This is an excellent book. First a little background. In the mid-1990s the hedge fund (hedge funds are pools of money, like mutual funds, that take specific kinds of bets on the stock or bond markets. Some specialize in derivatives, others are short on the market, others are long on the market and still others specialize in bonds) industry began to boom. One of the catalysts to the boom was the establishment of a fund called Long Term Capital.
The fund was established by a group of very smart - Nobel prize winners, MIT mathematicians, Harvard finance gurus and industry heavy weights - people who defected from what is now Citibank. They went out and raised what, at that time, was an unheard of amount of money. They then borrowed against that money and purchased various kinds of bond related derivatives. They took an almost purely mathematical view of the capital markets and built complicated financial models for almost every kind of asset. For example, their models would tell them when German interest rates were abnormally high compared to French interest rates. So they would short French bonds and buy German bonds and make some money on the spread between the two.
In the late 1990s, however, things began to go dramatically wrong. At this point Long Term Capital had investments amounting to about $150 billion. The downward spiral began with the credit crisis precipitated by Russia's default on its international debt and the international community's reaction to the default.
This book is the story of what happened once things started going wrong. The book is well written and reads like a thriller more than a business book. Highly recommended.
1.22.2005
T plus 35 days
We had a wedding meeting tonight to review wedding invitation templates and possible venues.
My idea of emailing the wedding invitation to everyone rather than having one printed fell on deaf ears. I was hoping to pull off a coup similar to not registering for gifts. Alas, failure.
Wedding invitations are complicated. So many decisions. Do not have great fun for such a meeting.
Venues was simple. I voted for the Four Seasons and Mona finally gave in. I had an ace of an argument: there will be a lot of elderly people who will have traveled quite a bit to get to the wedding and it is important that the wedding should be in the hotel where they are staying so that if they need to take a rest they can do so easily.
I've realized that the elderly card can win so many different arguments.
My idea of emailing the wedding invitation to everyone rather than having one printed fell on deaf ears. I was hoping to pull off a coup similar to not registering for gifts. Alas, failure.
Wedding invitations are complicated. So many decisions. Do not have great fun for such a meeting.
Venues was simple. I voted for the Four Seasons and Mona finally gave in. I had an ace of an argument: there will be a lot of elderly people who will have traveled quite a bit to get to the wedding and it is important that the wedding should be in the hotel where they are staying so that if they need to take a rest they can do so easily.
I've realized that the elderly card can win so many different arguments.
T plus greater than fourteen days
It's been pretty smooth sailing since the beginning of the year. I have decided to run the wedding planning like a business. If we need to discuss some wedding plans then we have to schedule a meeting with each other, set an agenda and have the discussion. We are not allowed to discuss the wedding outside the meeting. Otherwise it would take over our lives with constant discussion of this thing or the other thing and I really do not want to become one of those couples who are engrossed in their wedding to the point of nauseating their friends.
The date has been set - September 17th.
In Iranian culture the man pays for the wedding and the bride's wedding dress so my family will be quite involved in the wedding plans. So my sister and Mona have planned a dress shopping trip to New York in February.
I have set a budget of 250 to 300 guests.
My biggest victory was that I convinced Mona that we do not need to register for gifts anywhere. Instead we will encourage guests to donate money to our favorite charities. I think that I have recovered days of my life as a result.
The date has been set - September 17th.
In Iranian culture the man pays for the wedding and the bride's wedding dress so my family will be quite involved in the wedding plans. So my sister and Mona have planned a dress shopping trip to New York in February.
I have set a budget of 250 to 300 guests.
My biggest victory was that I convinced Mona that we do not need to register for gifts anywhere. Instead we will encourage guests to donate money to our favorite charities. I think that I have recovered days of my life as a result.
T plus two to fourteen days
The day after we got engaged we - my sister, her husband, her children, my parents, Mona and I - headed off on vacation.
This is when I really started to feel overwhelmed with the constant "we're so excited" high pitched screaming from certain family members and the regular volleys of complicated wedding related questions from Mona.
I desperately wanted everyone to mellow out so that I could take some time to get used to my new life paradigm. I told Mona as much who, very helpfully, explained that she was just excited right now and that she would calm down quite quickly. That went a long way.
I just decided to tune out the others during the trip.
All in all I was feeling quite good.
