Psychology Final Exam

A psychology professor at the University of Miami knew his students expected a terrifyingly long final exam.

To play with their minds a little (what do you expect from a psychology professor?) he only put ONE question on the final exam.

He watched the reactions of the students as they all opened the exams and saw the one question.
Initially they all looked relieved, but as the difficulty of the question began to sink in, those relieved faces sagged to confusion and consternation.

All, that is, except for one student.

He read the question, tapped his pencil into his palm a few times, then jotted something down on the test paper.

He walked up to the professor, handed him the final, and walked out.

The professor blinked in surprise, looked at what the student wrote, and smiled.

The professor wrote "100%" on the top of that student's test.


The question: What is courage?
The student's answer: This is.

Speaker Review: Andrew Ross Sorkin

Recently, I had the fortunate opportunity to attend a lecture by Andrew Ross Sorkin, the author of the famous book, Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the FinancialSystem--and Themselves.  The following morning, I was privileged to be present at a breakfast sponsored by the Association for Corporate Growth in downtown Kansas City where Andrew spoke again.  As many of you know, Sorkin is a financial columnist for The New York Times, co-anchor of CNBC’s Squawk Box, and the founder and editor of DealBook, a financial news service.  

Sorkin started his lecture by stating he wants to have a conversation about the U.S. economy, the financial crisis, and where America is headed in the upcoming years.  Before the conversation started, Sorkin shared the impetus for his book--after a conversation with his wife at 2:30 A.M. amidst the downfall of Lehman Brothers and the bailout of AIG, she told him, “This is like a book.”  During the writing process, Andrew met with an employee from the New York Federal Reserve, who showed him projections of what would happen to unemployment if the government did not pump billions of stimulus dollars into the economy.  The statistics were sobering, with unemployment reaching 24.6% within a year.  As a result of this encounter, Sorkin identifies himself as a Keynesian with regard to economics.  He believes the government needs to spend more infrastructure to stimulate demand.  

He then spoke extensively about the sovereign debt crisis facing Europe.  If Europe’s financial system collapses, the effect will be a global recession.  I’ll be very interested to see how the situation in Greece affects global markets, and whether Portugal, Spain, and Italy will receive bailouts as well. 

As any good speaker does, Andrew ended his speech with a call to action.  He believes Americans need to become more patient, and cited statistics to support his theory that Americans are terse people.  Unquestionably optimistic, Sorkin also believes Americans need to take responsibility for how we got here.  

-The average shareholder is in a company for 2.8 months.

-The average CEO holds the job for 2.1 years    

Sorkin was certainly articulate, and he has a strong command of the English language supplemented by an impeccable ability to recall details.  His journalism background and interest in finance have worked together in tandem to give rise to one of the leading voices of the business world.  

Goldman Sachs and Occupy Wall Street

 

The Occupy Wall Street protests in Zuccotti Park and bulge bracket investment bank Goldman Sachs have come into conflict again.  Earlier in October, New Yorkers received invitations to attend an anniversary dinner at the Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union.  A credit union is a financial institutions that is operated for the purpose of offering credit and loans at competitive rates.  Many credit unions have the goal of community development.

The People’s Federal Credit Union in New York lends to New York’s poor people.  To celebrate its 25th anniversary, it send invitations to the heavy hitters in New York, including Goldman Sachs.  Also invited was “Occupy Wall Street”.  Shortly after Goldman Sachs learned Occupy Wall Street was on the invitation list, it withdrew its name and a $5000 sponsorship from the dinner.

The event is a manifestation of the conflict between bankers, non-profits, and the protestors.  Goldman Sachs told the credit union it doesn’t want to support a protest movement that parades signs demonizing capitalism.  Capital One Bank withdrew its name, but kept its $5,000 pledge.  The hosts and board members of the credit union will need to find another way to cover the $20,000 cost of the dinner. 

Mark Reed, a host committee member who runs a New York based private investment fund that lends to non-profits, said he decided to keep his name on the host list to support the credit union’s 25 years of good work.

