What does Citibank, Chase, BofA, [insert generic evil bank here] know about you?

This fascinating article(New York Times Magazine) scratches the surface into how credit card issues are mining your historical transactions and making conclusions on the basis of that data. Since banks employ loads of smart researchers and Ph.Ds, we probably shouldn't be surprised that the data is being used in tihs fashion.

I'm split on this. My "consumer rights" half doesn't like that my interest rates may shoot up because I purchased chrome accessories for my (non-existent) car. Apparently data from a Canadian bank has shown that people that purchase chrome accessories are way more likely to default on their debt. Since I like chrome accessories, should I have to pay for their sins???

On the other hand, as somebody that is fascinated with new uses of data (wow, I really am geeky), I'm fascinated by the fact that we can make reasonably reliable inferences about somebody's personality from their purchasing history.

I'd be interested to learning more about their methods, or even finding some sample data to play with. Either way, expect more of this in the future....

here's the article in the New York Times Magazine. Found via NPR's Planet Money Podcast and Blog.

The Return of Little Mac

This is so completely awesome, that only Maryland State Senator "shee-it" Clay Davis's words can describe it....

"Dance like a fly. Bite like a mosquito."

David vs. Goliath

Malcolm Gladwell's take on the underdog syndrome....

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/11/090511fa_fact_gladwell

538's Nate Silver Interviewed by the Economist

I'm a huge fan of FiveThirtyEight.com, and while I don't always agree with Nate's conclusion, I respect his analysis and the process that he takes to reach the conclusions.

Although I'm not a statistician, and I received a very mediocre grade in my undergrad stats classes, I find his method interesting, and its actually convinced me to buy a stats book to learn more (of course, I haven't opened the book yet...but buying is the first step). 

He's in this week's Economist (another favorite of mine), and you can catch the interview online...check it out:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2009/05/seven_questions_for_nate_silve.cfm

Trouble Understanding the Recession?

Join the club....

I work for a consulting firm, I invest my money in the stock market, and I like to think that I kinda know what's happening on Wall Street, but the reality is....I don't know jack squat!

In an attempt to protect my dwindling investable assets and actually do something useful with my google-search skills (can i put this on my resume?  "able to search the google better than 95% of the general population"), I embarked on a journey to learn more.

I trolled through the Wall Street Journal, but found the information either too basic (i.e. Obama is going to tax us, we are f'd) or too technical (i.e. "LIBOR is down 0.000045%", but not really explaining why I care about the London Interbank Offered Rate).  The Economist was decent, but still not really what I was looking for.  And articles in Forbes and Fortune proved fruitless as well.

After almost giving up hope, I chanced upon a site that I now consider my holy grail for understanding the financial crisis.

http://baselinescenario.com/


Written by a combo of MIT Sloan Prof, London School of Economics Prof, and former McKinsey consultant, the Baseline Scenario gets really technical, but also does a great job of explaining the logic behind the numbers.


I'm slowly going through their "Financial Crisis for Beginners" series of posts, and its been very educational.

check it out if you've got the time and interest....and are sick of checking wikipedia for arcane definitions.....

538.com's Ben Silver take on the Economic Crisis

Being a political junkie, I religiously followed and tracked the very excellent fivethirtyeight.com during the last election. 


538 pairs the most recent polls with some strong statistical analysis to forecast and predicts local, state, and national elections.  And he (Ben Silver) has an amazing track record.

Before politics, he used his data analysis skills to make a killing in fantasty football and baseball. 

the man is a genious with excel, and he has an interesting take on the current economic climate.  check it out, its in Esquire magazine

Forbes as the contrarian

With Obama in the White House, Batman still pissed off, and Blago safely away from power, most pundits and newsfolk consider Chicago to be on the rise.

Not so fast.....Forbes points out some of Chicago's pitfalls

the weather is awesome for 2 months of the year..and sucks the rest.

the cubs are in first place all season, to blow it in the playoffs

we have public transportation, but its slow (still beats Boston in my opinion!)

yes Chicago has its drawbacks and teases...but, I still don't think it belongs on a list entitled "America's Most Miserable Cities".