This is when I really started to feel overwhelmed with the constant "we're so excited" high pitched screaming from certain family members and the regular volleys of complicated wedding related questions from Mona.
I desperately wanted everyone to mellow out so that I could take some time to get used to my new life paradigm. I told Mona as much who, very helpfully, explained that she was just excited right now and that she would calm down quite quickly. That went a long way.
I just decided to tune out the others during the trip.
All in all I was feeling quite good.
T plus one day
Oh my god what have I done!! That was my reaction the next morning. A little panting and a lot of anxiety but nothing a cold shower did not cure.
T minus months and weeks
After about 9 months of going out with Mona I had a pretty good idea that I would be spending at least the next few years if not longer with her. So starting in June 2004 I started thinking about marriage. My first big step was when I bought her engagement ring in July. I then began what would turn out to be a series of three runs at getting engaged before I could actually pull it off.
The first run was in August during our vacation to Italy. I had it all planned out. I was going to propose one evening in a secluded Roman piazza. As the end of the trip approached and the pressure mounted I had the stereotypical male reaction to marriage: cold sweats and anxiety.
The second run was in early October during our vacation to the Bahamas. This time it was going to be a beach themed proposal. Again, cold sweats and anxiety.
The third run came in early November in Toronto. This time I had not planned anything special. But I had the same response.
The final run came in mid-December in Toronto at home. This time I did not have the same reaction. Either I became used to my anxiety or it must have been the right time. We got engaged on December 17th in a nice unpretentious way at home.
The first run was in August during our vacation to Italy. I had it all planned out. I was going to propose one evening in a secluded Roman piazza. As the end of the trip approached and the pressure mounted I had the stereotypical male reaction to marriage: cold sweats and anxiety.
The second run was in early October during our vacation to the Bahamas. This time it was going to be a beach themed proposal. Again, cold sweats and anxiety.
The third run came in early November in Toronto. This time I had not planned anything special. But I had the same response.
The final run came in mid-December in Toronto at home. This time I did not have the same reaction. Either I became used to my anxiety or it must have been the right time. We got engaged on December 17th in a nice unpretentious way at home.
1.19.2005
Truck Pantheon
Another addition to the pantheon of awful trucks poluting the streets. We should ban them all.
1.18.2005
3. The Perfect Store
I should have known that this book was going to be an 'official' history of ebay when in the introduction the author wrote that he had been given almost free access to ebay's staff and documents.
The book begins with the story of how the two founders began ebay and explains how they grew the company to what it is today. Intersperssed throughout the narrative are short portrayals of some long time ebay users who are apparently somehow famous in the 'community'.
The story of how they founded the company, some of the early decisions that they made and how disoirganized things were at first is interesting. It is really surprising, and kind of cool, how long ebay ran on its original software and original servers. As late as 1998 ebay was on the same platform as when it was founded.
All in all a mediocre book.
The book begins with the story of how the two founders began ebay and explains how they grew the company to what it is today. Intersperssed throughout the narrative are short portrayals of some long time ebay users who are apparently somehow famous in the 'community'.
The story of how they founded the company, some of the early decisions that they made and how disoirganized things were at first is interesting. It is really surprising, and kind of cool, how long ebay ran on its original software and original servers. As late as 1998 ebay was on the same platform as when it was founded.
All in all a mediocre book.
1.07.2005
1. The Persian Puzzle by Kenneth M. Pollack
I don't agree with everything that Kenneth Pollack writes but he is a smart historian and poltical scientist. It is unfortunate that he has made a case for invading Iraq in a different book.
This book is a rare book on Iran's situation because it gives a great overview of Persian history in making its arguments. Pollack then goes on to make a convincing and forceful - no he does not advocate invasion of Iran - argument about how the US needs to handle its Iranian foreign policy.
A highly recomended book.
This book is a rare book on Iran's situation because it gives a great overview of Persian history in making its arguments. Pollack then goes on to make a convincing and forceful - no he does not advocate invasion of Iran - argument about how the US needs to handle its Iranian foreign policy.
A highly recomended book.
The Struggle
I've had blogs for a few months now but I have always struggled with things to write about that are interesting enough to warrant the effort of actually blogging them. But now I have two things to write about. First, I got engaged last month so I am going to give y'all a blow by blow of how that's going. Second, I have taken on the 50 book challenge so I will write short reviews of each as I make it through them.
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