text:
Financial Services
125 Results
- 13 Apr 2015
- Working Papers
Implied Materiality and Material Disclosures of Credit Ratings
Materiality—a concept at the core of financial, sustainability, and integrated reporting—means the "reportability" of economic, environmental, social, and governance (risk) issues. Using the lens of materiality, the authors of this paper examine principles underlying the methodologies and business models of credit reporting agencies (CRAs), finding that CRAs have potential governance shortcomings that need to be addressed by the boards of the CRAs themselves. The governance remedies recommended here aim to restore credit rating institutions to their historic role in the proper functioning of the global capital markets. Read More
- 13 Apr 2015
- Working Papers
Implied Materiality and Material Disclosures of Credit Ratings
Materiality—a concept at the core of financial, sustainability, and integrated reporting—means the "reportability" of economic, environmental, social, and governance (risk) issues. Using the lens of materiality, the authors of this paper examine principles underlying the methodologies and business models of credit reporting agencies (CRAs), finding that CRAs have potential governance shortcomings that need to be addressed by the boards of the CRAs themselves. The governance remedies recommended here aim to restore credit rating institutions to their historic role in the proper functioning of the global capital markets. Read More
- 27 Mar 2015
- Working Papers
Capital Requirements, Risk Choice, and Liquidity Provision in a Business Cycle Model
A central policy question is how to set capital requirements for banks. The author develops a model to study the effects of capital requirements on the economy and to determine the optimal level. Increasing the requirement to 14 percent from the current status quo leads to a reduction in bank debt, an increase in bank lending, and a reduction in the volatility of bank income. Indeed, policy makers and regulators have been seriously considering raising the capital requirement to 11.5 percent and thus closer to the optimal requirement implied by the quantitative model in this paper. Read More
- 24 Mar 2015
- Working Papers
Corporate Sustainability: First Evidence on Materiality
The relatively new class of corporate investments known as sustainability investments has attracted the attention of firms, institutional investors, academics, and societal advocacy groups. This paper examines in depth how such investments enhance value for shareholders. Results overall show that investments in material sustainability issues can be value-enhancing for shareholders while investments in immaterial sustainability issues have little positive or negative, if any, value implications. Read More
- 30 Oct 2014
- Working Papers
Housing Collateral, Credit Constraints, and Entrepreneurship-Evidence from a Mortgage Reform
One of the strongest findings in studies of entrepreneurship is the clear positive correlation between personal wealth and the propensity to engage in entrepreneurship. One study, for example, has shown that entrepreneurs comprise just under 9 percent of households in the United States, but hold about 40 percent of total net worth. The most common explanation for this correlation is that credit constraints pose an important barrier to entry for less wealthy individuals. However, others have questioned the degree to which financing constraints are barriers to entrepreneurship, particularly in advanced economies where firms have adequate access to capital. In this paper, the authors consider a unique mortgage reform in Denmark to study how increasing access to credit through the unlocking of housing collateral for personal loans had an impact on entrepreneurship. Findings show that the reform affected the ability to draw on debt backed by home equity. However, despite the positive and statistically significant effect of relaxing credit constraints on entrepreneurship, the magnitudes are small. Furthermore, an important reason for the small magnitude was that the marginal business founded by those who benefited from the reform was of lower quality, where the new entrants failed within two years of entry. Overall, the results paint a more nuanced picture of the extent to which financing constraints are important in settings with well-developed credit markets, and the role that home equity can play in alleviating these. Read More
- 14 Aug 2014
- Working Papers
The State of Small Business Lending: Credit Access During the Recovery and How Technology May Change the Game
Small businesses are core to US economic competitiveness. Not only do they employ half of the nation's private sector workforce--about 120 million people--but also since 1995 they have created approximately two‐thirds of the net new jobs in the country. Yet in recent years, small businesses have been slow to recover from the recession and credit crisis that hit them especially hard. This lag has prompted the question, "Is there a credit gap in small business lending?" In this paper the authors compile and analyze the current state of access to bank capital for small business from the best available sources. The authors explore both the cyclical impact of the recession on small business and access to credit, and several structural issues that impede the full recovery of bank credit markets for smaller loans. They argue that the online banking market is likely to continue to grow, disrupting traditional ways of lending to small businesses. This will create both opportunities and risks for policymakers and regulators. Read More
- 23 Apr 2014
- Working Papers
Corporate Financial Policies in Misvalued Credit Markets
The potential for overvaluation to impact firm decision-making is a potent idea with a long history in economic scholarship from foundational works to modern day texts. However, virtually all work on this idea has considered the potential for equity overvaluation to have an impact. The impact of bond market overvaluation on firm policies has thus far received little attention. This limited focus on potential debt market overvaluation is surprising given its size and importance to the economy: the US corporate bond market comprised $7.7 trillion in assets in 2011. The authors begin to fill the gap in scholarship by introducing the idea that mistakes made by the rating agencies should be correlated with bond pricing mistakes. They then examine the correlation in bond rating mistakes with the issuance decisions of firms as well as their cash holding, investment, and acquisition decisions. Findings include evidence that firms take advantage of inaccuracies by issuing more debt and increasing leverage. The result goes beyond a wealth transfer and has real investment implications: approximately 75 percent of the debt issuance funds increased capital expenditures and cash acquisitions. Read More
- 19 Mar 2014
- Working Papers
The Use of Broker Votes to Reward Brokerage Firms' and Their Analysts' Research Activities
Broker votes are one of the most pervasive yet least understood reporting practices on Wall Street. The votes are essentially ratings of the value of brokers' investment research services. These ratings are produced by institutional investors (the "buy side") and solicited by broker dealers (the "sell side"). Little research to date, however, has examined the determinants of broker votes, their consequences, and their economic function. In this paper the authors use data gathered from a mid-sized investment bank for the years 2004 to 2007 in order to study how broker votes are related to institutional investors' commission payments and analysts' client services and compensation. Results overall suggest that broker votes help to facilitate implicit contractual relationships between sell-side brokers, their affiliated analysts, and their buy-side clients. Broker votes are neither mere popularity contests nor a simple reflection of trading in analysts' covered stocks. Instead, they appear to be a key component of the investment research industry's contracting technology, acting as the nexus for a set of relationships between sell-side brokers, their affiliated analysts, and their buy-side clients. The findings thus deepen our understanding of how information is exchanged on Wall Street and help to explain why the practice of collecting and aggregating client votes—a costly internal reporting procedure—has stood the test of time and has been replicated across countless sell-side research departments. Read More
- 14 Nov 2013
- Working Papers
What Shapes the Gatekeepers? Evidence from Global Supply Chain Auditors
Private gatekeepers, from credit rating agencies to supply-chain auditors, are supposed to provide unbiased, objective assessments of companies' internal operations, and such private assessments play a central role in contemporary regulatory regimes. While the impartiality of gatekeeping organizations has come into question over the past decade, little is known about what drives the decisions of the individual accountants, auditors, analysts, and attorneys who work at these organizations. Using data from a private, third-party social auditing firm that assesses global supply chain factories' adherence to corporate codes of conduct governing workplace conditions, this study reveals that external auditors' findings are shaped by a combination of economic incentives and social factors. The study highlights opportunities to design and staff audits to maximize their impartiality and credibility. Read More
- 06 Jun 2013
- Working Papers
Do Strict Capital Requirements Raise the Cost of Capital? Banking Regulation and the Low Risk Anomaly
The instability of banks in the financial crisis of 2008 has stoked the enduring debate about optimal capital requirements. One of the central concerns has long been the possibility that capital requirements affect banks' overall cost of capital, and therefore lending rates and economic activity. In this paper, the authors estimate how leverage affects the risk and cost of bank equity and the overall cost of capital in practice. They are especially motivated by the potential interaction of capital requirements and the "low risk anomaly" within the stock market: That is, while stocks have on average earned higher returns than less risky asset classes like corporate bonds, which in turn have earned more than Treasury bonds, it is less appreciated that the basic risk-return relationship within the stock market has historically been flat-if not inverted. Using a large sample of historical US data, the authors find that the low risk anomaly within banks may represent an unrecognized and possibly substantial downside of heightened capital requirements. However, despite the fact that tightened capital requirements may considerably increase the cost of capital and lending rates, with adverse implications for investment and growth, such requirements may well remain desirable when all other private and social benefits and costs are tallied up. Read More
- 27 Feb 2013
- Working Papers
In Strange Company: The Puzzle of Private Investment in State-Controlled Firms
Why do "mixed corporations" exist? In which conditions could they become efficient organizational forms? In this paper, the authors argue that the effectiveness of mixed enterprise depends on a hybrid governance structure combining elements of private ownership with public checks-and- balances against uncertain governmental interference. This is a delicate equilibrium to obtain and one not without challenges. Exploring the promise and perils of this approach by looking at the recent experience of a sample of national oil companies (NOCs)-Brazil's Petrobras, Norway's Statoil, and Mexico's Pemex-the authors suggest that from the perspective of a social planner, the coexistence of minority private investors with state actors can generate improvements in operational and financial performance. From the perspective of private shareholders, there are risks that can be outweighed by some of the advantages of state-owned enterprises. Three different factors explain private investor interest. These are 1) the existence of countervailing privileges from partnering with the government, 2) the resort to improved corporate governance and legal constraints that limit the opportunity for political abuse, and 3) ex ante price discounting. Read More
- 15 Feb 2013
- Working Papers
Expectations of Returns and Expected Returns
Much of modern asset pricing seeks to explain changes in stock market valuations using theories of investors' time-varying required returns. Although researchers have achieved considerable progress in developing proxies for expected returns, an important but often overlooked test of these theories is whether investors' expectations line up with these proxies. This paper shows that they do not. Read More
- 01 Feb 2013
- Working Papers
Dollar Funding and the Lending Behavior of Global Banks
A striking fact about international financial markets is the large share of dollar-denominated intermediation done by non-US banks. The large footprint of global banks in dollar funding and lending markets raises several important questions. This paper takes the presence of global banks in dollar loan markets as a given, and explores the consequences of this arrangement for cyclical variation in credit supply across countries. In particular, the authors show how shocks to the ability of a foreign bank to raise dollar funding translate into changes in its lending behavior, both in the US and in its home market. Overall, the authors identify a channel through which shocks outside the US can affect the ability of American firms to borrow. Although dollar lending by foreign banks increases the supply of credit to US firms during normal times, it may also prove to be a more fragile source of funding that transmits overseas shocks to the US economy. Read More
- 10 Dec 2012
- Working Papers
Vulnerable Banks
Since the beginning of the US financial crisis in 2007, regulators in the United States and Europe have been frustrated by the difficulty in identifying the risk exposures at the largest and most levered financial institutions. Yet, at the time, it was unclear how such data might have been used to make the financial system safer. This paper is an attempt to show simple ways in which this information can be used to understand how deleveraging scenarios could play out. To do so the authors develop and test a model to analyze financial sector stability under different configurations of leverage and risk exposure across banks. They then apply the model to the largest financial institutions in Europe, focusing on banks' exposure to sovereign bonds and using the model to evaluate a number of policy proposals to reduce systemic risk. When analyzing the European banks in 2011, they show how a policy of targeted equity injections, if distributed appropriately across the most systemic banks, can significantly reduce systemic risk. The approach in this paper fits into, and contributes to, a growing literature on systemic risk. Read More
- 08 Oct 2012
- Research & Ideas
The Immigrants Who Built America's Financial System
In The Founders and Finance, Harvard Business School business historian Thomas McCraw lays out in fascinating detail how immigrants Alexander Hamilton and Albert Gallatin became essential to the nation's survival. Open for comment; 6 Comments posted.