Occupy Wall Street finance committee member Pete Dutro said the protestors opened an account at the People’s Federal Credit Union largely because it is a people’s bank.  The group has $450,000 in donations.

Top Football Plays

Last week, Rockhurst football punched its ticket to the Missouri Class 6 playoffs with a thorough 71-10 drubbing of Lee’s Summit North.  KU football has gone from utterly hopeless to absolutely miserable over the past four weeks with embarrassing losses against Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and in-state rival Kansas State.  The Kansas City Chiefs dominated an injury-ridden Oakland Raiders squad and extended their winning streak to three games.

Among the highlights of NFL, NCAA, and high school football games over the weekend were the astounding plays made by individuals, intelligent play calling, and knucklehead streakers.  Here’s what I mean...

Florida Player Leaps 5 Yards into the Endzone
Apopka High wide receiver KJ Dillon scored on one of the more athletic plays you’ll ever see.  When the video is slowed down, you can see KJ take flight from the 5 yard line.  Not surprisingly, Dillon has scholarship offers from West Virginia and Arkansas, and has received interest from Auburn, Clemson, Miami (Fla.), Michigan, and Ohio State. 

Free-Kick Leads To Victory
Only the most avid of football fans know about an obscure rule whereby a team can take a free-kick following a fair catch.  Miami (Fla.) Belen Jesuit Prep trailed Northwestern High 28-27 with less than 30 seconds remaining.  After his team made a fair-catch at the Northwestern 39 yard line, Belen coach Rich Stuart had his team attempt a free kick.  A free kick means a team can attempt a field goal after it fair catches a punt and the opposing team must stand 10 yards away from the line of scrimmage.  The kick is worth three points, just as a normal field goal.  Belen kicker Sergio Sroka drilled the 49 yard kick to give the Wolverines a 30-28.

Michigan State Wins On A Bomb Pass
In the last play of regulation, Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins launched a pass downfield with the scored tied 31-31.  The pass was caught by Keith Nichol who was originally ruled down at the 1 yard line.  After the officials reviewed the play, they ruled that Nichol broke the plane.

Fake Ref and Fight
In the final seconds of Arizona’s 42-7 victory over a hapless UCLA squad, a 22-year-old Jace Lankow sprinted on the field masquerading as a referee and asked for the football.  After the real officials didn’t give the pigskin to him, the young man took off his pants and shirt and proceeded to evade security for about 10 seconds.  Meanwhile, a fight broke out between the UCLA and Arizona players.  Punches were thrown and shoving occurred between both sides.  Eventually, both sidelines emptied onto the field.  The streaker now faces up to 18 months in prison for his actions.

Texas QB Rushes for 560 Yards and 7 Touchdowns
Whitewright High School Tyrone Swoopes has already garnered national attention before his most recent game against Tom Bean High School.  He’s received offers from Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU, Notre Dame, Stanford, and Baylor.  Widely regarded as a dual-threat quarterback, Swoopes rushed for 560 yards and seven touchdowns on a mere 28 carries in a 47-27 victory.  That’s an per carry average of 20 yards.  His tremendous night put him only 27 yards short of the state rushing record currently held by Somerville’s Daryl Ellis.  So far this season, Swoopes has 1,974 overall yards, 25 rushing touchdowns, and 11 passing TDs.  

Markets Are Consistently Inconsistent

The uncertain stock market in recent weeks has provided no consistency for investors.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average (composed of thirty blue-chip stocks) has swung up, then down, then up again for 10 consecutive days, the longest streak since May 2009.  The DJIA is not simply the actual average of the prices of component stocks, but rather the sum of the stocks divided by a divisor.  The divisor changes whenever one of the component stocks has a stock split or issues a stock dividend.  The DJIA had been stagnant between 10700 and 11700 for nearly two months.

The bouts with volatility have resulted in a net gain of 6.2% since October 6, but such gains are often followed by declines in the following three months.  The last time the DJIA experienced such volatility was in the middle of 2009, when it recorded 11 straight days of reversals. 

