ARCHIVES
03/05/2008 - Devilish Deals
Greg’s Note: The names and faces of some of the financial world’s biggest rogue traders have been all over the news lately. Jamie Ellis takes a look at three unique cases and ponders what drove these men to do the things they did. Money? Fame? The answers can be surprising. 02/11/2008 - They Love the Sweet Taste
Greg’s Note: Futures for cocoa have been tantalizingly high recently. Supply concerns in the Ivory Coast have certainly fed these prices, but Jamie Ellis thinks that there is another big cause on the other side of the curve. Cocoa futures could soon be pretty expensive, and you may not be able to get your hands on them for all the chocolate in China. 01/25/2008 - The Smartest Men in the Room
Greg’s Note: The subprime mortgage crisis hit many investment banks very hard. While millions in write-downs were recorded late in 2007 and CEOs were handed their walking papers, one big bank was able to survive. Jamie Ellis shares their story with you and shows you how this smart group of guys wound up laughing all the way to…well they were already at a bank, but you get the idea. 01/14/2008 - A Rebuttal to Randy Newman
Greg’s Note: Not too good at picking winners? Have all your stock choices gone down recently while you watch your money disappear? If you can’t seem to pick what’s going to go up, why don’t you start picking the stocks that will go down. If you’re like some of us, all you have to do is take your first instinct and do the opposite. Jamie Ellis explains the profitable approach of shorting stocks, while also finding time to stick it to an aging pop star. 01/08/2008 - Huckster ‘08
Greg’s Note: The election season has taken off. Jamie Ellis explains that while one party has lost its clear-cut favorite, another may have emerged from across the aisle. Is his message what the country really wants, or have Republicans lost sight of what they truly hold important? 01/04/2008 - Football Night in America? Which Part?
Greg’s Note: The government seems to find a way to regulate everything we do these days. We’re in an election year and, all of the sudden, everyone is now working for us. Jamie Ellis joins us to “tackle” this issue. He thinks it has gone too far and that maybe the government is out of its jurisdiction. 12/21/2007 - Setting the Records Straight
Greg’s Note: Housing statistics in the first half of the decade were so great they were hard to believe. It turns out that we were just setting ourselves up for a large fall. Jamie Ellis compares this disaster to the one hitting the game of baseball right now. Our economy is hurting, and we certainly feel cheated. So who done us wrong? 12/06/2007 - Fantasyland
Greg’s Note: The simple rules of investing are pretty much universally known. So why do people continue to make the same mistakes over and over again? Jamie Ellis has broken it down into terms anyone could understand and explains that investing isn’t the only forum where people need to stick to their game plans. Are the worlds of fantasy and reality really that alike? 11/28/2007 - Money Ain’t a Thang
Greg’s Note: Music videos have proven to be trendsetters for nearly three decades. Everything from sneakers to soda has been flaunted in music videos and an adoring public simply laps it up. Jamie Ellis tells us the story of a new example of product placement. Are rappers really interested in foreign exchange? Apparently they are, and maybe we should be listening. If you don’t want your investments making 50 Cent on the dollar, you may want to read this one. 11/23/2007 - Iraq Goes Green
Greg’s Note: The subject of alternative fuels is one that’s on everybody’s minds these days. Everybody is pushing for a major change, but things may still be too expensive for there to be real progress. Jamie Ellis describes how things may have to get worse before they get better. Is George W. Bush really doing something good for the environment? And how long will it be until real change can actually occur? 11/07/2007 - The Hot Stove League
Greg’s Note: Recent trouble in the credit market has brought a couple of major financial institutions to change their leadership at the top. Jamie Ellis gives us his thoughts on these recent changes and compares them to another famous institution. Where else can we find powerful men changing jobs that pay an obscene amount of money? It’s something that is purely American. 11/01/2007 - A Prime Example
Greg’s Note: Subprime mortgages have definitely been a problem for the entire credit industry. Jamie Ellis explains that just when you thought the disease had been contained, certain prime mortgages are now also being infected. What happened, and how did this get so out of control 10/25/2007 - The China Syndrome
Greg’s Note: New Whiskey contributor, Jamie Ellis, gives us a look at some of the downsides of China’s emerging economy. There are serious issues at hand here involving trade practices and environmental legislation. Are we getting what Congress hopes for from our environmental policies? And, are we maybe giving up too much in our uneven trades with the Far East? | 