- 24 Feb 2011
- Op-Ed
What's Government's Role in Regulating Home Purchase Financing?
The Obama administration recently proposed housing finance reforms to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and bring private capital back to the mortgage markets. HBS professor David Scharfstein and doctoral student Adi Sunderam put forth a proposal to replace Fannie and Freddie and ensure a more stable supply of housing finance. Read More
- 18 Feb 2011
- Working Papers
A Behavioral Model of Demandable Deposits and Its Implications for Financial Regulation
Depositors are overconfident of their chances of recovering demandable deposits in a bank run. In a recent research paper, professor Julio J. Rotemberg reviews various government regulations available to be imposed on financial institutions—minimum capital levels, asset requirements, deposit insurance, and compulsory clawbacks—to understand how much they can help protect investors. Read More
- 08 Dec 2010
- Working Papers
Decoding Inside Information
Price setters and regulators face a difficult challenge in trying to understand the stock trading activity of corporate insiders, especially when it comes to figuring out whether the activity is a good indicator of the firm's financial future. This National Bureau of Economic Research paper discusses how to distinguish "routine" trades (which predict virtually no information about a firm's financial future) from "opportunistic" trades (which contain a great deal of predictive power). Research was conducted by Harvard Business School professors Lauren Cohen and Christopher Malloy and Lukasz Pomorski of the University of Toronto. Read More
- 03 Nov 2010
- Working Papers
How Did Increased Competition Affect Credit Ratings?
When Fitch Ratings took on Standard & Poor's and Moody's as an alternative credit rating agency in the 1990s, there was a general assumption that the increased competition would lead to higher-quality corporate debt ratings from the incumbents. In fact, their ratings quality declined during the 10-year study period, according to Harvard Business School's Bo Becker and Washington University's Todd Milbourn. One possible cause: competition weakens reputational incentives that drive ratings quality. Read More
- 13 Oct 2010
- Research & Ideas
How Government can Discourage Private Sector Reliance on Short-Term Debt
Financial institutions have relied increasingly and excessively on short-term financing--putting the overall system at risk. Should government step in? Harvard researchers Robin Greenwood, Samuel Hanson, and Jeremy C. Stein propose a "comparative advantage approach" that allows government to actively influence the corporate sector's borrowing decisions. Read More
- 12 Oct 2010
- Working Papers
Crashes and Collateralized Lending
This paper presents a framework for understanding the contribution of systematic crash risk to the cost of capital for a variety of different types of securities. The framework isolates the systematic crash risk exposure of different collateral types (equities, corporate bonds, and CDO tranches), and provides a simple mechanism for allocating the cost of bearing this risk between a financing intermediary and investor. Research was conducted by Jakub W. Jurek (Bendheim Center for Finance, Princeton University) and Erik Stafford (Harvard Business School). Read More
- 17 May 2010
- Research & Ideas
What Brazil Teaches About Investor Protection
When Brazil entered the 20th century, its companies were a model of transparency and offered investor protections that government did not. Can our financial regulators learn a lesson from history? HBS professor Aldo Musacchio shares insights from his new book. Read More
- 13 May 2010
- Working Papers
Just Say No to Wall Street: Putting A Stop to the Earnings Game
Over the last decade, companies have struggled to meet analysts' expectations. Analysts have challenged the companies they covered to reach for unprecedented earnings growth, and executives have often acquiesced to analysts' increasingly unrealistic projections, adopting them as a basis for setting goals for their organizations. As Monitor Group cofounder Joseph Fuller and HBS professor emeritus Michael C. Jensen write, improving future relations between Main Street and Wall Street and putting an end to the destructive "earnings game" between analysts and executives will require a new approach to disclosure based on a few simple rules of engagement. (This article originally appeared in the Journal of Applied Corporate Finance in the Winter 2002 issue.) Read More
- 28 Oct 2009
- Lessons from the Classroom
HBS Begins Teaching Consumer Finance
Last spring HBS became the first top-ranked U.S. business school to offer a course in consumer finance. Professor Peter Tufano talks about the course and his determination to make consumer finance a broadly accepted academic pursuit. From the HBS Alumni Bulletin. Read More
- 31 Aug 2009
- Research & Ideas
Why Competition May Not Improve Credit Rating Agencies
Competition usually creates better products and services. But when competition increased among credit rating agencies, the result was less accurate ratings, according to a study by HBS professor Bo Becker and finance professor Todd Milbourn of Washington University in St Louis. In our Q&A, Becker discusses why users of ratings should exercise a little caution. Read More
- 22 Jul 2009
- Working Papers
Reputation and Competition: Evidence from the Credit Rating Industry
Credit ratings are a key aspect of the financial system. The quality of these ratings is certainly sustained in part by the reputational concerns of rating agencies, whose paying customers have no inherent interest in the quality of ratings. Competition in this industry has been increasing, and there have been calls for yet more competition. Whether competition will reduce quality or improve it is not yet clear. HBS professor Bo Becker and Washington University in St. Louis professor Todd Milbourn test these conflicting predictions in the ratings industry. Their evidence is more or less consistent with a reduction in credit rating quality as Fitch increased its market presence. Their empirical findings suggest that the system will work better when competition is not too severe. These results have potential policy implications. Read More
- 04 Jun 2009
- Working Papers
Can a Continuously-Liquidating Tontine (or Mutual Inheritance Fund) Succeed where Immediate Annuities Have Floundered?
The changeover from defined benefit to defined contributions retirement plans in the United States has created a vast group of individuals that faces (or will face) the difficult problem of using a lump sum of assets to provide consumption for a relatively long but uncertain number of years. Up to this point, however, consumers appear not to have embraced annuitization. HBS professor Julio J. Rotemberg suggests an alternative instrument that, like immediate annuities, provides longevity insurance and postpones income until old age. In the proposed Mutual Inheritance Fund (MIF), a pool is formed by having individuals of a particular age buy shares in a mutual fund. The income from the underlying assets in the mutual fund is reinvested in the fund so that the value of the shares in an individual's name (and possibly also the number of these shares) grows over time. The basic idea behind the MIF is that the shares of pool members who die are liquidated, and the proceeds are then distributed in cash to the remaining members in proportion to the number of mutual fund shares that are currently in their name. Read More
- 15 May 2009
- Working Papers
Money or Knowledge? What Drives Demand for Financial Services in Emerging Markets?
