The Pour:

Very little head, color dark brown like a flat cola but quite opaque. Most prominent thing is there is a LOT of sediment floating in this one. Confirms this is about as unfiltered as it gets outside of some hefeweisens. Some minor legging to it but not much. Carbonation seems fairly minimal as well.

The Smell:

Very sweet first scent. Powerful caramel and some orange and apricot. Something bitter in there as well though but I can’t put a scent on it (add: I got it! fig!!!). A quick swirl and the second scent releases a lot more fruit. Much more of a berry smell to it than I originally thought. Ironically these fruit smells are actually quite similar to the ones I’d pick up with a cabernet.

The Taste:

It’s very surprising how quick you taste the fruit upon contact. It’s not even in the swallow, but in the actual entrance to your mouth where you can really taste a very sweet citrus. Gradual bitterness though and a bit acidic. The mouthfeel is great, very smooth with just a little carbonation.

Overall:

Oh man, the more Belgians I try the more I fall in love with them. The best comparison that no one’s heard of is the Westlyveren 8. A more reasonable comparison might be Ommegang’s Three Philosophers, but that one tends to have a bit more fruit than even this one. Rochefort 8 is basically a world renown favorite and I can certainly see why. Make sure to save it for a special treat though, my distributor sells it for $6.25 per bottle and they tend to have reasonable prices.

The Score:

4.5/5

A tip of the hat to work friend Dov who opened me up to a new website called TripIt (http://www.tripit.com). TripIt allows you to send your random electronic itineraries for hotels, flights, and restaurants to your TripIt account. Their software will automatically structure the key data to create a master itinerary for you, for FREE. All you have to do is open an account and forward your email itineraries to them and they take care of the rest.

Here’s a screenshot of my trip to SF next week:

TripIt has loads of features that I’m still starting to dive into such as:

• A networking feature like Facebook or LinkedIn that lets you compare your travel plans with co-workers
• An alert option that will tell you when your out of state friends come into town

• A calendar feature to see a quick view of your future trips and the future trips of everyone in your network
• Compatibility with Fandango, Tickets.com, and Evite (among others) to integrate a social life into your travel plans

This service won’t be all that useful for the one-off traveler, but if you’re making regular trips for whatever reason (Grad School interviews, business travel, holiday plans) you should really check it out. While you’re at it, make sure to add me to your network.

TripIt – http://www.tripit.com

In particular, take note of AMEX’s FX transaction fee increase. Definitely time for me to get a Schwab account.

JP Morgan Chase:

• Raising rates on credit-card cash advances and overdraft protection, as well as its default rate
• Charging a new $10 monthly service fee to some cardholders who have been carrying large balances for at least two years
• Raising monthly minimum payments to 5% of their outstanding balance, from 2%.

Citigroup and AMEX:

• Raising their regular interest rates by two to three percentage points.
• Amex is raising its rates on cash advances, late payments and defaults, increasing its foreign-exchange fees to 2.7% from 2% on its consumer and small-business cards and eliminating ways to earn rewards on one of its popular cards

How well does banking “prestige” predict the structural soundness of a bank through this financial crisis?

The Background:

Anyone who’s ever been remotely interested in going into finance, law, or management consulting has likely heard of Vault. Vault is a “provider of information and solutions for professionals and students who are pursuing and managing high-potential careers”. Although their website has many useful features such company message boards and resume advice, Vault is best known for the annual rankings they produce on many of the high profile industries. Many young professionals use these reviews and rankings as a major factor for their own job hunts. As a result, Chief Marketing Officers in all of these industries spend numerous hours working to improve their company’s “prestige” ranking in Vault and other equivalent publications in order to acquire the best talent.

The Discussion:

But how representative are these prestige rankings in the context of the current financial crisis? In particular, have “prestigious” banks been able to navigate this crisis more effectively than lower ranked banks? The image below lists the Top 25 Most Prestigious Banks from the latest survey published in May 2008. The timing couldn’t be more perfect, since every major collapse or merger occurred immediately following. Let’s go to the board.