Here's the full list:

1. Stockton, CA
   
2. Memphis, TN
3. Chicago, IL 
4. Cleveland, OH 
5. Modesto, CA 
6. Flint, MI 
7. Detroit, MI 
8. Buffalo, N.Y. 
9. Miami, FL 
10. St. Louis, MO

 check out the article here

Do we need a new web?

In today's wall street journal, L. Gordon Crovitz argues that the country (and especially the financial sector) would benefit from a complete redesign of the web.

In the article, futurist (side note - coolest job ever...the dude just lays around thinking about the future) Ray Kurzweil explains that the web currently doesn't have a relationship database structure that can be easily queried.  So instead of having information freely available to all, and being accessed and used in ways well beyond its original intentions, we have a bunch of fractured databases in propreitary formats.

As a wanna-be data junkie (you hear that Chicago Booth!!!), I like the idea of having tons of raw data available to people that want to use it.  But this article was way too simplistic, and I'd want some more details about this new web and how we can use it to spurn innovation...

either way, its an interesting and quick read..check it out here

Newest obsession - everyblock

Everyblock.com is an incredibly innovative (and creepy) new obsession of mine.  This site gathers data from both public and private sources and provides news updates for each and every block of your city.
So far, the site has indexed the following cities:

• Boston
• Charlotte
• Chicago
• Los Angeles
• Miami
• New York
• Philadelphia
• San Fransisco
• San Jose
• Seattle
• Washington, D.C.

So, if your city is listed...start checking out news for your street!  For my street, the news wasn't the most excited.....a couple restaurants were reviewed by yelp, another restaurant successfully passed a city health inspection, and a apartment rental owner was able to refinance their debt...

but, the site is very promising, and I will be scanning for updates regularly..

check it out at www.everyblock.com

random links...Cihcago edition

corruption in chicago...why? [slate.com]

I hate ORD...now I know why....[msnbc]

Michigan Alum (and huge benefactor)...and Chicago Cubs and Tribune owner Sam Zell has fallen on some hard times.....2 articles about his downfall [the big money]  [slate]

lots of articles about the most imfamous Governor in America.....cnn, fox news, and google news have them covered.....

Great Write-up of the Mumbai Terror Attacks

Normally I don't recommend using the Wall Street Journal as a good source of non-financial news.  Reporting is typically skewed towards only the business impact, and the editorial section is litered with advice for President Obama from people like Karl Rove.

Thus, I was shocked and awed (yes - I still use this lame term....5 years after it went out of style) that the WSJ had the most comprehensive reporting of the recent Mumbai terror attacks. 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122809281744967855.html

The article is chilling, comprehensive, and very detailed.   check it out.....

random links.....

Chicago = the new New York?  [ny times]

RIP Circuit City....yes, it was my first "real" job (no, that week at BK doesn't count!) [time.com]

How many Manny's are at your firm?  How do you manage Manny?  Do you let Manny just be Manny?  [fastcompany.com]

Detroit's loss in Washington = our collective gain??? [salon.com]

Confessions of an economic hit man [cnet.com]

The secret of Google's success....and yes, they completely rule my world [techcrunch.com]

random links...

the secret of apple's success?  [why apple is great at interfaces]

change is good!  here are some things that President Obama should change [business pundit.com]

with your help, my blog will one day appear on this list!  [top 11 lamest blogs]

 you know these, I know these......[the 100 greatest movie lines]

Michael Lewis (Liar's Poker, The Blind Side) writes about wall street.  its long, but interesting [the end of wall street's boom]

random links...

I absolutely violate all these "blogging" rules....does your blog?  [10 mistakes that are killing your blog]

maybe the next book that I'll read....something about a guy starting with nothing and working his way up (no, his name is not Michael J. Fox) [scratch beginnings]

how will President Obama give back to old Chicago?  [time magazine]

i've been way too focused on the near future (business school)...maybe I should pay attention to the present [setting goals for the present, not the future]

for my single friends....the best cities in the world [matador network]

random links

still recovering from the Michigan loss....so here are some links...

