Today is the day I couldn't stand it any longer ...

I read the financial news this morning by spending 30 minutes browsing some of my usual favorites ... those include the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Yahoo Finance, and Seeking Alpha. For better or worse (mostly worse), I am one of those people who does a lot of mathematics in their heads when they read an article that tries to use statistics to make a point. I fundamentally believe the quote popularized by Mark Twain "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics!"

However, there is one "use" of statistics that I find even worse than misusing them to support a point. That's when someone uses a statistic and clearly has no idea of what it means or whether it is even relevant to the point they are discussing. I've named these "damned statistics", in honor of Mark Twain (or perhaps Disraeli or ... see Wikipedia entry for "Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics").

For personal therapy, I'll be pointing out some egregious [mis]uses of statistics ... I am not sure where this blog will go. I do know there is a LOT of fodder out there to work with!

Anyway, as you can see, I am not really a Twitter guy, but I will try to keep this brief. Enjoy