Thursday, December 24, 2009

New Opening Day tradition at Wrigley?

Not again! Giant Swedish Christmas goat statue gets torched

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Arsonists set fire early on Wednesday to a giant straw statue of the Swedish Yule goat, a forerunner to Santa Claus in Sweden, defying security measures for a third year in a row.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Alexi the boy-genius

April 22, 2208: Morningstar, Inc. named Illinois’ Bright Start College Savings Program on April 16 one of the top five college savings plans in the nation... After taking office, Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, above, overhauled Bright Start, selecting OppenheimerFunds Inc., through a competitive bid, to manage the program, starting last July. Oppenheimer made it among the lowest-cost programs in the nation, and offered investment options that gained a higher return rate.

Woops!

Decemeber 22, 2009: The state of Illinois has reached a settlement in its lawsuit over losses in the Bright Start college savings program under which parents will get back $77.23 million — slightly more than half of what they lost in investments handled by Oppenheimer Funds Inc.