Word: bets
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...that AIG is one of the creators of the aforementioned credit-default swaps. What are those, you ask? They're pixie-dust securities that supposedly offer insurance against a company defaulting on its obligations. If you buy $10 million of GM bonds, for instance, you might hedge your bet by buying a $10 million CDS from AIG. In return for that premium - which changes day to day - AIG agrees to give you $10 million should GM have an "event of default" on its obligations...
...music would end? Sure. But they couldn't help behaving the way they did because of Wall Street's classic business model, which works like a dream for Wall Street employees (during good times) but can be a nightmare for the customers. Here's how it goes. You bet big with someone else's money. If you win, you get a huge bonus, based on the profits. If you lose, you lose someone else's money rather than your own, and you move on to the next job. If you're especially smart - like Lehman chief executive Dick Fuld...
...stone solution: bring back fall 2007! The networks kept many of their new shows off the air after the strike, and are now relaunching them after a long absence for a "do over" season. The pitch: Remember all those shows you were mildly interested in last fall, America? We bet you'll be even more mildly interested in them this fall...
...asked him why he bought it, Weinstein said, "I'm a red-blooded American male. I get to hang out with models." We both laughed a particularly creepy kind of laugh, and then he said, "You and I know the least about fashion in this room. But I bet you can tell me Ty Cobb's batting average." Yes, I told him, I sure could. Unfortunately, he then asked me what Ty Cobb's batting average was. I said, ".421," with a lot of conviction. Weinstein said it was .367. To which I responded with no knowledge and a tone...
...when the last Expo was held? (It was in 2005, in Aichi, Japan - thanks, Google.) But Shanghai is determined to revitalize the Expo. While Beijing threw an efficient if, ultimately, rather empty Olympics - because of visa restrictions that kept out many tourists, along with potential demonstrators - you can bet that Shanghai will give a warmer welcome to the world. After all, it was the influx of foreigners during the 19th century that turned a Chinese fishing town into the international hub of hedonism. And that's a status Shanghai isn't going to surrender to its dowdier national capital without...