How Dr. Lie Uncovered Corporate Option Cheating

Yes the business school professor's real name is Dr. Lie (pronounced Lee - Norwegian). He studied corporate executive stock options and was not satisfied with the prevalent grant timing theory that executives granted themselves options before releasing good news.

So he examined the data and he found evidence of backdating. Now backdating is kinda like asking your stock broker to give you the stock you buy at the lowest price of the year. Here is what Lie says he found:

In a study that I started in 2003 and disseminated in the first half of 2004 and that was published in Management Science in May 2005, I found that stock prices also tend to decrease before the grants. Furthermore, the pre-and post-grant price pattern has intensified over time (see graph below). By the end of the 1990s, the aggregate price pattern had become so pronounced that I thought there was more to the story than just grants being timed before corporate insiders predicted stock prices to increase. This made me think about the possibility that some of the grants had been backdated. I further found that the overall stock market performed worse than what is normal immediately before the grants and better than what is normal immediately after the grants. Unless corporate insiders can predict short-term movements in the stock market, my results provided further evidence in support of the backdating explanation.

The summary posting by Dr. Lie is compelling and clear even to the layman. He finishes with some frequently asked questions that tell us 23% of executive stock option grants between 1996 and 2002 (when the reporting law was changed) were backdated. He also explains why most option cheaters are not caught.

So there are the metrics of our executive business morality. 77% honest. That's one reason why America is a (comparatively) great nation.

Israel Plans 1000 shekel fine on spammers

Kan Naim reports that Israel Plans to impose 1000 shekel (today= $236) fine on spammers who send SMS messages or emails. No proof of damages needed.

ב- sms הקץ למטרידנים - יוזמת שר התקשורת לאפשר פיצוי בגובה של עד 1,000 ₪ על שולח דואר זבל

או לדואר האלקטרוני, ללא צורך בהוכחת נזק, יצאה לדרך

Must have: IDF Tzahal Chess Set

I used to have a renaissance chess set. This one surpasses it by miles. It's the Israel Defense Forces chess set.

The description says:

Sterling Silver IDF Chess Set

A masterpiece unique artisan large 925 sterling silver (NOT silver plated) IDF (Israel Defense Force) chess set. Comprised of 32 highly detailed and outstanding IDF related pieces representing the various corps in the Israeli defense forces, 16 made of sterling silver (for the white pieces) and 16 made of gilded sterling silver (for the black pieces).

The pawns are designed as soldiers, the rooks are shaped as missile boats, the knights are as mobile gun, the bishops are as patrol jeep, the kings are as combat pilot standing beneath his F-15 and the queens are as queen driving a Merkava tank (the tank is considered to be the queen of the battlefield).

The wooden case is topped by a removable wooden cover, set with a silvered and gilded metal playing board, centered by the IDF logo inscribed in Hebrew "Tzva Haganah Le'Israel" (Israel Defense Force).

This set was made in the electroforming method. An extraordinary set which will amaze any observer, sure to be the highlight of any game or display, and bound to make an excellent gift to any chess lover. Price : $1850.00

Conan O'Brien's Torah Joke

"The first Muslim member of Congress is planning to be sworn in on a copy of the Koran that was once owned by Thomas Jefferson. The congressman says he found Thomas Jefferson's Koran on the shelf next to George Washington's Torah." --Conan O'Brien

2006: The Standard Reviews Jersey Jews News

In a wide ranging story, the staff of the Jewish Standard recaps the newsmakers of the past year.

Teaneck's Shomer Shabbos Blues Band

The Bergen Record writes really nice things about the Katzes in today's edition.

Blues brothers...and one Dad
By MIKE KERWICK
STAFF WRITER

Jeremy Katz angled his way into the walk-in closet, brushed his dad's clothes out of the way with a sweep of his arm and gestured to the left-hand wall.

"It was right here," he said.

He pointed to the spot where an acoustic guitar once hid behind his dad's shirts and his mom's dresses. Jeremy wandered into the closet one afternoon after school, looking for some soft drinks his dad kept tucked away in a small refrigerator. Instead, he found a Yamaha FG-180.

