That's all folks. Last day of the decade.

Weird, huh?

What a decade it's been too. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 11,354 on December 31st 1999. Exactly ten years later it's at 10,500. When history looks back at this decade, many people will say it was a lost decade economically. The blue chips lost 8% over a decade? That's ridiculous in itself, but lets talk about the fact that past over the past 27 months the Dow has gone from 14,100 to 6,600 back up to 10,500.

The numbers speak for themselves... and what really has caused all of this? The infamous "sub-prime mortgages"? The large bank institutions that gave loans and mortgages to everyone and their mother? The government that allowed trading, splitting up and selling of bad mortgages and loans into thousands pieces? Sure, they all contributed to where we are today, but the real root of the problem is the ignorance of fiscal responsibility of the average American.

I could bring up stats of how much more debt the average American had in 2000 versus 2007 but we all know what those numbers would look like. Where in our education system in the US is a requirement for learning how to take fiscal responsibility? In high school, the average student learns about the history of the Mayans, the periodic table and the pythagorean theorem. These are clearly more important topics than learning how to learn how to save and spend money. The combination of the ease of credit, society's image that anyone can achieve the American Dream and the lack of education of financial responsibility of our youth exploded in our faces in 2008. No wonder this will be called the lost decade.

To be continued...

On yo mind...

Can we address the fact that everything needs to be censored these days? It's the little things in life that help give us a sense of reality that everyday society taking away to censor 'children' these days. Why are we sheltering our future? The majority of my youth - everything was censored and it got worse over time. Is this really helping our future ? -- or is it just postponing the inevitable about life and reality. The truth is that no one can be censored their entire life and the longer you shelter someone, the longer it will take the to learn how the real world really functions. The truth is that life isn't fair and no matter how much anyone wants to argue that it is or "should be", it's not going to happen! When push comes to shove, reality will prevail. It always has and it always will.

I'd love to go on a rant about this but I just simply don't have the time... I wish I did. What's weird is that nothing specific provoked me to write this. I suppose its just built up over time.

Quick word on sports:

Sox pick up Lackey & Cameron, lose Lowell. G

Grade - B+

Good moves by the Sox. Lackey is that consistent starter they have been looking for to build off of. Disappointing to lose Lowell, but the guy is past his prime and we all know this is a business. If they could only think that way about Varitek...

I have to look more into the Rookie Catcher they are probably getting for Lowell. Not sure if hes any good.

If the Sox can pick up an all-star first basemen... Watch out Yanks.


Isles lost 7-1 last night. FML. Rollie first real bad start of the year & same with Tavares line. Oh well. Hopefully things will go better tonight. Perfect time for DiPi to come back!

I hope the nets finally win...

The poor, poor nets.

i knew this post was coming...

i dont care if you've been gambling every day of your life. there is NO such thing as a lock.

yet you still tell yourself there is. when push comes to shove and you see that big game that you're feeling reallllll good about. you want it. you want to go big. what typically happens? YOU LOSE.

im coming up with a rating system. 1 to 10 on how strong you feel about a pick. a 10 is your lock. i bet if you did a study, your 5-7's would be your biggest winners cause you feel good about them, but you dont consider it a lock. i think sometype of bias comes in when you talk about a lock.

ok im done venting. i need to study for REG.

and hey, AICPA. you're a bunch of pricks. GIVE ME MY SCORE!!!

I really like the Isles tonight...

Isles play Minnesota in Minn. tonight.

Minn is hurt bad. Isles are on a roll. Okposo is back home. Biron is getting frustrated not being able to get as many wins as rollie and lets be real. this isles team IS for REAL.