Source: Vault

Let’s look at how these rankings fit into the credit crisis aftermath:

• #1 Goldman Sachs and #3 Morgan Stanley are both alive and kicking, but have lost tremendous value on their stock and have converted to bank holding companies to join government programs.
• #4 Lehman Brothers no longer exists
• #6 Merrill Lynch got bought out by #16 Bank of America
• #11 Citigroup lost out on the Wachovia bid to #28 Wells Fargo and is planning to cut over 50,000 people
• #16 Bear Stearns got bought by #5 JP Morgan Chase
• #18 Wachovia got bought by #28 (not listed) Wells Fargo

The Conclusion:

First, the “pure” investment banks that traditionally filled the top 10 were more deeply affected by the credit crisis. The only “winner” we can pick out in that group may be JP Morgan Chase. Unlike most of the other top 10 banks, JP Morgan had a much more diversified balance sheet through its retail banking and credit card lines under the Chase name. Merrill and Lehman were some of the biggest losers coming out of this credit crisis because they lacked this diversification.

Second, the “Plain Jane” retail banks are some of this year’s biggest winners. Bank of America and Wells Fargo both have huge capital bases supported by customer deposits. As bank holding companies they used much less leverage in their investments, resulting in much lower risk during the crisis. Although bumped and bruised, they were able to complete major acquisitions at dirt cheap prices and are in great position to become industry leaders in the years to come.

Ultimately, our analysis suggests that the prestige of a banking institution offers no indication of structural soundness during a potential downturn.

The Nutshell:

Prestige rankings offer no indication of the fundamental soundness of a banking institution. As always, make your banking and employment decisions based on your own due diligence.

How can I reduce my everyday banking fees?

The Background:

I made a post a few weeks back discussion how retail banking is going to become a more commoditized service that offers basic products for free and will charge for specialized services. This has quickly become a reality.

I came across a WSJ article that describes all the new ways retail banks are trying to nickel and dime customers for their everyday laziness. I’ve included a summarized list describing the cost increases individual banks are focusing on for each “added service”, as well as steps you can take to reduce your own exposure to them.

The Discussion:

Overdraft/Insufficient funds fee:

“By the end of 2009, you will start to see fairly substantial increases in overdraft fees” for the big banks, potentially to as high as $40 per occurrence from a current range of $32 to $35″

This one is pretty straightforward. Make sure you leave enough money in your checking account to cover everyday expenses. Now normally I’m not a proponent of increasing credit card use, but if you’re already carrying a zero balance on a regular basis (and if you’re not already, MAKE THAT YOUR TOP PRIORITY) then go ahead and charge it. Then you only have to worry about making sure you have cash in your checking account once a month.

Many banks (definitely Chase, and some others) will also allow you to sign up for email or mobile reminders when your account reaches a minimum balance. If you don’t check your account balance very often, signing up for these can save you a few bucks with minimal effort.

Foreign exchange transaction fee:

“Citi recently raised foreign-exchange transaction fees on its debit cards”

If you’re a regular international traveler, this one may be tough to get around as a Citi customer. One alternative is to open an account with another international retail bank such as HSBC.

If you’re just going for a quick vacation, you can reduce your ATM fees by withdrawing in larger denominations. It won’t get rid of the crappy foreign exchange rate, but you can reduce the number of times you pay the added flat fee. The other option is to use a credit card that offers a decent FX rate. American Express charges just 2 percent, and Capital One is especially traveler-friendly, with no additional surcharge.

Non-customer ATM fees:

“Over the past year, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s Chase, Bank of America Corp., and Wells Fargo & Co. have boosted the fees they charge noncustomers who use their automated teller machines to as much as $3 per transaction.”

Do a wallet double check every morning to make sure you always have some spare liquidity. I usually have around $100 in my wallet at all times, that gives me plenty of leeway to run by my BoA whenever it’s most convenient for me if I start running low.

In the long term, you’re much better off switching to a national retail bank. JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America are all going to have the biggest nationwide ATM networks when this latest wave of consolidation is complete. I’d recommend signing up for which ever of these is most popular in your region.

