Don't call me. I am on the do not call list, I do not want to talk on the phone. For 10 years, in my former job, the phone was my life, I was on the phone nonstop, if I was in the office, I was on the phone. I dislike the phone greatly.
There are a few people, I can count them on both hands with fingers to spare, who I want to talk to and that is it. These are people I actually know or the parents of kids my kids know. These kinds of calls I am more than ok with, but people calling to waste my time with things I am not going to buy, no thank you.
While we are talking about phone pet peeves, I shall list mine in no particular order:
Businesses who ask for your phone number when they ring you up. I always say no.
Automated "thank you for your business calls" - If my business was truly valuable, you would call me in person to thank me.
Political calls by a human annoy me, political calls by a computer make me nuts. I am on the do not call list and I think that should include everyone. Unless I have given you my number personally, DO NOT CALL ME.
Doctor's offices who have an automated reminder call, but who stipulate you must cancel this appointment 48 hours (business days only) prior or incur a missed appointment fee. They call you on a Saturday morning for a Monday morning appointment. This makes them look stupid and sloppy and honestly, I am not sure I want to go to a doctor who is sloppy or stupid.
Solicitations of any kind, honestly I am a woman of the 21st Century. If you have even done an ok job of establishing a web presences I will find you. No phones needed.
Inappropriate cell phone use. In general, no one wants to hear your conversation with your BFF about your UTI, which you think you got cuz you shagged some guy you met in a bar, while you browse the shoes section at Macy's. I don't and my kids sure don't.
And while on the topic of phones, I think we should abolish the phone book. I have tried repeatedly to stop the delivery of the phone book with very mixed results. It is soon to be 2012, I have no need for the phone book. First of all I have a smart phone and second of all, I avoid using the phone as much as possible. I shouldn't have to opt out, I think people should have to opt in, if you want the phone book, pick up the phone and call them and request it.
If the calling birds are homing pigeons, that could open up the topic of junk mail, but that is another post for another day.
L is the color queen of our house. She can mix patterns and colors and create amazing outfits that no one else would ever think of, me included.
So tonight, I mentioned I was stumped again. I really don't have a favorite or signature color and most of our house trends towards neutrals, as H is not at all into bold color.
When I was working, it was very conservative. I had a closet full of very nice, very tailored and very boring suits. Navy, black, brown, grey, navy, black, did I mention black? I could have moonlighted as an undertaker without a problem.
Now though, I can experiment with colors. I have gone a little crazy with colors lately too. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
All of these items were in my closet and while I can assure you, I would never wear them all together, I am equally confident that L would totally pull off the combination flawlessly.
I held off writing today, I was watching the stock market. Something I used to do all the time. Now I am a casual observer.
I hope everyone is happy now. Today most of you lost somewhere close to 6.6 % of your 401K's value (if you took an investment advisers advice and bought the Index fund - or buy the market), give or take a few basis points. (basis points, look it up, it is how bankers talk percentages.)
How many of you dear readers vote? How do you make that selection? With your mind or your heart. Is the financial solvency of this country as important to you as bullshit social issues that have no business being part of the legislative agenda? Is your family's financial solvency as important as those social issues. By my unscientific estimation more legislative energy goes into meddling in our bedrooms than into actually solving the very real financial problems staring us in the face.
The fact of the matter is as a nation we spend way more than we take in. It is simple as that. We exempt businesses from paying taxes, which I think is silly and frankly we must be one of the only countries doing that. making money in the US means paying your fair share. (Um, hello GE I am talking to you!)
Our nation's economy looks alot like the room featured in the REM video and I am willing to bet you that half of the Congress people couldn't find Gorky Park on a map and better than 3/4 quarters of Americans have no clue where it is either. (But I bet they can find the Jersey Shore and tell you the names of the whiny women on Desperate Housewives.) We are a nation of lazy, greedy, short sighted, individualists. No one wants to take responsibility for anything - and the Congress actually thought it would be ok going on vacation when they left the FAA unfunded. (And FYI the airlines had given themselves a 7.5% untaxed raise while collecting those un-legislatively collectable taxes) WTF? Vacation is a perk most of us have to earn, not an entitlement people. What happened to working harder there guys?
The debt crisis and the credit downgrade is no laughing matter people. We are a huge international player and we used to be the gold investment standard. Nothing was better than US treasuries. NOTHING. It has been a long time since I would have considered buying a US government debt instrument, for a lot of reasons.
I hope this sucker punch to your 401K accounts wakes you up. When you vote in November I hope you know who had your back when it came to minding the federal checkbook.
The Winds of Change are blowing indeed... I am thinking moving up wind or up North might be in everyone's best interest or better yet shit canning most of Washington, their bullshit and their obvious self interests... they serve at our pleasure and right now, I am 16 kinds of displeased.
