HQ Financial Views - 1st Quarter 2009

Volume 4
Issue 1

In This Issue

► Stimulus Q & A and the Intellectual Infrastructure

► Decision Making and Market Crises

► Algorithms and the Five Greeks

► Warren Buffet: Drinking Kool-Aid?

Humor From the Great Depression

Manage Your Career In Today's Business Environment. Get help climbing the ladder.

USE
Your Career Strategist

Have your favorite organization hire Kathy Graham to discuss your career goals, review your resume, and offer strategic advice.

The CFA Chicago Career Strategist Kathy Graham event in Feb 2009 sold out within hours!

No time for an event? Use Your Career Campaign. Click or call 630.466.7095 for details.

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FEATURED PRODUCTS

THE LAND OF LEMONS AND NUTS

Kathy Graham's children's picture book. A mini lesson in economics for children ages 4 to 9. Read an economist's review.

New editions coming out this month:
► Spanish
► French

♦♦CONTRIBUTORS♦♦

Contributing Writers
Lisa Garling
Timur Gok
Ira Goldberg
Kathy Graham
Jodie Gunzberg
Jim Holtzman
Tim Kelly
Mary Kupjack
Peg Swanton
James Williams

Newsletter Editor
James C. Williams

2009: The Year of Transformation

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

According to Kathy Graham's 2009 Financial Services Job Forecast, 2009 will be "The Year of Transformation," so here are a few changes to note:

The HQ Companies (which are HQ Search Inc., HQ Seminars Inc., HQ Scripts Inc., and HQ Services Inc.) have moved. Our new address is: 1755 Park Street, Suite 200, Naperville, Illinois 60563. Visit our website at www.hqsearch.com to contact us.

The Blog of the HQ Companies is now operational. So, do you agree with:
CFO Jim Holtzman: Exploit Grey Areas? - "There is nothing wrong with exploiting the grey areas available to us due to lack of legislation/regulation or just due to...inefficiencies in a market or practice. But there is no need to push the bitter edge of that gray area or you may find that the boundary later moves and you further find yourself hanging out in the cold cold wind."
Prof. Timur Gok: Evil Derivatives and Green Bubbles? - "To paraphrase the bard, does the evil that derivatives do live after them and is the good oft interred with their bones?...In the meantime, how do we get out of this mess? Well, frankly, another bubble may provide a quick fix. Here is my candidate – a green bubble."
Commodities expert Jodie Gunzberg: Future of Hedge Funds and CTAs - "While macro hedge funds and managed futures funds have provided strong opportunities...the viability of hedge funds as the main vehicle for access is questionable given the current liquidity crisis and huge redemption requests..."
CPA and Certified Fraud Examiner Peg Swanton: Was It Fraud? - "So how much of the current economic crisis was caused by fraud?"
Corporate banker Lisa Garling: Bankers and Children Solve Crisis? - "Traditional bankers have the expertise to value and restructure credit...It may take longer, be more painful and far less sexy ...[but] maybe everyone’s time would be better spent crafting a solution that can be explained to six year olds."

On our blog, your name is kept confidential (we assign you an alias unless you request otherwise). So tell us what you really think. Visit www.hqsearch.com/blog today.

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Feature Article I

A STIMULUS PACKAGE Q&A PRIMER

Including the Intellectual Infrastructure^©

by Ira Goldberg PhD and James C. Williams

Argonne National Laboratories Leadership Computing Facilities Head of Finance, Ira Goldberg, and James C. Williams explain the current state of the economy, the U.S. stimulus package, and why remembering to also fix the gaping holes in our educational and research funding with this stimulus is critical.

HQs founder Kathy Graham follows this article with its career implications and how to utilize some potentially profitable opportunities that this stimulus package and current economy have created.

View full text of article.

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Feature Article II

DECISION MAKING AND MARKET CRISES^©

by Tim Kelly

A global private equity money management firm partner Tim Kelly asks: Why doesn't our financial industry seem to get any better at spotting and protecting against developing manias, bubbles, and meltdowns? His answers on how to improve our decision making capabilities are sure to help explain:

how we got where we are

how to avoid getting here again

and most importantly, how to have your decision making processes result in even more profit.

View full text of article.

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Feature Article III

THE CASE OF THE UNLOVED THETA AND THE FAKE GREEK^©

by Kathy Graham

Algorithms and the Five Greeks are among the terms most individuals just don't understand. Yet these two concepts are basics in investment management and trading. Enjoy HQ Scripts' founder Kathy Graham's amusing article of how to be a great sleuth in detecting potential investment thieves. You'll be surprised at the end to discover you've also clarified your understanding of algorithms, the Five Greeks, and other investment concepts while actually having a fun time and without having to read a single number or math equation.

View full text of article.

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Book Review

DEAR MR. BUFFETT:

What An Investor Learns 1,269 Miles From Wall Street

DRINKING KOOL-AID? - Review Article by K. Graham

Want to read an eye-opening jaw-dropping book? Then read Janet Tavakoli's latest book about her conversations with Warren Buffett beginning in 2005. The quotes from the various Wall Street financiers from 2005 through 2008 are mind boggling and the Buffett insights are great. Graham shares her musings after she read the book three times (it was that captivating), which are: