Spring Banter

[ORH_wxman]

1 minute ago, WhitinsvilleWX said:

Not sure what a starting salary is for an engineer.

 

I know I hired a 22 yo Northeastern graduate last June. She has a degree in biology and had two, 6 month co-op's at biotech companies here in Cambridge. I hired her at $78,000 a year, full medical, dental, vision, 401(k) with a 4% match, life insurance, paid 6 month disability at full salary, long term disability, 3 weeks vacation to start, 2 weeks sick time, and an 8% of base salary yearly bonus target. She just turned 23.  So it depends on the degree you get. And her co-ops got her the job over someone else with a similar degree. 

Biology is a STEM degree so it's definitely going to be useful and offer good job/income opportunities. 

[ORH_wxman]

2 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

Why don’t you invest 5K in your lawn?

He'd be better off putting all 5k on red at the roulette wheel at Oxford Casino than his lawn.

[powderfreak]

3 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

Why don’t you invest 5K in your lawn?

Given all the stories over the years, I feel like he’s probably invested way more than that already.  Now trying something that might actually be rewarding.

[HIPPYVALLEY]

16 minutes ago, Lava Rock said:

What's your feeling on ETH? Bout to drop $5K into it since my shitty GNUS is still floundering

That’s a tough question because ETH has been on such a hot run the past month.  TA shows it has the potential to still possibly double during this Bull Run but you might want to look at other top 20 coins that have a shot at bigger gains.

Cardano, Chainlink, Polkadot, maybe Vechain.  
obviously do some reading.  Non-top 20s such as Cosmos or Dash.  
 

I mean, there’s always Bitcoin.  There’s definitely a breakout coming at some point soon.

At this point I don’t want to give any crypto advice because all of my pics ran pretty hard the past two months and I don’t know how much gas they have left in them for the short term. 

 

[WhitinsvilleWX]

Gas futures might have been good a few days ago. I wonder if the guys who encrypted the pipeline software were long?

[Lava Rock]

7 minutes ago, CoastalWx said:

Why don’t you invest 5K in your lawn?

lol, we're way past that

[bch2014]

27 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

 

An interesting variable too is the percent of degrees that each field made up the total back then. Like in the 1980s, engineering degrees were a higher percent of bachelor degrees than now and psychology/sociology degrees were a lower percent. Engineering is a far more lucrative field than many other types of degrees, so there was some incentive to get those degrees. The pay gap was also larger back then for college degrees and skilled trades, but that has been reversing quickly in recent years. The lack of skilled tradesmen is driving up the income potential in that sector.

One interesting element to this discussion that is semi-paradoxical is the following:

The more prestigious/higher ranked the university, the more the earning potential of STEM and non-STEM degrees converge. A classic example of this is that it's pretty common for an English major new grad from Harvard to get a job doing a high-paying, low-"hard skill" job (say M&A advisory at Evercore or Centerview to use an extreme example) but that would be impossible outside of (most generously) the USNWR top twenty schools. 

However, taken in the aggregate, top twenty USNWR schools have a higher % of STEM students than the balance of US higher education... So you end up with a situation where the liberal arts degrees that DO have value are "underutilized" and the liberal arts degrees that DON'T have value are "oversubscribed."

[BuffaloWeather]

6 minutes ago, HIPPYVALLEY said:

That’s a tough question because ETH has been on such a hot run the past month.  TA shows it has the potential to still possibly double during this Bull Run but you might want to look at other top 20 coins that have a shot at bigger gains.

Cardano, Chainlink, Polkadot, maybe Vechain.  
obviously do some reading.  Non-top 20s such as Cosmos or Dash.  
 

I mean, there’s always Bitcoin.  There’s definitely a breakout coming at some point soon.

At this point I don’t want to give any crypto advice because all of my pics ran pretty hard the past two months and I don’t know how much gas they have left in them for the short term. 

 

XLM/XRP too. 

[bwt3650]

'Some of you guys are doing really well, but when crypto trading dominates a weather forum, isn't that eerily similar to getting advice on pets.com from your cab driver in 1999?  I mean, tons of profits to be made; as long as it's money nobody needs to pay the rent when some of this stuff bursts.

