AskDong

A reader, P,  asks:

I recently got accepted to a Non ABA certified Law School. Given the nature of the beast. What are your thoughts on such an endeavor, as there are pros and cons to the affair?

I’m certainly no expert on education. I have but one degree, and nary a desire for another. I’m done with school. That said, I believe it’s generally in everyones’ best interest to attend the best school that he or she can. This does not mean the most expensive as there are many affordable public institutions that outclass expensive private schools.  However, all else things being equal, ABA accredited school is by definition superior to a non accredited one.

To practice law, one must pass the bar exam. To take the bar exam, one must attend an ABA accredited school. In that light, it would seem that attending a non-accredited school is not worthwhile. Of course it’s not that simple as different states have their own individual bar associations that may allow graduates of non-accredited schools to take the bar. By passing the Bar in one state, and then practicing law for a few years, it’s often possible to take the Bar in any state. Of course with ABA accredited degree, you can take the Bar anywhere.

The more interesting question is not if you can take the Bar or not, but rather what doors an ABA accredited school would open versus a non accredited school. My initial read into the matter, is “a lot.” The ABA has gotten criticized and justly so for being a elitist institution that is in the business of exclusion. From what little I can gather, this seems to be true. Ironically because this is true, it’s better to member of the club than excluded.

So why would anyone want to attend a non accredited school? They are cheaper, and often easier to get into. The former is a good reason and the latter is a good reason only for those who can’t get into another school.  I don’t believe my reader is such an individual.  He’s clearly a smart guy if he’s reading AskDong.  It’s important to attend the best school that you can get into, and not just the best school that you know is easier to get into. Shoot for the moon, I say. Even when it comes to cost, I think the extra money can be well worth it if more doors are open because of it.
My attitude towards education is biased. I don’t believe that a diploma is a necessary prerequisite of learning. I don’t believe the ultimate value of education is not what’s learned, but what doors that diploma can open. A diploma is a key, and it’s clear from what little I know about the ABA and law jobs a degree from ABA accredited school is a much better key. Is it fair? No, I don’t think it is, but it’s how the world works.

I’m a little late on my investment update as I’ve been trying to get it out around the 1st of the month. The month of April pretty much continued how it started. The market rallied while I lagged relative to market. My lagging is not very surprising given that I have quite few put options on the NASDAQ and the DOW. Those haven’t worked out very well recently, but I guess that’s what hedges are for.

I am finally up for the year. Almost all of that can be attributed to the calls on AAPL that continue to race onward an upward. Last month AAPL shot past $150. The stock is up above $180 now….

Now that I have a few months of data for my historical performance chart, it’s actually beginning to look like something.

I have a couple stocks in my portfolio brightly colored red. Yet, every time I see them I have stop myself from buying more. The two common cliches that prevent me from doing so are. 1) Don’t Catch A Falling Knife 2) Don’t Average Down. I’ve managed to resist the temptation, and in the past this resistance to my own nature has served me well with two other stocks I used to own, WM and AHM. I took my 20% loss on Washington Mutual and avoided losing another 60%. I took my 50% loss on AHM (American Home Mortgage) and avoided losing everything as the company declared bankruptcy within a few weeks of when I sold out my last shares.

While fortunate in those transactions, my losses also highlight the biggest trap of investing/trading - Falling in love with your stocks. I fell in love with AHM and WM when I should have sold much earlier. I only take solace in that in the end I realized the relationship could not work because the love was not returned. As with relationships, it’s better to cut your losses than try to make an untenable relationship work.

So what do I own today that I need to think seriously about selling? Mylan Pharmaceuticals (MYL) and United Health (UNH). MYL is a company I’ve owned at some point another in some account or another for over 12 years. It’s loved me in the past, but it no longer loves me today. Fundamentally, I should own neither MYL or UNH. I don’t know the first thing about the pharmaceutical or health care industry. I’m not much of a consumer or connoisseur of either.

Recently there was an article in the New York Times about people sharing salary information. Jim at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity was one of those interviewed and had his own response on the topic. This topic dear to my heart.  My girlfriend and I often discuss this topic because we’ve found a wide divergence in behavior amongst our friends. My friends who are mostly guys tend to talk openly about salary while her friends who are mostly women do not. I don’t know if it’s a gender difference or just difference in friends. She believes that the difference in behavior is gender correlated, and that ultimately women by being more secretive do themselves a disservice.

While my jury is still out on the gender difference, I agree on the latter. I believe it’s better regardless of gender to share information amongst your friends. While access to salary information is much better now with websites such as Salary.com, and Payscale. None of these online tool provide the nuance that you can get from a friend. I can find out exactly what my friends do when I ask and how much they earn for doing so. I can know exactly how much responsibility they have. Telling me what Financial Analyst Level IV in 100-400 person company earns is informative but less so than a five minute conversation with good friend who has a real job in a real company.

The salary conversation is most easily had right out of school when everyone is effectively starting at the same level. Envy and boastful pride generally don’t have the opportunity to rear their ugly heads when most people after college start roughly in the same levels. Sure, the Investment Bankers and Consultants make more, but they work those crazy hours. Few people take it personally that their friend might make more, at least not straight of school. The differences are small, and most people at that time acknowledge the trade off that’s often made to do something more personally rewarding.

As we get older, we do become more sensitive rightly and wrongly so. Some of us feel under compensated, and others hate to hear the braggadocio that might accompany salary gossip. I don’t disagree. As we get older the differences in pay become wider, and seemingly more arbitrary. However, we should all check our ego. Talking about money should not be ego or envy, but career advancement. There’s a time and place for sharing the information. Talk amongst coworkers is especially tricky and I have never had an explicit conversation on salary with a coworker. However, plenty of information can still be shared in the most general of terms with a coworker. Nadira Hira at Fortune.com points out the traps that might come with salary discussions at work. However, amongst friends outside of work when the conversation turns to careers, I firmly believe that information should flow freely.  How is someone to know they are underpaid unless they have friends who give them the dish? Networking isn’t about getting the next job through a friend or acquaintances, but knowing the opportunities that are out there.  Salary information is a big part of that.

Mazda is choosing to cut it’s babies in half. A couple years ago there was freak mishap on a freighter, the Cougar Ace, that rendered it unseaworthy. The ship tipped to port at nearly a 60 degree angle. As a result, much of the cargo was drenched in seawater, or stored at odd angles. There were over 100 million worth of Mazda cars in the cargo hold.

Mazda has now decided to destroy all the cars to prevent them from making it onto the gray market as new cars. Mazda has originally intended to sell some as new given that many of the cars are likely undamaged. Financially, it doesn’t matter to Mazda. They had insured their cargo, and as result are probably better off destroying the cars rather than risk their reputation if the cars turned out to be faulty. Interestingly enough, casualty and property insurance developed for exactly this type of event.

While I understand Mazda’s intentions, and the Insurance company’s reluctance to enter the car salvage business, it seems like such an awful waste. While I would be weary of Mazda if they had attempted to sell these cars as new, I would think that these cars can be at least salvaged for parts. I can’t imagine there’s much if anything wrong with the body panels. Instead these cars are being shredded. Such a waste.