Could Boehner Really Become President?

The Blaze fact-checks that scenario laid out by some in the media:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/blaze-fact-check-rachel-maddow-laments-election-scenario-where-boehner-becomes-president-but-thats-impossible/

The Atlantic's 2012 Brave Thinkers List

http://www.theatlantic.com/special-report/brave-thinkers-2012/

On Cloaking Home Purchases in LLCs and Trusts

Psst.  Wanna Buy a House?
By Alyssa Abkowitz
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443684104578066880677842280.html

On Buying Houses Near Mt. Fuji in Japan

Selling a Piece of Old Japan, to Save It
by Lucy Alexander
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443982904578046372023157536.html

Five Guys = Seven Minutes?

I saw a show on TV interviewing a manager of Five Guys saying it takes exactly seven minutes from the time your order is placed until you get your food.  I need to confirm that...

Regional Integration Overdose?

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/BRAZILINPOREXTN/Resources/3817166-1185895645304/4044168-1186324101142/12RegionalIntegrationFull.pdf

Video: What's Really in Candy Corn?

http://screen.yahoo.com/episode-5-candy-corn-made-080000657.html

Chart: How the Government Spends Your Tax Dollars

http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-where-your-tax-dollars-go-2012-10

"Tobin's q"

Stocks, too, seem pricey. Over the past 130 years, U.S. stocks on average have traded at about 17 times mean earnings for the previous 10 years—a measure known as the "Shiller Price/Earnings Ratio" after Yale economics professor Robert Shiller, who tracks the data. Today the market is about 22 times those earnings, a level associated with frothy markets such as 1929, the mid-1960s, and most of the period from 1995 to 2008.

Another measure, "Tobin's q," also suggests stocks might be in dangerous territory. Tobin's q, named for the late Nobel economics laureate James Tobin, measures stock valuations against the cost of replacing companies' assets. Right now the reading is 0.92, about 50% above the long-term historical average. Stock returns from these levels have usually been subpar.

It's Time to Time the Market
by Brett Arends
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443624204578060550181314438.html

Before you even consider changing your portfolio based on the expected—or actual—results of the election, it's vital to analyze the conventional wisdom first.

Is gridlock good—that is, should investors root against having the same political party control both Congress and the White House? Who is better for stock and bond returns: Republicans or Democrats?

Most of the answers you are likely to find are propaganda or wishful thinking; many are flat-out wrong. What matters are changes in interest rates, not which party passes through the White House gates.

The Winner for Investors Is...
by Jason Zweig
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444592704578066683295046230.html

Crowdfunding College Costs

Is a college education a good investment? Warren Buffett has often quipped, before audiences of business-school students, that he would pay $100,000 for 10% of a student's future earnings.

One new website, Upstart (www.upstart.com), allows some of us to make a similar move. "Accredited investors"—generally, those who earned $200,000 or more in each of the last two years, or have a net worth of more than $1 million, not including a primary residence—can loan money to a specific recent graduate in exchange for a portion of his or her income for the next 10 years. The money can be used for any purpose, and some of the initial graduates have used it to help with student debt.

The service, which launched in August, is offered at Stanford University, the Rhode Island School of Design and 28 other schools.

'Crowdfunding' College Costs
by Rachel Louise Ensign
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444657804578048461063769132.html

Stress and Inflammation

http://www.thehealthymind.com/2012/04/06/how-stress-causes-illness-its-all-about-inflammation/

What happens in a 269 vs. 269 Tie?

Video of Chuck Todd explaining what happens in a 269 to 269 tie in the electoral college.
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/the-daily-rundown/49462313/#49462313

Salaries in the Washington Area for 2012

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/capitalbusiness/compensation-2012/index.html

Sen. Coburn's "Wastebook 2012"

http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public//index.cfm?a=Files.Serve&File_id=b7b23f66-2d60-4d5a-8bc5-8522c7e1a40e

There is also Coburn's "Department of Everything" in which it outlines suggestions to eliminate waste at the Department of Defense.
http://www.coburn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/pressreleases?ContentRecord_id=e3ace3df-25a9-47c4-8c43-1403e134ce11

Hispanic, Latino, or Other?

“Hispanic” or “Latino”? Most don’t care—but among those who do, “Hispanic” is preferred. Half (51%) say they have no preference for either term. When a preference is expressed, “Hispanic” is preferred over “Latino” by more than a two-to-one margin—33% versus 14%.

http://www.pewhispanic.org/2012/04/04/when-labels-dont-fit-hispanics-and-their-views-of-identity/

Selling a Home - Phrase it Correctly

Houses that real-estate agents describe as "move-in condition" sell 12% faster than homes listed without those words. "Starter homes" sell 9% faster. But be careful: A house called a "handyman special" sells about 50% faster, but the final price is 30% lower than listings that lack those words.
For the past decade, Paul Anglin, associate professor of real estate at the University of Guelph in Ontario, has been studying the effect of certain words in house descriptions.

A Motivated Seller by Any Other Name...
by Sanette Tanaka
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444180004578018353491734558.html

The Halloumi Cheese Battle

In Cyprus, New Cheese Edict Gets the Goat of Dairy Farmers
by Gabriele Steinhauser
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443862604578032543426910614.html

Rules of Investing

From Barry Ritholtz

Part I:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ritholtzs-rules-of-investing/2012/09/27/7c662e48-08c4-11e2-a10c-fa5a255a9258_story.html

Part II:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ritholtzs-rules-of-investing-part-ii/2012/10/12/0dc5965c-119a-11e2-ba83-a7a396e6b2a7_story.html

Baumol's Cost Disease

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol's_cost_disease

Olympic Rowers = The Best Businessmen?

New research by Bain & Co. shows that rowers have the best track record of breaking into the corporate world after their Olympic careers.

About 8% of the U.S. and U.K. rowers who medaled at the Olympics between 1972 and 2000 went on to excel in business, landing top jobs at public companies, investment banks, law firms and consulting practices, or starting their own companies, the study found.

Bain partner Patrick Manning, who was a member of the 1992 U.S. silver-medal rowing team, analyzed the post-Olympic careers of 840 U.S. and U.K. medalists from seven categories during the Summer Games: rowing, swimming, sailing, basketball, boxing, gymnastics, and track and field. (He opted to track the more popular sports and get a good mix—individual, team, indoor and outdoor.)

Of those who demonstrated strong business success—defined as becoming a C-suite executive, board member, partner, managing director or above—rowers came out on top, but swimmers and sailors also showed some success, with about 1% of each group holding comparable roles.

Rowers may be more likely to succeed in the business world for several reasons, Mr. Manning says. First, many of the rowing medalists in the study attended elite colleges and universities. Second, unlike other sports, there is a dearth of professional rowing opportunities, forcing rowers to pursue other careers.

Rowing also requires intense teamwork, which often means sacrificing personal glory and adapting to the style of others in order to achieve a final goal.

At Work
by Leslie Kwoh
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444130304577561323747446982.html

How Do Blind People Picture Reality?

http://news.yahoo.com/blind-people-picture-reality-163132352.html

Peking Duck in Beijing

In Search Of: Beijing's Most Exquisite Peking Duck
by John Krich
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444620104578008480705669240.html?mod=googlenews_wsj