[yoda]

1 minute ago, bwt3650 said:

'Some of you guys are doing really well, but when crypto trading dominates a weather forum, isn't that eerily similar to getting advice on pets.com from your cab driver in 1999?  I mean, tons of profits to be made; as long as it's money nobody needs to pay the rent when some of this stuff bursts.

It has to be money that you can get by with without.  I mean crypto is like the stock market but super hyped up -- if you invest any money, you better be ready to lose it all

[ORH_wxman]

16 minutes ago, bch2014 said:

One interesting element to this discussion that is semi-paradoxical is the following:

The more prestigious/higher ranked the university, the more the earning potential of STEM and non-STEM degrees converge. A classic example of this is that it's pretty common for an English major new grad from Harvard to get a job doing a high-paying, low-"hard skill" job (say M&A advisory at Evercore or Centerview to use an extreme example) but that would be impossible outside of (most generously) the USNWR top twenty schools. 

However, taken in the aggregate, top twenty USNWR schools have a higher % of STEM students than the balance of US higher education... So you end up with a situation where the liberal arts degrees that DO have value are "underutilized" and the liberal arts degrees that DON'T have value are "oversubscribed."

Yes this is true....and a lot of that has to do with networking and opportunity through those schools. I went to an Ivy League so I know a lot of the types you are talking about. They do some school-sponsored internship at some prestigious company and then they are in. A lot of these companies basically try to set up pipelines from those extreme top end schools even if they don't publicly admit it.  If that opportunity fails for the ivy league grad, they have plenty of acquaintances from their college who can get them in somewhere too.

[TauntonBlizzard2013]

55 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

 

An interesting variable too is the percent of degrees that each field made up the total back then. Like in the 1980s, engineering degrees were a higher percent of bachelor degrees than now and psychology/sociology degrees were a lower percent. Engineering is a far more lucrative field than many other types of degrees, so there was some incentive to get those degrees. The pay gap was also larger back then for college degrees and skilled trades, but that has been reversing quickly in recent years. The lack of skilled tradesmen is driving up the income potential in that sector.

I was in high school during the height of the “you need to go to college push” around 2010 ( my first year of college was 2012). Another factor was I was going to be a first generation college student in my family. It was unfathomable to my parents and people around me that I wouldn’t be going to college.

A decade later, and it was the wrong choice, and I have no problem admitting it. My degree is worthless as far as I’m concerned, and I missed the boat on a trade when I could have actually done it.

A decade later, my parents even admit, other options could have been explored. At that time though, like I said, it was unfathomable that someone with good grades and college prospects would do anything other than go to college.

[TauntonBlizzard2013]

I have a few buddies in the trades field and I kick myself everyday that I didn’t go that route. They make money hand over fist.

Now that I’m married and have a mortgage, a dog, etc etc... it woulD be incredibly difficult if not impossible to go back to learn a trade 

[bch2014]

3 minutes ago, ORH_wxman said:

Yes this is true....and a lot of that has to do with networking and opportunity through those schools. I went to an Ivy League so I know a lot of the types you are talking about. They do some school-sponsored internship at some prestigious company and then they are in. A lot of these companies basically try to set up pipelines from those extreme top end schools even if they don't publicly admit it.  If that opportunity fails for the ivy league grad, they have plenty of acquaintances from their college who can get them in somewhere too.

Yup-You went to Cornell, right (don't know why'd you know Ithaca weather so well otherwise)? The hotel school would be a great example of what I'm talking about... You can get a great banking or consulting role out of there, whereas a hospitality major from Directional State U won't have the same opportunity.

I don't really have a great solution to this issue. Even if you diversify the pipeline of students going into these universities, alums are still going to want hire new grads from their institutions... I suppose you could say "you can't hire more than XYZ employees in a year from ABC institutions" but the marketplace for talent is so competitive these days that I don't know if that's practical. 

 

 

[Bostonseminole]

I have a few buddies in the trades field and I kick myself everyday that I didn’t go that route. They make money hand over fist.
Now that I’m married and have a mortgage, a dog, etc etc... it woulD be incredibly difficult if not impossible to go back to learn a trade 

Never too late if there is demand.