The S&P 500 has recorded 62 consecutive days in which it has swung by 1% or more during intraday trading.  While the total return on the S&P 500 for the year is -1.8%, the index’s return would be 16% if the three worst days were dropped and -13% if the best three days were eliminated. 

-1450 Points--The DJIA’s trading range since August 9
-10--Number of days the DJIA has closed up, then down, then up, partly caused by uneasiness surrounding European debt
-30--The Chicago Board Options Exchange Market Volatility Index has closed above this level every day but one for 11 weeks.  This index is a popular measure for the volatility of S&P index options. 

How To Kill A Business Starring Netflix and Quixster

Netflix has been in the business news headlines recently for the wrong reasons.    It’s stock price has lost approximately 67% of its value since July, dropping to the current price of $113.27 from $298.73.  How did this happen?  An absolute series of blunders by the top management.

First, two months ago, Netflix increased prices for the second time in less than a year as it divided DVD and streaming services into two separate businesses.  Shortly after, over 1 million left in frustration over the move.  If you want to lose your customer base quickly, raise prices for your loyal customers by 60% as the country is heading into a uncertain economic time. 

CEO Reed Hastings knew the decision would not be popular--he sold off $41 million of stock directly before all the changes in a debatable move that could be considered insider trading.  After Mr. Hastings issued a public apology for raising prices and splitting the DVD and streaming businesses, investors sold off their shares in Netflix rapidly.  The stock has dropped over 30% in the past week.  Selling off $41 million of your own stock before making widespread changes to your business is a questionable move from any CEO. 

For now, our family has canceled the DVD by mail option and sticking with the streaming option.  I will immediately inform the higher-ups that pay the bills if I find a company that offers a wider selection and variety of movies and tv shows. 

6 Momentous Events In Social Media History

The phrase "social media history" seems like a bit of a contradiction.  However, you might be surprised to know that social media has been around for 15 years.  Although Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter are the main players in the social media realm, other companies developed the critical concepts while Mark Zuckerberg was still in grade school.

1994: TheGlobe.com is founded.
Cornell students Stephan Paternot and Todd Krizelman founded TheGlobe.com.  The basic concept was a web site where every user profile could be personalized along with chat rooms and messaging options.  When TheGlobe sold stock to the public in November 1998, it posted the largest first-day gain of any IPO in history to that date--606% over the initial share price.  Unfortunately, the website failed to generate significant advertising revenue, and finally died in 2008.

1994: GeoCities invents user-created content
The now defunct website-host GeoCities provided customizable “home pages” for anyone.  This marked the first time everyday users could generate and post content on the internet.  GeoCities was acquired by Yahoo! and then closed in 2009.  Its main competitor Angelfire was founded in 1996, and still exists.

1999: LiveJournal Hits The Market
Online diary keeping officially started with the introduction of LiveJournal, the first blogging site.  Its main competitor Blogger is the host site for Joe’s Musings.  LiveJournal failed to keep pace with Blogger, and in 2009, most of its U.S. staff were laid off and remaining operations were moved to Russia.

2002: Friendster Invents Friending
Did you think Facebook was the only website where you can add friends?  Think again.  In 2002, Friendster allowed users to collect “friends”.  Facebook utilized this model and quickly eclipsed Friendster in 2004.  Friendster officially closed and deleted its users’ accounts in May 2011, vowing to reopen as a Asia-focused gaming site.

2004: Facebook Dominates
Founded in a Harvard dormroom, Facebook has quickly become the largest social media site on the internet with over 750 million users.  Facebook is simple to use and many companies now have a page or an app.  The company is expected to go public in 2012.

2006: Twitter Reinvents the Blog
Twitter is a simplified form of blogging that limits its users to 140 characters per “tweet”.  The website now offers retweets, mentions, and a following service.  The model Twitter uses is ingenious because it allows people to keep a blog without writing at length. 

What is strategic communication?

