the Midwest had three cities within the... more

Entrepreneurs, Engineers, Move to the Midwest

By Jeff Carter (Apr 27, 2012)

Last night I stopped by the “Chicago Booth Tech Event”. It was at the Gleacher Center downtown. There were probably 100 people there. One of HPA’s portfolio companies,... more

Cutting Taxes, Pro Growth or Not?

By Jeff Carter (Apr 26, 2012)

There is a debate raging in some circles on tax cuts and growth. The reason is that in January of 2013, America will see the largest tax hike in history if Obama is... more

Crippling Student Loan Debt Kills Economies

By Jeff Carter (Apr 25, 2012)

Student loan debt is massive and expanding. It’s a huge problem to future growth in the US. Why? Because when you are just starting out and you can’t afford to take risk on... more

Are You Ready to Assume Risk?

By Jeff Carter (Apr 24, 2012)

I was at the wedding of a friend this weekend in New Orleans. At the ceremony, I found what the minister had to say very interesting in some respects. He talked briefly about... more

30th Anniversary of the S&P

By Jeff Carter (Apr 22, 2012)

Today is the 30th birthday of the S&P contract at the CME ($CME). Hard to believe it’s been that long. As a young college kid I used to visit my friend Orv Wilkin (ORV)... more

The New Face of Business

By Jeff Carter (Apr 21, 2012)

The last century was about taking drudgery and automating it. People often say one of the greatest inventions was the washer and dryer. It eliminated one of the worst tasks... more

Social Venture Investing

By Jeff Carter (Apr 20, 2012)

The other day, I was part of a presentation on seed stage investing in the midwest. One of the questions we received was on “social investing”. Social investing is a hot... more

President Obama, You Can’t Set A Gas Price-Markets Can

By Jeff Carter (Apr 19, 2012)

Yesterday Obama went after the speculators. I swear when he first came to Chicago he must have been ignored and put out by a bunch of traders. Imagine him going to a bar near... more

Leaving America

By Jeff Carter (Apr 18, 2012)

Two years ago, I wrote that America was in danger of becoming a Roach Motel. We focus a lot on immigration, and we should. America needs immigration. However, the... more

Eurodollar Options Traders and CME

By Jeff Carter (Apr 17, 2012)

CME decided to tell the options traders that walked out of the pit to take a hike. It’s becoming a high stakes game of chicken. Believe me, behind the scenes CME is calling... more

This Is Not The Silicon Prairie

By Jeff Carter (Apr 16, 2012)

For years, I have seen people, mostly jealous governments, try to replicate Silicon Valley. Expressways have been named “Silicon something”, or “High Tech Highway”. Since I... more

Capitalists Go on Strike in Chicago

By Jeff Carter (Apr 15, 2012)

This week, traders at the CME walked off the floor to protest policies that some see benefiting the big traders.   Other walk offs have happened in the history of... more

Stay At Home Moms

By Jeff Carter (Apr 13, 2012)

Yesterday, Ann Romney was attacked by the left wing for being a stay at home mom. I think this is crazy. Over the years, I have witnessed left wing working mom’s smugness. My... more

Hiring Disabled Workers

By Jeff Carter (Apr 11, 2012)

There are new regulations coming out that say 7% of your workforce must be disabled if you want to do business with the government. Many will call me heartless, but I think... more

Dark Pools Aren’t Run For Market Benefit

By Jeff Carter (Apr 10, 2012)

The SEC is investigating high frequency trading. They ought to be looking at their own regulation. Since they changed regulations back in the late 1990's, volume has been... more

Wisdom From The Farm

By Jeff Carter (Apr 09, 2012)

Farmers can be really wise. They learn a lot by making their living from the land, or from raising livestock on their property. Here is some wisdom from the farm. “Your... more

Why Baseball is the American Game

By Jeff Carter (Apr 08, 2012)

Lot of folks went out to the ballpark this week. The national pastime started another season. Football captivates the American soul these days. More people are watching... more

Help Wanted (Really)

By Jeff Carter (Apr 07, 2012)

The jobs report looked good on the surface. Headline rate down to 8.2%. But, non farm payrolls were anemic. Some would say, a disaster. Quick someone call FEMA. We aren’t... more

The Stimulus and Fear

By Jeff Carter (Apr 06, 2012)

