I am tired of all discussions about diet and exercise. Part of the problem for me is that the math is so incredibly imprecise. We are told over and over…
Ann Logue
97 Articles
Ann Logue is a freelance writer and consulting analyst who is fascinated by business and technology. She has a particular interest in regulatory issues and corporate governance. She is the author of "Emerging Markets for Dummies" (Wiley 2011), “Socially Responsible Investing for Dummies†(Wiley 2009), “Day Trading for Dummies†(Wiley 2007), and “Hedge Funds for Dummies†(Wiley 2006), and has written for Barron’s, Institutional Investor, and Newsweek Japan, among other publications. As an editor and ghostwriter, she worked on a book published by the International Monetary Fund and another by a Wall Street currency strategiest. She is a lecturer in finance at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her current career follows 12 years of experience as an investment analyst. She holds a B.A. from Northwestern University, an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, and the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. How's that for deathly dull?
Ann Logue
2 Min Read
A video that always makes me happy, and violates Viacom’s copyright: [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/vgMgLjMghuk” width=”600″ height=”344″ allowfullscreen=”true” fvars=”fs=1″ /] YouTube is taking another round of fire in the ongoing debate about…
Ann Logue
3 Min Read
Let’s just come right out and say it: most families do not do as good a job as they could with their finances. So why do we hold them (i.e.,…
Ann Logue
3 Min Read
Sick of springing forward and falling back? Ann Logue breaks down the numbers and says Daylight Savings Time is worse than just an inconvenience.
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
The March issue of The Atlantic has a thoroughly depressing article about how employment might not pick up when the economy recovers. As if that wasn’t enough to send you…
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
On Saturday, another devastating earthquake hit, in Chile, and that gives us another chance to look at some of the numbers associated with earthquakes and rebuilding. The Richter scale, used…
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
Cheap Trick, the pride of Rockford, has a new CD out called The Latest. It’s been released through Tunecore , a service that makes it easy for bands to sell…
Ann Logue
2 Min Read
Abraham Lincoln was born 201 years ago last week. He was America’s greatest president because he took charge in a time of crisis, a civil war that seems unimaginable in…
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
This country is full of gorgeous old houses in places where the cost of living is negligible. For $149,000, you can have a five-bedroom brick center-hall colonial house on the…
Ann Logue
3 Min Read
February 2 is Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney and Election Day in Illinois. We have a lot of hot contests here in the state because our governor, who took office after…
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
Sita Sings the Blues is a great, sad movie about a breakup. The creator, Nina Paley, mixes animation styles and narrators, using the story of the Hindu gods Rama and…
Ann Logue
3 Min Read
Americans like to stress about our current account deficit. Even if they do not know the terms of the amounts, they worry about the fact that we export much less…
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
John Maynard Keynes, the eminent economist who is back in style, described the stock market as a beauty contest. He asked the readers of his General Theory of Employment, Interest,…
Ann Logue
2 Min Read
When I was a kid, I had to listen to whatever the DJ picked. One of the odder decade-end lists was Nielsen’s list of the most-played singles on radio between…
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
Lee Eisenberg likes to shop. He also has a lot of perspective on how people sell and how people buy. He was the editor in chief of Esquire for many…
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
Americans have a unique phobia about taxes. Years ago, politicians told us that we could have more stuff by paying less money, and we liked that. And so, we believe…
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
Last week, a conservative friend asked me how I liked living in Sweden under Comrade Obama. I sighed. Somehow or another, it has become accepted that Sweden is a frightening…
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
The death spiral of the newspaper industry has been well documented — but the once-proud comics section has been struggling for some time now. Ann Logue surveys the damage in her latest column.
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
The latest trend in the ”something for nothing on the Internet” game is the pay-to-bid auction site. The auction operator lets such items as cash and gift cards go at…
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
It’s darn near impossible for an investment manager to beat the market once you adjust performance for risk and fees. Every quarter, when Morningstar shows its fund reports, more than…
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
What’s the College Sustainability Report Card, and what does it have to do with happy chickens? Read Ann Logue’s latest Numberscruncher to find out.
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
Years ago, I had a friend who was a singer in a retro-punk band called Vaginal Cancer. He picked the name after his girlfriend had had a suspicious Pap smear….
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
Will the FTC bring down Popdose? Or do they have some vitamin peddlers to go after first?
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
Americans have always had a fairly violent reaction to taxes, but they aren’t inherently evil — and in her latest Numberscruncher, Ann Logue hits the Teabaggers with a cold splash of reality.
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
The site of the 2016 Olympics will be announced on Friday, and Chicago is considered to be a close contender along with Rio de Janeiro. Speaking on behalf of my…
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
Ben Bernanke said that the recession is over, but what he thinks isnÁ¢€â„¢t important. The more important arbiter of the business cycle, Federal Express, reported its earnings last week. Profits…
Ann Logue
3 Min Read
With pure obviousness, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that median household income in the United States fell to $50,303 in 2008, a 3.6 percent decline from 2007. Adjusted for inflation,…
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
In August of 1969, my grandparents took their younger children to New York City on vacation, where they saw the sights and met with their dazzling nephew Bob Cessna, an…
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
We know it pays to be a Beatle. But just how well? In this week’s Numberscruncher, Ann Logue takes a peek inside the world of Beatle finances to answer that question.