Month: February 2008

Mega Millions Lottery – Odds, NPV, Sucker bets, and Hope (Barack Obama)

Today’s drawing for the Mega Millions Lottery is for an estimated $220 million (or $134.6 for the cash option). The odds of winning are…well….low. I mean it is a lottery. The odds of picking all 5 balls plus the powerball are 1 in 175,711,536. As you can see at Durango Bill’s website, you’re more likely …

Mega Millions Lottery – Odds, NPV, Sucker bets, and Hope (Barack Obama) Read More »

Prosper Peer to Peer Lending as a method of boosting returns beyond money markets or should I be cashing out

I have been a lender on Prosper since June 2006. Prosper itself has been around since about October of 2005. When I started, there were about 48,000 members. Today, there are almost 700,000. I think my joining when I did would probably qualify me as an early adopter. During this time, there were few accurate …

Prosper Peer to Peer Lending as a method of boosting returns beyond money markets or should I be cashing out Read More »