Money in the Bank

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SoundCloud Link: 4 Peas in a Pod

@chiggylodha @canenblr @barco96 

@theuncannyprofessoro

#instructionalpodcast #swamptechwriting

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Jordan Belfort - Stock Broker

Cocaine and Hookers

All I need to get me by

Emptiness inside

  Jordan Belfort is the main character in the Wolf of Wall Street. In the movie, you see him go from a modest penny stock salesman to the creator of one of Wall Street’s most lucrative brokerage firms. At first, Jordan is eager and tries to sell stocks on the up and up. He starts as a humble and truthful person. As he starts making more and more money, he turns down a dark path of immorality. Drugs, hookers, and partying start to consume his life. Eventually he gets caught up in his greediness and is arrested for fraud. Belfort swindled hundreds of millions of dollars from stock buyers as he inflated stock prices and then dumped his shares to make millions. At the end of the movie he comes to realize that he has made a mistake by living this superficial life. His life had no true sustenance and he drove away the people that meant most to him. His wife and family resented him for the pain he had caused so many people. As someone who desires to become an investment banker, this story resonates with me. Even though there are many get rich quick schemes, the only way to be truly successful is to be honest. This character could learn a lot by looking at what we have learned during this course. In the business world you can not cheat others without consequences. All of your writing and projects must have truth in their content. When presenting results, one should not lie for their own self interest as this will only make things bad. People will not respect you and your word will be meaningless. Jordan Belfort was a very persuasive person and during this course I have also learned many persuasion tactics. When I look at this course through the eyes of a professional in my field of study, I can see how we must be accountable for what we write and say.

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Student Loan Bubble

An unreported issue in my field of study is the immanent debt acquired by college student taking out loans.

Currently 4/10ths of people from 18-29 have student loans that haven't been paid off yet. Considering all of those people want to peruse their dreams, it is very hard to accomplish with such debt. 

Also high interest rates makes it close to impossible to ever get out of the crippling hole of owing the bank money. Each interest rate is different for each loan. Interest is the cost of borrowing money typically expressed as an annual percentage of the loan. For savers it is effectively the rate your bank or building society will pay you for borrowing your money.

 For students in debt, it is the extra money accumulated and added onto the original debt that hasn't been paid off. AKA you could be drowning in student loans for a literal lifetime. The US alone has 1.5 trillion in student debt. Students are taking out hundreds of thousands in loans to pay for an education in a specific field that might not have a spot for them in the real world. The big push for a college education has turned into a crisis. 

Student debt can be easily correlated with the stock market crash of '08 because of the similarities of "the bubble". A bubble occurs when investors put so much demand on an asset that it drives the price upwards beyond an accurate or rational worth. Since half of college kids are in debt and half of them won't be able to get a job in their field it creates a bubble. 

Giving out loans for education, though gracious, is a huge problem because the supply of education doesn't have the same demand for jobs in many fields of study.

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Working Long Hours

The banking industry is known for its long, tedious, and tiresome hours. This is due to the competitiveness and cutthroat culture that has been created in the field. Everyone is trying to make the most money possible for their clients, so there is constantly work to be done. In the global market, money is always moving and transactions are being made every second of the day. Clients give the banks huge fees and return expect you to be available at all times of the day.

 Some bankers work up to 80 or 100 hours a week! This leaves little time for life outside of work. Seniors bankers generally work less hours than junior bankers. This is in part due to the fact that while senior bankers are in meetings all day and when they go home for the evening they give work to junior bankers that must be processed by the morning. Imagine having to work till 10pm or even midnight Monday through Friday! Workload distribution is also a huge problem, as bankers only have certain clients. This means that bankers can must be intimately familiar with their clients to answer last minute requests.

 The long work hours lead to mental health issues for a lot of people. Stress is a huge one, as you are expected to have peak performance whenever you are called upon. This is also a cause of the huge drug culture that surrounds the banking industry. To get a competitive edge, many bankers take Adderall or do cocaine so they can stay awake and be sharp. In 2013, a Bank of America intern collapsed and died in London. Bank of America denied the claim that it was because he was overworked.

 Even with all of these problems, this culture is so ingrained into the industry it is doubtful to change. The only way this will ever change is if the banks change their business models, but until then employees will continue to work ridiculous hours and have little to no social life.

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Ice Hockey Goaltending

In hockey, the goaltender’s the main objective is to stop the opposing team from scoring. This makes them a very important player on the team. Goaltender is a specialized position as they wear different equipment and have rules specific to them.

 Equipment

Goalie specific equipment gives goaltenders an advantage when stopping the puck. Specialized equipment includes the mask, trapper, blocker, stick, and leg pads. Before 1959, no goaltender in the NHL wore a mask. Montreal Canadian’s goalie Jacques Plante was the first to wear one full time. This revolutionized the game as prevented many injuries and made the game safer for all goaltenders. The modern goalie mask is made of a fiberglass construction with cages made of steel. Goalies add their own flair to their masks with custom paint jobs. These masks protect goalies from pucks that are shot at very high speeds. 

