Month: October 2008
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Hedge Gates
My current understanding of the typical hedge fund is that there are certain dates when you are permitted to request a redemption. The hedge fund must then give you your money back within six to eight weeks. Some hedge funds have gates, which are limits on the amount of money you are permitted to withdraw.…
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Dwarf Pluto
At the Chabot Space and Science Museum this weekend, I saw the first tangible result I’ve seen of the demotion of Pluto: a ruler in the gift shop had the eight planets plus the asteroid belt, but no mention of Pluto. The Tour of the Planets does still mention Pluto, though.
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No Difference?
I watched the vice-presidential debate last night. It was reasonably interesting, but not all that exciting. I was hoping that Sarah Palin would address the obvious impossibility of the U.S. becoming self-sufficient in energy by drilling for more oil, but no such luck; when Joe Biden pointed out the numbers (4% of world oil reserves,…
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Social Friction
One of the general trends in financial systems these days is the removal of friction. It wasn’t all that long ago that stocks were traded by waving pieces of papers in the faces of market makers (does anybody else remember the game Pit?). In fact, some futures markets still work that way. The action could…