We haven’t had too much fear in the market this year. However, if you bought in November, you might be feeling a little bit greedy. With the Fed saying it’s on hold until the... more

Groupon's Growing Crisis

By Jeff Carter (Apr 05, 2012)

Groupon ($GRPN) has been in the news again for accounting irregularity. It restated fourth quarter earnings. What was amazing is that it went public in the fourth... more

Personality and Text

By Jeff Carter (Apr 04, 2012)

Unless you really know someone, or something about them, it’s hard to get personality out of email and text. Nick Epley, a professor of economics has done a fair amount of... more

The Future of Leadership; Skills The New Company Leader Must Have

By Jeff Carter (Apr 03, 2012)

When I was in school, Michael Porter was totally hot among the professors that taught leadership. He came up with the five forces of strategic leadership. The combination of... more

Impossible Dream in Chicago

By Jeff Carter (Apr 02, 2012)

My friend Raman Chadha sent me this article from the New York Times on new food start ups in New York City. My wife and I like to say we eat our way through the city of... more

Food Fight

By Jeff Carter (Apr 01, 2012)

Over on Twitter, I got into a food fight with a person that thinks there is an evil food cabal out to undermine all of America. I couldn’t disagree more. Big corporations... more

Should You Make An Introduction to Your Firm

By Jeff Carter (Mar 31, 2012)

If you are an angel, should you make an introduction to your firm? Angels are people with the net worth based on IRS interpretation to make investments in seed stage... more

Pleading the Fifth

By Jeff Carter (Mar 30, 2012)

Yesterday, some MF Global execs testified before Congress and plead the 5th. Today, they are being castigated in many parts of the press for not talking. I think the press... more

The Rule of Law

By Jeff Carter (Mar 29, 2012)

Jack Welch was on CNBC this morning and was talking about the upcoming election. He said, “In 2008, Obama was a great candidate and suspect President.”. Why is he a suspect... more

Talking to Graduate Students

By Jeff Carter (Mar 27, 2012)

Tomorrow I am going to a pretty prestigious institution, Notre Dame, and I am going to talk to graduate students about angel investing. We will talk about much of what I... more

Taxing Death

By Jeff Carter (Mar 26, 2012)

Doesn’t the government get enough during your lifetime? I understand the initial sentiment behind the death tax. It was put in place to try and stop dynasties from forming.... more

The Market Is Broken, and So Are the Regulators

By Jeff Carter (Mar 25, 2012)

Yesterday, some dramatic financial news came out, and some not so dramatic. All three are tragic. The Corzine Fraud at MF Global, the BATS botched IPO, and the flash crash in... more

Smoking Gun Could Mean Jon Corzine is MF Guilty

By Jeff Carter (Mar 24, 2012)

Corzine could be guilty of fraud. Bloomberg just broke the story. Jon S. Corzine, MF Global Holding Ltd. (MFGLQ)’s chief executive officer, gave “direct instructions”... more

The Internet is a Great Truth Detector

By Jeff Carter (Mar 23, 2012)

Paul Ryan put out a budget that Senate Democrats immediately criticized. I don’t get it. Shouldn’t Senate Democrats put out their own budget before they criticize someone... more

High Frequency Trading Distorts Commodity Prices

By Jeff Carter (Mar 22, 2012)

As a person who traded his own money for years and years, since 1988 to be exact. I think I am qualified to know what a real market looks like and what a fake market looks... more

The Midwest Mentality Revisited

By Jeff Carter (Mar 21, 2012)

A couple of days ago, a young guy penned an article on the start up scene in the midwest, particularly focusing on its biggest city, Chicago. I linked to it in Breakfast... more

US Regulations and Laws Inhibit Growth

By Jeff Carter (Mar 20, 2012)

There is an editorial you must read today. It happens to be in the Wall Street Journal. It deals with the left wing’s continued assault on corporations. A few years ago, a... more

Comparing and Contrasting President’s Obama and Hayes

By Jeff Carter (Mar 19, 2012)

A couple of days ago, Obama decided that criticizing George Bush wasn’t enough. Obama detests all Republicans, so he decided to go after one of the originals, Rutherford B.... more

I Don’t Get It Why the Democrat Senate Can't Pass a Budget

By Jeff Carter (Mar 18, 2012)

Our deficit is spinning out of control, and the Democratic Senate can’t pass a budget. I don’t get it.With our deficit rising spectacularly over the Obama term, Obama... more