The fields of business and communication have significant overlap, particularly in the area of strategic communication.  You might have heard of someone who actually majors in strategic communications, but have no idea what it is or what it means.  Strategic communications infuses communication efforts with an organization’s agenda and master plan.  Miami University defines it as the study of how organizations and individuals use communication to negotiate their role in society.  This means how a company or government interacts with the media, industry analysts, customers, and employers. 

The strategic element comes into play when a business treats media relations and press releases as fully integrated and consistent with the firm’s goals.  It deals with how a business uses communications to achieve a particular goal.   

The people at the top of the organizational hierarchy must drive and engage the strategic communication process.  It is the leader’s responsibility to ensure that the organization’s actions are consistent with its words.  

In the context of a business, the purposes of strategic communications is to promote the public perception of the company, to reduce the cost of doing business, and to support marketing efforts.  Instead of trying to get as much media coverage as possible, businesses focus on how its core message supports its business strategy across the board.  For instance, a company might deliver different messages to its shareholders, employees, and customers, a move that might seriously damage its credibility.  If a business wants to build credibility, it should strive to present the right message to target audience through the most appropriate media in order to help achieve the company’s goals.

I realize that you probably have not read this far in this post because when most people hear “strategic communications”, their eyes immediately glaze over.  However, how a firm interacts with external actors can have a huge impact on profitability, perception, and the extent to which a company is able to accomplish its goals.

How Accounting Environments Differ Internationally

Accounting is the language of business, but what happens when you expand your business into areas that speak different languages?  What happens when the language of business is not the same in one country as it is in another?  Differences in accounting procedures and reporting policies can pose significant problems for international businesses.

Just as a country’s business environment is reflective of the cultural, legal, and political factors within a country, so are the accounting standards.  For example, in the United States and United Kingdom, accounting procedures are developed by independent boards such as the UK Accounting Standards Board and FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board).  Each board works with professional accounting groups to determine which policies and practices are optimal.  The result has been the so-called generally accepted accounting practices (GAAP) that provide a true and fair view of a firm’s performance based on the standards agreed upon by these professional boards.  GAAP are flexible, and often times, accountants have leeway to exercise their professional judgment in reporting a firm’s performance.  


Conversely, countries that use code law are likely to codify their national accounting procedures.  For example, France’s code law system and longstanding tradition of a powerful central government have impacted the decision for French firms to use a national uniform chart of accounts.  In this system, all corporate accounting records must be officially registered with the government.  Larger French firms are also required to publish a “social balance sheet” that outlines treatment and compensation of employees.

International political ties are important factors in determining a country’s accounting procedures.  Most members of the former British empire have adopted the accounting principles of the United Kingdom while former colonies of France and the Netherlands have opted to use those of their previous rulers.  For instance, the accounting procedures of the Phillippines closely mirror those of the United States because the US controlled that economy from 1898 to 1946.

The important takeaway is that political, cultural, legal, and economic forces can have a remarkable impact on accounting systems internationally.  These forces affect the way accountants treat different accounting issues, impact a firm’s reported profits, the value of firm’s assets, the firm’s tax liability, and its decision to begin or continue operations in a country.

NBA Star Understands Personal Finance

There are a number of sobering statistics regarding how professional athletes lose their fortunes.  A 2009 Sports Illustrated Article reports that:

-Within 2 years of retirement, 78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupts or are under financial stress because of joblessness or divorce.
-Within 5 years of retirement, an estimated 60% of former NBA players are broke.
-Numerous retired MLB players have had their fortunes ruined, and the current economic crisis is taking a toll on some active players as well

Why do these athletes lose obscene amounts of money?  They ignore the advice of financial advisors and spend lavishly.  However, there’s one example of an athlete that is investing in the future.
As you know, the NBA is currently engaged in a collective bargaining lockout between the players and the owners.  The 2011-12 season is in jeopardy and players have been forced to find different ways to spend their time.  Many are practicing with professional teams overseas, but one NBA player is making an impressive career exploration.