Why is there apparently limited demand for financial services in emerging markets? On the one hand, low-income individuals may not want formal services when informal savings, credit, and insurance markets function reasonably well, and the benefits of formal financial market participation may not exceed the costs. On the other hand, limited financial literacy could be the barrier: If people are not familiar or comfortable with products, they will not demand them. These two views carry significantly different implications for the development of financial markets around the world, and would suggest quite different policy decisions by governments and international organizations seeking to promote "financial deepening." HBS professor Shawn Cole and coauthors found that financial literacy education has no effect on the probability of opening a bank savings account for the full population, although it does significantly increase the probability among those with low initial levels of financial literacy and low levels of education. In contrast, modest financial subsidies significantly increase the share of households that open a bank savings account within the subsequent two months. Read More
- 04 May 2009
- Working Papers
An Ounce of Prevention: The Power of Public Risk Management in Stabilizing the Financial System
The present financial crisis should remind us that private financial institutions and markets cannot always be counted upon to manage risk optimally on their own. Almost everyone now recognizes that the government has a critical role to play—as the lender, insurer, and spender of last resort—in times of crisis. But effective public risk management is also needed in normal times to protect consumers and investors and to help prevent financial crises from starting in the first place. According to HBS professor David Moss, the biggest threat to our financial system today is posed not by commercial banks (as in 1933), but rather by systemically significant institutions (outside of commercial banking) that have the potential to trigger financial avalanches. The threat posed by these financial institutions is only compounded by the unprecedented federal guarantees introduced in response to the current crisis and the pervasive moral hazard they spawn. Under the system that Moss proposes, no financial institution would be too big to fail. Read More
- 30 Apr 2009
- Working Papers
Earnings Quality and Ownership Structure: The Role of Private Equity Sponsors
Although 99 percent of the companies operating in the United States are private, according to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, their accounting practices remain largely unknown due mainly to the lack of publicly available financial statements. In this study, HBS professor Sharon P. Katz used a unique database of firms with privately held equity and publicly held debt to examine how two different ownership structures-private equity sponsorship and non-private equity sponsorship-affect firms' financial reporting practices, financial performance, and stock returns in the years preceding and following the initial public offering (IPO). Read More
- 29 Apr 2009
- Working Papers
Female Empowerment: Impact of a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines
Does access to personal savings increase female decision-making power in the household? The answer could be important for policymakers looking to increase female empowerment. HBS professor Nava Ashraf and colleagues developed a commitment savings product called a SEED (Save, Earn, Enjoy Deposits) account with a small, rural bank in the Philippines. The SEED account requires that clients commit not to withdraw funds that are in the account until they reach a goal date or amount, but it does not explicitly commit the client to continue depositing funds after opening the account. This working paper examines the impact of the commitment savings product on both self-reported decision-making processes within the household and the subsequent household allocation of resources. Read More
- 17 Apr 2009
- Working Papers
The Investment Strategies of Sovereign Wealth Funds
The role of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in the global financial system has been increasingly recognized in recent years, and many reports suggest that SWFs are often employed to further the geopolitical and strategic economic interests of their governments. The resources controlled by these funds—estimated to be $3.5 trillion in 2008—have grown sharply over the past decade. Projections, while inherently tentative due to the uncertainties about the future path of economic growth and commodity prices, suggest that they will be increasingly important actors in the years to come. Despite this significant and growing role, financial economists have devoted remarkably little attention to these funds. The lack of scrutiny must be largely attributed to the deliberately low profile adopted by many SWFs, which makes systematic analysis challenging. Bernstein, Lerner, and Schoar analyze how SWFs vary in their investment styles and performance across various geographies and governance structures. Taken as a whole, results suggest that high levels of home investments by SWFs, particularly those with the active involvement of political leaders, are associated with trend chasing and worse performance. Read More
- 14 Jan 2009
- Working Papers
Smart Money: The Effect of Education, Cognitive Ability, and Financial Literacy on Financial Market Participation
(Previously titled "If You Are So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich? The Effects of Education, Financial Literacy and Cognitive Ability on Financial Market Participation.") Individuals face an increasingly complex menu of financial product choices. The shift from defined benefit to defined contribution pension plans, and the growing importance of private retirement accounts, require individuals to choose the amount they save, as well as the mix of assets in which they invest. Yet, participation in financial markets is far from universal in the United States. Moreover, researchers have only a limited understanding of what factors cause participation. Cole and Shastry use a very large dataset new to the literature in order to study the important determinants of financial market participation. They find that higher levels of education and cognitive ability cause increased participation—however, financial literacy education does not. Read More
- 29 Sep 2008
- Views on News
Financial Crisis Caution Urged by Faculty Panel
Dean Jay O. Light and a group of Harvard Business School faculty explored the origins and possible outcomes of the U.S. financial crisis at a recent "Turmoil on the Street" panel. Read More
- 04 Aug 2008
- Research & Ideas
How Female Stars Succeed in New Jobs
Women who are star performers on Wall Street tend to fare better than men after changing jobs. Why? According to HBS professor Boris Groysberg, star women place greater emphasis than men on external business relationships, and conduct better research on potential employers. Plus: Businesswomen are asked to share career experiences. Read More
- 23 Jun 2008
- Working Papers
Using Financial Innovation to Support Savers: From Coercion to Excitement
This paper acknowledges the wide range of solutions to the problem of low family savings. Families, and of particular interest to the authors, low-income families, save for a wide variety of purposes, including identifiable reasons such as education and retirement and others that are more broad, like rainy days or emergencies. Given societal pressures to consume, and given the diversity among people, it is unlikely that there is a single solution to the savings problem. Yet a number of programs described by Tufano and Schneider have great promise in supporting household savings. Tufano and Schneider discuss each program from the perspectives of would-be savers as well as from that of other key stakeholders. Read More
- 23 Jun 2008
- Research & Ideas
Innovative Ways to Encourage Personal Savings
Saving money doesn't need to be so difficult. According to HBS professor Peter Tufano, "The most interesting ideas—indeed the oldest—try to make savings a fun or satisfying experience." As Tufano describes in this Q&A, different solutions appeal to different people. Here's what government policy, the private sector, and nonprofits can do. Read More
- 19 May 2008
- Research & Ideas
Connecting School Ties and Stock Recommendations
School connections are an important yet underexplored way in which private information is revealed in prices in financial markets. As HBS professor Lauren H. Cohen and colleagues discovered, school ties between equity analysts and top management of public companies led analysts to earn returns of up to 5.4 percent on their stock recommendations. Cohen explains more in our Q&A. Read More
- 10 Apr 2008
- Working Papers
Where Does it Go? Spending by the Financially Constrained
Despite widespread interest by academics, businesspeople, and policymakers, much is unknown about the financial behavior of low-income individuals, particularly those who rarely or ever use banks. Do credit constrained consumers spend money more quickly than less constrained consumers? Do they spend the money in different manners (card-based merchant transactions versus cash ATM withdrawals)? Do credit constrained consumers have different spending patterns than the less constrained—do they buy different goods and services? This working paper provides preliminary data on spending patterns by over 1.5 million refund recipients, all of whom used either a loan or a settlement product to receive refund money faster than the IRS processes would have otherwise allowed. The results should inform the view of policymakers, financial service professionals, scholars, and consumer advocates. Read More
- 20 Mar 2008
- Working Papers
Sell Side School Ties
Certain agents play key roles in revealing information into securities markets. In the equities market, security analysts are among the most important. A large part of an analyst's job (perhaps the majority) is to research, produce, and disclose reports forecasting aspects of companies' future prospects, and to translate their forecasts into stock recommendations. Therefore, isolating how, or from whom, analysts obtain the information they use to produce their recommendations is important. Do analysts gain comparative information advantages through their social networks—specifically, their educational ties with senior officers and board members of firms that they cover? This paper investigates ties between sell-side analysts and management of public firms, and the subsequent performance of their stock recommendations. Read More
- 26 Feb 2008
- Working Papers
Long-Run Stockholder Consumption Risk and Asset Returns
The long-run consumption risk of households that hold financial assets is particularly relevant for asset pricing. The fact that stockholders are more sensitive to aggregate consumption movements helps explain why the consumption risk of stockholders delivers lower risk aversion estimates. Understanding further why consumption growth, particularly that of stockholders, responds slowly to news in asset returns will improve finance scholars' understanding of what drives these long-run relations. HBS professor Malloy and his coauthors examine more disaggregated measures of long-run consumption risks across stockholders and non-stockholders, and provide new evidence on the long-run properties of consumption growth and its importance for asset pricing. Read More
- 22 Feb 2008
- Working Papers
Consumer Demand for Prize-Linked Savings: A Preliminary Analysis
Prize-linked savings (PLS) products are savings vehicles that may appeal to people with little savings and little interest in traditional savings products. PLS products offer savers a return in the form of the chance to earn large prizes, rather than in more traditional forms of interest or dividend income or capital appreciation. The probability of winning is typically determined by account balances, and the aggregate prize pool can be set to deliver market returns to all savers. Prize-linked assets are offered in over twenty countries around the world—including the U.K., Sweden, South Africa, and many Latin American and Middle Eastern countries—but are not available in the United States, where state laws and federal regulations make the offering of prize-linked programs problematic. This working paper provides a first look into demand for a PLS product in the United States. Read More
- 12 Feb 2008
- Working Papers
The Small World of Investing: Board Connections and Mutual Fund Returns
How does information flow in security markets, and how do investors receive information? In the context of information flow, social networks allow a piece of information to flow along a network often in predictable paths. HBS professors Lauren Cohen and Christopher Malloy, along with University of Chicago colleague Andrea Frazzini, studied a type of dissemination through social networks tied to educational institutions, examining the information flow between mutual fund portfolio managers and senior officers of publicly traded companies. They then tested predictions on the portfolio allocations and returns earned by mutual fund managers on securities within and outside their networks. Read More
- 07 Feb 2008
- Working Papers
Attracting Flows by Attracting Big Clients: Conflicts of Interest and Mutual Fund Portfolio Choice
Retirement assets make up a large and growing percentage of the mutual fund universe. In 2004, nearly 40 percent of all mutual fund assets were held by defined contribution plans and individual retirement accounts. This percentage is steadily increasing largely because these retirement accounts represent the majority of new flows into non-money market mutual funds. With such a large and growing percentage of their assets coming from retirement accounts, mutual funds are likely to be interested in securing these big clients. This paper examines a new channel through which mutual fund families can attract assets: by becoming a 401(k) plan's trustee. HBS professor Lauren Cohen and colleague Breno Schmidt provide evidence consistent with the trustee relationship affecting families' portfolio choice decisions. These portfolio decisions, however, have the potential to be in conflict with the fiduciary responsibility mutual funds have for their investors, and can impose potentially large costs. Read More
- 05 Sep 2007
- Working Papers
Global Currency Hedging
This article is forthcoming in the Journal of Finance. How much should investors hedge the currency exposure implicit in their international portfolios? Using a long sample of foreign exchange rates, stock returns, and bond returns that spans the period between 1975 and 2005, this paper studies the correlation of currency excess returns with stock returns and bond returns. These correlations suggest the existence of a typology of currencies. First, the euro, the Swiss franc, and a portfolio simultaneously long U.S. dollars and short Canadian dollars are negatively correlated with world equity markets and in this sense are "safe" or "reserve" currencies. Second, the Japanese yen and the British pound appear to be only mildly correlated with global equity markets. Third, the currencies of commodity producing countries such as Australia and Canada are positively correlated with world equity markets. These results suggest that investors can minimize their equity risk by not hedging their exposure to reserve currencies, and by hedging or overhedging their exposure to all other currencies. The paper shows that such a currency hedging policy dominates other popular hedging policies such as no hedging, full hedging, or partial, uniform hedging across all currencies. All currencies are uncorrelated or only mildly correlated with bonds, suggesting that international bond investors should fully hedge their currency exposures. Read More
- 13 Jul 2007
- Working Papers
Economic Catastrophe Bonds
Pooling economic assets into large portfolios and tranching them into sequential cash-flow claims has become a big business, generating record profits for both the Wall Street originators and the agencies that rate these securities. This paper by business economics doctoral student Jakub Jurek and HBS professors Joshua Coval and Erik Stafford investigates the pricing and risks of instruments created as a result of recent structured finance activities. It demonstrates that senior collateralized debt obligation (CDO) tranches have significantly different systematic risk exposures than their credit rating-matched, single-name counterparts, and should therefore command different risk premia. Read More
- 14 May 2007
- Research & Ideas
The Key to Managing Stars? Think Team
Stars don't shine alone. As Harvard Business School's Boris Groysberg and Linda-Eling Lee reveal in new research, it is imperative that top performers as well as their managers take into account the quality of colleagues. Groysberg and Lee explain the implications for star mobility and retention in this Q&A. Read More
- 19 Feb 2007
- Research & Ideas
Inexperienced Investors and Market Bubbles
The evidence isn't conclusive, but new research from Harvard Business School suggests younger fund managers may have contributed to the tech stock bubble. Professor Robin Greenwood discusses the research paper, "Inexperienced Investors and Bubbles," and what mutual fund investors should keep in mind. Read More
- 01 May 2006
- Research & Ideas
What Companies Lose from Forced Disclosure
Increased corporate financial reporting may benefit many parties, but not necessarily the companies themselves. New research from Harvard Business School professor Romana Autrey and coauthors looks at the relationship between executive performance and public disclosure. Read More
- 03 Apr 2006
- Research & Ideas
The Competitive Advantage of Global Finance
Relatively few multinational companies truly understand or take advantage of international finance. Professor Mihir A. Desai tackles the subject in a new book, International Finance: A Casebook. Here's a Q&A. Read More
- 20 Mar 2006
- Research & Ideas
Unlocking Your Investment Capital
By reassessing risk exposure, many companies can create more equity capacity to fund investments, says Harvard Business School professor Robert C. Merton. Just don't leave it up to the Finance Department. Read More
- 20 Feb 2006
- Research & Ideas
Are Company Founders Underpaid?