H picked this movie and we watched it Sunday night. If you follow my Twitter Stream, you likely know I was pretty fired up. For those of you new to the blog, I worked for Merrill Lynch. I held a series 7 license (which is issued by the NASD - a self regulatory body) and I now have an MBA.
I have been critical of Wall Street and US corporate practices for years. Even though I used to read the Wall Street Journal and Barron's cover to cover, I had no idea, until I watched this movie, that many of the key players and architects of the 2008 Wall Street Meltdown, are now serving in President Obama's cabinet or on various economic counsels. They aren't in jail, which is where they should be, they are now, currently making money, writing rules or more correctly prohibiting rules from being written, which could realistically prohibit this kind of criminal conduct from happening again.
I remember listening to this interview with Obama during the blooming crisis and thinking, yes that is what we need. Finally, someone who is going to limit the fox guarding the hen house practices. I was wrong. He did nothing, actually he did worse than nothing, not only has our President not pushed for targeted reform, he has put in positions of power some of the key players, who either should have done more to prevent this implosion or who were active participants in the implosion, those who profited from the implosion, into key power posts.
Furthermore - one of the reasons this should be unacceptable to all of us, is WALL STREET is a rigged game. I will tell you how Lehman and Merrill and AIG, ended up with investment grade credit ratings of AAA and A2, it is because it is a secret society based on the you scratch my back, I will scratch your back. The regulators are FRIENDS with the heads of these investment banks, as the film points out, the cycle of regulator, to BIG NAME BANK POWER BROOKER, to BUSINESS SCHOOL PROF is a vicious cycle, throw in board member or two and you have profitable cycle for these clowns.
Just as the narrator in this clip points out, it was not true that the regulators were aware of this mess, they weren't aware because they weren't looking. They trusted their friendships and likely were grooming those friends for future personal gains, like jobs and board appointments when their stint as a public servant was complete. What was good for the US tax payer and investor was the last thing on their minds.
Now I am sure you are all wondering - what is a CDO or a CDS and why is Susan all upset that they were being rated AAA and why is this such a big deal.
I will tell you, or more correctly I will let this movie clip sum it up for you...
I used to work with some debt and here is the deal AAA is the best rating, CREDIT RATING (think credit score) a company or in the debt world - Issuer can get. Government securities are AAA. Investment grade paper is in the A ranges. Anything less than that and it gets riskier. Anything much less than a B, and it is junk... Not as in no one should buy it, but junk as in, it is low rated paper, HIGH SPECULATIVE. You might get rich with junk bonds, but you might also lose the entire investment. Junk Bonds are not for pension funds or little old ladies. Junk Bonds are alot like the roulette table in Vegas.
These credit swaps - were less than junk. They are crap. As the clip points out - the underlying mortgages were high risk mortgages, made to people, who were likely not going to be able to make the payments and with no equity in the house, it was like renting and they would just walk away. This is what happened. This is not a AAA rated recipe for investment success.
The entire movie made me hopping mad, but I honestly think this is one part that really made me crazy.
Credit ratings are NOT just OPINIONS. They are a basis for entire system of investment. They define what is salable to certain segments of the investing public. More than once I or one of my colleagues got called on the carpet for selling someone a bond, with a questionable credit rating, based on some industry agreed upon conventions. I mean in the manager's office, defending my choice. Once, the sale was voided and the lose in price from day one to day two came out of my paycheck. I have known brokers who have been fined or lose their jobs for selling customers securities, which were deemed unsuitable, based on credit ratings. They are not just opinions.
It is my opinion that these lying sacks of shit, should all be on a garbage barge in the North Atlantic. These Credit Swaps were a HUGE ponzi scheme and we threw Madoff in jail for life and in the grad scheme of things he was but a bank robber in a sea of what amounts to full on, systemic and planned fraud. Not one of the architects of this mass implosion, which was felt around the world, has gone to jail, gone to trial. Likely they are all still working on Wall Street in some capacity.
This is wrong. The feds took down Eliot Spitzer, I think, in part to shut him up. What he did was wrong, no doubt, but no different from what Wall Street power brokers have done for years. Is it really any surprise to anyone, that the defacto "red light distract" of NYC is so bloody close to Wall Street? The issue is Mr. Spitzer burned through his cache of power, while the Wall Street hot rods still hold all the power, up to and including the President of the United States of America.
Something must be done to prohibit regulators from moving into business schools, to corporate boards and high level investment bank positions, people who once held high level positions in investment houses have no business being regulators. It is a fraternity (with a few woman thrown in), with secret handshakes and armies of lawyers, who do not have the public's good at heart, they want to enrich themselves.
And we the tax payers - gave them more money to play with...
