My Stock Winners

The Impact of Sunlight on Business Productivity

As the country embraces green building designs, daylight has become a premium. Not only does it save energy (more sunlight means less bulb light) but research shows that workers with access to natural light are more productive. Recent studies supporting the productivity claim are helping architects convince developers that such green features are good for business… everybody’s business. Not only can landlords charge more for the space, but companies can achieve better results from their employees.

Based on a 1999 analysis Lisa Heschong, founder of Heschong Mahone Group, performed with shoppers and schoolchildren, she already knew that natural light caused shoppers to buy more and students to perform better in school. In the study requested by the California Energy Commission, she wanted to analyze worker productivity and whether it mattered if people had a view. “We found really, really big effects,” said Heschong, who studied two call centers operating 12 hours a day with 100 employees. In each study, employees with views outside their windows answered and processed calls 7% faster than employees doing the same work without a view. “It’s almost too big to be believable,” she said. “In both of those cases, the importance of a view jumped out of the data.”

As a result, some companies even go so far as to move executives away from windows to give more workers access to daylight. Companies have also discovered that offices designed to make workers more comfortable pay for themselves. Standard industry norms say that during a building’s 30 year life cycle, a company will spend 90% of the costs on salaries for its workers; 3% on energy for lighting, heating and cooling; 4% on operating the building; and 3% on constructing the building. All companies are realizing that their most important asset is their people.

Gorgeous Girl Offers Crooked Deal

Desperate to find a husband who makes at least $500,000 a year, a desperate 25 year old beauty has removed her craigslist ad off the internet after causing quite a stir. She’s sparked a flurry of debate mainly from Wall Street about her sanity and scruples. Craigslist officials said the ad is legitimate and that she got 40 responses before removing it. Here is her ad word from word:

“What am I doing wrong? Okay, I’m tired of beating around the bush. I’m a beautiful (spectacularly beautiful) 25 year old girl. I’m articulate and classy. I’m not from New York. I’m looking to get married to a guy who makes at least half a million a year. I know how that sounds, but keep in mind that a million a year is middle class in New York City, so I don’t think I’m overreaching at all. Are there any guys who make 500K or more on this board? Any wives? Could you send me some tips? I dated a business man who makes average around 200 - 250. But that’s where I seem to hit a roadblock. 250,000 won’t get me to central park west. I know a woman in my yoga class who was married to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she’s not as pretty as I am, nor is she a great genius. So what is she doing right? How do I get to her level? Here are my questions specifically:

Where do you single rich men hang out? Give me specifics- bars, restaurants, gyms
What are you looking for in a mate? Be honest guys, you won’t hurt my feelings
Is there an age range I should be targeting (I’m 25)?
Why are some of the women living lavish lifestyles on the upper east side so plain? I’ve seen really ‘plain jane’ boring types who have nothing to offer married to incredibly wealthy guys. I’ve seen drop dead gorgeous girls in singles bars in the east village. What’s the story there?
Jobs I should look out for? Everyone knows - lawyer, investment banker, doctor. How much do those guys really make? And where do they hang out? Where do the hedge fund guys hang out?
How you decide marriage vs. just a girlfriend? I am looking for MARRIAGE ONLY

Please hold your insults. I’m putting myself out there in an honest way. Most beautiful women are superficial; at least I’m being up front about it. I wouldn’t be searching for these kind of guys if I wasn’t able to match them - in looks, culture, sophistication, and keeping a nice home and hearth.”

A Response That Could Not Be Put Any Better: “I read your posting with great interest and have thought meaningfully about your dilemma. I offer the following analysis of your predicament. Firstly, I’m not wasting your time; I qualify as a guy who fits your bill; that is I make more than $500K per year. That said here’s how I see it. Your offer, from the prospective of a guy like me, is plain and simple a crappy business deal. Here’s why. Cutting through all the B.S., what you suggest is a simple trade: you bring your looks to the party and I bring my money. Fine, simple. But here’s the rub, your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won’t be getting any more beautiful!

So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset. Not only are you a depreciating asset, your depreciation accelerates! Let me explain, you’re 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you! So in Wall Street terms, we would call you a trading position, not a buy and hold hence the rub marriage. It doesn’t make good business sense to “buy you” (which is what you’re asking) so I’d rather lease. In case you think I’m being cruel, I would say the following. If my money were to go away, so would you, so when your beauty fades I need an out. It’s as simple as that. So a deal that makes sense is dating, not marriage.

