How Quickly Banks Want Us To Forget

nalini — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 02:00:00 +0100

I just got off the phone with a man who is desperately trying to figure out how to make it until his retirement kicks in. He just got laid off and has some physical challenges that makes employment in his field at best challenging, and at worst, impossible.

He's out scouring for a decent job so he can put food on his table and afford a much needed surgery.

And, Goldman Sachs just reported record profits. This just pisses me off. And many other banks, such as Citibank have the [...]

Investors Voting With Their Feet

nalini — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 02:00:00 +0100

I was so pleased to read about investors withdrawing their assets from their wealth management firms in today's Wall Street Journal.

The old model is broken. It's based on getting as many assets under management as possible and charging fees based on the amount of those assets. What's more, many firms accept commissions and other fees on financial products they recommend.

That's just wrong. Too much temptation to recommend one product that has juicy commissi [...]

Thoughts On The Government's Financial Reform Proposal

nalini — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 02:00:00 +0100

We are a long way from benefiting from any real reform. Though there are elements of the Administration's proposal that I believe could ultimately benefit business and individuals, the reforms appear as little more than political window dressing. Moreover, these initiatives still have to pass into law - and much can happen as well as die on the vine - before legislation gets passed and signed into law by President Obama.

You can download the Treasury's Proposal here:

Intelligent Debate About The Treasury Plan to Deal With Toxic Assets

nalini — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 02:00:00 +0100

I encourage you to follow thought leaders on what could happen vis a vis the Treasury Department's (aka the Geithner) Plan to shed banks' toxic assets off their balance sheets, free up capital for lending and restore our confidence in the financial system.

The New York Times has published the perspectives of 4 highly regarded economists: Paul Krugman, Simon Johnson, Bard Delong and Mark Thoma.

Read the article here: http://tinyurl.com/d6y8bf

Stay tuned for my analys [...]

Do Bonuses Really Provide The Right Incentives?

nalini — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 02:00:00 +0100

I agree with the public outcry about the bonuses paid to AIG executives who failed not only their company but created an enormous problem that we taxpayers are digging out of now.

Like most things, though, let's not confuse the proper and effective use of bonuses and other incentives with the mess promulgated by the so-called "brainiacs" at AIG.

I encourage you to study what happened at AIG. You'll definitely understand what not to do in terms of structuri [...]

Madoff's Done Nuthin' Compared To Our Very Own Government

nalini — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 02:00:00 +0100

In trolling for the most thought provoking insights about our money, I came across an intriguing article highlighting Social Security, Medicare and the current Universal Healthcare initiative sponsored by the Obama administration as....drum roll please....

PONZI SCHEMES.

That's right. The very scheme that Bernie Madoff pled guilty too last week is what columnist Craig Cantoni is calling two of our largest social programs.

What do you think?

Do you know what happens [...]

Tough Love, Truth-Telling Jim Rogers

nalini — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:00:00 +0100

I sure wish our federal govenment had the intestinal fortitude that Jim Rogers talks about during his interview with Maria Bartiromo of Business Week.

It's absolutely nuts that many people actually believe the hype that there are companies that are simply too big to fail. The real crime is in not letting the companies and the people that run them the "opportunity" to experience the impact of their dumb decisions (I'm being kind here) and to let them off - with h [...]

There Should Be Strings Attached to Those Bailed Out

nalini — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 01:00:00 +0100

I'm rather enjoying seeing the arrows flying back and forth since the Obama administration unleashed, I mean released, its budget package last Thursday.

I, for one, am happy to see green energy and healthcare as priorities that might actually receive adequate funding and serve our society much more effectively than past initiatives have.

And, I'm equally disturbed and dismayed at the notionof rewarding bad judgement and bad behavior. Where do we draw the line between what& [...]

Stimulating The Wrong Things

nalini — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 01:00:00 +0100

Clearly I wasn't done ranting about the misguided stimulus plan.

If it weren't bad enough that the US Treasury and Congress are mucking around for new fangled ways to save banks...now relying on private investors to help bail out the banks...now I'm digging into the Senate and House versions of the stimulus package and what a disappointment.

Instead of providing relief to state governments who are really strapped now and people who have recently joined the unemp [...]

Saving The Economy - We Need Much Better Focus

nalini — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 01:00:00 +0100

After reviewing the latest developments for both the banking system's bailout and the stimulus package currently being shuffled through Congress, one thing stands out:

The US government, including the new Obama administration as well as both houses of Congress are floundering all over the place.

Instead of applying bailout approaches that have actually worked in the past, namely the creation of the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) to salvage the US savings and loan failures [...]

Thomas Friedman's Right - Call For Ethical Bailout

nalini — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 01:00:00 +0100

I'm almost afraid to read the newspaper anymore. It's beyond discouraging to see one scam artist after another ripping off people in the financial world.

You gotta read the latest from Thomas Friedman, titled:
The Great Unraveling

Friedman writes of his experience in Hong Kong recently, when an American businessman asked him an unprecendented question, "So, just how corrupt is America?"

How did we become a country that rewards sellouts? < [...]

Give Risk (Management) A Chance

nalini — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 01:00:00 +0100

I continue to be flabbergasted at the complete disregard of risk in the financial services industry. What's truly ironic is that risk management is one of the fundamental pillars - at least it's supposed to be for a bank to be healthy.

I never thought we'd see the day where a broad-based appeal for financial executives to get back to something so basic as risk management (it's kinda like what water is to the ocean) would be necessary. And here we are. We should demand th [...]

Desperately Seeking Retirement Plan Investment Reform

nalini — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0100

I came across another brilliant posting from Dan Solin in the Huffington Post advocating investment industry reform. I'm a big fan of Dan's and we agree about the power of passive investing.

The net net: It's high time that the financial services industry be taken to task about the excessive fees they charge to 401(k) plans - most costs trickling down to the individual employee - and most of them currently undisclosed and unknown by the employee.

I'm thrilled to s [...]

Fascinating email exchange with Errold Moody

nalini — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Here's some email correspondence between Errold F. Moody and me. For those of you who are not yet familiar with Errold, he's a financial planner, investment advisor, expert witness, an authentic advocate of investors and someone whom I think highly of. He's written a very good book, "No Nonsense Finance." I've recently asked him to conduct a review of my upcoming manual, 10 Minute Investment Strategies. Here goes...

My initial email to Errold (just an excerpt [...]

Blog Entries tagged 'Investment Reform'