Profiling has hit the CEO ranks hard.

Statistically speaking, David Bates had all the earmarks of a potential criminal: he was well-groomed, between the ages of 35 and 55, drove a luxury car, wore a suit, smiled at odd times, and said very little of substance. He was, in short, a likely corporate executive, and to police, that was reason enough.

Focusing on those "statistically proven to most likely to put the public at risk," police officers across the country have begun randomly stopping and questioning Executive Americans, searching for evidence of insider trading, phony bank account numbers, or incriminating memos to clients. Often unable to find anything, they usually release their "suspects," but not before "accidentally" scattering the contents of their briefcases to the winds.

Blogger has been acting up and that is why my posts have been delayed. The new server is up now so everything should be cool. Thanks for letting me know the posts weren't publishing cause I thought everything was cool.

Time to Buy????

Art Laffer, in the Wall Street Journal today, threw out 48% for stocks being undervalued and Larry Kudlow threw out 40% in this article.

For those who still despair at a lack of good news, please read Michael Mandel's latest Business Week article. It shows that productivity, incomes, wages and real stock prices are still considerably higher than they were in 1995. The basket of bad corporate apples may be turning into a barrel, but underlying prosperity trends are still in place.

For those who still hold to the longer-term view of personal finance, which is the key to successful investing, today's market averages look to be nearly 40 percent undervalued.

For those policymakers among you, a 4 percent economy could be turned into a 6 percent economy over the next few years if the government would re-liquify the gold price to $350 (or even $400), eliminate the double taxation of dividends, lower the capital gains tax and accelerate planned income-tax cuts. Add to that the elimination of the steel tariff and a once-and-for-all dead Osama bin Laden, and we'll be sitting pretty.

ADHD any one?


By drugging these children into complacency, the pharmaceutical companies give order to the chaos of childhood and make lots of money. Just one thing: A recent study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that the chief medication prescribed for treating ADHD, Ritalin, has addictive qualities and cardiac side effects similar to those of cocaine. Nonetheless, "production of Ritalin has increased more than sevenfold in the past eight years, and 90 percent of it is consumed in the U.S.," reports Time magazine.

"There are going to be some happy rats tonight." -- Bud Schardein, executive director of Louisville's Metropolitan Sewer District, on a spill at a distillery for Southern Comfort that poured 1,500 gallons of the liquor into the sewer system.

Here is my new ride.

Stats from Blog reader and one time Nova player John Picone aka The Kid.

Hitting.340 but we would like to see some more RBIs. We will check back with him later in the season and see if he can tear it up in Boston.

I need a thoughtful reply to Paul's post on my post on the Grand Theft Auto 3 ban in Australia. Look for a reply when I have a chance.

Michael Lewis, the author of the classic Liar's Poker, offers his take on the current corporate scandals.

Those of us who have been puzzled for years by the cult of the CEO, and watched in horror as people who were meant to lead others in a cause greater than themselves instead took as much loot as they could for themselves, wondered when, if ever, the process would reverse itself. It just did.