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[ORH_wxman]

6 minutes ago, TauntonBlizzard2013 said:

I was in high school during the height of the “you need to go to college push” around 2010 ( my first year of college was 2012). Another factor was I was going to be a first generation college student in my family. It was unfathomable to my parents and people around me that I wouldn’t be going to college.

A decade later, and it was the wrong choice, and I have no problem admitting it. My degree is worthless as far as I’m concerned, and I missed the boat on a trade when I could have actually done it.

A decade later, my parents even admit, other options could have been explored. At that time though, like I said, it was unfathomable that someone with good grades and college prospects would do anything other than go to college.

Your generation also got into the job market at the worst time....anyone trying to get in during that 2008-2015 period really got screwed. Bad recession and slow recovery.

College is still a good investment on the whole (esp for the STEM fields), but it's not for everyone and shouldn't be.

[PhineasC]

7 minutes ago, TauntonBlizzard2013 said:

I was in high school during the height of the “you need to go to college push” around 2010 ( my first year of college was 2012). Another factor was I was going to be a first generation college student in my family. It was unfathomable to my parents and people around me that I wouldn’t be going to college.

A decade later, and it was the wrong choice, and I have no problem admitting it. My degree is worthless as far as I’m concerned, and I missed the boat on a trade when I could have actually done it.

A decade later, my parents even admit, other options could have been explored. At that time though, like I said, it was unfathomable that someone with good grades and college prospects would do anything other than go to college.

The push against the trades started in the 1990s. It messed up many Millennials. 

The late 20s guy you know making 40k a year doing gig work to pay off half a degree's worth of credits and still living with roommates? Should have gone to a trade school.

[ORH_wxman]

1 minute ago, bch2014 said:

Yup-You went to Cornell, right (don't know why'd you know Ithaca weather so well otherwise)? The hotel school would be a great example of what I'm talking about... You can get a great banking or consulting role out of there, whereas a hospitality major from Directional State U won't have the same opportunity.

I don't really have a great solution to this issue. Even if you diversify the pipeline of students going into these universities, alums are still going to want hire new grads from their institutions... I suppose you could say "you can't hire more than XYZ employees in a year from ABC institutions" but the marketplace for talent is so competitive these days that I don't know if that's practical. 

 

 

There was a joke at Cornell that the "Hotel-ies" (as they were called) were the dumbest kids there but would be making the most money once graduated. One kid I know a couple doors down from freshmen year was hired as a manager at Four Seasons right out of school....nice gig for a 22-23 year old.

[PhineasC]

25 minutes ago, bwt3650 said:

'Some of you guys are doing really well, but when crypto trading dominates a weather forum, isn't that eerily similar to getting advice on pets.com from your cab driver in 1999?  I mean, tons of profits to be made; as long as it's money nobody needs to pay the rent when some of this stuff bursts.

Once the little guys start getting in and swarming with excitement, the bottom is about to drop out. That means the smart/institutional money has already been pulled out and the choppers have lifted off from the Saigon hotel rooftop. I am just sitting back watching.

[Bostonseminole]

Was just at a conference where they talked about the lack of engineers coming out of universities to support the growing electronics industry in the US. Other countries do a much better job of preparing kids for STEM careers, they start very early on. I guess some of the universities are debating giving full rides if you major in materials, physics or electrical.


.

[PhineasC]

I certainly wouldn't be sitting here still holding tens of thousands of dollars in the fake dog coin at this point. Just me...

[Bostonseminole]

Plenty of money still flowing into cryptos, just don’t fall in love with one, just like any investment, diversify.


.

[ORH_wxman]

3 minutes ago, Bostonseminole said:

Plenty of money still flowing into cryptos, just don’t fall in love with one, just like any investment, diversify.


.

Also be aware of the volatility....these aren't like high liquidity blue chip stocks. There are whales that can move this 20% or more. This is basically gambling....sure, there's some upside, but always understand the risk and volatility and your bankroll.

[Bostonseminole]

Also be aware of the volatility....these aren't like high liquidity blue chip stocks. There are whales that can move this 20% or more. This is basically gambling....sure, there's some upside, but always understand the risk and volatility and your bankroll.