Steve Miller Band - Jet Airliner
Far East Movement - G6
As most of my readers know, H is a commercial airline pilot. He flies for a very large and growing regional carrier. He is based here but for awhile, was in NYC. His first airline job, had him based in Detroit.
H was not in the military, he learned slowly and over a few years, following the FAA program for flight training. Most airports, large or small, have an FBO, fixed base of operations, and typically there is a flight school on site. When L was about 1 years old, he went to Atlanta to finish up his flight certifications and between that time and when E came along, H was a flight instructor, building his hours and his experience.
While I was pregnant with E, H decided, after much soul searching that in the air was where he wanted to be. This was no surprise to me, but he did weigh the costs, his career choice is not without costs. We all pay them, the children, me and H.
E was born and H left for two months, which morphed into 3 months of training in Memphis. The airline he went to work for was cheap and worked them like dogs during the training process. H came home once, maybe twice. If I had not had some family support and the women of my Moms group had not helped me in the early weeks, I am not sure we would have made it. A toddler and a newborn is alot to manage solo.
Manage we did.
Then about two years later, H switched to the airline he is with now, first as a First Officer and then upgrading to Captain fairly quickly.
His schedule is ever changing. Basically he works 15-18 days a month. The thing is when he is working, he isn't home. He can be gone just overnight, two nights, three nights, four nights and sometimes even 5 nights. Then he will be home for a few, maybe 2-3 days.
My MIL was not happy with his career path. Not one little bit. She gave him such a hard way to go. She would fuss every chance she got. Me on the other hand, I want him to happy. I had a job, that while I was successful and will even say I was good at, I did not love it, it wasn't what I wanted to be when I grew up, I took it at a time I needed a job and I will honestly say I stayed for the money, it was good money and soul leeching.
H loves flying. He is happy flying, he might not always agree with his employer's management practices and he has a few choice things to say about airlines in general, but at the end of the day, when he is at the end of the runway, waiting for clearance to take off, and then he starts that plane down the runway, he still feels the rush. Think about it. He is going to take that airplane off the ground. That is powerful stuff. Who gets to do that? I mean, really think about it. Or when he lands just so, "greases" the landing as he says. He is still critical of his landings, he has landed a plane so many times and still it matters, the quality of the landing.
I love to hear him talk about his flying. He is a great pilot. No hotdogging. He knows his limits. He respects the limits of the airplane he is commanding. When he started out in a Cessna 172 - the pre-flight could stretch for hours it felt like, but I was never once afraid. He knew what he was doing. We owned a Piper Seminole for awhile. That plane was a gas guzzler but fun, a twin engine. We went to FLA more than once. We had some issues over the years, but H kept his cool and I am here to tell those stories.
One of H's favorite things to say about flying, really I think sums it up for me.
Take off is optional, landing is mandatory.
And that is so true, reminds me something he used to say, when he was really considering his career options:
Better to be on the ground, wishing you were in the air, than in the air wishing you were on the ground.
The reality is H is happy in the air. His office is at 35,000 feet. He wouldn't be happy anywhere else.
So when I have days like Saturday, when I spend the entire day,driving in circles, in crazy traffic, so the kids can each be at an event which is important to them, I may be somewhat crabby, but in the end, I know H has a job he loves and the reality is how many of us can say that? How many of us get a rush sitting at our desks. I know that is what keeps him going, that rush as the plane leaves the ground.
While I was pregnant with L, H's mom drug out the toys she had saved from H's childhood. With the except of maybe three cars, this box was overflowing with airplanes. All sorts of airplanes, big ones, small ones, ones H had rebranded with model paint. (H had even taken me to Hopkins as one of our first dates in Cleveland.)
I looked at her and said, "And you don't get why he wants to be a pilot? Really?"
I get it - I get it and as long as he loves it, gets that rush, I will do what it takes, to see that our house doesn't implode while he is away. I am really a single mother with husband, as I like to say, but at the end of the day, that husband loves his job and that, thus far has worked for me.
A note about the music - I like both these songs. E particularly likes the Steve Miller Band song. The other, well it is funny, H has on a few occasions said, such and such a plane is "sexy." When the G6 song came to being H was a bit shocked I think -to hear a song about an airplane, by a non-pilot anyway. A G6, I was told by H is a Gulfstream 6 - and it is a SEXY, very sexy private jet.
So as the summer draws near and we have survived another school year, where H is here for some events but absent from others, it is good to know that he really does have the best of both worlds, a job he loves and a family who loves him enough, to understand, that when he is in the air, he isn't that far away really.
I decided I have too much stuff in my closet. Understand about a year and half ago, I finally let myself part with most of suits and dress pants and jackets from the banking days. That went to friends or Dress for Success.
My taste seems to be evolving in terms of clothing and sometimes things just don't work. Sometimes thing shrink, especially cuz I love shopping at H & M, Forever 21, and Target. I am not investing top dollar these days.
