Not only is it reminiscent, it also is tied by the inclusion of an Abacus CDO as part of the asset base of Squared.

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He has covered shoes in gold studs (a recent boot brought to mind an abacus), dotted them with googly eyes (he got the idea from a greeting card), and topped them with plumes (a pointy-toed stiletto looks as if it had tussled with Tweety Bird).

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But for the most part, the ancient tool has been replaced with electronic calculators and computers--even though an experienced abacus user can often compute sums more quickly than your average Joe with a calculator.

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Trading exchanges make sense for vanilla products, but when it comes to highly unique, illiquid deals of the Abacus variety, an exchange would serve no purpose.

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It also needed to convey the impression that the RMBSs in Abacus were selected solely by an independent third-party (ACA) in order to secure certain investors.

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As I explained in a book I co-authored some time ago, in an environment like this bankers have grown up as abacus bankers, record keepers of money flows who derive income from seigniorage, from the passive creation of money through interest bearing-loans and government-backed securities rather than from true banking, and from active risk management.

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The abacus is one of the first mechanical counting devices, an ancient ancestor of today's computers.

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The Abacus deal that is the subject of the SEC lawsuit offers an apt case study.

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