"I would always look at it," Jeremy said, "and then eventually I asked [my dad] if I could see his guitar."

You could pencil that moment in as the tipping point, the catalyst that ignited an untapped pile of tinder that had been begging for a spark. If Jeremy doesn't stumble upon that guitar case, maybe Avi Katz never scrapes the cobwebs off a second long-forgotten guitar to jam with his son.

If Jeremy doesn't pick up the guitar, maybe his little brother Jonathan doesn't ask to play drums.

If Jonathan doesn't ask to play the drums, maybe the eldest son, Jordan, never starts messing around with a set of drumsticks.

If Jordan never touches those drumsticks, maybe Jonathan doesn't decide to switch to bass.

If, if, if ...

Instead, one event bled into another. Soon, Avi Katz glanced around his supper table and realized he had inadvertently turned his family into a four-piece blues band.

The 13-year-old plays bass. The 14-year-old handles lead guitar. The 20-year-old plays drums.

And the 50-year-old estate planner – yes, the 50-year-old estate planner – is the one belting lyrics into a microphone.

"Now that I've created this monster," Avi Katz said, "I can't bow out and watch it fall until someone's ready to do the singing."

They call themselves III Blue J's – a play on the names of all three blues-fascinated sons beginning with the letter J. The group released "Rock Your Blues Away," a collection of blues covers, late last year and watched it briefly become one of the top sellers on the CD Baby Web site.

Their first jam session took place in a tiny upstairs room in the family's Teaneck home, before they moved everything down to the dining room. Would your mom and dad let you drum next to their fine china?

"[Jordan] drops his stick sometimes when we're practicing," Jeremy said. "He never hit anything, though."

Now they have a studio set up in the basement, stacks of black, tan and brown equipment cases piled high next to a treadmill. It didn't take long before the novice musicians were catching up to their father.

"In three months," Avi said, "we were performing on stage at Mexicali Blues [a Teaneck nightspot]."

They played their first gig at the Cupping Room Cafe in Manhattan, a spot that invites patrons in for jazz music and no cover charge on Friday nights. It took weeks to get the material down cold.

"We all knew it pretty well," said Jordan, 20, the drummer. "But the first time playing in front of an audience, it wasn't nerve-racking. It was just more of a new experience. ... It's cool because it's instant feedback from the people."

Audiences began taking an interest in the family that played better than anyone could have expected.

"I was just blown away," said Rafe Gomez, a New Jersey-based DJ who hosts the nationally syndicated radio program "The Groove Boutique." "I liked it because it wasn't trying to be kids' music. They were trying to be as legitimate and powerful as possible, and they were trying to emulate their heroes."

Gomez, whose show airs Saturday nights on WQCD-FM, discovered the band when his wife brought the group's four-track sampler CD back to the house. She is a personal trainer who happened to be working with Avi's wife, Nadine. One listen and Gomez knew III Blue J's was something more than a novelty act.

He suspects something similar happened at Mexicali Blues, a place he calls "the serious outpost for blues in New York and New Jersey."

"I've been there," Gomez said. "I've seen their hard-core blues and rock acts waiting for their turn to get on, and I see their eyebrows raised. They're impressed."

Avi Katz tries to limit how many gigs the band plays each month, a show of respect for his kids' studies. They never play Friday nights or Saturdays until after sundown, a show of respect for the Sabbath.

And music never comes before homework.

No, they're not angels. Asked if he fights with his brothers, bass player Jonathan replied, "What brothers don't?"

Equipment gets thrown. Heated words are exchanged.

"The next practice you're like, 'Why am I down here? I shouldn't be here. Someone threw something at me,' " Jonathan said. Still, "you know that you should do the right thing, and you should practice."

They are still just kids – kids playing the blues, but certainly not singing them.

Caroline Glick, the Queen of Catastrophic Raving Lunatic Zionism

There are real people and there are raving lunatics. Real people work to bring new value into the world. Raving lunatics merely froth at the mouth and run around in circles.

Every article that I have read by a Ms. Caroline Glick has convinced me that she stands alone as the Queen of Catastrophic Raving Lunatic Zionism.