I have a hard time parting with clothing, even clothing I am no longer wearing. I always think that I might need it or I will change my mind. I should also note, that my closet is not really all that big. Thanks so some thoughtful engineering, H made it usable, but I cannot exactly stand in my closet and see everything. Getting to the back corner is challenging.
Lately though, as I do the laundry, I look at what I am washing and it is often the same few items. Am I in a rut, maybe. The fact remains however, I am wearing the same items over and over and ignoring others.
Reading this blog - a pretty penny over the last few weeks, I decided I either start wearing a wider variety of clothing or I cull the closet with ruthlessness. I choose a mixture of the two. I am committed to breaking out of my rut and I am going to try and cull the closet by 30%. I made a nice dent in it tonight. I let go of a number of items I just haven't worn and don't plan to wear anytime soon.
I also think I need to curb my clearance enthusiasm again. I only shop in fits and bursts, I really do not like shopping all that much, but every now and again, I get the shopping bug and just can't help myself.
H and I are trying to raise children, not completely caught up in consumerism and it is working. I stress to L the importance of people, not things. She makes things. It is hard though, we live in a consumer driven economy. There is stuff everywhere. There are slick ads and catchy jingles on every radio and tv station. L is reading now and can read the ads in magazines and newspapers. (and online.)
I was pleased though, that at Christmas, E's first trip to Toys R Us, ever happen because he had a gift card and then he shared it with his sister. We just don't go there. I do not kill time shopping.
I can easily say yes to homemade jelly at the farmers market or fancy soap at the farmers market, but I struggle with all this crap we think kids need. Gaming systems and expensive mini cars that drive on the sidewalk. Those hand held things every child seems to have at every event, the DS, or whatever.
That said I struggle telling them no when they want books, craft supplies or puzzles.
I have indulged their desire to collect some silly bands, Go-Gos and now Japanese erasers.
L does have a flare for fashion, but she is picky and she is price conscious, for now. She gets that the cheaper stuff is at the back of the store.
So I am in a reduce phase again. I know we are living in a material world, but I think it is wasteful for me to have all these items in my closet that I am simply not going to wear. So I have bagged them up and I plan to take another critical eye at my closet again tomorrow. Some are going to a friend and the rest will go to charity. I have to think, someone will find something they just can't live without and that will make everyone happy.
(note this is one of my LEAST favorite Madonna songs. That said it fit.)
This phrase has always struck me as bit off. I imagine little fairies or cherubs or 300 pound men on Circus trapeze, whatever. When kids would say this in High-school, or more correctly yell it, I was always puzzled. I digress.
I picked this title because a friend made a very funny funny and it inspired me. (Thank you R!)
If you are somewhat awake and following the news, you know that the TSA has been busy of late. Want to bone up on the full body scanners and enhanced pat downs - go here for a primer.
I will also note, H had an incident this week, at an airport, where these new procedures are in play. A butter knife was found and H followed protocol and the head of TSA for that airport came and that clown asked H if he wanted to search the plane or not. H is like, heck ya I wanna search the plane, I want to see what else you missed.The passengers deplaned and they all got re-screened and the plane got a thorough going over (all except the cargo, that is.)
I will let you in on a little secret. I dislike Big Brother (who now is turning into Creepy pervy - in a bad way - Uncle!) I have a real problem with people in authority who are stupid. While we are at it, I have zero tolerance or patience for stupid in general. I also have a BIG problem with my basic rights being violated. Convicted criminals cannot be subjected to this type of invasion of privacy without proper cause and yet we the American flying public are paying to be subjected to groping and radiation and news flash - it isn't doing anything to make us safer. Not when cargo goes unscreened or under-screened and airport employees are only randomly screened.
So while those of us who choose to fly (which is not me - after my trip to Cancun, I plan to stay firmly on terra firma for awhile.) are stripping down to our underwear, being zapped with what cannot be a safe amount of radiation, by people who may or may not be saving those images, and then poked and prodded in a manner that would get the average horny guy in a bar arrested and on a sexual predator list - millions and I mean millions of pounds of cargo are flying on commercial airliners - unscreened or under-screened. H says he routinely gets a manifest which includes cargo, that NO ONE had screened since it has been entered into the system and then it is likely the shipper answered some yes or no questions, and not enduring a groping.
Go with God, darling. Go with God. Especially when this is the US attitude toward screening of cargo.
U.S. Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole, who also attended the conference, said a delicate balance needs to be struck to ensure that the enhanced security requirements for air freight do not disrupt global trade.
"The flow of global commerce is key to economic recovery," Pistole said. "Security cannot bring business to a standstill."
So while we consumers, air travelers and normal Joe's are being subjected to draconian and I think illegal searches of our person and property, cargo, stuff in boxes is flying first class, unsearched and unscreened.
