Merry Christmas everyone, or whatever

Whatever holiday you celebrate, I want to wish everyone the best time during the break from school. Take time to be with family, because that's what really counts. Of course, don't forget that the family has gotta eat!

Good luck to everyone, and I'm looking forward to hearing from you in the new semester.

Mark Cuban is under investigation (update). And the info bounce exists! Or it did in '04.

"Under investigation" is a technical term, a piece of jargon, that we use in the finance biz to designate that someone is facing potential jailtime.

Normally I wouldn't recommend TheSmokingGun.com b/c of its controversial nature, but this is just precious, as my little white-haired granny would say.

Holy smoke.  Look at pages 6 and 7 of the complaint.  It says that he made $750,000 on the deal!   Sounds pretty clear to me, and a jury will may think so too.

The full report is here.

I wonder if this has anything to do with his outspoken opposition to the current bailout environment.  [We should get our tinfoil hats ready, and wish him lots of luck.] Of course, this all may be some kind of misunderstanding.

His anti-bailout website.

OK, so how is this relevant? Note that the stock (pages 6 and 7) lost 9.3% at the announcement of the PIPE. So, the "private equity" portion of the PIPE mitigated some of the asymmetric information effect, but it still took at hit. Wow, this finance stuff really means something.

In this case, it may mean some time in the Big House. Ouch. Can't go to jail without demonstrable "ill gotten gains." Man, what a bummer.

On closer inspection, though, it looks as though the Feds are just asking for a fine and not jail time. I'm not used to reading insider trading indictments, but that's what it looks like (page 2, at the top). Maybe that isn't where they ask for slammer time.

AOL Webspace is going away!

Just so you guys know, AOL webspace is getting shut down 10/31/08.  I will be moving our documents to WebCT or some other host as soon as I can.  Watch this space for links/announcements.

If WebCT is going to be a firewall issue for anyone, please let me know at michael@uhcl.edu as soon as possible.

New Syllabi

Hey Everyone:

Don't forget that I've ended up with new syllabi for each class that incorporate new test dates and make-up days for Ike (see below). You can visit each course's Web site to pick up copies of the post-Ike revisions. I handed out the changes (one-page) in class last week (9/22 or 9/24).

UHCL Makeup schedule for Ike -- my classes

To make up time for what we lost due to Ike, the administration at UHCL has determined that we need to have classes on Friday and Saturday. It's unofficial so far, but here's the schedule for my 4331 and 5133 classes.

Monday at 1PM will meet Friday 10/3 from 1-4

Monday at 7PM will meet Sat. 10/4 from 1-4

Wednesday at 7PM will meet Sat. 10/18 from 1-4


I will clarify as new info becomes available, but I suggest that folks keep Fridays and Saturdays flexible for the next two months.

Update: I've gotten some emails about this. I'll try to answer questions in class this week.

OK, so Ike came and went

Thanks to those folks who've emailed about our safety or lack thereof. We're fine. We evac'ed to Woodville TX and found out that they were under mandatory evac too, and they're going to be without power until 10/8 or so.

[Update: Some folks in Woodville and points west actually got power back on Friday 9/19, but that's mainly around the center of town. During our drive back from Woodville on Sat. 9/20 there was plenty of damage and quite a number of destroyed homes.]

Here, we lost some of the roof (so we have a blue tarp now) and the back fence, so we've spent all week working on that stuff. I never knew I could see so much from up on my roof! I can almost see where Kemah was! We've had some family here from parts outward, and we've had fun.

But seriously -- we'll have to reevaluate where we stand in class and make sure that we can make up for lost time. According to the ALMOST OFFICIAL UHCL disaster recovery plan, our lost class (from this past week) will be made up on Saturday, 10/18 from 1 to 4. We'll discuss in class on 9/24 the new schedule.

Note: Your other classes will have a makeup schedule too, so get ready. Saturday classes would appear to be the new norm.

I hope everyone is OK after the storm, and I'm looking forward to class next week.

Ike is coming

See below for links to Ike cone and models. We'll be watching closely.

5133 Readings Chapters Progress

I've had some questions about our progress (or lack thereof) through the material in 5133 on Wednesday nights. Hurr. Ike might make that class even tougher.

What we're going to do, I think, is move ahead with the financial structure stuff and the review next class (this week if we're here) but I'm going to start covering the Chapter 10, 11 and 12 stuff regardless of where we get in the preliminary stuff. What I'm afraid of is that folks aren't reading ahead and working the problems in 10, 11 and 12, and 14 for that matter, and that stuff can be tough. Plus, when we get to it we'll fly through it as a review.

