Bud Grossmann’s Words of the Week for the Week of January 29, 2012 Previously unpublished fiction. © 2012 by Bud Grossmann. All Rights Reserved.   Ulysses S. Larry, 2006 © 2006 by Bud Grossmann HIGH FINANCE       One icy, foggy morning in January, a woman with whom David Fischer has long been acquainted arrived at his Fjord, Wisconsin, home unannounced. She presented him with a hug, a six-pack of Stella Artois, and a check for four hundred dollars. The beer, it was clear, represented a thank-you for a loan made four days earlier, now repaid in full.       That evening, alone in his home, drinking a Stella, Fischer decided to calculate the rate of return on his investment. He figured the six-pack had a value of seven dollars. 7 divided by 400 is 1.75%. Fischer divided that percentage by 4 to get his daily rate, and multiplied the product by 365 to find the APR. If his math was correct, Fischer had received 160% per annum.       Fischer opened a second bottle of Stella and continued to press buttons on his calculator. If the woman had kept the four hundred dollars for a full year and brought him a six-pack every four days, he would have received, in the year’s time, ninety-one six-packs—almost five hundred and fifty bottles of beer. Imagine carting the empties to the recycling center, a staggering responsibility! Imagine reporting this good fortune on a tax return! Fleetingly, Fischer felt an unfamiliar affection for certain politicians and for others among his fellow financiers. ♦         ARCHIVES         Click for a list of other Words of the Week I would welcome your thoughts on this page (or any of my others).  Write to me at the following address.  Please be sure to spell Grossmann with two n’s and mention what page you are writing about. Thanks!  BUD GROSSMANN Top of this page | HOME | Fine Photography | Picture of the Day | Writings | | Words of the Week | Mom & Pop Prop. Mgt. | FAQ |

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