More pictures from Valencia trip

Driving to Valencia - thank god for my iPhone or we would have arrived in Seville instead.

















Beautiful boardwalk, beautiful weather, beautiful friends...

















... and, I'm dead.

Valencia pictures - day one

- Please excuse the brevity and typos. Posting from my iPhone

Studying Financial Analysis - Valuation

I am very happy that my team members understand this stuff...



































...next step is to understand it myself!


- Please excuse the brevity and typos. Posting from my iPhone

Happy Mothers Day Mom!!!

Big hug from Madrid! I love you SO much!!!


- Please excuse the brevity and typos. Posting from my iPhone

Huevos Rotos Breakfast

Great saterday of doing absolutely NOTHING... However we did cook the best breakfast ever.

I'll call this a success.


- Please excuse the brevity and typos. Posting from my iPhone

How to Finance Your MBA on Currency Valuation

Warning: Don’t try this at home!

Ok, so I decided to do my MBA in Spain. The logic behind this was simple:

1) My career thus far has been focused on international business

2) I love it

3) I have already worked in Asia and North America, so it makes sense to experience more of Europe

4) If you are going to drop $100K for a piece of paper, why not enjoy yourself in the process?

So the decision is simple, right? Well, yes… I guess. But there is of course a moment when pen hits paper and you find yourself filling out a check for an ungodly amount of money. This is certainly a gut check – “Is this the right school? Is this the right time? How many dollars is this anyway?!”

Well…

As of December 21^st: $70,000

As of January 10^th: $65,000

As of April 26^th: $60,000

As of May 6^th: $56,000

Huh?!?

Look I love free money. Definitely I love free $14,000. If you were to approach me on the street and offer me $1 I would happily take it. But seriously what the heck is going on here?

What is going on? Well, Greece is going on! And so too is Portugal and Ireland and… Spain. The PIGS (yes, use your Scrabble or Words-With-Friends skills to figure this out) are coming to feast on a trough of economic scrutiny. After a good scrubbing of the multitude of Wall Street balance sheets, the Excel-happy auditors have moved on and found a curious anomaly: these developed/ing countries are COMPLETELY INSANE.

Like a 16 year old girl with daddy’s credit card, the PIGS have been racking up debt on fashionable goods to attract the popular boys, while skipping school and avoiding work.

Well listen sweethearts, it’s time to put down the plastic and pick up a shovel, because you are in a heap of trouble. Your debt does not match your spending. “Oh, but you have siesta and sunset walks on the beach to attend to?” Well I have news for you. You also have 8-10% cost of capital to attend to.

Go ahead and riot Greece. Go ahead and blame Goldman Sacks Portugal. The reality is that you have a truckload of debt, no substantial exports, and no future economic growth to leverage. Go ahead and cry to daddy for a new credit line if you like, but ultimately it’s time to own it, cut spending, and grow your productivity.

In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the low euro with a cheaper cerveza to accompany my tapas and MBA.

Salud!

An Evil Which is Consuming Spain

I have recently identified the most criminal, illiquid evil that is currently consuming Spain. In my investigations of over one month I have experienced this evil nearly every day. It’s inequity and unjust value leaves the rich poor and the poor poorer. No doubt a product of a global conspiracy, this evil can be found everywhere - in every street, among the people, in the restaurants, in the pubs, and in the bars of Madrid.

Though this evil is clearly out in the open, its ubiquity blinds us, hiding it from common observation. It leaves a lingering thirst that can seemingly never be satisfied. It robes all people - regardless of race, color, or creed - of fairness, righteousness, and liberty.

I present to you this evil… the 200mL Coca-Cola bottle!

By my estimates I’ve already spent over $200 on these fascist devil-cokes. This means at current rates I will spend over $2,400 in soda during the course of the year… That is unless I do something about it.

The most obvious option would be to stop drinking these Napoleon sized midget bastard cokes. For me this is not an option. It’s like telling a fish not to swim, or like telling a Spanish waiter not to give bad service. It’s just not something that’s going to happen.

So, I really have only one option. I must take down the Coca-Cola Company. This will be my new sole focus in life. I will fight for justice. I will fight for the people of Spain. I fight for the future welfare of thirsty students and parched tourists.

Coca-Cola this is your warning. We have declared our independence. We will stand and fight. Coca-Cola 200mL bottle, your days are numbered!

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