In her latest screed, "The bitter fruits of corruption," published by JWR and other wingnut outlets, she just raves on and on and on about the catastrophic state of affairs in Israel. In her lunatic world, everyone is corrupt, everyone is inept and Israel is headed for hell in a hand basket.

This is not your typical run-of-the-mill catastrophic Zionist blather. Glick opines ravingly, "And so to extricate itself from the morass of ineptitude and criminality that has become its public sector, Israel must find the way to rid ourselves of the current political and military leadership that embody both."

You see, the ante has been raised. The entire government of Israel - in Glick's never humble opinion - is evil and corrupt and the nation is careening towards oblivion.

You may ask, what are Ms. Glick's expert credentials for her role as arbiter and predictor of destruction and despair? As far as I can tell, they are simply put nil, null and void. This woman knows how to write English sentences. Other than that, she has absolutely no claim to any authority, insight or expertise regarding the state of affairs in the Middle East or anywhere else.

We thank Binyamin L. Jolkovsky, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of JWR, for his untiring cutting and pasting of articles which promote the catastrophic raving lunatic fringe of Zionist and Judaic thought.

And we caution all our friends who credulously read the republished nonsense that he promotes to repent, relent and come to your senses.

Seven million strong, Israel is a great nation. It is not hovering on the brink of destruction.

Caroline and Binyamin, why in the name of all that sane do you want to promote the idea that it is?

O yes. Forgive me. I forgot. To make a coupala dollars.

Bar Ilan Responsa Library Comes Online

The Bar Ilan Responsa data base is now online at
http://www.responsa.co.il/.

Globes reports:

The Bar Ilan University Responsa Project is now available online.

The Responsa Project is the world's largest electronic collection of Torah literature. Like its CD version, launched in 1991, the Online Responsa encompasses Jewish sources representing over three thousand years of Jewish literary heritage. It includes the Bible and its principal commentaries, the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud with commentaries, Midrashim, Zohar, Rambam, Shulchan Aruch with commentaries, and the collection of Responsa questions and answers on matters of Jewish law.

... The Responsa texts in this online database include over 80,000 legal decisions, representing over a thousand years of development of Jewish law, and capturing the historical, social, and economic milieu of Jewish communities all over the world.

... Bar-Ilan University can now allow all Internet users full access to its Jewish cultural treasures, thanks to C.D.I.'s NetIS technology, which identifies users and protects the data from being abused. The multi-lingual interface (Hebrew, English, and French) enables users to swiftly browse and study the contents of several sources simultaneously.

Subscribers can choose between various options, such as subscriptions to specific parts of the database, annual or monthly subscriptions, or cumulative time viewing rights.

The results of a search come up quickly. A search for "Tzvee" produced 4907 hits, showing two lines of the reference. Further access to the texts is restricted by login.

Login is not necessary in order to view a result list.
If you wish to view content, you will have to login as a subscriber or register as a guest.

After login, the content will be displayed according to your access rights.
Login is also required for browsing the online store and viewing your personal account.

More to follow after a thorough review.

Reb Yudel slams Reb Rosenblatt

Our colleague (Larry Yudelson) takes to task our esteemed colleague (Gary Rosenblatt) to wit.

Gary Rosenblatt et al peddle Republican Party talking points again

and do you know what? Larry is right. Gary is way off base.

Keep 'em honest mar Yudelson.

Harris Invention Award Winner: USBCELL

What a great idea. Here is a rechargeable AA battery that can be plugged into your USB port to recharge.

Harris Epstein, my great grandfather the inventor, would have been proud of this invention because it is clever, thrifty and ecologically sound.

After careful deliberation we are awarding our first Harris Invention Award Winner to USBCELL.

The product description says, "The USBCELL has been designed for real-world ease of use. By opening the cap and plugging into any powered USB port, you can recharge pretty much anywhere there's a USB socket. By making it easier to recharge batteries we can help the environment: easier recharging means more frequent use, which means fewer disposable batteries get made and thrown away."

After reading the reviews at Amazon we recommend that you purchase this winning invention.