CFTC Cracks Down on High Frequency Traders

By Jeff Carter (Mar 17, 2012)

The FIA convention is taking place in Florida and sometimes big news is released there. Yesterday, the CFTC said it was going to monitor high frequency traders (HFT) a lot... more

Legislate or Innovate: A Lesson from Yahoo

By Jeff Carter (Mar 16, 2012)

When a company finds itself stuck and getting surpassed by more innovative competitors, it faces a choice. Innovate or legislate. Innovation is hard. It can be very expensive... more

Whine at the White House

By Jeff Carter (Mar 15, 2012)

Today, the White House decided not to list the wines and vintages served at state dinners. Too bad. I understand that they are sensitive because sometimes they serve pretty... more

Are Corporations People?

By Jeff Carter (Mar 14, 2012)

The left wing is all upset over last years Supreme Court case (Citizens United) that ruled corporations were seen as individuals under the eyes of the law. Of course, we have... more

Trends in Exits For Start Ups

By Jeff Carter (Mar 13, 2012)

If you invest in start ups, one of the things you always want to have a general idea about when you put money in is how are you going to get out? It’s similar to trading.... more

Acclerators, Incubators; Are They Worth It?

By Jeff Carter (Mar 12, 2012)

It seems like every day there is a new accelerator starting somewhere in the United States. Entrepreneurship is hot, and because accelerators like Tech Stars and Y Combinator... more

Crowdfunding for Start Ups

By Jeff Carter (Mar 11, 2012)

Last week I was at the ACA conference in Austin, TX. It gets less fanfare than the SXSW show going on there right now, but I think it’s probably more important. It was a... more

Can You Trust The Jobs Number?

By Jeff Carter (Mar 10, 2012)

Traders will be confronted with a number released by the Labor Department today at 7:30am CT. Instantaneously, they, or their computers, will make a decision on whether to... more

Venture Capital Is Shrinking In America

By Jeff Carter (Mar 09, 2012)

If you have been following the venture capital (VC) news in America over the recent year, you might have noticed that several funds were able to make some money recently on... more

Return of the Bear?

By Jeff Carter (Mar 08, 2012)

The sell off in stocks ($SPY, $ES_F, $QQQ) yesterday has jaws flapping. I don’t know why. We had a really big comeback from the depths in November. Many people look at the... more

Be A Good Boss

By Jeff Carter (Mar 07, 2012)

In my professional life, I have been lucky to have a few great bosses. I have been lucky to be exposed to some pretty amazing people. There have been a lot of articles... more

Speculators Aren't the Problem, Policy Is

By Jeff Carter (Mar 06, 2012)

Here we go again. Some lawmakers want to enact stricter position limits on speculators to try and stem the oil price rise. It’s stupid logic that won’t go away. Bart Chilton... more

Cut The Size of Government

By Jeff Carter (Mar 05, 2012)

Here is a list of stupid things the government spends money on. If we go back over budgets of years past, we would find plenty more stupid things the government wastes money... more

Mussels or Moules Mariniere

By Jeff Carter (Mar 04, 2012)

Drat. The weather turned frightful here in Chicago again. No tornadoes, just that raw numbing cold. I live near the lake. In the summer, the breeze is delightful. In the... more

Fear Mongering on China Debt

By Jeff Carter (Mar 03, 2012)

When you dip a bucket in the ocean and pull out some water, is there a dent in the ocean where you pulled the water out? Of course not. Water runs in and immediately fills... more

The Fed Really Is Out of Bullets

By Jeff Carter (Mar 02, 2012)

Been saying this for a long time. Here, here, and here . The reason I started blogging in the first place was the massive misinformation on economic policy coming out of... more

The Coming Jobs War

By Jeff Carter (Mar 01, 2012)

Have you read this book? I just did. It’s an interesting book. Much of the book is a sales brochure for Gallup’s business. I would disagree with his interpretation of... more

Big Food Must Go: What Will You Eat? Soylent Green?

By Jeff Carter (Feb 29, 2012)

The whole food movement is very interesting to me. Parts of me really empathize with it. I invested in Tallgrassbeef. Farmer’s Markets anywhere are a private love of mine.... more

Is it Frothy or Not? Can You Build A Business?