10 secrets of networking.....by Keith Farazzi [inc magazine]

sick CEO's.....as an investor, what's your move? [freakanomics blog]

10 reasons you aren't rich....[thestreet.com]

why bank online?  hm....free atms, higher interest rate, no lines.......once you've decided to move online, here's how to choose the right ebank (i use and love Schwab) [dumb little man]

wrapping up my olympic coverage:

who is the world's fastest runner?  (hint, it may not be Bolt) [freakanomics blog]

google...helping people win gold medals.  [tech crunch]

Ohio State - its ok to lose the BCS title game.. That, and more college football lessons from the Olympics [college football news]

random links...

happy birthday James Bond.....[bbc online]

since its convention time, a hard look at Obama's seemingly offsetting economic views [ny times]

everybody knows who Michael phelps is....he's the reason the Michigan ranked #9 on the top Olympic schools in the US.  here's the full list [forbes]

why does WR#1 keep dropping the easy passes, but making the tough ones???  Oh, he's actually Braylon Edwards (Michigan WR 2001-2004).  hate the naming conventions in EA Sports' NCAA Football?  Check these guys out.  [arstechnica]

uncovering issues at Apple seems to be all the rage these days. here's Slates's report [slate]

need to keep unengaged consultants (from PwC) and economists busy?  tie Olympic performance to esoteric economic statistics and see how they did.  [slate]

assorted links

I'm going to be out of commission the next few days (recovering from getting my wisdom teeth out), so this list is going to be extra long!

 The roots and Gym Class heroes in Chicago!  Any interest??? [live nation]

don't fuck with the Soviet Union..esp if you are Polish [reuters]

I've already read 9 of the 30, looks like some long reading ahead....how many have you read? [marc and angel]

Big Brother isn't the federal government, its your ISP!  [slate magazine]

bored at work?  see what you'd look like as a long haired hippe!  [tech crunch]

I love lists, so here's 4 good ones:

  10 rules for investing from a Merrill Lynch legend [the big picture]

  8 essential skills they don't teach you in school [lifehack.org]

   7 powerful ways to get the most out of any situation [zenhabits]

   5 reasons to write down what you eat [dumb little man]


Finally, confirmation (no matter what some rigged poll says) that the Michigan winged helmet is in fact the best in the nation [espn on youtube]

random links

Paging Dave Robicheaux!  This is the plot from the "Tin Roof Blowdown" [bbc online]

we already have the CIA, FBI, and mossad...do we really need a TSA secret spy service?? [msnbc]

more fakery from the Opening Ceremony.  The way things are going, a month from now, we'll learn that the Olympics never actually happened....[irish times]

R.I.P. album covers.....wihtout you, I would have never bought Nirvana's Nevermind [gigwise]

Right now, Blackberry > iPhone.  Here's how to keep it that way...[arstechnica]

More olympic questions.....why so few medals for India?  [marginal revolution]

random links

I want my startup to end up in google's empire...don't i?  [Slate Magazine]

what would you do if diagnosed with an incurable terminal illness?  probably not more than this guy.  [Putting Things Off]

Chicago isn't considered a very spiritual city (must be the Weiner Cirle).....these 5 cities are worth fighting for.  [Brave new traveler]

I'm not really pro-war, but this is pretty frickin cool.....[bbc online]

I want #16, 26, 35, 40, and 48.  Which championships would you want?  [espn page 2]

put down that book!  turn on the TV!  don't you realize that books are rotting your mind!!! [io9]

random links

A preview of President Obama's cabinet.  Fox News is ready to explode [link]

Is the downturn contained to only 2 sectors..[link] found via [abnormal returns]

This guy has earned his commission....portfolio turnover twice a day?  [link] found via [abnormal returns]

If you can train cops how to do their job, you can get a prison break [link] found via [fark]

Suffering from Tech-overload......see inside [link]

Even without Radiohead's score, Chuck Palahniuk's Choke is going to rock....[link]