Company founders have a tough time convincing their boards to increase compensation, says HBS professor Noam Wasserman. He discusses his research into "founder frustration" areas. Read More
- 06 Feb 2006
- Views on News
The Trouble Behind Livedoor
When Livedoor CEO Takafumi Horie was arrested last month, it shook the economic underpinnings of Japan. Professor Robin Greenwood discusses what went wrong with one of that country's most-watched Internet companies. Read More
- 23 Jan 2006
- Research & Ideas
Financial Reporting Goes Global
Globalization is the key issue in determining the future of financial accounting, says professor Gregory S. Miller. And as more countries consider adopting an international accounting standard, India is positioned to be a strong leader. Read More
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Papers
Reinventing Savings Bonds
At one point in American history, savings bonds were an important tool families used to build assets and get ahead. While times have changed, this function of savings bonds may be even more important now, especially for the 41 million low- and moderate-income American households. Tufano and Schneider lay out a case for why savings bonds should be reimagined to help millions of Americans build assets now. Read More
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Papers
The Power of Stars: Do Stars Drive Success in Creative Industries?
The importance of star power is evident in creative industries from music and film to fashion and architecture. Star actors are paid millions of dollars, but is star talent critical to product success? What determines the value of stars? In the context of the movie business, Elberse calculated the returns in a study comparing 1,200 casting announcements on trading behavior in a simulated and real stock market setting. In a separate study, she also looked at the stars' impact on expected revenues. Read More
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Papers
Float Manipulation and Stock Prices
When a firm reduces the number of shares available to trade, so-called float manipulation, the price of the stock is often driven up. The author uses a series of 2,000 stock split events in Japan as an experiment to understand the consequences of float manipulation for stock prices. The conclusion: Stock prices are raised significantly when there are differing opinions about the value of shares, investors are unable to sell short, and the number of outstanding shares is reduced. Read More
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Papers
A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Excess Comovement of Stock Returns
This paper develops cross-sectional predictions from a model in which the excess comovement of stock returns comes from correlated demand shocks. The model is tested on 298 Nikkei index stocks and 1,458 non-index stocks for the years 1993 through 2003. The study finds that controlling for index membership, index overweighting is a significant determinant of the comovement of returns with index returns. Read More
- 18 Oct 2004
- Research & Ideas
The Bias of Wall Street Analysts
Historically, stock analysts' recommendations have been swayed by business relationships between the analyst's employer and the target company, says Professor Mark Bradshaw. Have recent SEC reforms helped? Read More
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Papers
Bringing History into International Business
International Business scholars often talk about history, but rarely take it seriously. The first generation of International Business scholars placed a high priority on evolutionary and historical perspectives and methodology, but little work these days grapples with the history of International Business or uses historical data to explore an issue. Jones and Khanna discuss new avenues for researching business groups in history and in contemporary emerging markets, resource-based and path-dependent theories of the firm, and foreign direct investment and development over time. Read More
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Papers
The IPS Property
This paper is about discrete-choice and econometric models. The "invariant proportion of substitution," or IPS, property comes into play when, for example, a consumer faces a choice among three laptop computers with slightly different attributes. How will improvements to one laptop's attributes affect how the consumer chooses to substitute one alternative for another? Steenburgh looked at probabilities based on assumptions about consumers' utility-maximizing behavior. Read More
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Papers
Analyst Disagreement, Forecast Bias and Stock Returns
It is well documented that financial analysts' opinions are reflected in stock prices. The problem: Analysts often operate under incentives that are inconsistent with telling the truth. Retail investors, who tend to be less sophisticated, may fail to make proper adjustments for the more nuanced of the resulting biases, some of which might be reflected in market prices. To study the scope of market efficiency, Scherbina studied analysts' incentives, resulting forecast biases, and their potential impact on market prices. Read More
- 14 Jun 2004
- Research & Ideas
The Big Money for Big Projects
This isn't your father's venture capital. Amusement parks, satellite networks, oil fields, toll roads: HBS Professor Benjamin Esty studies financing of large projects. Q&A Read More
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Papers
Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing
Activity-based costing (ABC) has become popular in business writing and management circles. (An example of an activity would be process customer complaints.) However, calculating baselines for activities, developing the model, and retesting the model once it is implemented is time-consuming and costly. Kaplan and Anderson developed improvements in the process through what they call time-driven ABC. Time-driven ABC decreases the amount of data needed, and only requires estimates of two things: (1) the practical capacity of committed resources and their cost, and (2) unit times for performing transactional activities. Read More
- 08 Sep 2003
- Research & Ideas
A Bold Proposal for Investment Reform
Do the markets need an investor's union? Should company audits be overseen by stock exchanges? If you want to restore investor confidence, think radical reforms, say professors Paul Healy and Krishna Palepu. Read More
- 16 Jun 2003
- Research & Ideas
Surveying the VC Landscape
In an e-mail Q&A, HBS professor Josh Lerner discusses issues including transparency and private equity, buyout firms, Sarbanes-Oxley, and the role of VC on innovation. Read More
- 19 May 2003
- Lessons from the Classroom
Business Plan Winner Targets India Dropouts
Gyaana means "knowledge" in Sanskrit—a fitting name for a business that aims to fight the 50 percent dropout rate in India by offering microfinance loans to families. Read More
- 23 Dec 2002
- Research & Ideas
Setting the Stage: A Young Scholar at HBS
Rohit Daniel Wadhwani, the Harvard-Newcomen Fellow in Business History for the 2002-03 academic year, discusses his research work and his experiences as a Fellow at Harvard Business School in this interview with Laura Linard. Read More


text:
- Willamette
- News
- News Archive
- 2004
- May
- Myra Wiggins: Still Lifes
Current News
Myra Wiggins: Still Lifes
Myra Wiggins (1869-1956) was a nationally recognized Salem photographer with ties to Alfred Stieglitz and the Photo Secession. In addition to her photography, which encompassed landscapes, genre scenes, and portraits, Wiggins was an accomplished still life painter.
A small exhibition of Wiggins' still lifes will open on May 29 and continue through Aug. 14 in the Study Gallery at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University. Organized by Professor Roger Hull, the exhibition will feature a range of still lifes executed over several decades and will be supplemented by a number of props from the artist's studio.
The Hallie Ford Museum of Art is located at 700 State Street (corner of State and Cottage Streets) in downtown Salem near the campus of Willamette University. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The galleries are closed on Sunday and Monday. Admission is $3 for adults and $2 for seniors and students. Children under 12 are admitted free and Tuesday is an admission-free day.
For further information, please call 503-370-6855.

subset: commoncrawl


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text:
MILTON-FREEWATER - Mac-Hi's boys soccer team wasted no time demolishing the Scappoose Indians, 12-0, in an Oregon State Athletic Association postseason play-in match.
Just one minute into the game, Christian Zaragoza hit Oscar Flores on a cross and Flores headed it into the net from point-blank range.
Two minutes later, Flores headed another cross into the net, this time off an assist by Johnny Trevino.
"We got spaced out right and got the crosses right on target to Flores," said Mac-Hi coach Jose Garcia. "The goals were great."