By Jeff Carter (Feb 28, 2012)

Since so many people are either out of work or leaving the work force, starting their own companies becomes a palatable idea. I was talking with a few friends the past few... more

Why Higher Tax Rates Never Bring in Higher Levels of Revenue

By Jeff Carter (Feb 27, 2012)

Obama has been all out in his assertion that we need to tax the rich to bring in more revenue so that we can get this pesky deficit under control. He doesn’t mention that he... more

Building an Ecosystem Anywhere

By Jeff Carter (Feb 26, 2012)

There is a lot of interest in building entrepreneurial ecosystems. A lot of the interest stems from the job market being so dreadful. I don’t care what the numbers say, it’s... more

Undiversifiable Risk In A Start Up

By Jeff Carter (Feb 25, 2012)

When you invest in a start up company, it’s inherently risky. Heck, I think the odds are about 90% against you from the outset. I asked Steve Kaplan, professor at the... more

High Frequency Trading Fees-The Wrong Approach

By Jeff Carter (Feb 24, 2012)

The SEC is considering ways to curb the effect of high frequency trading on the marketplace. For long time traders, it’s clear that HFT and algo trading have a huge marginal... more

Outrage Over Tax Breaks in Illinois

By Jeff Carter (Feb 23, 2012)

In Crain’s Chicago Business, there was an article that said the $150M in tax breaks for Sears was money poorly spent. “Rather than dole out that $150 million to one big... more

15 Questions The Mainstream Media Would Ask Barack Obama If He Were A Republican

By Jeff Carter (Feb 22, 2012)

If you deny that there is liberal bias in the mainstream media, you are living under a rock. We saw George Stephanopolos take marching orders into debate questioning. The... more

Sky High Gas Prices on Slow Demand

By Jeff Carter (Feb 21, 2012)

Gas deliveries and electronic consumption are have fallen off a cliff. But prices are up, and rising.There is a lot that plays into the gas price, however, the real needle in... more

What it’s Like To Be on a Bombing Raid

By Jeff Carter (Feb 20, 2012)

Last December, I met four of the last five living Doolittle Raiders. It was an amazing experience. I loved their stories. As I reflected back on them, and thought about what... more

Pay No Attention to Debt

By Jeff Carter (Feb 19, 2012)

Debt-schmet. Hey, let’s talk about something else, like contraception. Thanks James Pethokoukis. Ironic a Greek guy would be pointing out the truth on American debt!... more

LIBOR Rate Manipulation

By Jeff Carter (Feb 18, 2012)

Bankers manipulated the LIBOR rate. These are the kinds of things that disgust people about Wall Street. Manipulation makes credible marketplaces look like a sham. For... more

Inflation? Not Just Yet, but It’s Coming

By Jeff Carter (Feb 17, 2012)

PPI was out today, with an increase, but less than expected. Jobless claims were down. The labor participation rate is the lowest it has been. These are data points. There... more

The Price of A Gallon of Gas

By Jeff Carter (Feb 16, 2012)

Gas prices are up over the last three years. There are economic reasons why, and it’s not demand driven. A lot goes into the price of a gallon of gas. They are talking $4... more

Austerity Won’t Hurt the US

By Jeff Carter (Feb 15, 2012)

Headlines all over are cropping up about how the Greek economy is shrinking by leaps and bounds. Portugal’s economy is contracting. Spain, contracting. It’s all because of... more

Joe Six Pack Could Become Extinct

By Jeff Carter (Feb 14, 2012)

Many don’t understand Ronald Coase’s Nobel Prize theorem because of the math. It seems non-sensical. Why should a farmer pay a train line not to run trains? That makes no... more

The Buck Never Stops With Them

By Jeff Carter (Feb 13, 2012)

From a friend in Washington: Former OMB Director and White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew did the full tour of all five Sunday shows this morning, failing on each show to... more

Speedy Trading Screws Up The Market

By Jeff Carter (Feb 12, 2012)

To long time market watchers, the story I linked to in Breakfast Links and am writing about now is no surprise. High Frequency Trading screws up the way markets trade. A... more

Profting from Disruption

By Jeff Carter (Feb 11, 2012)

A lot of times when you listen to entrepreneurs speak, they talk about disruption. When VC’s make speeches, they talk about investing in disruption. Disruption is an overused... more

Hey Republicans, Forget About The Gipper

By Jeff Carter (Feb 10, 2012)

