"Housing will eventually recover from its great swoon. But many real estate experts now believe that home ownership will never again yield rewards like those enjoyed in the second half of the 20th century, when houses not only provided shelter but also a plump nest egg."

"

In 2008, for example, Mr. Pia entered into a trade under which Moore would get a $25 million payout if the New Zealand dollar rose to a certain level. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. was on the hook to make the payout. If that level wasn’t hit, Moore stood to lose $1 million.

As the trade’s expiration date approached, the New Zealand dollar was trading about 25 cents below the price at which the contract would pay out. Mr. Pia got clearance from top Moore officials to spend billions buying New Zealand dollars, hoping the currency would hit the set price, according to the person with knowledge of the trade. Fifteen minutes before the contract expired, Mr. Pia began buying billions of New Zealand dollars, lifting the currency to the price at which Moore was able to collect the $25 million, the person says.

Gary Cohn, Goldman’s president, later congratulated Mr. Pia on the trade, the person says.

"

"What is interesting (and the subject of the longer post I am working on) is that these benefits from some centralization are difficult to overcome with better technology. At their heart, they are not technology problems but incentive problems. And incentives are difficult to get right."

"A review of our current goals reveals some interesting statistics:
-360 of the 452 goals will have a direct impact on customer experience.
-The word revenue is used eight times and free cash flow is used only four times.
-In the 452 goals, the terms net income, gross profit or margin, and operating profit are not used once."