Source: US Patent 5,783,263; S. Majetich, M. McHenry, J. Artman, S. Staley - Process for Forming Nanoparticles - Figure 3,  5 Jun 1996. 

READER’S DIGEST: TOUGH SCHOOL

Departmental Secretary:
I worked for the late Joseph Artman, who taught physics at Carnegie Mellon University.  Here is his favorite recollection. 

On the first day of a semester, Professor Artman, clad in his usual flannel shirt, work pants, and boots, was cleaning the blackboard.

Two freshmen entered his classroom and took seats. After he finished and without saying a word, Artman proceeded to write out a series of equations for his upcoming class.  One student looked at the other and said, “Wow, this is a tough school! Look, even the janitor knows calculus.”
Source: Reader’s Digest/Topica Teacher’s Lounge - Tough School, 01 Jul 2001. 

My late father’s middle name was Oscar, and I’d like to announce MY 2008 Oscar nominations in his honor.  These awards reflect what I considered to be my best posts in each of the specified categories.  The competition was fierce, and my judgment is final. Just like Dad.  Recipients receive a  plaque featuring the stylish red and yellow emblem above.

Those of you who are new to my scribbles should enjoy this post more than those who have already read them.   But you never know.

All titles are linked to the original posts at Bill Coppedge’s MortgageNewsClips.com.    I can not thank Bill enough, but I will keep trying. Thanks.  Below are the winners.

Best Comic Post  - Java Jive
What happens AFTER Starbucks becomes a bank.

Most Poetic Description of Mean Reversion - 100 Years of Habitude
100 years of asset returns, according to Deutsche Bank, in only 6 pages.

Best Supporting Aquatic Mammal - Endangered Specie
What happens when you cross a beluga whale with the US banking system.

Best Career Advice - Back To The Future Value
It’s all about the servicing.  Really.

Best Colonial Real Estate Related Crisis - All Philled Up
How colonial real estate acquisitions financed King Philip’s War.

Best Post Containing Sentences All Beginning With Same Letter - Chillin With My G’s
Golly. Guess I’ll have to re-read this one. 

Most Discouraging [Tie] - Dissembly Required & One At A Time
Despite the wholesale bailout efforts, recovery will occur at a retail and glacial pace.

Best Picture - Erode Ahead
Wreck of the American Star, the ship and the industry (finance).

Most Prescient -  Cash Machine
Banking on GMAC.

Best Sherlock Holmes Cameo Appearance - The Dog The Didn’t Bark
If the Fed had not shirked its regulatory responsibilities, things wouldn’t be so ruff.

Most Appreciative of Alan Greenspan - No Place Like Homes
When he told us that housing was important in 2005, he meant it.

Most Spirited - The Housing Dickens
Three ghosts, one night, no waiting.

Best Helicopter Flight - Is It Now Safe To Move About The Cabin?
Up in the air, and only six months too late.

Most Unlikely - Thar She Glows (Whaling and Forestry)
You can learn a lot from history if you don’t forget it.

Best Title - Once They Were Gods
Will the last one out of banking, please remember to turn off the lights?

Most Obvious Way To Fix The Crisis - Way and Means
Sell! Sell! Sell! … rather than Buy! Buy! Buy!

Most Lucrative and Constructive - Rollback
Let banks make money the old fashioned way, by arbing imprecisely specified government regulations.

Most Predictive of Future Woes - Fee Stooges
Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!  Are we really that stoopid? (Yes!)

Best Post - Follow The Money
(Seeking Alpha Editor’s Choice & RiskCenter Top Story)
The little guys always pay for the big guys.

- - - - - - - - - - -  

I used to work with numbers for a living, and next year will continue my search for a new job or my next idea.  Till next time.  Happy New Year. Enjoy the extra second.