Been reading some blogs here and there. The big CPAC convention is in Washington DC this weekend. All the major domo conservatives will be there to give speeches and network.... more

Diversity and Board of Directors

By Jeff Carter (Feb 09, 2012)

There has been a lot of blather about Facebook’s upcoming IPO. Many are critical of Facebook because they don’t have anyone other than white men on their board. Those critics... more

Crowdfunding

By Jeff Carter (Feb 08, 2012)

One of the latest trends in financing for start ups is crowd funding. Various websites are trying to tap into the social media craze by establishing a social funding network... more

The Value of Money

By Jeff Carter (Feb 07, 2012)

Over the past several years the Federal Reserve has pushed down the value of the dollar. This has caused a lot of consternation, and enabled a political candidate, Ron Paul,... more

Teaching Entrepreneurship

By Jeff Carter (Feb 06, 2012)

Can you teach entrepreneurship? It’s an often asked question. Years ago, we believed that great entrepreneurs were born, not made. The reality was that there was someone in... more

Facebook and Twitter and Instagram

By Jeff Carter (Feb 05, 2012)

Just a quick anecdotal thought. The more I speak with younger people, and I am talking people under the age of 30, the more I am hearing that they are using Facebook($FB)... more

Innovation is Commercialization of Invention

By Jeff Carter (Feb 04, 2012)

Yesterday found me at a lunchtime talk by Professor Raj Echambadi of the University of Illinois College of Business. He did a short presentation on innovation within... more

A Social Media Primer For Neophytes-How To Populate Your iPad or Tablet

By Jeff Carter (Feb 03, 2012)

There has been an explosion in social media networks over the past ten years. The younger set gets it, and aggressively uses them. The older set may or may not. I know quite... more

The Santelli Exchange

By Jeff Carter (Feb 02, 2012)

Was on Rick Santelli’s show today. I wore the bow tie because Steve Liesman wore one when he portrayed a “conservative economist” in his spiel on the Fed. Why they haven’t... more

Twitter and Facebook, Why Twitter Might Be Worth More In The Long Run

By Jeff Carter (Feb 01, 2012)

Was reading Fred Wilson’s blog on Twitter and started scrolling through the comments. It was pretty interesting to see people’s reactions to the video he posted and their... more

Truth is MF Global Stole $1.2 Billion

By Jeff Carter (Jan 31, 2012)

Read an article in the WSJ that the $1.2 Billion of customer funds that are missing will never be recovered. Sad news indeed. However, why are the reporters sugar coating... more

Where Do I Put My Cash?

By Jeff Carter (Jan 30, 2012)

There is a nice little debate happening in the halls of corporate America that reflects the debate going around kitchen tables across America today. Where do I put my cash?... more

Jimmy Carter on Faith and Politics

By Jeff Carter (Jan 29, 2012)

This morning, I am on the Mike and Gina Spehn Show. You can click this link and listen. They interviewed for President Jimmy Carter about how faith played into his... more

Rhetoric Misunderestimated

By Jeff Carter (Jan 27, 2012)

This is a fun quiz. Listed below are 10 direct quotes. You have to guesswhich American politician said it. Your four choices are: Former Alaska Governor Sarah PalinFormer... more

The January Market

By Jeff Carter (Jan 26, 2012)

There seems to be a lot of bad news in the market on a macro sense. I have seen some articles where Greece is near total collapse. The Euro situation doesn’t look good. In... more

Romney Tax Returns Show Liberal Stupidity on Taxes

By Jeff Carter (Jan 25, 2012)

Was reading an article in a left wing paper about the Romney tax return. Once you get through how the author of the article tries to shock you with the numbers, you begin to... more

The Poison Pill for the Payroll Tax Cut

By Jeff Carter (Jan 25, 2012)

On 23 December 2011, the Republican party majority in the U.S. House of Representatives caved in on its opposition to President Obama and the Democratic party majority in the... more

What To Do About The Great American Divide

By Jeff Carter (Jan 24, 2012)

Charles Murray penned a good article on the new America this weekend. It brings together a lot of statistics, but the solution to those statistics probably make most people... more

Chinese Manufacturing vs US Innovation

By Jeff Carter (Jan 23, 2012)

Long article in the New York Times this morning on Apple($AAPL), American jobs, corporate greed and the global economy. After reading it, you lose hope. You shouldn’t. Steve... more

High-Tech Trading Manipulates Markets

By Jeff Carter (Jan 22, 2012)

This came across my desk the other day. It’s a standard release from an exchange to its members. In this case, it happens to be CME ($CME), but it could be any US... more

Do The Rich Pay More Taxes?

