High-Frequency Trading and the Robot-Led Holocaust

Friday, July 31, 2009
By dreeves
Imagine evil glowing red eyes, and also that it's engaged in high-frequency stock market trading.

Michael Wellman launched a blog this week. Yesterday he made an excellent point about market efficiency. Tyler Cowen had pooh-poohed the problem of high-frequency trading. Mike set him straight and suggested an elegant solution to the problem, namely call markets. But what about the value of... »

Beating a Sunk Horse

Wednesday, July 1, 2009
By dreeves
The diver is abandoning the (only literally) sunk treasure, get it?

Here are what I believe are fairly definitive answers to the sunk cost quiz questions. But of course feel free to take issue in the comments. SCENE:  You have a non-refundable flight but now the opportunity to road trip with some friends to your destination has come up. Which of the following are rational... »

Hyper-Correcting for the Sunk-Cost Fallacy

Tuesday, June 23, 2009
By dreeves
sunk costs

Here's a classic litmus test for the sunk cost fallacy: You bought a ticket for a show.  The night arrives and you just don't feel like going. Do you go anyway, so as not to have wasted the money on the ticket? Probably you shouldn't. Your current decisions should not be influenced by money that is... »

Throwing Money Away (Buying vs Renting)

Monday, June 1, 2009
By dreeves
apt_home

I'm tired of hearing people explain that paying rent is throwing money away. Of course, they don't mean that literally. You're getting something for that money (a place to live). But with a mortgage you're building equity, right? Doesn't that fundamentally make more sense than renting? No. "Building equity" just means turning some of your... »

The Real-Life Tragedy of Myerson and Satterthwaite’s Impossibility Theorem: A Tale of High Drama, Intrigue, and Duplicity

Sunday, May 24, 2009
By dreeves
Chickens, who are not terribly chicken, playing Chicken.

When rent prices plummeted throughout New York City, we were a little galled to see a small increase in rent on... »

Finding the Market Bottom

Tuesday, April 7, 2009
By Sharad Goel
Going Up

Given the tumultuous state of the global economy, a lot of people are naturally wondering whether the worst is over. A quick scan of recent headlines shows that plenty are weighing in on the question. Morgan Stanley is boldly claiming, "Bear Market Is Not Over: Selling Today." James Paulsen, chief investment strategist... »