According to Yahoo! Sports, Philadelphia 76ers player Andre Iguodala recently spent time as an intern with Merrill Lynch.  During his tenure, he shadowed a venture capitalist  His goal is to learn enough about finance and investing to prevent his own money from going down the tubes.  If the lockout continues, he is considering taking a separate internship with a hedge fund or investment bank. 
“I understand that basketball is a small window.  The things I’m getting from basketball..I want to stretch it out my whole life...I’ve always had an interest in what was going on in the market.  I have a couple of teammates who are into it.  I always read the Wall St. Journal, and I have an E-Trade account, so the interest in finance has always been there”, Iguodala said.

It’s refreshing to see athletes taking an interest in a backup plan.  Given this information, Andre is probably part of the 40% who will have money within 5 years of retirement.  Kudos to Andre!

Steve Jobs and His Management Style

I can’t add a lot to the commentary surrounding the death of Steve Jobs.  When a man of his prestige and accomplishment dies, the media tells the stories fast.  I do have some thoughts on his legacy as a manager.  Mr. Jobs was considered an outlier in management.  His leadership philosophy was simultaneously admired, criticized, questioned, and respected. 

If there was no parking spots close to Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, Mr. Jobs was known to pull into a handicapped space and hustle into work.  Employees stuck notes under his windshield wiper: “Park Different”, mimicking Apple’s Think Different advertising slogan.  The employees also converted the wheelchair symbol on the pavement into a Mercedes logo.    

This parking anecdote reflects the management style of Steve Jobs: for him, the regular rules didn’t apply.  Management experts simply couldn’t fit him into a category.  You can say some things about the way he managed.  He put people at the center, but he never created a freewheeling organization where ideas flew from the bottom up.  In fact, he was a notorious micromanager.  Every product that left Cupertino met Job’s demanding standards.  He was known to scrutinize everything from the number of pixels to the number of screws on the bottom of a laptop.  Jobs was able to inspire astounding effort yet he was known to demean people, even making some of them cry. 

Mr. Jobs created products that were intuitive and made sense to people.  The iPod and the iTunes store gave users an easy way to access the world of music.  The iPhone and apps transformed smart phones from device used for business to a object for entertainment.  He injected meaning and creativity into products in a way that Microsoft could never quite master.  He mastered culture and people rather than focusing exclusively on technical details and engineering.  Jobs was a renaissance man--he was able to skillfully blend liberal arts and technology.  

One example is his insistence on keeping Apple’s software tied to its hardware.  Even when Amazon.com started selling songs that could be played on any MP3 player and Android was designed to work on any participating headset, Apple stuck to this strategy.  If you want to hear iTunes on the go, you need to listen to them on your iPod or iPhone.  Do you want to have an OS X operating system?  You’ll have to purchase a Mac. 

University of Kansas Finance Scholars Visit Chicago

I am forever grateful to the University of Kansas for many things, including the opportunity to travel to Chicago and partake in on-site visits to a selection of America's largest financial institutions.  As a member of a unique program called the Finance Scholars, I will be fortunate to see the inner workings of the Chicago Board of Trade, Baird, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, MB Financial, and Morningstar over the next three days.    

The headlines recently have been dominated by the Occupy Wall Street protests against the evils and perils of capitalism.  I will be curious to see if any of the shenanigans have spread to the financial center in the Midwest.  Say what you will about these protestors--they feel frustrated at the lack of social mobility and economic opportunity in America.  I don't have a strong opinion either way, although I'd love to hear the rationale behind the protests.  The United States is one of the world's best places for innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic growth.  Today, I wanted to profile the companies we will be visiting.   

Chicago Board of Trade

The CBOT is the world's oldest futures and options exchange.  Established in 1848, the Chicago Board of Trade originally traded only agricultural commodities such as wheat, corn, and soybeans.  Since then, the trading has expanded to include financial contracts and electronic trading.   Specifically, bonds, derivatives, futures, and options are bought and sold.  In October 2005, CBOT went public as it shifted from a non-profit to a for-profit organization.  Perhaps the most distinctive features are the pits-- octagonal structures where the outrageous yelling and outcry take place.  Traders use their hands to indicate an intention to buy or sell, and then yell the price and desired quantity of contracts.     