One additional alternative, courtesy of Michael Elbogen and Tony Wang:

“Another alternative to avoid ATM fees: Charles Schwab High Yield Investor Checking account gets a pretty decent interest rate for a checking account, AND since they don’t have ATMs of their own, they will refund you all ATM fees charged by other banks if you use their ATMs. So that basically means you can use any ATM, anywhere for free.”

The Conclusion:

Although these “laziness fees” seem like small potatoes, in the end this is a huge money maker for retail banks. According to Michael Moebs, CEO of an economic research firm in Chicago, “About 90% of banks’ consumer-fee income comes from overdraft and insufficient-funds charges, which are expected to increase to $42 billion this year from $20.7 billion in 1999″.

Although these increased fees are annoying, I see this as a much better alternative to reducing savings rates or adding extra costs across the board to all customers. These added costs will be a non-issue for any customer who takes a few minutes each day to plan ahead.

The Nutshell:

Laziness fees are going up for retail banking customers. Take the time to plan out your daily banking needs in order pass the buck.

Is there a correlation between state budget deficits and political affiliations?

The Background:

I just read an interesting article from Paul Kedrosky’s blog Infectious Greed that discusses the growing budget deficits by state. The chart below is the budget deficit as a percentage of FY 2009 general revenue. California, Arizona, Nevada, and Florida are in the top five (as is Rhode Island, surprisingly), but 41 states now face rapidly growing shortfalls.

I think the more interesting thing to observe is the heat map below that shows where these budget deficit hot spots are.

Source: CBPP

The Discussion:

This looks awful familiar to another map I’ve seen lately, but I can’t put my finger on it…

Source: Real Clear Politics

At first glance, it’s pretty apparent that budget shortfalls have a high correlation with state party affiliations in the 2008 Presidential Election. If I have time later, it’d be interesting to calculate the actual correlation between voting breakdown and budget deficit percentage. In the meantime, the visual should be enough to show the match. 4 of the top 5 states with the worst budget deficits are blue. In addition, the hottest budget deficit regions are historically blue-leaning: West Coast, New England, Mid Atlantic, and the Rust Belt. This leaves Central and Southeast US essentially untouched.

So the real question is which came first, the chicken or the egg? Are blue states more likely to run budget deficits due to increased government services and spending or are individuals more likely to vote Democrat BECAUSE of their state budget deficit?

The Conclusion:

Comparing some of the historical voting patterns of high budget deficit blue states may be a starting point. Historically blue states like California and New York are near the very top of the list for budget deficits. This would suggest Blue states are more prone to running up budget deficits.

However, several toss-up states with major budget deficits (Virginia, Ohio, and Florida) also voted Democrat in this election. This could imply that voters believe Democrats are the appropriate party to elect in order to solve the problems related to a significant budget deficit.

Both are reasonable hypotheses in my opinion, but I’d love to hear your comments on the issue.

The Nutshell:

There is a high correlation between individual state budget deficits and voting preferences in the 2008 Presidential Election. Two hypotheses exist to possibly explain this correlation, one that places blame on Democrats for excess spending, and another that suggests Democrats should lead efforts to resolve the issue.

It’s not your standard IPA. The “wet hop” process means they pick the hops and kettle brew the beer the very next day. The fresh hops tend to have a much stronger pine and resin taste than the citric flavors you get after letting the hops dry.

Appearance:

Lots of legging, amber/orange inc olor. Decent head that tends to linger. Well carbonated. Actually quite opaque, could be an unfiltered but difficult to tell.

Smell:

Very fresh, lots of pine in the first sniff, then more subtle resin and some fruit, hints of grapefruit

Taste:

Extreme bitterness from the hops, lingering aftertaste. Not much citrus in the taste, much more of the pine. Middling taste that’s quite acidic or spicy. I’d say black crushed pepper is the best description for it.