Yes, I put a stop limit on all my crypt trades, don’t have time to look at it all day


.

[Dan]

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/coronavirus/china-to-draw-separation-line-on-peak-of-mount-everest-to-contain-virus/2375899/?fbclid=IwAR3nqdRT86Jj9OXhNKTkas4Ti58qWflX-P3uBkCKvEt6nhUhg-tSVK5Cb2I

 

Hahahahaha!     

 

[ORH_wxman]

11 minutes ago, Bostonseminole said:

Was just at a conference where they talked about the lack of engineers coming out of universities to support the growing electronics industry in the US. Other countries do a much better job of preparing kids for STEM careers, they start very early on. I guess some of the universities are debating giving full rides if you major in materials, physics or electrical.


.

Engineering as a whole was hit pretty hard in the recession...not a total shock as a lot of construction projects and plans halted. It may have played a role though in lower engineering degree numbers in the subsequent years. There's been a pretty big increase in the number of natural sciences degrees though.

Again, these things will probably ebb and flow as people adjust to the demand and pay incentives. Skilled trades are on the way up again but still have a long way to go to meet demand....so we'll probably see a relative boom there over the next decade or so. Engineering will prob come up again some as job prospects for them become more and more attractive with the current shortage.

It definitely does suck for a lot of these students who had to make decisions about a career in that recession and post-recession period. It probably cost them hundreds of thousands (if not more) in career earnings coming into the job market at the wrong time.

[ORH_wxman]

1 minute ago, Dan said:

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/coronavirus/china-to-draw-separation-line-on-peak-of-mount-everest-to-contain-virus/2375899/?fbclid=IwAR3nqdRT86Jj9OXhNKTkas4Ti58qWflX-P3uBkCKvEt6nhUhg-tSVK5Cb2I

 

Hahahahaha!     

 

How is that not an onion article.

 

You definitely have to worry about coronavirus spreading outdoors in high winds at 29,000 feet.

[Bostonseminole]

Engineering as a whole was hit pretty hard in the recession...not a total shock as a lot of construction projects and plans halted. It may have played a role though in lower engineering degree numbers in the subsequent years. There's been a pretty big increase in the number of natural sciences degrees though.
Again, these things will probably ebb and flow as people adjust to the demand and pay incentives. Skilled trades are on the way up again but still have a long way to go to meet demand....so we'll probably see a relative boom there over the next decade or so. Engineering will prob come up again some as job prospects for them become more and more attractive with the current shortage.
It definitely does suck for a lot of these students who had to make decisions about a career in that recession and post-recession period. It probably cost them hundreds of thousands (if not more) in career earnings coming into the job market at the wrong time.

I have one kid graduating college next year, hopefully market stays hot for him. Other one, I’ve already told, you don’t like school so why go for 4 more years. So he is thinking about what to do after he graduates HS. My Daughter just likes kpop and wants to move to Korea.


.

[tamarack]

Our 2 went in opposite directions but ended up circling back to the same place, sort of.  Our son did not have a good experience up thru HS, out of the in crowd, indifferent/resistant student, until - he learned between Jr and Sr year he could cram extra classes and gain enough credits to graduate in a half year.  Made the honor roll for the one and only time.  Asked about college, his reply was "I've done 12 years in these prions; I'm not signing over for another 4."  And then was gone, getting away from those "crummy downeasters" and moving to San Francisco (where he found some crummy people, unsurprisingly.)  A few moves and some time in the Navy and then he enrolled in a CA community college, moved to Queens and earned a 4-yr degree at Hunter College and wound up teaching English in Japan, now in his 18th year there.
Daughter did the orthodox HS to college, got 2 English degrees which helped her to get a job teaching 11th-grade English and zeroed out her college loans.  Now she's teaching her kids, with major help from our SIL, so no serious bumps when COVID arrived.  We just found it ironic that 2 kids with exact opposite K-12 experiences - model student vs. rebel - both were teaching English.  Though not in quite the same circumstances.  

[bwt3650]

1 hour ago, PhineasC said:

I certainly wouldn't be sitting here still holding tens of thousands of dollars in the fake dog coin at this point. Just me...

Remind me again what I can get with one of those and who is hosting the conference call this quarter?