Baird

Known as one of the premier investment banks off Wall Street, Baird offers wealth management, capital markets, asset management, and private equity services to clients worldwide.  Along with $90 billion in assets, Baird has provided advising services on 735 mergers and acquisitions with a total value of $135 billion.  Among Baird's target industries are technology, industrial, consumer goods, healthcare, real estate, and manufacturing.  In 2010, Baird ranked #11 on CNN Money's 100 Best Companies To Work For list.  

Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is the investment banking and wealth management division of Bank of America.  Prior to 2009, Merrill Lynch existed as its own separate company.  In November 2007, Merrill Lynch announced it would write-down $8.4 billion in losses associated with the subprime mortgage crisis.    To compensate for the losses, the firm sold its commercial finance arm to General Electric and sold off its shares of stock in Temasek Holdings in an effort to raise capital.  The two deals raised over $6 billion.  In September 2008, Bloomberg reported that Merrill Lynch had lost $51.8 billion in mortgage-backed securities as result of the national housing crisis.  These losses, coupled with significant drops in value of its collateralized debt obligations caused Bank of America to purchase Merrill Lynch for $50 billion, and became the investment and corporate banking arm of Bank of America.  BofA Merrill Lynch currently provides services in M&A, equity and debt capital markets, lending, trading, risk management, and stock research.

MB Financial

Serving primarily the Chicago area, MB Financial oversees nearly $10 billion in assets.  MB provides services within commercial banking, wealth management, business banking, and real estate financing.  The company also provides deposit and treasury management products and Internet products for businesses.  

Morningstar

Morningstar is an investment research company headquartered in Chicago.  Perhaps the most valuable service Morningstar provides is data on approximately 350,000 stocks and mutual funds.  The Morningstar Style Box has become popularized and regularly used among investors to evaluate both the size (small, medium, or large) and type (value, blend, or growth) of investment.  The Investment Information segment of the business offers data, software, and research products and services to individual investors and institutional clients.  The Investment Management division offers monitoring of mutual funds.     

The Power of Asking Questions

Think back for a moment over your grade school, high school, and even your college years.  How much critical and creative thinking did you do?  Did you simply memorize information so you had the “right” answers to questions, or did you work on asking the right questions?

One lesson I’ve learned in my short life is that learning the art of questioning is just as valuable than the ability to produce answers.  I prefer to study with the students who seek a further understanding than the instructor can put on an exam.  It always impresses me when a student asks a question that starts off with, “What if...”  This demonstrates to me that the student is not simply memorizing one of many possible scenarios. 

It can be so tempting to move on without fully understanding a concept or idea.    Once you make up your mind that you cannot understand something, you have hurt your chances of asking the question that will unlock comprehension for you.  From my observations, students prefer to go for the basic knowledge on Bloom’s taxonomy instead seeking the “whys” and “hows” of a discipline. 

So how then can we be become more skilled at asking questions?  I guarantee you it will not happen overnight.  Becoming better at asking the right questions takes many conversations, reflection, and life experiences. 

In her post, “How To Ask Better Questions”, Judith Ross argues the most effective and empowering questions create value the following ways:
-They create clarity.
-They construct better working relations.
-They help people think analytically and critically.
-They inspire people to reflect and see things in fresh, unpredictable way.
-They encourage breakthrough thinking.
-They challenge assumptions.
-They create ownership of solutions.

Sadly, it is easy to begin implementing proposed answers before we are certain that the right questions has been asked.  We have been programmed to find the “right” answer through standardized tests and multiple choice questions, but many times, a college degree does not equate into being skilled in the discipline of asking the right questions.   

Asking the right questions at the right time will not only make you a better student and a more valuable employee, it will also boost your self-esteem.  If you able to create value through your ability to question, you’ll instill in yourself a sense of your own strength and aptitude.  You’ll gain more confidence and become more competent.   

