Thursday, September 2, 2010

Earl on the Way

Also see: Here Comes Hurricane Earl

"Vacations, weddings in doubt as storm nears" by Milton J. Valencia and L. Finch, Globe Staff | Globe Correspondent | September 2, 2010

It has created a holding pattern for the betrothed and wedding planners, boaters, vacationers, and business owners. It has become a spoiler for what would have otherwise been a pleasurable Labor Day weekend, the official end of summer, with the forecast predicting sunny skies from late Saturday through Monday....

Aside from the pounding that will occur within an eight-hour time frame late Friday night, the storm has already had secondary effects on travel, business, and everyday life....

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Maybe you would like to BET on the hurricane, Americans
:

"Betting on how a hurricane blows; New investment would let small-time traders hedge risk" by D.C. Denison, Globe Staff | August 27, 2010

For the past week, many in New England and along the Eastern Seaboard have been watching as Hurricane Danielle churned slowly northward in the Atlantic. As soon as next year, some of these watchers could be putting money down on their predictions of where a hurricane like Danielle will make landfall.

The financial product they could use is the Hurricane Risk Landfall Option, or Hurlo, which was created by Ken Horowitz, who made his fortune as a cofounder of Celluar One, one of the first mobile telephone networks — later known to Boston-area customers as Cingular Wireless.

Need I even type it?

Horowitz came up with the Hurlo idea in 2004, after his Palm Beach house was hit by two hurricanes in a single year. Since that time, he has been working to create an instrument for homeowners and small business owners in hurricane-vulnerable coastal regions like New England, the East Coast, and the Gulf of Mexico. People can buy “options’’ that are tied to these regions. When a hurricane hits, the money is divided among those who correctly picked its landfall location — not unlike a sports betting pool....

Un-f***ing-real!

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Related: Weather steams up students’ moving day