Please, please don't bog down with the readings. Read as much as you can, up through 16 if possible. As soon as you can -- you may even have to read it twice to understand it, I know that I did. I'm STILL learning stuff every time I read a chapter. Please work problems and read ahead and let me know if you have questions, regardless of how far we get in class each week. Otherwise, things are going to come pretty fast and furious in a few weeks.

Good Luck Storming the Castle!

We'll have to see where Ike is in a few days, but if we get a consistent track it's a good bet that UHCL will be closed later this week for Act II of the "Texodus". Or not.

If we have to evacuate, at the least it will set our exams back a week. If we have more than just a run to the hills, all bets are off.

As always, we just have to wait and see.

Models are here:

Models

Track cone is here:

Cone (5-day)

We'll have to see where we end up with this.

Here it comes!

Tropical Storm Gustav seems to be bearing down on the Gulf over the next few days.  Please keep an eye on Accuweather or Weather Underground for the latest. I'll try to post class updates here (since it's easier than AOL) if and when we need to reorganize things.

As of Sunday night, it looks as though Gustav is going into Central LA, so we're in the clear. Dr. Staples has said UHCL will be open on Tuesday for normal operations.

So, we dodged a bullet on this one. Hope everyone east of here stays safe.

Another Reading List Linky

We look at a lot of research (directly or indirectly) in the FINC 5133 course.  One of my favorite places to find free papers is SSRN, linked on my homepage and here, as well.

http://www.ssrn.com/fen/index.html

McKinsey on Finance

Something I've encouraged my MBA/MS students to read for a few semesters now is the McKinsey on Finance series, which is available free on the McKinsey & Co. Web site. Unlike most free things, this one is quite worthwhile. Here's a link

http://corporatefinance.mckinsey.com/knowledge/knowledgemanagement/mof.htm

Convocation is coming!

Just got the announcement that Convocation will be Sept. 19, pretty much all day. Convocation at UHCL is a day for everyone to come together and recognize what we have here and how unique it is. Jim Hayes, former Provost, started it a few years ago and it's always successful. We'll have lots of staff and faculty there, and I imagine students can attend if they contact the provost's office. I'll write more when I find out the specifics.

UPDATE:

Convocation will be a half-day, with presentations by Provost and VP Carl Stockton and the marketing firm that UHCL hired in the Spring. Should be interesting. Also, we'll get free food (but you have to RSVP to someone I think).

Getting ready for a new semester

Things will be kind of sketchy next week, as we tear down the old to make room for the new. New semesters are kind of exciting, but this one even more so since I'll be teaching FINC 5133 on Wednesday night, and two sections of Financial Institutions on Monday. Yippee.

School Closed for Eduardo

As of 3 PM this afternoon, we're closed until Wednesday due to the tropical storm out there.  My tests will be given on Thursday, or Monday at the latest (if we aren't open Thursday).  The official emergency number at UHCL is 281-283-2221, and the emergency website is

http://www.uhclemergency.info

Good luck to everyone, and see you soon.

Last drop date

Things have been hectic the past few weeks, with school going and all. This summertime stuff isn't very fun most days. If it gets to be too much for you, the last drop date for the 2nd 5-Week term is August 1st (this Friday).

Second 5-Week Session Starts

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the 2nd 5-week session for UHCL, and it runs through 8/14.  I will be teaching two undergrad classes, Business Finance and Contemporary Financial Institutions.

Help for those in need

Did you know that the Dean of Student's office has set up tutoring for some of the harder courses on campus? It seems that folks were having trouble, so Dr. Jenkins went and recruited some students to help out. Check out the Student page at uhcl.edu for more info.

http://prtl.uhcl.edu/portal/page/portal/HOMEPAGE/Students_Tab

Of course, don't forget that your professors usually have lots of office hours each and every week. Tutoring is OK, but you should try to work with the prof first -- after all, teaching is what we do.

Updated School of Business Web Site

I hope folks like the newer, more accessible Web site for the School of Business at UH Clear Lake.

http://prtl.uhcl.edu/portal/page/portal/BUS/NewBUS/index.html

Dr. Robert Hodgin has worked very hard on it for a few months now, and the new provost (Dr. Carl Stockton) has made UHCL's Web presence an obvious priority.

We shall redouble our efforts, Lord Vader.

Yep, just like the guy in charge of the 2nd Death Star, we're "redoubling our efforts." Efforts to bring folks a better MBA, a better education in general at UHCL, are continuing. It's not like we expect a visit from Emperor Palpatine, though.

I wanted to start a blog that would give me a place to write about UHCL stuff. I'll post as often as I can.