New Posting Schedule

Greetings all--

I am writing to inform you that the posting schedule will temporarily change from daily to every other day.  The pressures of the interviewing season, school, and student organizations have cut significantly into my free time.  Daily posting will resume as soon as I have the time to produce the high-quality content you have come to enjoy. 

Have a wonderful week!

Joe

Intellectual Rappers

The garbage you hear on the radio that passes itself off as “rap” is rarely indicative of the beauty and intricacy evident in real rap music.  Even though some rap does not contain socially redeeming or intellectually stimulating lyrics, there are a few diamonds in the ruff.  IntelRap (a genre I just made up) is a style that transforms listening to rap into a thought-provoking and reflective activity.

Andre 3000
You might know Andre 3000 as one-half of the critically acclaimed rap duo Outkast.  Although his biggest hits (Hey Ya!, Sorry Ms. Jackson, So Fresh So Clean) are not heavy with intellectual lyrics, he does have a few cerebral tracks in which he explores existential topics and offers unconventional metaphorical language.  “My Favorite Things”, “A Life In the Day of Benjamin Andre”, and “Pink & Blue” are three examples. 

Immortal Technique
His real name is Felipe Andres Coronel, and this Afro-Peruvian rapper focuses venomously on controversial issues in global politics.  His aggressive lyrics are largely centered around class struggle, poverty, religion, government, and institutional racism.  Born in Lima, Peru, “Tech” raised in Harlem, New York.  “You Never Know” and “Dance With The Devil” are the two tracks I would recommend from this obscure, but brilliant rapper.  

Illogic
Even though this Ohio-based underground rap artist is very obscure, his skill with words is second to none.  In his tracks, he discusses religious doctrines, scientific discoveries, and philosophy.  He’s a special talent, and its unfortunate most people have never heard of him.  Check out “1000 Whispers” and “Hate In A Puddle”.

Eyedea
The late Eyedea (Micheal Larsen) was a freestyle battle rapper who hailed from Saint Paul, Minnesota.  His non-battle rhymes have heavy philosophical themes, and are often told in a story format.  He died way too young at the age of 28, but appreciators of deep rap music will forever remember him.

KRS-One
Lawrence Krisna Parker, better known as KRS-One, was a pioneer of IntelRap.  He is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for his work and effort towards the Stop the Violence Movement.  He talks about the importance of knowledge, education, and history in his song “You Must Learn”  In “Philosophical” and “My Philosophy”, KRS-One explores metaphysics, rationality, and meaning. 

Debit Card Blues

Debit card users the latest victims of the commercial banking industry's attempts to raise capital in a struggling economy.  Bank of America announced it will charge millions of customers with a $5 monthly fee to use BofA debit cards, and other large banks are expected to do the same.  The $5 monthly fee will cost a customer $60 per year--roughly two tanks of gas depending on your vehicle's efficiency.  The banks claim the desperate push for revenue is due to new government regulations regarding how much vendors can be charged for debit-card transactions.  The new restrictions on debit-card "swipe fees" are expected to cost US banks $6.6 billion in lost revenue per year.   The new rules cap the fee merchants pay to banks each time a customer pays for something with a debit card at 24 cents.  In other words, through the newly enforced regulation, the banks are being forced to shift the fees from the merchant to the customer.  The so-called Durbin amendment was an attachment to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Wells Fargo, SunTrust, and Chase have already eliminated debit card reward programs.  Citibank is one of the few banks that took a definitive stance against the debit card charge because it realizes doing so will cause customers to be irritated and upset.

The bank's stock prices suffered after the announcements.  Bank of America opened at $6.80 on Tuesday and dropped to $6.12 per share during trading on Friday.  City National Corp. reached $41.24 on Tuesday before closing at $37.77 on Friday.

The regulation is the latest effort by the government to demonize Wall Street.  In reality, these regulations create burdens on business and use taxpayer dollars to enforce.