Zaragoza fired a cross-shot of his own into the right side of the net, scoring the third Pioneer goal nine minutes in.
A minute later, Trevino made a steal and dribbled up the right side to boot in a fourth goal for Mac-Hi.
Flores completed a hat trick 15 minutes later on a header assist by Jaime Torres.
Forty seconds later, Roberto Sandoval received a pass from Jose Herrera and slammed it past Scappoose goalie Steven Davis.
Herrera and Flores knocked in Mac-Hi's seventh and eighth goals with 10 minutes to go in the first half.
Herrera was assisted by Trevino, who had three assists in the game. Sandoval assisted on the Flores goal.
After eight goals and 18 shots in 30 minutes, the Mac-Hi starters took the bench for most of the rest of the game.
Mac-Hi subbed freely and much of the second half was spent with younger Pioneers playing on the field.
"It was not much of a challenge from our opponent," Garcia said. "I was expecting more from the opponent, but I know the challenge will be coming some time soon in the state playoffs."
The second unit of the Pioneers did well, allowing no goals and taking 11 shots, five on goal.
The Pioneers scored three more goals without any starters on the field.
"We had to pull some of the guys out," Garcia said. "Then we spent the rest of the game just trying to possess the ball. Usually we are attacking and attacking. It is hard not to do that.
"Our subs could have maybe organized themselves a little better, spread out and passed a little better. But, overall they did great."
Luis Saldana scored the ninth Mac-Hi goal on an assist by Juan Pablo Martinez.
The 10th was tapped in by Martinez after a hard shot from Torres.
Flores scored his fifth goal to make it 11-0.
The final goal came from a Trevino corner kick to Francisco Carvajal, who booted a hard shot that grazed the bottom of the cross bar.
The last 10 minutes saw the Pioneers work exclusively on ball possession. The last ten minutes saw the Pioneers score no more goals, as they worked on possessing the ball deep in their own territory.
"We played with the ball at the end," Garcia said. "We became more aware of what it is like for our defense to possess the ball near our goal, under that kind of pressure. One interception and the other team can have a shot against your keeper. We needed to work on that, as we haven't been challenged near the goal much lately."
The Indians got off two of their four shots near the end of the game. Scappoose only managed one shot on goal, with Francisco Flores grabbing the save. Flores played all but the final 17 minutes, when Jessie Saldana subbed in.
The Pioneers boys play again Tuesday.
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text:
It's been a week of previews for big games on the way, some of which may even make it out this year. Ludwig, Alexander, Jess, and Mike convene to discuss the possible implications of Harmonix's barely successful Kickstarter, the slew of delays that accompanied the week's preview embargoes, and a whole lot of Watch Dogs. If you haven't heard, Ubisoft's new open world property lets you be a cyber wizard.
Listen to the Super Joystiq Podcast:
- Subscribe to the Super Joystiq Podcast in iTunes
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- Download the MP3 directly
Listen to the MP3
Show Breakdown
Hosts: Ludwig (@ludwigk), Alexander (@Sliwinski), Jess (@JessConditt), Mike (@mikesuszek)
- 00:00:00 // Intro
- 00:01:16 // Harmonix & Kickstarter
- 00:21:00 // Delay-apolooza
- 00:44:27 // Watch Dogs
Theme Music: Satsuma Audio and Whitaker Blackall – "A Basstastic Undertaking"
Social Media
- Podcast Twitter: @JoystiqPodcast – Have a question? Use the hashtag #QJoystiq
- Website Twitter: @Joystiq
- Facebook: Joystiq Facebook Page
- Subscribe to Joystiq's YouTube Channel
- Follow Joystiq on Twitch.tv for game streams and giveaways
- Amplitude: A funding freak
- Harmonix lays off 37 staff
- The Division delayed to 2015
- The Order: 1886 delayed until 2015
- Quantum Break leaps to 2015, major showing at Gamescom
- Watch Dogs Review: A Wizard Did It
Jonathan Downin (@jonathandownin)


text:
- For the Media
- News Release Archive
- A Challenging 5K Obstacle Race for All Ages
- A Season of Gratitude
- Anniversary Celebration Begins with Art and Music
- Annual Holiday Concert Set the Mood
- AOTA Hill Day 2014
- Apply for FREE at Information Night
- Art Committee Selects First Painting for the Elsa and Herschel Rubin Art Fund
- Back to School Shopping
- Budding Drama Club Seeking New Members
- City Center Stands Out in Salem
- Concert will put you in a "Merry Mood for Christmas"
- Disaster Training Held at Kent State East Liverpool
- Earth Day 2014
- East Liverpool campus names Earth Day speakers
- EL 100 Club Seeking New Members
- FlashDash
- Free Health Fair This Saturday at the Calcutta YMCA
- Get Prepped to Present Your Research - 10th Annual UGR
- Have You Heard About S.G.A.?
- Horticulture Students Learn from Industry Experts
- Insurance Studies Preps for Gamma Iota Sigma Charter
- Kent's Role in Cross-County Basketball Game
- Kent State Closed Dec. 24 - Jan. 1 for Holiday Break
- Kent State East Liverpool Celebrates the Naming of John J. Purinton Hall
- Kent State East Liverpool Holds Annual 100 Club Reception
- Kent State East Liverpool Hosts Domestic Violence Discussion
- Kent State East Liverpool Recognizes Outstanding Students
- Kent East Liverpool's Student Government Holding Blood Drive
- Kent State Regional Campuses to Automatically Award Associate Degrees to Bachelor's Degree-Seeking Students Who Complete
- Kent State Salem Hosting Nursing Open House
- Kent State Salem Receives Ohio's First Chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma for Insurance Studies Program
- Kent State Salem Students will Showcase Research Projects
- Kent State University at East Liverpool is starting a Yoga Club
- Love Develops on the Salem Campus
- Nearly 700 Blood Pressures Assessed By Student Nurses
- NCSF Personal Training Course Offered at the East Liverpool Campus
- New Club Focused on Healthy Bodies and Minds
- Nursing Department Volunteers at Health Fair
- Nursing Groups Forming at the East Liverpool Campus
- OTA Students Volunteer at Schizophrenia Walk
- Polar Express Party to be Held at East Liverpool Campus- Dec. 6
- President's and Dean's Lists Announced for Fall 2014
- PTA Students Continue Tradition
- Radiology Information Sessions at Kent State Salem
- Radiology Students, Staff Support Charity Walk
- Rural Scholars Hold Summer Workshop
- Rural Scholars Learn at Waste Management Facility
- Rural Scholars mentors present Justice Talking
- Salem Earns Tree Campus USA Distinction
- Salem Honors Students Visit Kent Campus
- Salem Psychology Club Visits Area Museum
- Salem Rotary Helps Discovery Garden Grow
- Salem Students Shine at Research Conference
- Serving it up on Fat Tuesday
- Slipping, Sliding and Slogging Through FlashDash
- Students Urge Ohio Officials to Honor Moses Fleetwood Walker
- Studying Insurance in Indianapolis
- Third Annual Asian Culture Fair Held at Kent State East Liverpool
- Welcome President Warren
- White House Representative Holds Discussion at Kent State East Liverpool
- Zombies in the Park 5K- Saturday, October 18
- Kent Salem Hosting State Research Conference
News > News
Kent State Closed Dec. 24 - Jan. 1 for Holiday BreakPosted Dec. 19, 2013
Kent State University's non-essential offices will be closed Dec. 24 - Jan. 1.
Faculty and staff, the Division of Human Resources has prepared a helpful resource page about the holiday schedule.
Everyone else, why not check out some of our great, holiday-themed wallpapers?
Some important dates for next year:
- Jan. 6: Spring classes begin for first- and second-year Podiatric Medicine Students
- Jan. 9 - 10: Spring international student orientation
- Jan. 10: Spring graduate student orientation
- Jan. 13: Spring classes begin
We'll see you in 2014!


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(KTVI) – Bullying has been brought to the forefront recently by high-profile media attention, much of which started with the suicide of 13-year-old Megan Meier in 2006.
Megan believed she was messaging a boy her age on MySpace, but those messages turned out to be written by a mother of a former classmate of Megan's. After the messages turned mean, Megan took her own life.
Tuesday, the Missouri Supreme Court struck down part of Megan's anti-stalking and harassment law that was established in 2008. Megan's mother, Tina, talks about the changes.