+120. Take it. Hard. Large units.

posting from workkkkkk.... ISLES

hey everyone. noticed i have a couple more ppl reading my blog now which is cool. if you're actually reading this that might mean you think i'm somewhat entertaining. wow.

alright so. as you all may or may not know, the New York Islanders are my sports team. Everyone has their favorite team for each sport, but in our heart of hearts all of us have that one team that we root for a little harder than any other team..

the islanders are mine. if you're friends with me, you've seen me a little depressed with my isles the past couple of years as they been dust collectors at the bottom of the eastern conference. during may of this year though things changed. the islanders won the NHL draft lottery or what many of the big NHL fans called "the Tavares sweepstakes". John Tavares, an 18-year hockey phenom. You're probably thinking... HA hockey phenom... thats Sid the Kid, Ovech and Malkin. Who's John Tavares? Well well well. He leads all rookies in the NHL with 10 goal and 19 points in 21 games. Ovechkin had 15 goals and 21 points through his first 21 games in the NHL and Crosby had 10 goals and 25 points. OK so they got off to a LITTLE better start. Both of these players finished with over 100 points in their first season. Not bad for a couple of rookies. If Tavares keeps his pace up, he'll finish the season with about 35 goals and 70 points. Not bad for an 18 year old on team that finished dead last in the NHL last year.

Oh and did I forget to mention the breadth of youngsters that back Tavares up at forward? Kyle Okposo, Josh Bailey, Frans Neilsen and Matt Moulson. These kids have been playing unreal.

I really like this team this year. If we can see KO and Josh finding the back of the net like Matt Mouls has, we're going to be playoff CONTENDERS. I'm not talking about just being in the playoffs, this team will have a shot.

OK yeah I'm all hyped up on the Isles right now, but do you blame me? This team has 23 points through 21 games this year. Last year they had 25 points through 45 games. No, that was not a typo. If the Islanders win their next game, it will have take them HALF the amount of games to get them to where they were last season. How about that stat!?!??!

Unreal. I'll leave on that. Should probably do some work.

picks and the good life.

so today i got out of work at 5pm.. i actually felt guilty leaving.. thats when you know work fucking sucks haha anyways that was officially the earliest i've been out of work. wow. never thought i'd be jealous of an 8 to 5.

back to the good stuff. lots of action on your normal wednesday night hockey night. isles are playing down okposo and weight. eek

NHL Picks
Islanders @Capitals Caps -200. I know its tough going against your own team. When they've won 1 game on the road the whole year and are down 2 of their top 3 players, its tough not to go against them. I know Ovech is out tonight, but that won't matter. Anyways, hopefully I'm wrong.
Ducks @ Devils. I like the ducks +110 tonight. quack, quack, quack.
Kings @ Canes Over 5.5 Struggling team at home puts up a good fight and loses.

NBA Picks
Hornets @Suns -6.5 Suns at home against a mediocre hornets team. Give up the points. It worked last night for the mavs as I thought.
I'd make some more picks, but the Lakers aren't playing tonight.. that made no sense.

the road to the cpa....

the infamous cpa exam... the 4 part exam from hell...

since i'm completely hating studying and putting countless hours to studying for this thing, i'd like to completely bash the exam and say how stupid it is... but in reality - it's actually pretty genius. this 4 part exam has been around for like 50 years.. and not much has changed.. how many professions can you say that for? JD, MD? thats all i can think of. good class to be in if you ask me. anyways - bear with me as i justify to myself all of this freaking time i'm putting into studying. oh and if i'm not studying im either working or feeling guilty that i'm not studying (right now).

anyways, now that i've vented and got that off my chest, i feel a little better. time to make some picks for tonight. its a bit past 7 already, so lets see whats on tap for the later games.

All but one of the NHL games are in progress - the one at 10pm (Sharks v. Predators) I rather not pick, mainly cause the Sharks are -260 and I don't feel like playing with such a big spread.


NBA Picks

Mavs -6.5 - I like the Mavs at home tonight... They should suprise and runaway in this homestate matchup.

Thats all for tonight.

A year later... Back to Picks

Finally. Lets try and keep this a more regular thing now...

I'm going to do a few CFB picks every sat, but not too many. I'll mainly stick to hockey & nba. Perhaps some nfl too.

Either way...

CFB Picks
Mizzouz - 14
Iowa State +7.5

NHL Picks
Lines are TBD. I'll post later.

Big Breeders Cup race today
Zenyatta? Nahhhh who goes with the fav.
1. Summer Bird
2. Einstein
3. RIP Van Winkle

I'm boxing this trifecta. and I'll do a box exacta with 1 & 2.

I'll be CPA studying all day - but I'll update the lines later.

I'll also post NBA picks & lines too.

