One at a time
Lost and Found
A few weeks ago on a Sunday morning, my husband and I were on a long bike ride. Just a few miles after we turned towards home, I realized I had lost my very old drivers license that I use for ID and $7 in singles I had clipped to my license. We reversed course but didn’t find my ID or cash.
We talked about what we would do if we found someone’s IDs with cash attached and hoped that whoever might have picked up my ID would do the same.
Three days later in the mail was my old license, the seven dollars and a note that read; “Janet, I found this on the bike trail in Port Washington. According to the internet, this is your current address so I thought I’d send it to you. Have a great day. Lisa” That was the best mail I’ve received in a long time!
I called and spoke to Lisa’s husband Steve. I thanked them for doing the same thing I would have done. Steve was gracious and said it’s just who they are. They run a company called GuildCreative. They have a tag line that reads “Creative Solutions That Make A Difference.” I’m betting they run their company the same way they handled my lost ID and cash. It’s the same way that you and I do things; the way that 99.99% of the companies we work with do things.
I am very frustrated with the endless stream of negative rhetoric from Washington about businesses of every size and shape. Despite what the media likes to report, we know and thankfully work with great people who are working as hard as they can, doing things the right way while trying to earn a living to support their families and secure their futures. I trust their word and appreciate their honesty and integrity. They too are making a difference.
Our collective psyche is bruised; we lack confidence to move ahead, to hire, to expand, to grow. Given the policies that have come out of Washington over the last few years, its’ no wonder we are looking and feeling beat up. As investors we need to look past the next week, or quarter or the next “talking expert” and decide what works best for our portfolios. I have an unshakeable faith in this country, and in the people that make it work. We need to find our country’s lost ID and return it. One at a time.
The real Onion
Which is the real Onion headline?
- To Protest Hiring of Nonunion Help, Union Hires Nonunion Pickets
- Pay More Taxes Now
- Florida Marlins Delay Game until their Fans show up
- Norfolk Southern’s Century Bonds Roll
You may have seen the humorous (and often bawdy) Onion newspaper that used to be found just around college campuses but now is found in many locales. Their headlines can be pretty clever. Now even Main Street media seem to be using Onion-like headlines. Which headline is from the Onion?
Headline #1 is from a Wall Street Journal article which details in Washington “… that the Mid Atlantic Regional Council of Carpenters is seeking paid demonstrators to march and chant in its current picket line outside the McPherson Building, an office complex here where the council said work is being done with non union labor.” Jobless recruits get minimum wage to ‘March around and sound off’. Picketers are paid $8.25 an hour. The union rate was not disclosed.
Headline #2 is from a Forbes.com article. With record deficits and spending from all levels of government, and with the 2001 and 2003 tax rates set to expire on January 1, 2011, look for our tax rates at all levels to increase. Perhaps recognizing how very fragile our economy is, Washington could vote to maintain the current rates through 2011. We can only hope. In the meantime, check in with your attorney and accountant to discuss the best tax strategies for you.
Headline #4 is a WSJ article about the August 23rd sale by Norfolk Southern of a 100 year bond. Norfolk raised $250 million by selling debt that was added to an existing $300 million 6% debt issue that is due in 2105. The “new” paper was priced to yield 5.95%. Companies like McDonald’s (30 yr 4.875%, 10 yr 3.5%) and Wal-Mart (30 yr 4.875%) are taking advantage of what some managers have called the lowest rates in at least 15 years. This is essentially what homeowners are doing by locking in record mortgage rates.
Headline # 3 is the real Onion headline and just for fun. The markets don’t have to worry about buyers and sellers showing up; just which side the majority will be on during a given day. I have a good idea that the markets and the Onion will continue to supply us with plenty of headlines.
Too good to put down
Could it be 2 years since the worst of the banking crisis began to engulf Wall Street and Main Street? I’ve just finished reading Andrew Ross Sorkin’s Too Big to Fail that offers a fascinating look at those frightening and chaotic days of the near collapse of our banking system.
The book isn’t light nor is the subject; it’s not a fast beach-chair kind of book. But I couldn’t put it down.
From the inside jacket cover it’s described as “A brilliantly reported true-life financial and political thriller that goes behind the scenes of the financial crisis on Wall Street and in Washington. TOO BIG TO FAIL vividly details the backroom deal making and secret alliances made in the rush to save the world economy from collapse.” This book is all that and much more.
I did come away with a much better appreciation of how money moves in this world and who the power brokers, politicians, players, and personalities behind alot of this chaos were, and in some cases, still are. I am very grateful that throughout this crisis we had some of the best and the brightest people working around the clock trying to solve this. Many of their names were not in the headlines, but their contributions were huge.
Let me know if you’d like to borrow my copy. I’d love to hear your take on this inside story of Washington and Wall Street.