This Article has a great graphic detailing how cargo is processed. While there is some screening, it is not nearly as invasive or as thorough as passengers are enduring. Nor is cargo stored in a sterile area. It is often left unattended, on the tarmac, on a truck or in a warehouse.
Now if I were of a mind to wreck havoc, I would go for the airport employees - who come to work and largely get to pass through unscreened. While nosing around, I found this article about what the TSA says it is doing. I am not buying it. H says he has never, in all the airports he has been in, seen it either. I think that every employee of an airport should have to submit to the same screening as passengers everyday. Why should they be any different than the guy who flies two to three times a week? They are the door in. Let's face it, they are paid peanuts. Many are foreigners or new to the US and money is an issue. I am not sure how easy it is to do a 10 year background check on a tarmac employee, who is from Kenya or Somilia or Mexico and been in this country for a few years. I am sure those governments, in the developing world have great record keeping methods and I am sure they are super willing to share that information.
Also I recall rather fondly the time, I discovered while doing a client's 401 K pre-test audit and discovered that there were 17 different employees, at three different plants, with the same social security number. Fake ID's anyone? The terrorists who brought us 9/11, many of them had valid State issued ID. While it is illegal to lie to the BMV, a guy or gal who wants to blow something up, I seriously doubt lying to a quasi government agency, a government they have great contempt for, is a great moral quandary.
I am not the only one concerned about this. This article speaks to the perils of swipe cards and security by-pass procedures, which are the rule at US airports, not an exception. (Read more here and here )
So I do give a flying f*ck. My Sweetie, goes to work and his office is 35,000 ft off the ground. I want him to be safe and if I was assured that all the other loop holes were closed and the only way we could assure his safety was for me to strip naked and walk through the airport, get my thyroid fried with radiation and let some pervy, underpaid, under educated goon grope me, I would do it. Heck I might kiss the goon.
But that is not the case and until we close those other loop holes - this is a classic case of the government being lazy and stupid and motivated by corporate interests. Don't hold up cargo. Don't make my employees have to go through security, it eats into the work day. Why should I pay to have them groped. Blah, blah, blah.
The metal detector and the wand searches are enough. They are not 100%, but I think H's experience this week proves they are just as effective as the searches which steal our human rights. I would rather take my chances on what works reasonably well and maintains my dignity than what clearly doesn't work and puts us on the slippery slope to a police state.
I saw this link on several FB friends' pages the other day. The article, I think get's it about half right. I think we are seeing the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, but to aim the ax mostly at US corporations is disingenuous. To blame this administration or the past two is likewise not the answer either. The American consumer, as much as the American worker also shoulders some of the responsibility.
For every bit of Chinese manufactured bit of fluff purchased at Wal*Mart or Target or where-ever that is one less manufacturing job in the US. The quality is sometimes shoddy, but hey it is cheap. It will likely break in a few months, but then it did not cost that much so what's the big deal. The big deal is the rich get richer and the poor, well poorer.
The REAL problem is as someone in the comments section of the article stated - it is all about short term solutions. In both business and government, and dare I say our culture in general we favor the short term quick fix to long term problems. ...Couple that with corporations being encouraged by Wall Street, to MAX out profits - notice I did not say be profitable - but max out profits quarter over quarter that you have CEOs and CFOs making short term profit maximization decisions and not decisions with an eye towards long term longevity and sustainable profitability.
The tipping point will be, I think, when the American consumer, cannot afford even goods and services using what I call the Walmart pricing model. That or we will all collectively stop supporting companies who fail to match their corporate strategy with our personal value systems.
We need less government intervention. I am very much a free marketer. We will live to regret not letting capitalism work its ruthless magic and allow Wall Street to implode itself. Someone would have stepped in with a business solution, not a tax payer funded solution. Money is like matter, it is never created or destroyed. Someone has money and will move to spend it, when the price is right. Governments creating artificial funding sources, just make matters worse and rarely better. Sometimes we only learn from terrible and painful lessons.
When I worked for Merrill Lynch a deathly hush fell over the office when Greenspan testified, I said then and I say now, it is dangerous fun to put so much focus and reliance on the ideas and theories of one man, no matter how much or little you think he knows. It was too much power, centralized in one part by the government and one part by the media. Was he brilliant, maybe. Was he savvy, you betcha. Could he read a crystal ball? Only at parties and only for fun. He got it wrong as much as he got it right.
The real issue is this, we lack a real sense of who we are and what we want to represent and the most worrisome statistic in the bunch to me is this one:
In 1950, the ratio of the average executive's paycheck to the average worker's paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has exploded to between 300 to 500 to one.