Another Week flying by.

another week flies by in the audit life of alan... i've been procrastinating all week about studying.. i suck. monday night i got home late for a reason i can't even remember... last night i watched a movie w/ dan and catherine (taking of pelham 123), which wasn't bad btw. oh and i also bought a tv last night! Sony KDL-52XBR9
Such a sweet TV. little did i know after i paid for that and the sony home theater that it would be on backorder till effing 12/10!

How bull is that? i was so mad.

Anyways. I should be studying right now.. but I'm not going to study if I'm getting out of work past 7. I mean its almost pointless by the time you get home and eat dinner. You can't just go right to the books.. your mind can't handle it.

In any event. The exam is 26 days away whether I like it or not. FML. I have 7 lectures to do and I'm barely through 1. Although it is the longest one.

Anyways. I just can't wait to get these exams out of the way and have no guilt when I'm home. It'll feel so good.

Well, Well, Well

So it's almost been a year now and I'm finally back. I'm not quite sure what made me forget about this blog, but I'm not going to lie... I miss it.

Thing's are quite different these days.. An undergrad and masters degree later, I'm back in West Hartford working 50-60 hours a week while trying to study for my CPA exam. You know how everyone always says "Life after college just flies by". I never wanted to believe such non-sense when I'd hear that from my friends when they'd come back to visit Babson, but I can definitely see where they are coming from. I feel like I started work a few days ago... Monday will be my 11th week of work. Where did these 10 weeks go already? The first 5 were a blur to me.
We started with a week of training in Boston -- which was a ton of fun. There's nothing like staying in a hotel and getting free food all week while being able to see friends you haven't seen in almost a year, right? Of course what I soon found out is that I would spend the first 4 out of 5 weeks out of my suitcase. I was pumped. One week in North Carolina, a few days in Indiana and a week and half in Illinois. After our week of training in Boston we came back to Hartford for a week of "Boot Camp". It was a bit boring, but it was nice to be able to spend another week with our starting class, especially since I haven't seen a lot of those people since that week! Anyways -- after our little week of boot camp, my road trip started. 3 straight weeks in a hotel except for a brief 36 stint back home. What an experience. After the first few days, I thought to myself.. "Wow, I wish I could always be traveling". I mean think about it... everything is paid for. Meals, transportation, lodging, you name it. Oh and did I forget to mention you're getting paid for this? Sure the hours weren't the greatest, but I was able to see cities I'd never seen before.
As I write this blog, I'm still pondering to myself... Did I love the 3 weeks traveling or did I hate it? I think it was a little bit of both at times. You're not traveling with family or a significant other, you're traveling with a co-worker or sometimes even alone. You have to wake up early everyday and you can't even see the sunshine wherever you are because you're most likely working in a room without a window, and by the time you get out, its dark out. Okay that sounds a bit cynical, but I guess I just got a bit tired of 3 straight weeks of travel. I guess if I had the choice, I'd choose to travel about 1-2 weeks every couple of months. They always say do everything in moderation, so that being said, you actually think you have a choice in when you can travel? Of course not. Either way, I just figured I'd voice my opinion on this since business travel is such a large part of our worldwide economy these days. I really don't understand how some people travel as much as they do. I can understand someone my age with no attachments in life being able to travel all the time, but most of your business travelers are 30+ and have a family. I'm really curious to see how they balance the whole business/travel/family thing.

Anyways, I'm a bit scattered in my thoughts here. As you can tell, work is where my mind is. You can't help it when you spend over 70% of your time awake during the week being occupied by the career of an auditor. The past 5 weeks of work have been a bit scattered, just like my thoughts. My only travel was to Kentucky (pretty normal place actually) and my other time has been pretty scattered around the lovely state of CT.

I'd like to keep writing, especially about non-work related things, but Peter Olinto and Tim Gearty are calling my name; the best CPA review lecturer's to ever live. I'm going to try and stay updated with this blog, mainly just if anyone wants to stay updated with my life, and a lot for my own memory. I'm going to a wolf pack game tonight with my aunt and cousin. They have skybox seats with a bunch of pre-ordered food. It should be a good time.

I'll try and occasionally post some sports picks. I had a ton of fun doing that last season and I'm upset with myself for not keeping updated with it. If you actually read this whole thing, you're either really bored or a really good friend. Ha.

Till next time, ahor signing off.