Etc:

Really interesting beer. It has the bite of a double IPA but I don’t believe it only has an ABV of 6.7%. Half the hops with the same flavor, pretty nice. A similar comparison might be the Stone Arrogant Bastard since it also has a pretty intense hoppy flavor without going overboard as a double IPA. There’s a Sierra Nevada Chico Estate Wet Hop Ale that would be really interesting to pair with, I may add that to the list for my next run to the beer distributor. I’ve branched away from normal IPAs for awhile, but this one is quite excellent and should get me back on track.

Score: 4/5

What is a mental workout and how can I use it to improve my ability to focus?

The Background:

I was rereading a few pages from Elements of Poker, by Tommy Angelo. Unlike several other poker books I have in my collection that focus on individual hands and general strategies, Tommy’s book is written from the perspective of how to approach the game of poker in order to play your best more often. He offers psychological advice that can help a player maintain calm and focus in an environment that is susceptible to high stress and anxiety.

These passages can be easily extrapolated to the world beyond a poker room. I want to share a few of his words of wisdom with you and discuss how we can utilize them in both a business and social environment. For today’s post, I’ll begin by introducing Tommy’s concept of the mental workout. While you’re reading, disregard the occasional poker references and focus on the generalizations that he tries to emphasize.

The Discussion:

An abridged excerpt from Tommy Angelo’s Elements of Poker:

“Thinking serves us well. Our amazing powers of recall and foresight save our lives and our bankrolls. I don’t need to set myself on fire or play every hand to know what would happen if I did. I can imagine. The problem is that the thinking that allows us to imagine the past and the future is the same thinking that robs us of the present. Meditation stops the thinking, one breath at a time, and returns us to what is going on. Mediation is immersion in reality…

…Even at our best, it’s hard to focus on the right thing at the right time all the time. Throw in some fatigue, stuckness, television, and mind noise, and it’s impossible. But wouldn’t it be amazing if we could? What would that feel like? What would it look like? What would need to change? Is it unrealistic to think that we could be maximally focused all the time? Of course it is. Is it unrealistic to think that we could do better than we do now? Of course it isn’t.

Think weight-lifting. If you lift weights, you will increase the strength and stamina of your muscles. It’s not a matter of if, it’s only a matter of how much. And the results will be proportional to the effort. And you have options. You can do many repetitions with light weights, or you can do few reps with heavy weights, or you can do any combo in between. It all works. The key to doing it is just doing it.

It’s the same way with strengthening your mind.

To lift weights mentally, what you do is focus on something.

Focus is when you direct your sense organs and your mind at the same thing at the same time. The best thing to use as an object of focus is your breathing. You could also use a marking on the wall, or the sounds around you. When you are walking somewhere, you could fix your vision on something up ahead and keep looking at it until you get there. Or you could walk nowhere, at home, and concentrate on walking super slowly. When you are driving, and you are stopped at a red light, you could gaze unbudgingly at the light until it changes and while that is going on, notice that you are still breathing…

…You focus, and then at some point, as expected, you starting thinking about something that’s not now. You go out of focus. But because you had so recently been outside your thinking, you can now see your thinking as just thinking, and you say hello thinking, I am going to softly set you aside now and return to my focusing task.

That was one rep.

Like doing a bench press or a curl.

Then the thinking starts up again, as it always will. And that’s fine. Again you stop, and you drive another wedge of awareness into your mind, and you say “not now” to your thinking. You tell your thoughts, “I appreciate that you are accustomed to having my mind to yourself, but right now I am going to ask you to move out of the way for a moment because I am doing some focusing training.” Then you return to your chosen object of focus. That was rep number two.

I didn’t understand how concentration exercises worked until right after I started doing them. One thing that happens when you start doing mind reps is you come to realize that your thoughts are whizzing by out of control virtually every waking moment of your life. What you do during focus training is sublimely simple. You stop thinking. That’s it.

Cautionary note: Thinking about thinking still counts as thinking…

…By doing mental workouts, you gain discipline. Discipline is not something you accomplish or acquire. It is something you apply. Discipline is a tool you forge when you are alone. Then you bring it with you to the poker game and use it.”

