Ok, so that is an unfair title. But you’ll understand what I mean: Zurich Financial Services has just been fined £2.3m for a data loss event incurred in 2008 in South Africa. Zurich joins HSBC, Nationwide and Norwich Union in the club of companies fined by the FSA now. In fairness, the fine wasn’t so…
Apparently, car thieves don’t want your pink car. It’s not because they don’t like the colour (although they probably don’t). It’s also not only that it’s too distinctive and will be easily spotted (see the discussion later about red cars). It’s that nobody else wants it. The resale value is much lower than other vehicles,…
Michael Lewis, of Liar’s Poker fame, has written an engaging account of the role that subprime lending played in the global financial crisis. The new book is called The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine The jargon that Lewis uses is generally explained and shouldn’t prevent non finance geeks from understanding the role of subprime…
Moneyweb has an interview with Eskom CFO. For me, the point made about the reasons for differences between retail and industrial tariffs is worth highlighting. This is another example of where common perception is off. (Incidentally, Eskom tariffs are currently 68 cents for residential, 28 cents for big industrial) From the moneyweb interview: PAUL O’FLAHERTY:…
May 6 2010. Dow falls more than 1,000 points intraday, including a drop of P&G from around $60 to (according to some accounts) below $40. The Dow recovered most of the falls quickly, but these trades are now part of the historical time series. Banks and others using risk management tools often back-test their models…
In a previous post, Mumbling in the Dark, I argued that too much attention was being paid to Eskom’s proposed increased charges and too little at 5 separate points, the first being their actual cost of production. It seems that NERSA has been looking at this and has discovered some areas where Eskom was incorrectly…
I blogged recently about why I park on the fourth floor of the Cape Town airport parkade, and also about understanding and utilising unlikely but extreme events to your advantage. There is actually a link between these two posts. Parking on the top floor does have a cost. It takes longer to drive up all…
Interconnect fees and the reasons for their reduction are possibly the most misunderstood “big” news story over the last twelve months. The hype and hoopla around this topic is fueled by our feelings as consumers of being charged too much big big monopoly companies. So I should start by saying that I’m not saying that…
