I was invited to interview for a summer analyst position in New York but was informed it is the firm's policy not to compensate travel expenses unless a subsequent interview is necessary for some reason. Is this a common practice amongst firms?

Assume I have absolutely no dress clothes. I start at a MM bank in August. How much capital should I set aside to get all the dress clothes I need? People have talked about $80 - $300 shoes and $1,000 - $4,000 suits. I'd like to get a solid range on what I need to set aside now for my wardrobe. Current bankers ONLY, please (or those who have also accepted offers).

All right, fellow monkeys. I'm on the tail end of a 132-hour workweek, so just a brief post today.

So there I was, middle of the night, massaging an industry growth chart into an artificially-rosy picture that makes our pitch more attractive (a procedure that many of you will be familiar with). The associate comes over and tells me to add an approximate CAGR arrow. No problem. I calculate the CAGR. Noticing that thin red lines are used for means/medians throughout the rest of the book, I decide to use the PowerPoint draw tool to create a thin red line

Just wanted to give everyone a few updates:

#1. Internet Explorer 6 has had trouble with the current layout and theme since launching WSO. Firefox displays the site how it is supposed to be displayed, but unfortunately many people at work still use IE6 so I thought we could develop a separate, simpler theme for people using IE6 (or if they are at work). I wish we had thought of this solution earlier...

Although I don't think all of the kinks are worked out, when you log into the site using IE6, you should now see a new theme called Blue Marine that should make navigating around the site much easier. It is also much simpler and will probably garner less attention at work. By tomorrow, IE7 should be back on the wallstreetoasis theme, but IE6 will remain on Blue Marine for the indefinite future so that people using that browser can still navigate around the site without columns jumping into the middle of the screen or getting squished.

Note, if you are logged out, you still may be seeing the wallstreetoasis theme since anonymous users see cached pages. You need to register or log in to see the Blue Marine theme.

#2. After receiving encouragement from a few users, I had my web developer install a Donation module for the site at http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/donations

A couple of days ago, I was stupid and was charged with petty theft (larceny) because I tried to make good on a bet I lost. The one time I even try something like this, I get caught.. I'm such an idiot but I need help. How will this show up on my police records when banks do background checks?

It is a little hard to have the full grasp of what has been going on in the financial markets in Asia. I was just wondering those who follow it more frequently than I do can perhaps give me a small outline of what's been going on and reasons for the movement?

I really appreciate this one guys.

Anyone know any hedge funds or pe firms That Have a Summer Analyst Program? Simmilar to the Ibanks or even if it is not similar (in structure) have one at all?

I know the Blackstone Group hires summer interns? Any other firm?

Wallstreetoasis.com,

This site has become difficult to use when accessed through Internet Explorer (the only browser available at work), but it works fine on Firefox. Occassionally, the navigation bar on the left side somehow ends up in the middle of the page, obstructing many of the posts. Often the posts are squeezed in a narrow column, until you hit refresh, which seems to sort out the problem.

It's possible that this is an issue specific to my configuration but if other users are having the same issues perhaps you could look in to it and sort it out.

Thanks for a great and enjoyable website.

What's the funniest interview story you've ever heard, "guest starred" in (either side of the table)?

I heard this one from my boss a while back. A friend of his was interviewing with a BB, and the two guys were being total dicks to him. They snapped into rapid-fire mode, asking the guy the most random math-related questions they could think of, one right after the other for 10 minutes or so. Finally towards the end of the interview, when it was the "Do you have any Qs for us?" time, the dude stood up, and before he walked out he asked: "If 50% of all people who work at your bank are dicks, what are the odds that 2 of them are sitting here right now?"