Now, I don't know if this is a coincidence (it very well may be), but my gut feeling tells me that the following is related to the global fiancial (banking) crisis connected to the sub-prime mortgage issues in the U.S.

Yesterday I received a phone call from American Express and today I got a call from Barcalys Card with both of which I have a credid card.

Both the cards I've had for 7 or 8 years and although I do receive regular mail advertising from both of them I've never had any phone calls. Now, within two days both of them have called and also my wife has received mail from her bank also about her credit card.

In both my cases Amex and Barclay Card tried to sell me extra services, both of which would lead to higher cost, or, from a bank perspective, to higher revenues. I may be wrong, but I am suspicious about the background as I believe that banks are under pressure to secure some revenue. Its though to lend money (which is what credit card companies do) if you don't have any and if you can't borrow any (which is becoming a problem at the moment). Hence, I am certain that credit card companies are under pressure to secure extra revenue to keep them in business.

Otherwise I can't explain how out of a sudden I've become so popular as a customer.

btw: Amex was trying to sell me their Platinum card (costing only € 500 per year) and Barclays Card wanted to sell some kind of insurance which would increase the interest rate by 0.8% - per month! Would have made the interest rate something like 28% per annum. Not that I intend to live on credit but that's horrendous!

Since September 16 the new class of 2007 has started and among them are a few bloggers.

Since I wont continue to blog about the Cambridge MBA now that I've completed the programme (though I'll keep blogging about random stuff) I'd like to hereby refer to two active blogs from the current class of 2007:

http://mycambridgemba.blogspot.com/

http://alvin-abraham.blogspot.com/ 

I've added these to the blogroll on the right and if you happen to know any other blogs, please let me know and I'll list them here as well.

More blogs = more diverse views.

Now that I have submitted my MBA thesis I'd like to share it with the world. About half the class wrote their thesis in co-operation with a company and the output is confidential. In my case it's my own work and I don't see a reason not to share it.

The topic of my thesis is "The Influence of Hedge Funds on Share Prices", i.e. to what extend do hedge funds have a positive or negative influence on share prices.

You can download it here: Hedge Fund Thesis

While linking to my thesis I'd also like to share this little snippet from the Handelsblatt with everyone: MBA Diary

I've been writing a few entries for the Handelsblatt Blog and one of my entries actually got published in the print version... that's what that second link is about.

Happy reading!

It's official (sort of): The MBA is over. As far as I know all of us have submitted their thesis on time and hence completed all the requirements for the programme. While officially we will only graduate in May, we've all mastered the Cambridge MBA successfully.

On Sunday I returned to Germany. It feels a little sad but at the same time it also feels good to be back home.

I already miss Cambridge and the many friends I've found there but at least I am certain that I will meet most of them again in May when most of us will return to Cambridge for graduation.

In the meanwhile.... job search!