So if you cant trust the bank where YOUR money is, who can you trust? Hoping ‘banks’ would only sell us small risk securities? Think again…

Source: read more bank sales of risky securities..

Section 1801 of this bill includes some very interesting language, especially since the government is already an “equal opportunity employer” that is not allowed to discriminate on the basis of age, race, gender, national origin, religion and others. This bill, thanks to the following language creates an entire race based bureaucracy throughout the agencies of the Federal government, even though it is not needed, and will increase the cost of government during a time of great financial strain (HR4173 text source):

SEC. 1801. INCLUSION OF MINORITIES AND WOMEN; DIVERSITY IN AGENCY WORKFORCE.

1(a) Office of Minority and Women Inclusion

(1) ESTABLISHMENT- Not later than 180 days following the enactment of this title, each agency shall establish an Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘Office’) that shall advise the agency administrator of the impact of policies and regulations of the agency on minority-owned and women-owned businesses, and shall be responsible for all matters of the agency relating to diversity in management, employment, and business activities, including the coordination of technical assistance, in accordance with such standards and requirements as the Director of the Office shall establish.

I would assume that any policy that would adversely affect a minority or woman owned business would also negatively impact any other business, since it is already ILLEGAL for the government to discriminate by race and gender. Extra bureaucracy we can’t afford, and do not need.

(2) CONSOLIDATION- Each agency that has assigned these or comparable responsibilities to existing offices shall ensure that such responsibilities are consolidated within the Office.

So, if a government office already has “diversity responsibilities” being handled as part of another job they need to “consolidate” those responsibilities into a NEW position, a mini race Czar. Last time I checked, consolidation involved a reduction or streamlining process, not the creation of a new position and extended bureaucracy.

(b) Director

And here are the chief Race Czars

(1) IN GENERAL- For each Office, the President shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a Director of Minority and Women Inclusion (hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘Director’), who shall also hold a title within such agency comparable to that of other senior level staff who are, as applicable, either appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, or act in a managerial capacity that requires reporting directly to the agency administrator.
           
(2) DUTIES- Each Director shall

(A) ensure equal employment opportunity and the racial, ethnic and gender diversity of the agency’s workforce and senior management;

I believe in equal opportunity. This legislation however, mandates diversity.  You cannot offer equal opportunity and demand equal outcomes. Every individual is different, and possesses their own skills and abilities. The best of the best should be offered the position, whether they be black or white or Asian or Hispanic, or any of the other diverse colors of humanity. Equal opportunity employment ensures that. However, if the thoughts expressed previously are any indicator, the current administration doesn’t concern itself with individuals, but rather collective identities.

(B) increase the (sic) partcipation of minority-owned and women-owned businesses in the programs and contracts of the agency;

C) provide guidance to the agency administrator to ensure that the policies and regulations of the agency strengthen minority-owned and women-owned businesses; and

(D) conduct an assessment, as part of the examination process for the entities regulated or monitored by the agency of the diversity and inclusion efforts by such entities.

It is not the government’s job to strengthen ANY business. It is a business’s job to strengthen itself by offering the best product or service at the best price, or to differentiate itself by offering services that are above and beyond its competitors, thereby allowing it to charge a premium for its goods or services. Government race-based initiatives subvert and undermine the free market, and treat race as if it is a handicap to overcome. This is an insult to the American people, and creates a scenario where race can readily become a deciding factor in denying the best business the task. It is absurd.

But there’s more. Going back in the bill we find this gem in section 1604 giving the government control over companies they (the President) deems in danger:

(b) Determination by the Secretary- Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal law or the law of any State, if, upon the written recommendation of the Federal Reserve Board and the board of directors or commission of the appropriate regulatory agency as provided for in subsection (a)(1), the Secretary (in consultation with the President) determines that–

(1) the financial company is in default or is in danger of default;

(2) the failure of the financial company and its resolution under otherwise applicable Federal or State law would have serious adverse effects on financial stability or economic conditions in the United States; and

(3) any action under section 1604 would avoid or mitigate such adverse effects, taking into consideration the effectiveness of the action in mitigating potential adverse effects on the financial system or economic conditions, the cost to the general fund of the Treasury, and the potential to increase moral hazard on the part of creditors, counterparties, and shareholders in the financial company,

then the Secretary must take action under section 1604(a), the Corporation must act in accordance with section 1604(b), and the Corporation may take 1 or more actions specified in section 1604(c) in accordance with the requirements of that subsection, except that, prior to the Secretary or Corporation taking any action under section 1604, the Federal Reserve Board or the appropriate Federal regulatory agency shall take action to avoid or mitigate potential adverse effects on low-income, minority, or underserved communities affected by the failure of such financial company.