The trapper is catching glove worn to catch shots and cover the pucks to stop play. According to USA Hockey rules, the trapper cannot be longer than 18 inches in diameter. A variety of positions . A variety of positions can be used for the trapper, but the most common is placing the palm forward to cover the most area.  On the other hand, goalies hold their sticks in a glove called a blocker. The blockers top has a large rectangular surface used to deflect pucks. In accordance with USA Hockey rules, the blocker can not exceed 8 inches in width and 15 inches in length. Sticks play a large role in goaltending. The large paddle on the bottom helps deflect shots and in some instances make passes. According to the USA Hockey rulebook, the paddle of a goalie stick cannot exceed 26 inches. The last piece of specialized equipment are the leg pads. Leg pads are made up of foam wrapped by leather and nylon. Pads cannot be wider than 11 inches or taller than 38 according to the rulebook. Goalies use the leg pads to block shots that are just above or on the ice.

 Saves and Techniques

There is a large variety of saves and techniques goaltenders can use to stop the puck. To get ready for a shot, goaltenders stand with their feet slightly outside their shoulder width, blocker and trapper facing the shooter with their stick flush with ice. This stance helps goaltenders cover the most area of the net and allows them to react quickly to the shot. The goaltender wants their shoulders to be squared with the shooter to cover most of the net. The ready stance is advantageous as it increases reaction time. When a shooter is looking at a goalie there are five main areas or “holes” they will shoot at to try and score.      

1.     High trapper side

2.     Low trapper side

3.     High blocker side

4.     Low blocker side

5.     Area between the leg pads

Goaltenders use their trapper, blocker, and sometimes even their mask to stop high shots. In general, goaltenders want to either catch the puck in the trapper, or deflect it to the corners of the rink. This is to prevent rebounds, which are second chances to score. When a

goaltender covers or holds on to the puck the whistle is blown and a faceoff ensues. When a goaltender faces a low shot, they use a technique known as the butterfly. A butterfly save occurs when the goaltender drops to his knees and flairs his pads outward. It is important to note, that the goaltender should keep his chest high and hands the same position just incase they need to make a secondary save. From this position the goalie can use the leg pads to kick the puck and deflect it out of harms way. If the goalie is down and needs to move, they can raise one leg and use their skate to slide across into position. This is known as a butterfly slide.  

Stick saves are useful in most cases. If a shooter is all alone on a breakaway the goaltender can use a poke check. A poke check occurs when the goalie extends is stick all the way out to try and deflect the puck away from the shooter. When in the butterfly position, the goaltender can place the paddle of the stick parallel with the ice to deflect passes or up close shots. This technique does leave the upper part of the net vulnerable for the shooter.

 Conclusion

Goaltending is complex and there are many more techniques that can be used. Each goaltender has their own unique style derived from these basics. Once a goaltender has mastered these simple saves and moves, they can become more creative with their saves.

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UF Warrington College of Business

The Warrington College of Business Facebook page is a great place to gain insightful knowledge from professors, learn about what alumni are doing, and sharpen your professional skills. The school also has its own website where scholars, students, and alumni can read blogs with information pertaining to the business world. The links are usually posted so all of the followers can access the articles.

Recently, the page posted an article written in the New York Times that included data complied by Warrington scholar Jay Ritter. The linked article talked about the unprofitability on a per share basis of companies that went public last year. Ritter’s research was used in the article to provide confirmation of the author’s thesis. 

Another linked article provided research by scholar Mo Wang on the whether younger or older entrepreneurs had an advantage. The article discussed how younger people are more likely to form new ideas and intentions due to their perspective on time. Younger people are more likely to live longer, so they perceive that they have more time turn ideas into fruition. However, older entrepreneurs are more likely to turn their idea into reality because they have prior experience and knowledge.

The Warrington College of Business loves to brag about their alumni. They routinely post links about what accolades and awards their graduates are winning. One of the most recent is a post congratulating Jane Sun on being named to the Forbes Asia Emergent 25 List of businesswomen. Women are put on the list based on their exceptional work in regional businesses across Asia and the impact they have had in their field.

The Facebook page is a great way for all business gators to connect and read interesting articles about the realm of business not only in Gainesville, but around the globe. The page can be accessed by going to facebook.com/UFWarrington/ or by searching @UFWarrington in search bar.

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“Business Ethics” Season 5, Episode 3

In this episode, Dundler Mifflin holds an ethics seminar. This seminar begins as a lecture on what can and cannot be done in the office and what is considered “unethical”. The lecture is held by the Human Resources Director, Holly, but quickly gets taken over by the Head Manager, Michael. Rather than lecturing the employees, he decides to hold an immunity activity where everyone can state what unethical actions they have done on shift with no repercussion. Multiple employees state what unethical actions they may have done but one employee stands out in severity. During this activity Meredith, a Supplier Relations employee, tells them that she has been sleeping with a business partner for a discount on their supplies. Holly decides that she must take action, however Michael tries to prevent her from doing so.