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St Andrew's School, Pangbourne
|Altiora Petimus
(Latin: "We seek higher things")
|Independent preparatory school
Day and boarding
|Church of England
|Dr David Livingstone
|R. W. Robertson-Glasgow
England Coordinates: 51°27′56″N 1°08′00″W / 51.465634°N 1.133214°W
|DfE number
|Green and white ‹See Tfm› ‹See Tfm›
St Andrew's School is an independent preparatory school in the hamlet of Buckhold, near Pangbourne, Berkshire, England. Together with its 'Pre-Prep – Early Years' department, the school now educates girls and boys aged between three and thirteen. In 2011, there were 266 children at the school, of whom 155 were boys and 111 were girls.[2] The school has a Christian ethos, and its chapel services are reported to be "broadly Anglican in style". The most important religious event of the school year is the Advent Carol Service, which because of the numbers attending is held not at the school but in the larger chapel of nearby Bradfield College.[4]
Scholarships are awarded to some children above the age of eleven, based on merit. St Andrew's has a School Council to involve its children in decisions affecting them.[5]
In March 2011 an Independent Schools Inspectorate report endorsed the school's success.[2]
The school was founded in 1934 as a boarding school for boys, and consisted of just two staff and eight boys.[1] Historically these boys would leave to go onto schools such as Eton, Harrow and Winchester, however its ties with these schools slowly deteriorated after it first admitted girls in 1971, going on to become fully co-educational.[2]
The school's main building is a listed Victorian Gothic country house called 'Buckhold', designed by Alfred Waterhouse set in fifty-four acres of woods and playing fields. Newer buildings include a sports hall and a music centre, a pre-prep building and a purpose-built nursery.[2]
In 1991, Catherine Middleton, who was then attending the school, first saw her future husband Prince William when he was part of a Ludgrove School hockey team that came to play a match at St Andrew's.[3]
Notable former pupils[edit]
Former students of the school are called "Old St Andrew's", and there is an OSA Association.[4]
- Adrian Liddell Hart, author and adventurer[5]
- John le Carré (David Cornwell), spy fiction writer[6]
- Sir Howard Hodgkin, artist
- J. K. Brunner, author
- Adam Hart-Davis, broadcaster
- Will Lyons (born 1976), journalist, broadcaster and wine writer
- Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, wife of Prince William[7][8]
- Pippa Middleton, events manager, columnist[9][10]
Notable staff[edit]
- 1934 - 1954: R. W. Robertson-Glasgow
- 1934 - 1945: Bill Ward-Clark
- 1945 - 1975: Jack Llewellyn-Smith
- 1952 - 1970: Rodney Stebbing
- 1949 - 1952: Bill Berkley
- 1975(?)- 1985: Bill Philipps
- 1985 - 1995: Bob Acheson
- 1995 - 2008: Jeremy Snow
- 2009 – : Dr David Livingstone
- ^ Donald P. Leinster-Mackay, The Rise of the English Prep School (1984), p. 340
- ^ a b ISI Report, March 2011, online
- ^ Daily Telegraph Reporter, Kate Middleton 'first laid eyes on Prince William as a 10-year-old schoolgirl' dated 27 November 2010 at telegraph.co.uk
- ^ OSA page of St Andrew's School web site
- ^ LIDDELL HART, Adrian John (1922-1991) at aim25.ac.uk, accessed 3 May 2011
- ^ Harold Bloom, John le Carré (Chelsea House, 1987), p. 165
- ^ St Andrew's Celebrates the Royal Wedding at standrewspangbourne.co.uk
- ^ Julian Knight, The Royal Wedding for Dummies (2011), p. 10
- ^ Nick Curtis, Everything you never knew about Pippa Middleton dated 10 May 2011 at thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle, accessed 29 April 2012
- ^ Middleton, Pippa. "Pippa Middleton's favourite mascarpone and rocket penne recipe". UK Daily Telegraph, 13 September 2013 to 29 March 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
- ^ Patrick W. Montague-Smith, Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (Debrett's Peerage Ltd., 1980), p. 200: "William Anthony Nugent, 13th Earl... Assist. Master, St Andrew's Sch., Pangbourne".
External links[edit]
- Official website
- Profile on the ISC website
- Independent Schools Inspectorate Report (March 2011)
- Independent schools in West Berkshire
- Educational institutions established in 1934
- 1934 establishments in England
- Boarding schools in Berkshire
- Preparatory schools in Berkshire
- Member schools of the Independent Association of Preparatory Schools
- Church of England independent schools in the Diocese of Oxford


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Aug 22 2009
Peaceful, Easy Feeling
Today marks the end of one of the busiest three month periods on the ranch that I can remember. Crazy, hectic, packed, and sweaty. We've had guests come and go, we've done lots of cleaning and organizing, lots of mowing and weedeating… and lots of laundry. I've cooked and cleaned and planned our school year and taken photos of dogs and bugs and children…and I've blogged. I launched Tasty Kitchen, and we've worked and shipped cattle like there's no tomorrow. I'm not sure I've gotten up before five a.m. as many times in my life as I have this summer. In fact, if I see five a.m. again in the month of August, I think I shall weep.
It's been an unspeakably busy summer.
But I think everyone in the world feels that way. Life, no matter where you live, is busy. Maybe not necessarily sweaty, especially for those in some areas of Canada, but definitely busy.
Twenty minutes ago, the last (and favorite) of our recent visitors left: my sister Betsy and my big fat baby nephew named Elliot.
But before they left, Marlboro Man let Daisy the Cow into our yard so Elliot could have some quality cow time before he left.
Marlboro Man's bound and determined not to let Elliot turn into an Austin tech geek.
I told him he's fighting a losing battle, but he didn't listen.
Marlboro Man never listens. He wants our oldest daughter to be a running back at ASU.
I'm getting ready to call a family meeting about it.
Speaking of tech geeks…this kid doesn't stand a chance. He does things like ride mama cows without a saddle.
Tech geeks just don't do things like that.
Do they?
I guess I wouldn't know.
But I do know this: I love Daisy the Cow.
Daisy the Cow is the gentlest cow I know. But she knows no other way; she's lived in and around our yard for the past six months or so. She's a part of our family. We give her cake feed and carrots. She lets the kids sit on her back.
Not many cows do that.
She was sick and skinny when she first came to live with us. She had diarrhea on my porch for two weeks straight, and this was during the rainy season in March, which effectively meant I had Cow Poop Soup on my porch for two weeks straight.
I didn't put that recipe on Tasty Kitchen.
And anyway, now she's big and fat, just as a cow should be.
And I finally got my porch clean. I had to buy a power washer, which, I discovered, is also very effective for removing toenail polish.
Though that's not really what the power washer was designed for.
And you don't really want to do that on purpose, because it really does hurt.
Anyway, Daisy is healthy now. Healthy and fat and happy.
"Yes, I am a big fat cow. And I'm proud of it. With the help of family, friends, neighbors, and trained professionals, I've finally reached a point in my life where I'm proud of it.."
I think that's where her peaceful, easy feeling comes from.
My peaceful, easy feeling comes from a different place.
It comes from today. Saturday. It comes from having no plans, no grass to mow, no places to go.
It comes from wearing my holey yoga pants…and having absolutely no immediate plans to take them off.
I just pray a prairie fire doesn't break out. Because sometimes, in certain crisis situations, I forget to check what I'm wearing.
379 Comments
catherino On Saturday, August 22 at 5:29 pm
You can't just tease us with that tiny glimpse of MM's new goatee! Pictures please
Andrea P. On Saturday, August 22 at 5:30 pm
Oh I hear you on the busy summer! Of course, me being busy is nowhere near the same as you and your family being busy…but i have been busy nonetheless. I left pharmacy school in May to see my mom graduate from the University of Arizona (at 59 years old!); came back to Iowa to take 2 final exams; packed all of my stuff up and drove back to Tucson, AZ for my summer internship with Walgreens; finished that up on 8/1; drove to San Diego for a 5 day "vacation"; drove back to Tucson for one night; packed the car again to drive back to Iowa; got to Iowa City for one night and unpacked, then packed the car up again to head to northwest Iowa for a 2 week unpaid hospital pharmacy rotation; left yesterday and unpacked my car into my apartment where I will gladly vegetate for the next 9 months or so. No more road trips – I am sick of driving! This makes me exhausted just typing it! So glad you got a weekend off to enjoy the beautiful weather, good family and friends and I hope the remainder of August is good to you and your family!
PB Rippey/sleepless mama On Saturday, August 22 at 5:34 pm
Thanks for saving Daisy! She looks so happy. I think all tech geeks probably mosey around on a Daisy in their dreams. Oh dear. Hope that doesn't sound weird. Was meant wholesomely.
Sherrie Ann On Saturday, August 22 at 5:36 pm
Baby Elliott is just too cute for words. Lovin' the scruffle on MM too =}
Ms. Tart On Saturday, August 22 at 5:36 pm
Is that just a peak at MM's goatee that you were encourageing him to grow? I love your Daisy. My little papillon puppy is named Elsie because she has cow spots on her tummy.
Kaybi On Saturday, August 22 at 5:37 pm
You have a cute family.
Penny Wolf On Saturday, August 22 at 5:38 pm
What happens now to Daisy? She's the best!
Lisa W On Saturday, August 22 at 5:40 pm
As if your husband wasn't hot enough…now he goes and adds a goatee?! Seriously, he is the stuff fantasies are made of. You are one lucky woman. But of course, he is a very lucky man as well!
karen On Saturday, August 22 at 5:43 pm
Tasty Kitchen is awesome! Thank you! How do you do it all? Enjoy your evening!
Kristi On Saturday, August 22 at 5:48 pm
The cow poop soup is all I needed to make me laugh enough to go make dinner. Mind you I may skip the cow poop soup. And it's definitely not sweaty in my Northern Manitoba (super isolated and not wanting talk about it) Canadian home. Brrr already!
Kate On Saturday, August 22 at 5:52 pm
I get a peaceful, easy feeling just coming here. Thanks for all the smiles, the chuckles, the teaching . . . thanks for being there. And for sharing your life with us. Like that cow, you make me feel like one of the family.
M.B. On Saturday, August 22 at 5:55 pm
Is it just my imagination or does MM have facial hair growin' on his face? I mean, a lot of it?
Ya'll sure have sweet babies. Your little nephew is p*r*e*c*i*o*u*s.
Amy On Saturday, August 22 at 5:58 pm
When I was 8 or 9, I took bailing twine out in to the feild to catch a cow to ride because I didn't have a horse. My parents bought me a horse when I was 10 so I would stop treating the cows like one.
Elizabeth Simmons On Saturday, August 22 at 6:02 pm
Get some rest. You deserve a break.
Deborah On Saturday, August 22 at 6:09 pm
Thank you, Ree
pzrhodes On Saturday, August 22 at 6:12 pm
Was that Marlboro Man with the beard?
Heidi Malott On Saturday, August 22 at 6:15 pm
What a fun Saturday! We are having a cool, fall-like day here in Indiana. I cleaned my 3 bathrooms and vacuumed the house and was lazy the rest of the day (except for keeping my busy 14 month old out of trouble). I put big fuzzy socks on which I haven't worn since last winter and jeans. I am watching food network, and am now hungry!!
city girl in the country On Saturday, August 22 at 6:16 pm
awwee…is daisy gonna be burger meat soon? We had pigs last year & they weren't at all domesticated. But they definitely aren't pets!
elly On Saturday, August 22 at 6:18 pm
The stubble is hot!!!