The Conclusion:

Although Tommy places this passage in the context of maintaining focus in a poker game, the uses of his mental exercises can be clearly extrapolated into other scenarios of everyday life. I’ve found these workouts to be especially useful in stressful situations. A recent example: This past Wednesday my boss was making last minute changes to a PowerPoint deck for the big client presentation in an hour and says this:

“Brian, get the latest figures into the model and export the results so I can review it in 20 minutes for the presentation this morning. “Oh, and the client was looking for you about that Excel tool you just built. They say it doesn’t work on their Turkish computers. So, let me know when you’ve got the data.”

Old Brian: Inhale. Frantically start clicking on the computer to open the model. Forget where the source data is that I need to input. Multitask with a hastily sent email to the client on the Turkish computer problem. Print out the model results and glaze over for accuracy before passing along to the boss. Exhale.

New Brian: Inhale. Exhale. Focus on my breath. Visualize the air entering into my lungs. Hold my breath for a split second then consciously control the rate of the air leaving my lungs. Slow and relaxed. Count that breath as 1. Rinse and repeat. Mentally record each breath as your exhale is complete. Inhale. Exhale. Two. Inhale. Exhale. Three. Now, get down to business. Prioritize the tasks, focus on where the necessary source data is, save the Turkish problem for after the meeting preparations are done.

In my next post, I’ll dive deeper into Tommy Angelo’s discussions on specific breathing exercises that will facilitate this type of mental conditioning and focus.

The Nutshell:

Focus is when you direct your sense organs and your mind at the same thing at the same time. A regular mental workout regiment will improve your ability to maintain this focus both inside and outside the poker room.

Beer: Dogfish Head Immort Ale

Appearance:

Relatively thin on the pour. One finger of head, with a very light tan/white color, dissipates quickly. Beer  is a Turkish tea-colored brown. Some transparency but in general quite opaque.

Smell:

Beer advertises maple, vanilla, and oak on the bottle. The maple is readily apparent on the first smell. Second smell gives some fruit notes to it, for some reason grape first comes to mind but its very subtle.

Taste:

Mouthfeel is very smooth, with a reasonable amount of carbonation but not overdone. The maple makes an appearance again but follows quickly with the wood taste. Aftertaste is very subtle, quite refreshing.

Etc:

This is a pretty unique beer in itself, tough to find a good comparison beer. The closest comparison I can think of is the Stone 11^th Anniversary Ale. The Stone is actually much darker in appearance, but they both are ales with a sweet taste that makes one think of a nice porter. Overall, I like the 11^th Anniversary a bit better, but that’s also a top 3 beer of mine so the bar is set pretty high. Beer Advocate is calling it a barley wine, I need to dive into that genre a bit more to see if I agree.

Score: 4 out of 5

How can I remember to be more appreciative in life?

The Background:

I’ve been making it a goal in my life to be more appreciative of all the good things I have in my life. I don’t mean just saying “thank you” or trying to smile more. Rather, I want to make a more conscious effort to reflect back on things and really think about all the wonderful experiences and people I have in my life. It only takes 5 minutes a day to do, and it really does make me a much happier person when I reflect on a consistent basis.

The Discussion:

Unfortunately, I am also one of the most forgetful people that my friends and family know. When I combine that with busy workdays and exciting weeknights, I often find myself basically “forgetting” to take the time out of my day for such reflections. So I decided to figure out a way to make sure I could do this on a consistent basis.

The Conclusion:

The key is to find something I do everyday and that I never forget. Then, I can attach my “reflection time” to that process. Day or night, rain or shine. The best I came up with is brushing teeth before bed. The day has already passed, it’s private, and it’s quiet enough to spend some time for reflection.

Instructions:

Put a sticky note on the corner of your mirror that says “Appreciate”. Every night when you brush your teeth, take a look at the post-it and spend a moment or two to reflect on the day and the things you appreciate in life. Then brush the teeth and off to bed.

The consultant alternative:

Take a sharpie and write the word “Appreciate” on your toothbrush case. This way you can still remind to appreciate life whether you’re at home sweet home or Timbuktu.

The Nutshell:

Attach your “appreciation time” to something you do everyday and will never forget.