You're back reading the Weekender! Happy weekend!
I've hidden my political math until the end of the article.
SOPA Links
We got a fair amount of love for our screed against SOPA & PIPA we used to black the site out last week. I'd like to individually thank everyone for linking to the article - good to know you all read the whole thing instead of just saying, "I'll be back tomorrow!"
What next? You click the links and subscribe, of course!
Carnivals and Featured Links
- The Carnival of Personal Finance
- The Totally Money Carnival
- The Yakezie Carnival
- Free by 50, Smart Family Finance and Rambling Fever Money all enjoyed my chart of average starting salaries by major. When you head over to their sites, check out FB50's post on cost of living in various areas for Programmers (I can relate), SFF's post on mistakes couples make in home financing (With a well placed link to the St. Louis Fed! Nice...) and Matt's post on financing vs. buying a car!
- Our friends at 101 Centavos lit up our site again, liking our post on the S&P ratings cuts in Europe. We are particularly interested in the 101 Centavos sanctioned book on investing like a redneck. The Tight Fisted Miser also enjoyed the post, see more from him on cash back credit card strategies!
- Our good friend Jeff at Money Spruce dug into our archives and produced a gem on preparing for tax season. It's a must read, plus check out his comments about our site!
Links of the Week
- Kevin the Thousandaire aired his grievances with tax policy and pointed out that even without a personal income tax, the United States could support a modern government (funding it would be possible in the semi-recent past).
- Double feature from Len Penzo this week - a hilariously titled guest post from Paula Pant and a thorough beat down of some money myths. The site was in the... um... Len Penzone this week... (and yes, I've made that joke before on his site.)
- Our good friend JT at Money Mamba called out utility companies! I think there is a larger point here about Government creating regional monopolies. .
- The site we spent way too much time on in 2011 (and will continue in 2012!), Burbed, had a hilarious entry about what may just become the funniest perk ever offered to buyers of real estate. (They also featured one of our images for their redesign! It's in the rotating banner, and it was used in our original Bay Area Home Pricing article.)
- American Debt Project considers investing with Bluth Company. Help steer the first real estate investment! (Drink every time the house breaks!)
- Andrea, our grammatically correct pal from So Over Debt, discussed the value of a Jackson.
- The Car Negotiation Coach makes a point made in the fictional [amazon-product text="styling of Chuck Klosterman" type="text"]1416544194[/amazon-product] - but one which you definitely shouldn't ignore - a blocked tailpipe is incredibly dangerous. Click through for other winter necessities!
- Fellow displaced New Englander Ashley at Money Talks Coaching wrote an article about using your Monopoly skills to succeed in life. However, she didn't include 'cheat if you can get away with it'...
Speaking of Debates...
Watching the political betting market Intrade can be an interesting thing during debates - such as the debate which occurred Thursday in Florida (broadcast on CNN). Since bets can come in at any hour, the markets should reflect the real time predictions of a betting market on the likelihood of an event. To wit? Odds for the candidates to win the Florida primary at a half hour cadence on the night of the debates, the 26th. The debates were from 5:00 - 7:00 PM EST.
Notice anything interesting? The consensus before the race was that Newt Gingrich had to have a big night in order to beat Mitt Romney in Florida. The largest slide to Romney came after the debates - almost as if people waited for the press to weigh in on the debates which had just ended. And weigh in they did - the consensus after the debates? Romney was slightly shaky, but Gingrich seemed off his game. Since even a tie was a win for Romney (in this case, I would argue he won outright... but sentiment during the debate moved towards Gingrich, as you can see), the markets shifted in the run up to midnight.
And as this article is going out? The odds are 95.3% for Romney and 4.4% for Gingrich to win the Florida primary.
See you next week!