By Jeff Carter (Jan 21, 2012)

The short answer is sure they do. They have more income so they pay more taxes. Statistically, the upper income earners pay almost 100% of the taxes to the federal... more

Democrats Seek to Establish "Reasonable Profits" Boards for Energy Companies

By Jeff Carter (Jan 20, 2012)

This is truly amazing to me and gives you a clear plate glass window view of the Democratic thought process. They want to establish a “Reasonable Profits Board” for energy... more

Stop SOPA Now; Why It’s Important To The Average Joe

By Jeff Carter (Jan 19, 2012)

You might not of heard of SOPA. Stop Online Piracy Act. The sentiment for the law comes from people on the internet that steal content. They steal songs, movies, and other... more

M-O-O-D in the U-S-A

By Jeff Carter (Jan 18, 2012)

It’s awful tough to make a generalization on the mood of an entire nation, especially one as diverse as the US. However, there are enough clues out there with a common thread... more

The Keynesian School of Economics Leads to Violence

By Jeff Carter (Jan 17, 2012)

We are seeing the end game played out over and over in different cultures all over the world. There is one thread of similarity. All of them have practiced Keynesian... more

The Denigration of Tebow the Christian

By Jeff Carter (Jan 16, 2012)

I guess I don’t understand all the Tebow hype. The kid had a great college career and is now in the learning process of becoming an NFL QB. He is not unlike a lot of kids... more

Now We Will See The Real Obama and it Will Get Ugly

By Jeff Carter (Jan 14, 2012)

Bill Daley leaving the Obama administration was big news for ten minutes. But as my friend Streetwise Professor and I discussed on Twitter after the news broke, this really... more

London Metals Exchange On The Block

By Jeff Carter (Jan 13, 2012)

The LME is on the block. Stymied by banks in the last couple of years to grow their business through new innovation, exchanges are being forced back into the consolidation... more

Odds And Ends

By Jeff Carter (Jan 11, 2012)

-I have been busy doing a million things this year so far that don’t put in cash in my back pocket but do give me a lot of good information. Here are some odds and ends that... more

So What If Romney Failed?

By Jeff Carter (Jan 10, 2012)

Lately, Republican candidates are taking shots at Mitt Romney because in his private equity life he had some failures. Democrats have made no secret that they are going to go... more

So You Wanna Be a Trader

By Jeff Carter (Jan 09, 2012)

From time to time, people contact me and ask me how to get into the trading business. They have taken a class in college, or they have talked to someone, or even seen video... more

The Rise of Santorum

By Jeff Carter (Jan 08, 2012)

Rick Santorum is rising. He has momentum after his Iowa primary finish. What he had was luck. The volatile crowd of people in the Republican party trying on different... more

Columbia Teaches How to "Occupy" at $5001.09

By Jeff Carter (Jan 06, 2012)

Recently, Columbia University in New York proposed offering a class in Occupy Wall Street. I suppose the class will teach people how to camp out in a city... more

An Entrepreneurial Desert

By Jeff Carter (Jan 05, 2012)

Suppose you want to get an entrepreneurial ecosystem started and you currently have a desert. Where do you start? Starting something from scratch is challenging, but it’s... more

A Case For Rick Perry or Mitt Romney

By Jeff Carter (Jan 04, 2012)

Many point to the fact that different Republican candidates have captured our fancy over the past few months as a sign of weakness. In fact, it’s a sign of strength. Everyone... more

Stimulus and Debt are Manna From Heaven

By Jeff Carter (Jan 03, 2012)

It’s sometimes actually worth your time to pay some attention to debates that happen within academic circles. Not the debates in the philosophy departments, those are so Left... more

Cheating Rampant on College Tests

By Jeff Carter (Jan 02, 2012)

What if the test score that you post on a standardized test wasn’t a true measure of your intelligence? Admissions offices tend to correlate intelligence with standardized... more

Happy New Year; Now Remove that Sticker

By Jeff Carter (Jan 01, 2012)

Happy New Year to you. What a long strange trip 2011 has been. I am glad that you came and participated in this blog. I started this thing in January 2010. It’s hard to... more