Ok, by now you should be able to tell that I have a distinct distaste for anything bankerish. Frank Capra’s characterization in “It’s a Wonderful Life” seems to have been about spot on for nearly all bankers. Herewith, I now share with you another enlightenment from Doonesbury. Enjoy:
HOW LITTLE WE KNOW
by Harry Browne
August 22, 1984
You’ve probably had the experience of reading a newsletter’s (blog’s) explanation of what is about to happen in the world. The writer presents a sensible, logical, compelling argument that something is inevitable based on what has gone before and where we are now. His case is so plausible and rational that it’s obvious he must be right.
But then you pick up another newsletter (blog) and find another preview of the inevitable -and it’s exactly opposite to the forecast in the first newsletter. And the second writer’s arguments are just as logical, sensible, plausible, and rational as the first writer’s.
Which one are you supposed to believe? The question could be critical. Each writer might be urging you to invest all your capital in line with his forecast. To choose wrongly could be disastrous.
So how do you decide which one of them is right? Read more…
Asset Allocation, Economics, Gold, Humor, Markets, Portfolio Management, Stocks
Goldman Sachs in Talks to Acquire Treasury Department
Sister Entities to Share Employees, Money
From The Borowitz Report
In what some on Wall Street are calling the biggest blockbuster deal in the history of the financial sector, Goldman Sachs confirmed today that it was in talks to acquire the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
According to Goldman spokesperson Jonathan Hestron, the merger between Goldman and the Treasury Department is “a good fit” because “they’re in the business of printing money and so are we.”
The Goldman spokesman said that the merger would create efficiencies for both entities: “We already have so many employees and so much money flowing back and forth, this would just streamline things.”
Mr. Hestron said the only challenge facing Goldman in completing the merger “is trying to figure out which parts of the Treasury Dept. we don’t already own.”
Goldman recently celebrated record earnings by roasting a suckling pig over a bonfire of hundred-dollar bills.
Elsewhere, conspiracy theorists celebrated the 40th anniversary of NASA faking the moon landing.
And in South Carolina, Gov. Mark Sanford gave his wife a new diamond ring, while his wife gave him an electronic ankle bracelet.
I’ve submitted a few of my posts to a mainstream investment website, and guess what? They published them. Then to make matters worse, Carl Ayers who publishes IAWATCH, read my article about how a Bernie Madoff scam can never happen with a “traditional investment advisor” and called me on the phone for an interview for *his* article about how to prevent Bernie Madoff scams from happening again. He quotes me in his final product as follows: Read more…
I saw an article this morning stating that one of the largest hedge fund investors, also burned by the Bernie Madoff scam, is now demanding of all hedge funds in which it invests, that they begin using independent administrators immediately or risk immediate withdrawal of invested funds: Read more…
“Traditional” asset management carries with it one cardinal rule which, by definition, simply does not permit a Bernie Madoff style fraud, ponzi scheme, or any other generic scam. By now most have read about the collapse of the Bernie Madoff hedge fund as roughly $50 billion of investor funds vanished in what turned out to be a gigantic ponzi scheme and the largest scam ever. What the heck is a “hedge” fund anyway and why can you be scammed by them? Simply put, a hedge fund is an investment fund whose clients are “accredited”, meaning they have assets in excess of $5 million and income in excess of $200k. These investors are deemed by the SEC as wealthy enough to know what they are doing and in no need of SEC assistance or protections. Hence, hedge funds are minimally regulated by the SEC if at all. The key is, hedge funds take your money and do whatever they want with it. Due diligence is up to you and you alone. Having said all of that, we all know that gullibility is no respecter of persons, wealthy or not.
But what about that traditional asset managment rule. It’s as old as business and trade itself and not quite as old as the oldest profession, but it has certainly existed as long as money has. Even in gambling, experienced bettors always know that to protect themselves from a scam or fraud they always follow this one rule Read more…
Foreign Exchange Quotes