This is the crux of a major issue in American business, the fleecing of the stakeholder and the employees. There is no reason for this type of wage inequity. I have YET - to see a CEO who warrants this type of pay. In fact most CEOs of most US companies are not worth a plugged nickle and some hog spit. A leader leads by example. He or she does not fleece the business, cut the wages of the rank file, to enrich themselves. In my opinion, CEOs who cannot produce sustainable, ethical profits for a business, year over year, should earn nothing. It should be a commission based job. No golden parachute for a crappy job, no bonus if you have cut shareholder returns and slash rank and file pay. Earn your keep, like the rest of us.
Not accounting hocus pocus, but real income, real profit. No fancy accounting gimmicks or games of depreciation. I am talking about selling a product and banking real cash. Providing a service, providing it well and banking the profit. Let's pick on my industry du jour - the airlines. The CEO's of all the big ones, need to be put on a CRJ and pelted with garbage, becasue that is exactly how they treat their customers. They should not pass GO and they certainly should not earn 8 figures. The CEO of BP, who is stepping down. He should not get his golden parachute, he should get some hip waders and a one way ticket to a FEMA trailer on a beach on the Gulf Coast and a roll of bounty towels, to wipe down water fowl. That would be leadership. That would be making a difference. All he has done thus far is fail to come up a solution, look stupid and tank the stock.
Business used to be honest and straight forward. When we return to that, to a time when a hand shake meant something - and no double talk and loopholes, then and only then will we start to see a level playing field. It is about an honest days work and a job well done.
I also am totally against any more regulation, let's enforce the regulations we have. Look back on my blog, I have advocated for some time some real accountability. When people who commit fraud and fleece the American taxpayers and corporate stakeholders, they should do hard time, then and only then will it be a deterrent.
There is more than enough blame for this situation to go around. So next time you are trotting off to Wal*mart, with the remains of your ever diminishing paycheck, ask yourself, what am I doing to send the message to businesses that I am serious about keeping the Middle Class and American jobs stateside.
Understand, I am not picking on Wal*Mart exactly, but it is the idea that we think cheaper is better... sometimes it is and in the longer term, sometimes it just isn't.
against SOME of their clients. That is the name of the game people. This is the dirty little secret I have been telling you about for years now on this very BLOG. All brokerage firms, mutual fund companies and Investment advisers serve a variety of masters. If you think for one second that they are altruistic and looking out for your best interests - well you are SADLY mistaken.
I am not saying stock brokers, financial consultants and investment professionals are not honestly concerned about their clients and their clients' future, I am merely saying that there are lots of competing interests and human nature applies.
I am saying that it is a complicated knot and to think otherwise is foolhardy.
Goldman absolutely bet against some its clients - it always has and it always will. That they are saying publicly that that is not the case, that is not the nature of the beast, is criminal in my opinion.
Wall Street has its own agenda and that is to make money and to make money at all costs - despite the collateral damage. Look at Lehman Bros., for the gains of a few, they sunk the ship and then laugh all the way to their off shore bank as investors and lifetime loyal employees were left holding the bag.
As long as the system is set up and run based on commissions and two sided transactions, someone is going to lose and the person in the middle - he always, always in these situations stands to gain. I worked at Merrill Lynch for almost 10 years, trust me I sat in on enough meetings to know - the first few slides were on the product and how to sell it - the rest were about why this product was designed to pay you the most, even in a down economy. Trust me the sales force, they got but a tiny slice of what the overall pay out was, and the company, well they sang all the way to the bank.
Look at the banking model. The bank charges you a fee to hold your money and charges someone a fee to borrow your money, and they may offer you some nominal interest - or in today's economy not even enough to cover your fees. They just profited twice and when the chips are down - they are going to side with the customer who offers them the most lucrative profit. They would be stupid not to do that stupid and out of business fast.
Now understand, I am not passing judgment. I am merely pointing out that the executives at Goldman, who are professing to not betting against their clients are full of shit and we all know it...
The profit is always the guiding light - if you think otherwise, well mores the pity.
4. This is by far the most important part: The SEC is supposed to be watching for exactly these kinds of scams. Yet the SEC missed them, and they even brought in Madoff family members to monitor markets! That is how much they missed what was going on.
It gets a lot worse. A man named Harry Markopoulis repeatedly warned the SEC that this was a scam, that results such as what Madoff claimed were simply not possible. He sent detailed accusations about Madoff to the SEC. They were completely ignored.
Now, when do the people who ignored these vital communications go on trial? Madoff at least has the excuse that he wanted to be rich -- and, in a way, while it's a pitiful excuse, it's at least understandable.
What excuse do the regulators have? Why are they not being tried for criminal dereliction of duty? When they go on trial, we really will have a new day in securities law.
Read the full story here - with Ben Stein. The SEC was derelict. They need to be called to account also.
The advisors who shoveled the money Madoffs way - they need to be shaken down also.