Whitney On Saturday, August 22 at 6:23 pm
Daisy the cow is adorable! As someone who gets to work with cows everyday, I think they just might be the sweetest, calmest creatures in the world(well, most of the time, anyway). I have one cow who likes to follow me around for head scratches and loves to give hugs. For my money, I don't know if it gets any better than a cow hug! And there's probably nothing in the world cuter than a calf.
Bren On Saturday, August 22 at 6:29 pm
Yeahthat'sniceandfunnyandEliotisSOSOSOcute BUT!
Is that Marlboro Man with a goatee? HUNKY-MONKEY!!!
You lucky girl, you!
Mary Hutchinson On Saturday, August 22 at 6:31 pm
Do I see a bit of a beard on himself?
Linda On Saturday, August 22 at 6:31 pm
I LOVE Daisy the cow! We had Julia the cow when we were little girls. And there is even a picture of my three sisters, and I, and a couple of other kids, all on the back of Julia the cow. She was so gentle. Hey, I rode cows, now I teach computers (is that geeky?) so things can happen. lol
marty On Saturday, August 22 at 6:34 pm
I was sure you weren't supposed to ride a cow. My mom, who grew up on a ranch broke her finger while riding a cow. That is my only cow story as I am a city girl though I really wanted to be a farm girl when I was a youngin
Marilyn S On Saturday, August 22 at 6:43 pm
Beautiful pics, as always! My family also had a cow named Daisy!
suzinoz On Saturday, August 22 at 6:46 pm
Your nephew is so gorgeous!! We love a lazy Saturday ourselves. We don't seem to get as many of those as we used to! Enjoy!
Lisa Musgrave On Saturday, August 22 at 6:48 pm
Do I detect 'facial hair' on Marlboro Man?
Melissa R On Saturday, August 22 at 6:50 pm
Oh dear, facial hair….. please favor us with a straight on view of that loveliness!
dingogirl On Saturday, August 22 at 7:00 pm
The dimples on your baby are cuter than the cow. Love his wee Patagonia, also.
The cops came last Sat. night for a malfeasor whom I had chased down the street, in our gated compound, in my pj bottoms. One must ALWAYS check what she wears.
sarah On Saturday, August 22 at 7:03 pm
I love that MM is holding a clean, pure, and so soft baby with those big old work gloves on!!!
Ron Merlin On Saturday, August 22 at 7:16 pm
Ha ha, this is one of your best posts ever, and I'll tell you why. In one post you tied up a neat bundle of all the things you love to blog about. Cattle, Marlboro Man, your kids, other kids, cooking, humor, silliness (Cow poop soup? Good one) as well as express your personal opinions….Seriously, this one post could be an icon of you and your blog. As strange as that sounds, but hell, you brought up cow poop)
Loved It…..
Ron (I think one of the few males who reads you)
MaryAnn On Saturday, August 22 at 7:23 pm
be still my jealous heart! is that goatee on MM??? lordy lordy, you are a lucky woman! and, I think you should set up cones around those dimples on your son, someone is liable to fall in and get hurt! Your nephew is adorable!!
the inadvertent farmer On Saturday, August 22 at 7:27 pm
Knowing those particular forearms are there to protect you and the family must give your great peace…gracious!
You toenail polish remark made me grin…then wince! Kim
Debbie S On Saturday, August 22 at 7:31 pm
Elliott is adorable!! And did I detect some facial hair going on there on MM? Lawsie mercy woman, how in the world do you stand it?!?!?!? Gorgeous!!
teejay On Saturday, August 22 at 7:33 pm
cute elliot!
ah, but YOU haven't said if you like the facial hair–and it is dark, too!
It's a melancholy Saturday for me–grey, humid skies–and George Winstons' Montana CD is on. Missin my hubby something fierce. Right now the song is "you send me". When Keith was in the hospital, a volunteer harpist came to the room every week and she played this song for us–I never could keep my chin from wobbling and my eyes from getting misty. Still happens. Will always happen. He sends me.
Yaya2three On Saturday, August 22 at 7:39 pm
OK Ree, time for a few days off. We'll ALL give you permission to just lounge around, cool off, get unsweaty (is that a word?). All you have to do is sit around and watch the hair grow on MM's face! And take a few pictures of it as it does! Got it?? Oh—and post them of course…………..
Amy On Saturday, August 22 at 7:40 pm
Please tell me you aren't going to eat Daisy one day? Will we have to see a "photo" of her in one of your cooking posts? I think I saw "Alfie" last . . .
Married to an Aussie in OK On Saturday, August 22 at 7:41 pm
I love Elliott and lazy Saturdays with well-behaved, healthy bovines!
Nicole On Saturday, August 22 at 7:44 pm
I'm laughing because their is a GAP ad to the right of this post that has a completely emaciated woman on it (I mean sickly skinny) and the post is about a big, fat, happy cow. I don't think this model's eaten a hamburger in her life. Ah – the irony.
Melissa On Saturday, August 22 at 7:46 pm
Love the faux mohawk Daisy is sporting.
Renee On Saturday, August 22 at 7:49 pm
I hope your Elliot is as sweet as my Elliott. There's just something about a boy named Elliott.
kimnberly On Saturday, August 22 at 7:55 pm
Oh my! Glad you talked MM into sportin' a goatee. Oh & what an adorable big fat baby boy Elliot is! Still laughing about the poop soup and power washing toe nail polish ~ Hilarious… well, only because it was on YOUR front porch & not mine!
jacqueline On Saturday, August 22 at 7:57 pm
amen—-gearing up for the next chapter of this year and looking back on the memories we just forged and thinking–they are getting so big, when exactly did that happen??????? My husband just said to me (standing in line at Costco-middle of the afternoon) "I hate coming to Costco, but if it gets me next to you I'll do it" we came and crashed on the couch with not another care for the day—well until the kids are hungry and the movie needs to be changed and the dogs have to go out, but it was a nice thought — thanks jax
kimnberly On Saturday, August 22 at 7:57 pm
Big, fat, healthy, & sweet Daisy the cow is just precious ~
AnnP On Saturday, August 22 at 8:11 pm
When I sat here reading your post, yes, the VERY first thing that jumped out at me was MM's new facial hair. So hilarious all of the others that noticed it too!
ticklbee On Saturday, August 22 at 8:19 pm
You have to take a face shot of MM with the goatee! Pretty please?
Emily Horne On Saturday, August 22 at 8:28 pm
my baby Jack (all over my blog) is quite possibly related to that little guy
Melissa On Saturday, August 22 at 8:46 pm
Oh, my gosh. Elliot is so adorable! Makes me sad that my baby is two already… I miss the cuteness of a one-year-old.
Patty On Saturday, August 22 at 8:46 pm
OHHH!!! you have to post more of that goatee'd face!!! The rest of the post was awesome and I love the photos and Daisy, but all I could think about was OMG MM has a goatee!!
Munchiedog On Saturday, August 22 at 8:54 pm
I love this post.. Thank you for letting us hear about the very real side of your life too! Elliot is precious and I bet he will grow up loving his visits with his cousins on the ranch.
Nancy Hood On Saturday, August 22 at 9:02 pm
I do believe there is facial hair on your man's face!! WhooHoo! And that baby is too cute, both of them – yours and Betsy's.
My granddad had a Daisy, too! Think all farms had at least one in a lifetime
Erasue On Saturday, August 22 at 9:02 pm
Hey, I've been in my holey yoga pants ALL.DAY.LONG. Is that a bad thing? nah……
April On Saturday, August 22 at 9:02 pm
Great post as usual! Daisy looks like a kind soul. And I just have to add, here in Canada, Nova Scotia to be exact, it's been sweltering for weeks. Hot, humid, sticky. Today was 31 degrees celsius, though we're waiting for hurricane bill to hit tomorrow. I bet when Bill leaves, he'll take summer with him
Greeneyes Martha On Saturday, August 22 at 9:05 pm
Facial hair??
I bet those pants DO come off!
Becky On Saturday, August 22 at 9:12 pm
I love those whiskers…..and that fat baby. Sigh….
Kate S On Saturday, August 22 at 9:13 pm
I LOVED this post. Wonderful pictures….but is he really riding a cow? Or is it just standing there and he's sitting on it? Hehehe, either way–lovely lovely
marie On Saturday, August 22 at 9:18 pm
I had several Daisy cows (Brown Swiss cows are all VERY laid back and sweet) and they were all wonderful.
Katie On Saturday, August 22 at 9:27 pm
What a sweet baby, love those eyes! They are almost as cute as your babys eyes…do they share the same dimple?
Michelle On Saturday, August 22 at 9:39 pm
OK, so it's not just me! Who's cuter, that cowboy with the goatee or that precious little baby boy? Close race!
rose On Saturday, August 22 at 9:40 pm
cow poop soup, you slay me! too funny
Bridget On Saturday, August 22 at 10:02 pm
Glad u had a nice day! It's been craziness around here too. My 1st turned 5 today! So inlaws are here too…full house & it's been good. : ) It means I get to have a date with my love tomorrow. Yay!
Goatee looks good. Trying to just barely slip that one in for us, huh? : )
Jenny B. On Saturday, August 22 at 10:05 pm
When I was a kid we used to ride "Judy the Cow" on my grandparents dairy farm. On one occasion Judy had a bit of an "explosion" and pooped all over the yard and me on her back. From that day on she was called "Poopin' Judy." Gotta love farms!
