HP-10b vs. HP-12c

I purchased a calculator after declaring my Finance major as an undergraduate. The calculator recommended at the time was the HP-10B. I realize now that an important reason for choosing the HP-10b over the HP-12c is because it uses the familiar infix notation. My professor probably thought it was hard enough teaching the time value of money, and there was no reason to dive into Reverse Polish Notation (RPN), also known as post-fix notation. Despite the shoddy build quality, I still have mine sitting on my desk at work.

I recently ordered an HP-12c off of eBay, and I ended up paying 35 dollars without the manual. Brand new, the HP-12c sells for approximately $60 on Amazon. I never thought that the resale value for a physical calculator would be so high. As you can see, the preferred calculator for business is the HP-12c. There’s even an iPhone app that emulates the function and look of the 12c.

One thing about the 12c though is that the RPN is difficult to get used to, and it isn’t just the keyboard orientation. I find myself double-checking my math on a regular basis to make sure I did not key something in incorrectly. I assume that once I get used to it I will not want to do calculations any other way.

Goldman Gets Defensive

The NYT has a blog post about Goldman’s denial of a conflict of interest in the subprime market.

In the report, which announces near record results that Goldman obtained in 2009, Mr. Blankfein and Mr. Cohn defend the bank’s role of “providing liquidity to markets.”

This would be a plausible explanation if they did not know that they were dealing toxic assets. For example, you do not need to be an expert in the underlying equity to be a market maker in the equities market. In that role, buying and selling equities provides liquidity to the market.

Goldman’s actions are more equivalent to that of a drug dealer than a market maker, since they knew they were dealing with toxic assets. Goldman’s lack of exposure to their own products reminds me of a dealer who has a hard and fast rule not to try their own yayo. To push the analogy further, Goldman had the cops bought off so that when their primary client (AIG) went bust, they still collected on the cocaine debt.

We have a nice long history of prosecuting criminals and drug dealers who profit at the expense of society. It would be great to see them prosecuted for their crimes, but it is unlikely. We can only be hopeful that we have some meaningful Financial-industry reform that prevents this type of sleazy behavior in the future.