Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

If I were a programmer my coder name would be "Biatus" and any time I hacked a system I'd leave a note "Hack from Biatus" (I have a very low bar on what I find amusing)... Interesting? Scary? The "Buffett Indicator" and why it says a market correction may be due... Still disappointed that when Burger King and Canada's Tim Horton's merged they didn't call the new company Burger Horton's... Interesting - an argument that Ken Burns PBS series on Vietnam wasn't as impartial as it claimed to be... If I ran an Artificial Intelligence company I'd call it A.I. Davis and have my "Siri" voice be that of the late Raiders owner... "The game of life is the game of everlasting learning. At least it is if you want to win." Charlie Munger... Have no idea why the Bruins have waited this long to retire Rick Middleton's number 16. And a reminder why they called him Nifty...

Tim Horton's and Burger King

Tim Horton's and Burger King are merging. The new company HQ will be based out of Canada. I have an idea on how this news could be played to increase Burger King's market share in the US.

The minimum wage in Canada is Province by Province. The lowest is Alberta at $9.95 Canadian and the highest is Ontario at $11 per hour Canadian. That $9.95 Canadian works out to about $9.07 in US dollars. Only the State of Washington has a higher minimum wage ($9.32) in the US.

The new combined Tim Horton's and Burger King (Burger Horton's?) announces that they will now be paying at the very least the Canadian minimum wage of $9.07 to all employees in the US. They are probably already paying that to most employees so it wouldn't cost the company very much but it would differentiate itself from McDonald's. When the Occupy Wall Street / Never Shop at Walmart crowd decide where to eat lunch - now the choice would be clear - Burger Horton's! Most of those folks live off the dollar menu anyway.