Amherst College President Anthony Marx spent six years at the school extolling public service and teaching. His efforts were rewarded this year when eight new graduates took jobs with Teach for America, now the largest employer of Amherst students besides the college itself.

As U.S. President Barack Obama urges young people to make a difference in the world and the recession crimps opportunities, new graduates are pursuing public-interest careers. At Amherst, at least 53 percent of May graduates with jobs are working in education, nonprofit groups or governments, an increase from 43 percent in 2003 when Marx started at the school, said Allyson Moore, director of the campus career center.

Read all the stats and find out more about Teach America!

So this is not exactly what they said would happen, and I am confused.

Where the hell did the $850B package go? That’s right, it’s not really $700B – add another $150B in EARMARKS…after all of this debating over reducing earmarks, we witnessed the largest earmark in US history. But let’s put that aside for a moment, and ponder why – if $100B is being injected into the market today – the credit crunch is worse than ever? Hmmm…great job guys…top notch planning. (more…)

So it looks like the Congress is going to pass the $700 billion bailout, and that means every single American is going to get saddled with a $2,300 bill. Since that money’s coming out of your pocket, whether you like it or not, you can only think of what you would have otherwise spent that money on, if you were spending it.

What would you have rather spent $2,300 on than bailing out Wall Street?

(Image: i-magin-ation.com)

To begin, it doesn’t matter how we got where we are. I really don’t care how often Obama wants to talk about who is to blame, but we are here now, we are screwed and we have to get out. YES, we know, McCain was not voted Miss Congeniality…we heard. And yes, no one really knows how to pronounce Ahmadinejad – we got it.

The sad part is, we sat around COED office drinking and watching the debate – and when it was done, we started talking and it was quite obvious that we were all watching different debates.

(more…)

In the 1983 hit comedy Trading Places, commodities trader Louis Winthorpe II rhapsodizes on the beauty of futures trading: ‘Think big, think positive, never show any sign of weakness … Buy low, sell high. Fear? That’s the other guy’s problem. ‘

If that doesn’t get your competitive juices flowing, nothing will. Dan Aykroyd’s Winthorpe, the comic king of commodities trading, may have simplified the matter, but he had one thing right: Few careers match that of a commodities trader for mastering the elusive art of shrewd investing and for keeping the adrenalin coursing through you.

A big player in the world commodities business is the New York Mercantile Exchange. (more…)