I am heartened to see that finally - FINALLY - someone on Wall Street is getting what they so richly deserve. Bernie Madoff will spend the rest of his life in jail. He will die penniless and while I think it is sad that tax dollars will be spent to feed and cloth him, his loss of liberty is a lesson.
I am still deciding how I feel about the punishment meted out to his wife Ruth. I am struggling with the assets seized, which were in her name and her name alone. I hope that they truly were marital property, disguised, being placed in her name. I am sure her lawyers failed to offer proof, that they were solely hers.
Her biggest lose, is not the money however, her biggest lost will be living with the fact that her husband lied to thousands of people and to HER, for years and years.
I have said it before and I will say it again. Certain companies on Wall Street are nothing more than incorporated packs of thieves. Actually that is unfair to thieves - who do on some level have a certain code of honor. The people at AIG have no common sense and no honor. A retention bonus you say... I say hit the road Jack and don't you come back around here no more... you ran a perfectly good company into the ground. Your bonus is for shit... turn a company into shit and that is your bonus - shit.
Crass but true.
I am so over it... no one who is upper management deserves any bonus - unless the company is making a profit. It is just that simple. I may be a girl with only half of an MBA - but that seems like management 101 to me...
I am on hand pleased that it seems Bernie Madhoff is going to cop to what he did - he appears ready to take responsibility for his greed and unethical behavior and plea guilty to lying and cheating and stealing.
Good show! Finally one of the Wall Street dogs is ponying up and admitting to be a dirty rotten scoundrel. Finally!
While I will not say he has found his honor - I will say finally someone is willing to admit to wrong doing and scheming and lying.
Even better - he will have to go to jail!
My issue today? Await sentencing in his penthouse - NO WAY! He should go directly to jail and NOT pass GO! His investors have had a dramatic reversal in fortune and I see no reason for Bernie to have the luxury of a penthouse. A cot in a multi man cell should be just the thing.
On day it is caviar and the next it is shit on a shingle...
As promised I am posting the response to my email... It is from someone I actually know and have the world of respect for. He is the distract Admin manager. A life time employee. He worked his way up the ladder. He is a good manager. I would imagine his retirement has tanked - given that some of his comp in in ML stock.
When he was the Admin Manager of the Office I worked in, he ran a tight ship and he did a good job. I would work for him again I think.
But still, he is an admin manager of a sales complex of a firm. While he has been to the executive suite in Manhattan, he is not part of the inner circle, by my estimation.
And that is the travesty. Good people, like KH and my friend and countless others, who have built their careers by doing what is right and by growing and learning - they are the ones who suffer - just like those at Lehman. They lose their retirement benefits and all of it - when some small niche of people get together and follow their own vanity and their own greed. When one is an CEO, CFO, CIO or whatever O's - they are an officer of the corporation and it is their DUTY to act in the best interest of the company - HELLO that is Business 101. I think they need to go take a refresher course - because there is precious little of that going on in this Day and Age!
It makes me incredibly sad. And angry.... I was heartened to hear that the Client Associates and other hourly employees did not get the shaft. That helps ease the anger a touch. But still...
***
There probably is more to come. Unfortunately the press just loves this sort of thing and frequently they spin it to their own advantage. Let me give you a better sense of the bonus issue. Overall the bonuses were down about 40% as compared to last year. You might say that they should be down 100% given the losses that were incurred by Merrill Lynch. But, the great majority of those bonuses, as in the past, are paid to support people. As an example, the CA bonuses, EIP, were basically flat from prior years. There was a tremendous effort on the part of senior management in our division to insure that the CAs, along with other support positions, did not have their overall compensation harmed in any significant way, even in the face of the losses incurred by the firm. Also, CAs did get an increase last year, which was pretty much in line with increases in prior years. At the same time, any employee whose salary was $100,000 or greater was frozen.
A lot of humor has been gained at John Thain’s and ML’s expense over the revelation that he spent $30,000 for a commode. There were other items on the list that seemed equally frivolous. But, to clarify, he did not spend $1.2MYN to redecorate his office. He spent it on a redesign of the executive suites, which included areas outside of his own office. I have seen the executive suites at ML and I have seen Thain’s office. The office itself makes up a small portion of the entire space. Now having said that, was it, in retrospect, a good idea to spend that money on the executive suites with everything else that was going on? Probably not. Some of us in the field take pride in running a tight ship and not spending money when it’s not needed, in both good times and in bad. Just ask E. Or even think back when you were here. We are careful with how we spend money and a lot of management in the field behaves the same way.
Just an update. I understand that John Thain has announced that he is reimbursing ML for the $1.2MYN. I believe that Maria Bartaromo is interviewing him today and this will likely be part of the discussion.
