Up to 10,000 staff at the New York office of the bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers will share a bonus pool set aside for them that is worth $2.5bn (£1.4bn), Barclays Bank, which is buying the business, confirmed last night.

Excuse me?! You're a bank that just FAILED and, dodging your bankruptcy responsibilities, you've managed to set aside $2.5 BILLION for BONUSES to the people who presided over your FAILURE?

If anyone wants to know why Main Street is pissed off at Wall Street, look no further than this. This is Wall Street saying, "Fuck you!" in giant letters, to Main Street. Main Street is not amused.

I've been a complete failure at work for years now. Do you think I can snag some bonus pool money? That'd be great!

Fury at $2.5bn bonus for Lehman's New York staff - Business News, Business - The Independent

Fortunately for America's 95 million investors, Adams' secret nine-point formula was finally revealed in "Dilbert and the Way of the Weasels." Notice its simple brilliance in the exact reproduction of his formula:

1.
Make a will
2.
Pay off your credit cards
3.
Get term life insurance if you have a family to support
4.
Fund your 401k to the maximum
5.
Fund your IRA to the maximum
6.
Buy a house if you want to live in a house and can afford it
7.
Put six months worth of expenses in a money-market account
8.
Take whatever money is left over and invest 70% in a stock index fund and 30% in a bond fund through any discount broker and never touch it until retirement
9.
If any of this confuses you, or you have something special going on (retirement, college planning, tax issues), hire a fee-based financial planner, not one who charges a percentage of your portfolio

Adams boldly states that this is "everything you need to know about personal investing." In just 129 words, nine simple points, one page you have the unabridged "Unified Theory of Everything Financial." That's it. Everything!

I've actually just finished this book (http://www.amazon.com/Random-Walk-Guide-Investing-Financial/dp/0393058549/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200593610&sr=8-9)
and it used the Dilbert material on the last page. The concepts weren't all that new to me, but its a good quick read on investing that can be done in 2 days.

'Dilbert's' 9-point financial plan worthy of economics Nobel - MarketWatch

The photograph on the above right shows 244 locks collected from under an airport baggage handling conveyor belt (where two belts come together), over a one-month period at a single New York airport. Depending on the bag design, the strategic use of duct/gaffer's tape (to prevent locks from dangling) can reduce the likelihood of this sort of mishap.

One Bag: Checking Bags: Lost Locks