Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL) was recently trading at $58.52 in after market trading, below its close of $72.97. APOL announced an informal inquiry into its revenue recognition practices. APOL November option implied volatility went out at 52, December at 45; verses its 26-week average of 49, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

CBOE Volatility Index: VIX was up 64 cents to 24.96.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Options Update: Apollo Group volatility flat into informal revenue recognition inquiry originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Before celebrating, though, remember that depressed housing prices and constrained financial markets make it tougher to dip into home equity to pay for school (a favorite strategy of the past few years), and layoffs are putting an obvious strain on household finances. So, the bargain in all this may be hard to find, even with financial aid increases of 9.2%.

Continue reading Recession: something (finally) strong enough to slow tuition hikes

Recession: something (finally) strong enough to slow tuition hikes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Can community colleges save students from debt bondage? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 29 Oct 2007 18:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Tuition rising faster than financial aid: what's a student to do?

Tuition rising faster than financial aid: what's a student to do? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 23 Oct 2007 17:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Should you pay for your kids' college?

Should you pay for your kids' college? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Corporate sponsorship targets colleges

Corporate sponsorship targets colleges originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Aug 2007 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Score one for the triumph of principles over marketing. At least in the case of small colleges.

According to a Bloomberg report, "The presidents of Holy Cross, Lafayette, Trinity and 58 other liberal arts schools have pledged in the past 10 weeks to withhold cooperation from Washington-based U.S. News on the most controversial element of its 24-year-old survey, a questionnaire asking colleges to assess competing schools."

Interestingly, no top-25 ranked school has joined the boycott. Bloomberg goes on to say that "Three-quarters of each school's score is based on information that is for the most part publicly available, such as class size, graduation and acceptance rates, and alumni giving. The controversial 25 percent comes from a 'reputational survey,' in which thousands of presidents, deans and provosts are asked to grade other schools' reputations."

I've always been unimpressed with these college ranking magazines. It seems like a great way to sell magazines to ambitious high school students and their parents, but I'm not sure I get the point: Shouldn't college be about finding the right fit rather than the best-ranked school you can get into? I know of no student who has regretted choosing a college based on which one he liked the best in terms of the experience and educational opportunities it offered. I know several who regret being lured in by name brands.

The problem is that the top college for a student varies from student to student, and suggesting that any college is somehow superior to another, in my opinion, misses the point. Congratulations to those schools that are standing up to the silly "reputational survey" and mad props to students and parents who are ignoring prestige in favor of finding a good fit.

61 colleges boycott U.S. News rankings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Smart money? University endowments see opportunity in sub-prime

Smart money? University endowments see opportunity in sub-prime originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 22 Jun 2007 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It looks like business schools may be catching up with the idea of Ben and Jerry's and other successful business ventures that combined profits with a concern for the planet. According to a piece in today's Wall Street Journal (subscription required), "Environmentalism is finding its way onto the agenda in M.B.A. programs across Europe, as students and faculty -- like Europeans more broadly -- are growing increasingly worried about the threat of global warming... As many have begun to do in the U.S., schools across Europe are adding environmental electives, supporting student research projects on warming topics, integrating talk of the issue into core courses, inviting speakers to address it, and, in some cases trying to make their campuses or communities more energy efficient."

This is terrific news. With emerging concerns about the future of the planet, tomorrow's CEOs will need to equipped with the knowledge to confront these issues and seek solutions. This is as good an indication as you will ever see of environmentalism going mainstream.

Having business leaders educated on the dangers of global warming might do more to protect the environment than increased regulation.

MBA programs go green originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In the latest issue of The Nation, Barbara Ehrenreich (author of Nickel and Dimed, one of my favorite books) takes a compelling look at the real value of a college diploma, and the reasons employers value it. Her conclusion: It might be for different reasons than most people think. In fact, she refers to it as the Higher Education Scam. Here's what she thinks:

My theory is that employers prefer college grads because they see a college degree chiefly as mark of one's ability to obey and conform. Whatever else you learn in college, you learn to sit still for long periods while appearing to be awake. And whatever else you do in a white-collar job, most of the time you'll be sitting and feigning attention. Sitting still for hours on end--whether in library carrels or office cubicles--does not come naturally to humans. It must be learned--although no college has yet been honest enough to offer a degree in seat-warming.

A pretty damning accusation, but it really doesn't sound too far-fetched. So if that really is what one "gets" out of college, we may be forced to rethink things. Does this mean that an employee with an online degree wouldn't be as valuable, not having proven that he can sit in a lecture hall for hours on end? Should employers skip college grads, and focus on finding creative thinkers without degrees, available at a discount?

Numerous internet firms will hire a high school dropout if he can demonstrate a clever hack. And this got me to thinking: Will some business come along and generate returns by overlooking academic credentials? In the book Moneyball, Michael Lewis tells the story of Oakland A's General Manager Billy Beane, who built a winning team on a low budget by focusing on skills that were undervalued and by the market and overlooking ones that were overvalued. For example, most teams paid too high a premium for good fielding he though, so he assembled the worst defense in the game, preferring players who walked a lot (a skill which was undervalued).

So if employers really aren't getting better, more productive employees by looking at academic credentials, could another Billy Beane come along and start a company that doesn't care about credentials? If a diploma really isn't an indicator of ability, you might be able to cut costs (high school dropouts costs less) without sacrificing productivity.

What is the value of a college diploma? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Apr 2007 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading How to save money on your college education, part II

How to save money on your college education, part II originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Apr 2007 12:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.