Lastly please remember. A big reason that you still have your account at ML is because of E. I’m certain that E will continue to do the best that she can for you in spite of the bad press that is swirling around ML right now. I am confident that we will eventually put all of this behind us and again will be a better organization for it.
Good to hear from you.
*****
I am not sure I share his optimistic outlook - but HE has been in the business a long time... so I will sit with this a bit and wait and see. I still say we threw Martha Stewart in jail over a few thousands dollars and men like John Thain other executives can play fast and loose and make ridiculous judgments and in some cases commit something that looks an awful lot like fraud and well... it seems like that is going unpunished.
My next class in MBA school is Org. Behavior. Maybe it will shed some light on how those at the top can be so out of touch...or consumed by Mirror Mirror on the Wall, who is the greediest rat bastard of them all....
What is going to be done to ensure that those firms on Wall Street- who have accepted tax dollars spend them wisely and not foolishly as Merrill Lynch did in the days prior to the merger with Bank of America. When Americans are losing their jobs by the thousands - it is unconscionable that John Thain spent $1.2 million on office furniture. Corporate executive entitlement must end - I think before Americans will once again trust our financial system. It is a shame if not criminal their conduct.
I sent this via the Whitehouse.gov website. I was limited to 500 characters - so I think I will be drafting a letter in long form and mail it the old fashioned way.
I really feel like this an issue that must be resolved and resolved before the economy will actually get better. These bubbles that burst are fueled by Greed pure and simple. Greed, which breeds lack of judgment and an abject lack of integrity...
I still say they all need their knuckles rapped, their butts paddled and then they need to stand in the snow on line at the local soup kitchen for a week or so. A lesson in humility is in order.
I sent this to the manager of the Columbus, Ohio sales distract of Merrill Lynch.
*****
Mr. C –
I have been irritated and I have been astonished over the last 3 years at the gross mismanagement of Merrill at the corporate level. As a client and a shareholder it is beyond appalling. First Stan O’Neil and his questionable dealings, which put ML under further financial hardship and negatively affected the stock’s valuation. Then the sale of the ML to BOA, which I think could turn out to be a homerun or a total stinker, depending on how it is orchestrated and managed. Sadly the news of the last minute bonuses and $1.2 million worth of office furniture purchased by James Thain, I am inclined to believe that it will be a total stinker.
As a former employee, I am also willing to bet that none of the client associates or back office employees received a bonus much less new furniture this year. I would also imagine that they have been working under a wage and salary freeze over the last few years as well. Never mind that they come to work and put in their full day and then some – whilst the gentlemen of James Thain’s ilk bilk the company for all it is worth and then take the tax payers money as well. I ask you – how was his contribution so more significant than the young woman’s who answers your phone. Other than she has performed with integrity and dedication and he – well at best he exercised poor judgment and at worse he committed fraud or dare I say theft?
I think the world of my advisor – XX. She is responsive and knowledge and a real asset to your organization. SHE is the only reason my husband and I have stuck it out at Merrill Lynch for as long as we have. But at this moment I think I am done feeding this mad cow. I am done paying top dollar – so that the executives can waste, squander, lie and cheat. I am done supporting an organization which is lead by men and women so devoid of any moral or ethical fiber. Where is the sense of corporate honor and respectable citizenship. Honor used to be a time honored value and sadly now it would seem that it is every man for himself – grab, grab, grab and take, take, take.
I also know that you are but a small cog in a very big wheel and that this message is a touch self serving and my chance to vent – but I would like to think that you will share my thoughts and words with your boss and take this as far as you can. I am also publishing this letter to my blog and will happily post any substantive response that I receive.
I used to be proud to say that I used to work for Merrill Lynch, now I am trying to dream up ways to highlight my experience there and not name the firm, as it is form shame, that a once trusted and revered investment house is now synonymous with greed and greed and dishonor, mismanagement and other less than desirable business principals.
I am currently finishing my MBA and I know that it takes many to make an business function but in the end those at the top set the tone, but I also know that those at the bottom have the ability to rise up. If I were still employed at Merrill Lynch I would be running a revolution. Every employee deserves more than they got – the employees, middle management like yourself, your staff and your brokers. Your investment of time and energy and integrity is worth more than you have received and for that I am truly sorry – my hope is that perhaps my words can motivate you to be an agent of change. To share my words and perhaps add those of others who simply cannot take it any longer. But I also know money speaks louder than words and I am considering my options. Perhaps if enough people take their money out of Merrill Lynch then and only then will Wall Street and the big movers and shakers learn that bad business will in fact eventually hit you where it hurts. After all men like James Thain are only concerned with how they might benefit. When the well runs dry – perhaps then and only then will get what they deserve. Mud.
All the Best—
Thoughts from the edge...
****
I doubt it will do much but it is time - I am no longer willing to feed the bloated cow...