There are two ethical dilemmas here. The first dilemma is Meredith’s actions. She partook in prostitution, conflict of interest, and “stealing office hours”. The second is the disagreement between Michael and Holly on what to do about Meredith’s actions. Michael believes that they should ignore what Meredith has done because the office is a family. Holly, however, being the new Human Resources Director, has no emotional attachment to the employees. She wants to stay professional and write her up to Corporate and get her fired. Both employees become challenged in the situation because both characters are developing feelings toward each other but at the same time they are disagreeing on a decision that could ruin their friendship and an employee’s career. While they continue to disagree, the final decision comes down to keep her in the company, because a corporate employee says to not worry about it. This essentially leads the three head employees to commit obstruction of justice.

Even though the two decide to keep Meredith employed and stay a “family”, I disagree with their decision. While the workers may be friends, Dundler Mifflin is a business first. If it were to become public on Meredith’s actions, the company would potentially face multiple lawsuits and fire Meredith anyway. The company must maintain their regulations, professionalism, and keep their reputation high.

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This episode presents an interesting conundrum. On one hand, Meredith was baited into exposing her actions under the pretense that she would have immunity. However, what she did was totally out of line and the action of firing her is the correct one. 

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Mad Men, Season 1, Episode 1 “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”

Although the first season of Madmen contains many office dilemmas overall, they happened most frequently in this episode. It all begins in 1960, at the prominent advertising firm, Sterling Cooper in Manhattan, New York. The term “mad men” itself was inspired by the advertising executives on Madison Avenue, due to their money-hungry, corrupt, and unethical advances.

Don Draper, the chief advertising executive of Sterling Cooper is faced with the task of advertising a cigarette brand, Lucky Strike, despite new medical research showing tobacco’s correlation with lung cancer. He goes to a bar and observes the lives of everyone around him - everyone is seen to be smoking with their companions. He attempted to convince the bartender to switch to his smoking his brand and asking him what he thinks of the new medical research. The bartender maintains that it is a silly article posted in a magazine that only women read (as women were unethically treated as inferior), and that everyone loves smoking too much to care. 

There is a central ethical dilemma between utility and the right to live. Although all executives wish to ignore it, there are medical risks that endanger the lives of the consumers they target, while utilitarianism would argue that the majority of Americans would prefer to keep smoking and enjoy the tobacco company’s cigarettes. Rights of life and health take precedence over utility, but since the executives are corrupt, they are more inclined to look for a new slogan that will distract consumers and motivate them to buy Lucky Strike. The implication that Americans secretly have a death wish, was changed to make a new tagline “It’s toasted!” which was very successful for the brand at the end, the breach in ethics continued.

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While I see your point, I do not see how it is unethical to try and convince people to buy a product no matter what the effects are. As humans, we have free will and the right to choose what we want to do, whether it be enjoying a cigarette or drinking a glass of whisky. There is information out there for people to read and with that can make their own choices whether they be right or wrong. 

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Billions SN1 EP8: Boasts and Rails

Bobby Axelrod is the CEO of one of the largest financial firms in the world. His aggressive and dominating presence in the industry makes him a shark in a tank full of fish. He is feared by his employees, competitors, and the government alike. As the show progress, it comes to light that some of Axelrod’s practice toe the line of legality. This is where Chuck Rhoades, the US Attorney for New York, comes in. He is determined to take down Axelrod at almost any cost.

In this specific episode, Axelrod is put in quite a conundrum regarding some negative publicity he has been receiving recently. An author who is writing a book about Axelrod, releases a previously redacted chapter which details Axelrod’s whereabouts on September 11th. In this chapter it is revealed that Axelrod had not gone into work at the twin towers that day and instead decided to stay home. While the planes hit the towers and with the city in pandemonium, Axelrod decided to short-sell all of the airline, shipping, and hotel stocks. For those who do not know, a short-sell is when you bet the stock will go down instead of go up. Because of the terrorist attack, these stocks plummeted and Axelrod made billions.

This brings in a great ethical dilemma. Was Axelrod right to take advantage of such a horrendous tragedy? Personally, I see no problem with what he did. He saw an opportunity to make a tremendous amount of money and seized it. He was not afraid to do what had to be accomplished. At the end of the day, he has a responsibility to his shareholders to make money. This once in lifetime opportunity would most likely not present itself again. I believe it was a smart and cunning move on his part. Many people argue that he took advantage of a tragedy and that it was wrong because so many people perished. He used logic instead of emotions to dictate his decisions and I see no ethical wrongdoing in his moves on 9/11.

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its always sunny in philadelphia is such an underrated show pic.twitter.com/wVQaNn4UED

— 𝓪𝔂𝓼𝓱𝓪 𝓫𝓪𝓫𝔂 (@ayshaxv)

March 6, 2018

A post shared by Charlie Day (@charliedayfans) on May 8, 2018 at 1:50pm PDT

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