Separately, I was taught early in my career about efficient markets. So, I wonder why a girl as “articulate, classy and spectacularly beautiful” as you has been unable to find your sugar daddy. I find it hard to believe that if you are as gorgeous as you say you are that the $500K hasn’t found you, if not only for a tryout. By the way, you could always find a way to make your own money and then we wouldn’t need to have this difficult conversation. With all that said, I must say you’re going about it the right way. Classic “pump and dump.” I hope this is helpful, and if you want to enter into some sort of lease, let me know.”

108 Chinese Billionaires And Growing

China has more billionaires than any country except the United States, as soaring stock and property prices helped to boost wealth among the country’s wealthiest. The number of Chinese worth $1 billion or more jumped to 108, from 15 last year, growing much faster than in western countries. There’s still plenty of growth opportunity as China’s top entrepreneurs turn their sights to the vast underdeveloped and largely unregulated economic hinterland.

Yang Huiyan, 25, tops the 2007 China rich list after receiving $17.5 billion from her property developer father. Last year’s champion, Zhang Yin, fell to second place even as her wealth tripled to $10 billion after a surge in the share price of Nine Dragons Paper. Zhang, the world’s richest self-made woman, continues to widen the wealth gap with western counterparts such as U.S. television host Oprah Winfrey, eBay Inc. founder Margaret Whitman and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, according to the report. In a sign that China’s economic growth is largely driven by construction and manufacturing, rather than by science and technology, 7 of China’s 10 richest people are mainly or partly in the real estate business.

The Lies We Tell Ourselves

People always tell half-truths, white lies, sins of omission and other types of financial fiction when dealing with money issues. Why? The motivation, of course, is self-protection: If we don’t tell the truth to ourselves and others, maybe no one will know or maybe the problem will disappear! Here are three of the biggest lies people make about money:

1. The Lies We Tell Ourselves Avoiding the truth about your finances is really easy. The trouble is that the lies we tell ourselves about money are hard to spot because they are often couched as Really Valid Reasons. Here are some other financial cover-ups you may have used:

“I’ve earned it.”
“If she can afford it, why can’t I?”
“I make (insert dollar amount here). I should be able to live better than this.”
“What’s the harm? I hardly ever buy myself anything new.”

These rationales are externally driven. When you compare yourself to others or to a certain ideal (”all my girlfriends have one”), you avoid dealing with the realities of your own bank account. The need to assuage that discomfort is only natural. The trouble comes when denial becomes your primary way of coping and you avoid reality by overspending, trying to buy what others have and other financially damaging behaviors.

2. The Lies We Tell Others These financial fictions are much easier to spot. Who doesn’t know when they are lying to someone? But they are harder to correct for the following reasons:

You feel entitled to your privacy. “Hey, my money is nobody else’s business.”
You don’t want to look bad. “If I told even my best friend about how much debt I have, he would think I was an idiot.”
You know you’re about to fix the problem. “There’s no point in telling anyone we’re behind on our mortgage. I’m about to get a raise and everything will be fine.”

The nugget of truth here is that you really don’t have to tell anyone the truth about your financial life unless hiding the financial facts is getting or keeping you in trouble. The lie you tell about your financial situation could be concealing numerous other emotional issues. There is an overall refusal to accept one’s limitations. We say we don’t have ’such and such’ limitations, we’re fine and we get into deeper problems as a result. Admitting a particular truth to someone else also makes your money problem more concrete and harder to avoid.

3. Sins of Omission Sounds innocent (as though you just forgot to mention something) but can be very harmful to your wallet. In reality, they are an ugly combination of personal denial and lying to others.

Your friend admits that she’s in debt, but you just nod sympathetically, even though your debt could eat her debt for breakfast.
You make a major money mistake, and you’re so ashamed that you vow to take it to your grave.
Your pals are planning a ski vacation this winter and invite you along. You’re broke, but you book the hotel and flight anyway.
You just found out that your spouse is $25,000 in debt, you can’t make your car payments and you have no idea where to get help… so you don’t even ask.

Wrapping a key financial matter in a cloak of silence is really about keeping up appearances and fooling yourself that you haven’t lied, you just didn’t tell the truth.

(Meanwhile, here is a link to see my past articles of some good picks:)
http://www.mystockwinners.com/comments-on-iag/