Alicia~Indiana~ On Saturday, August 22 at 10:05 pm
I remember when Daisey was sick and u let her stay on your front proch. I knew then, PDub, that I would love you and yours for not too many ppl would allow a cow, sick with diahrheea even, to stay on the front porch. I have a very very weak heart for animals, especially sick ones. And if it weren't for that horrible stuff shooting out of her behind I would've said, Oh, jUst let her in the house and litter train her. LOL LOl I pick up EVERY stray animal I see and find them homes. I currently have 3 cats, 2 dogs, several squirrels in the back yard that I feed in the winter on a daily basis and the nighbors dog. He has a home but I still like to feed hime every day and give him fresh water along with the occasional bone. It's hearts like ours that make the world worth living in.
Danae Wood On Saturday, August 22 at 10:06 pm
Glad you had some time with your sister. I have two and I wish they lived closer, and I could see them more often. I enjoy reading your blog, it makes me smile. Thanks!
mschrief On Saturday, August 22 at 10:10 pm
Daisey and I have a lot in common. Tell her that for me.
Deborah On Saturday, August 22 at 10:12 pm
What a sweetie! We had some close friends that unfortunately moved away. They too were on a working Ranch. I miss taking my oldest to visit them and having a donkey literally running thru their living room! My daughter couldnt fathom why in our modest track home we couldnt have a goat, pig, or the donkey hang out inside our home as well
Meredith On Saturday, August 22 at 10:19 pm
Oh my gosh I just want to eat your nephew up! What a sweet boy. And Daisy looks like quite the sweetie too.
Clover On Saturday, August 22 at 10:24 pm
That child is gorgeous. And I'm so glad Daisy has embraced being fat.
Reenie On Saturday, August 22 at 10:36 pm
Ok, first off…..OMG! Elliott is cutest kid ever!!!
Next, thanx for the forearm pic=]
Is MM sportin' a new gotee (sp)
I love the pic of your son on Daisy….and your daughter reaching out ~ LOVE her red painted thumb nail shows us so clear…cute pic.
Mechelle On Saturday, August 22 at 10:41 pm
Top ten post!!!! Love it and the cow!
jas On Saturday, August 22 at 10:51 pm
Cow poop soup. I love it. I can even smell it. (eeewwwww)
Did I detect some fashionable beardliness on MM's manly face?
Someday, those well worn yoga pants are gonna hang in the Smithsonian. Mark my words.
Rachael Black On Saturday, August 22 at 10:53 pm
I beg of you to tell us what the "intentions" are with Daisy? Please say she's going to be kept as a family "pet". Such a sweet eyed cow. Make a girl go vegan, quick!
mn On Saturday, August 22 at 10:53 pm
long time no visit. can't believe the summer is almost over. love the daisy the cow story.
small disclaimer: do let your readers know that powerwashing should never be used on body parts. my spouse accidentally got his finger in front of one and had to have surgery on his finger. it's not been the same. it's not a fool around kinda thing.
Chris On Saturday, August 22 at 10:54 pm
Elliott is super cute!! Does MM have a goatee??
christina On Saturday, August 22 at 10:54 pm
i think Daisy is beautiful!
Mary On Saturday, August 22 at 11:12 pm
Glad Elliott got to play with Daisy! I have a Daisy, but she is a yellow lab. What a great name!
Linda On Saturday, August 22 at 11:29 pm
Hi Ree,
I'm from the West Coast of Canada and we've had almost nothing but HEAT this summer!!! I hate it. Our poor EAST COASTERS though, have had nothing but rain, humidity, thunder storms, and tornados and stuff. And cases of lightening hiting with fatal results. It's been a weird summer up here let me tell you. And they say there is no such thing as Global Warming. Ha!, I say to them.
Are you going keep the cow for milking? It would go great alongside those chickens you've been wanting for a while now. I've seen this cute contraption that some keep their chickens in and it's basically a large cage without a bottom and on a wheel or two and they move it all round the yard and the grass gets mowed/eaten at the same time.
And definitely there were not enough Elliot pics for my baby fix! I want to see Betsy holding him too – because he must be such a handful for her now. Elliot will definitely enjoy his visits with his cousins and all the neat animals. I think MM has a chance.
What sort of vitamins do you take to keep up with all you do? I wish I had your energy, lady, I really, really do.
Take care Ree, sleep in and enjoy your Sunday.
jackie On Saturday, August 22 at 11:51 pm
I hate to ask but what is Daisy's fate now that she is big, fat and healthy?
Misty On Sunday, August 23 at 12:07 am
I do believe we need a clearer pic of MM's rugged look. That facial hair looks awful good!
cecelia On Sunday, August 23 at 12:20 am
Awww, baby Elliott is a good looking child! Say, does MM have a beard starting? You boy on that big old fat cow is a great photo…is that the cow that was so sick? I agree 'cow poop soup' is descriptive. Your life is really packed so I'm glad there is some holy-yoga pants time.
Laura On Sunday, August 23 at 12:30 am
Daisy looks wonderful – I'm so glad she has recuperated so well.
We've had a crazy-busy summer too. I almost didn't hate it too much when the hail got the garden – it gave me a week to catch up on everything else! The garden is bouncing back though…better go hunt more canning jars.
Moorea On Sunday, August 23 at 1:00 am
great post. you are the bomb! cow poop soup! grooossss!
fat baby elliot…Adooorable!
Valerie On Sunday, August 23 at 1:06 am
If you found some reasons to post more pictures of Eliiot, I wouldn't be mad!
Hannah M. On Sunday, August 23 at 1:06 am
You just made me cry. But it's a good kind, most definitely. Your writing is such a blessing to those who read it; never underestimate your power. You have greatly impacted me this summer, and I want to say thank you very much for that. You are an inspiration, and your work radiates joy to all.
Nan C On Sunday, August 23 at 1:39 am
Yep can relate to the power washer and removing toenail polish! Cleans mildew off concrete too. Paint off houses and fences. Powerful stuff – doncha just love 'em!?
Nan C On Sunday, August 23 at 1:39 am
Oh, and all that piant off houses and fences? That wasn't on purpose – sort of got out of hand. Interesting day, for sure. Son was happy – he gets paid to repaint!!
adrian On Sunday, August 23 at 2:10 am
do you kill all of the cows for slaughter? its kind of sad to get attached to such animals and then have to send 'em off.
Michelle On Sunday, August 23 at 2:57 am
Wonderful story. Isn't it great that she'll live out her life productively producing beef calves while satisfying your son's urge to ride a cow? Well done!
Monique On Sunday, August 23 at 3:00 am
Love the daisy cow. And very cute Elliot and your son's fabulous dimples. Also wanted to say it has been a crazy month even in urban Australia so it is completely universal!
Marilyn C. On Sunday, August 23 at 3:59 am
Eliot is soo cute!
Andrea On Sunday, August 23 at 6:39 am
From the granddaughter of a dairy farmer, I have to say, I don't care HOW fat a cow is, thier spines still HURT when you sit on them!
Love the chubby baby Elliot. My girl is ~2wks older than Elliot, and from the looks of it, she probably weighs a good 5-10lbs less than what he does!
chris On Sunday, August 23 at 6:45 am
I was looking at the last two pictures of Daisy, and comparing her facial (and ear) expressions..my daughters show (they don't own..they borrow) llamas at the county fair..and they were told that a llama lays their ears back when they are upset..but if you pull the ears forward, it changes their moods..Daisy's ears are forward in the first picture..and looks happy to me..in the second (last) one..her ears are back..and she doesn't look as happy..just wondering if cows and llamas have the same ear reflex..and I live on a ranch..but don't interact with the cattle at all..they don't like me
Mark On Sunday, August 23 at 6:47 am
i had a baby calf i raised form that way and she was allways gental. And would allow me to rider her also.
think it is fun to show that to kids that have never been around a farm. I know my son unfortunatily will not have a chance since we nolonger have a farm and live to far from other family.
And by the way it is hot in most of Canada except the northwest territory amd the very northern parts of the provinces
Kylie On Sunday, August 23 at 6:49 am
I also had a cow I could ride. Her name was Snoopy and she was a big red & white milker. She was really gentle and would put her head down for you to straddle her neck then lift you up onto her back!
Now these days, my kids have their own bovine(?) to ride – a young water buffalo! Yep life is hectic in the Northern Territory, Australia too!
mymosk On Sunday, August 23 at 6:58 am
Love your writing.
Tabitha (From Single to Married) On Sunday, August 23 at 8:18 am
I didn't know cows wouldn't let you sit on their backs! Learn something new everyday.
Laura S On Sunday, August 23 at 8:23 am
So much about this post I want to comment on. MM sure is lucky in these pics, with that little love in his arms. I can hardly wait to get my hands on my newest great niece – she is 7 weeks old today and still just shy of 4 pounds. Your son's dimples just kill me. What a little sweetheart.
Riding a cow vs tech geek. I grew up on a farm, but now live in the burbs. I didn't love farm life, but I did love country life. I've been missing it the last couple of days – driving through KY yesterday made it even worse.
And, can we get a full shot of MM's new facial hair? My DH jokes about growing the same kind of thing – just because it would shock everyone who knows him.
deb On Sunday, August 23 at 8:30 am
a very touching story about Daisy which goes to prove, everything thrives with love.
AGinTO On Sunday, August 23 at 8:32 am
LOL! I'm in Canada and it's been CRAZY HOT! Sweaty too! :o) And Daisy the Cow has the cutest face ever…I love that she lets the kids ride her. Are you guys gonna keep her, or is she gonna have to get shipped off one day too?
Laura M On Sunday, August 23 at 9:15 am
I had a cow like that once. She was a dairy called with the elegant name of #4. I rode her up and down the chutes at Grandmama's farm while she was waiting to be milked. That couldn't have been comfortable, but she always let me. I cried when I learned she died of cancer, but she was a most excellent cow.


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