Again, we have big government stepping in and preventing the free market from correcting itself. The effects of doing so are far more harmful in the long run because either: 1. A company is rewarded for bad behavior with government money, or 2. The government gains control of a company (and the government lacks both the skills needed to run a company efficiently, as well as the problem of a complete lack of the enumerated constitutional authority to do so) and more of our tax dollars are depleted. The beautiful thing about a free market, is there are competitors that are ready and willing to take the place of fallen giants. Keeping the fallen giants on life support is a terrible waste of tax payers’ money and, again, a gross violation of the enumerated powers granted to the government by the Constitution. The federal government has no authority to either bail out or seize control of any company.

Also problematic is the fact that the secretive Federal Reserve is given a share of this unprecedented power, despite the fact that the Federal Reserve is completely unaccountable and has not even so much as been audited since its creation in 1913.

In conclusion, this bill subverts and perverts the concept of equal opportunity for all, allows the President and the Federal Reserve far greater control over the free market, and expands the size and scope of government while giving us nothing in return but Constitutional violations.

“Some animals are more equal than others.”  George Orwell, Animal Farm.

The Kuwait Investment Authority has made a $1.1 billion profit from it’s sell of it’s stake in Citi…

Source: read more Kuwait sells Citi Stake…

No news may be the best news, but according to several well known financial industry experts, including banking analyst Meredith Whitney, the US could now very well be headed into a ‘double dip’ recession…

Source: read more Could U.S. see a double dip recession?

More news(bad) on the US economy, and it just keeps on coming. Now we are hearing word that yet another ‘big bang’ is about to hit. Do we now live in ‘Crisis Central’?…

Source: read more Another Crisis Looms Right Around the Corner

What do you think? According to a recent research report by ‘Goldman Sachs’, the market will see one of it’s biggest rally’s of 2009 by the end of December…

Source: read more Goldman Sachs says Big Rally ahead

The Asian markets are in full swing with recent recent and upcoming IPOs. Here is a list..

Source: read more Asian IPOs

The yield on the 2-year Treasury note continued to decline last week and finished the week at a lower yield than at the start of 2009..

Source: read more CFP Jeff Rose – 2-year treasury note

Advanta had been plastering their ads for high yield investment notes paying as high as 11%..

Source: read more Darwin’s Finance

The ‘bad’ News? One of the country’s most successful developers says rampant investment in commercial property has undermined China’s long-term prospects..

Soure: read more Financial Times: China’s Bubble’s

Porter Stansberry writes: The world’s best investors don’t see the market the way you do…

Source: read more World’s Best Investors..

Russia’s Interior Ministry fired back at investor William Browder, rejecting allegations they were to blame for the jailhouse death of a lawyer who worked for him..

Source: read more Wallstreet Journal

I started Levitt and Dubner’s sequel yesterday, SuperFreakonomics yesterday. One of the central themes behind their research is the idea that people respond to incentives. The book goes into all sorts of weird and crazy examples that illustrates this idea, but I won’t go into that in this post. Instead, I want to explore the idea of incentives as it plays out in the job market, particularly with compensation.

My roommate pointed out during Friday’s protests that if the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs donated 1% of the compensation allowance for the first 3 quarters of the 2009 fiscal year, the University of California system would be out of this mess.

Think about that. Just 1%. Wall Street’s argument is that it needs the top bonuses in order to retain talent. But what kind of people are we that we’re only motivated by piles of money? Well, I suppose Wall Street bankers are a different breed. But can’t there be another way to incentive people besides the old “my pile of money is bigger than yours”?

Maybe I picked a bad example. I’m sure Wall Street’s profits are such that as a percentage, the bonuses may be comparable to any other firm. What do you think? Is the idea of working for the sake of work, because it’s something you love, just a myth? The Holy Grail that everyone wants to achieve before wising up and settling for something that pays the bills?

I’d hope not. But we’ll see. This merits further exploration when I have more time.

17/365.

Signs of wariness are appearing in financial markets as investors worry that the end of the year could bring challenging trading conditions…

Source: read more The Wallstreet Journal

In a W magazine interview, Scott Sternberg (Band of Outsiders designer) was asked what he would say to Paris Hilton if she called and asked to borrow his clothes, he replied, “That the moon is on fire and she better get outside and help put it out right this instant.” When asked, “Jon or Kate?” he answered “Who?” And when asked “Waverly Inn or Monkey Bar?” he said, “No.” Another reason to love this guy more, I’m diggin’ the twisted take on power-dressing on his “No Bunk! No Junk!” exclusive line for Barneys. With the current world economy, this is a more practical and accessible take on men’s fashion, heck they all look tailored for my boy-ish frame, count me in.

____________

“Really, it’s about tapping into Barneys’ heritage. What I remember of Barneys—at least, from being a little shit growing up in Ohio, and having a pretty skewed view of New York—was the sort of “power uniform” or Wall Street uniform that they really created in the eighties. They elevated taste levels in New York among men in the most masculine sort of way possible. You know, it wasn’t really about fashion; it was this other ideal that they created. It was also very European, because Barneys’ heritage is about bringing insane designer brands to the States that had never been here before: From Prada to Margiela to all the Japanese designers, the Antwerp designers, they were there first. Going back even further, when they first started, Barneys was still about designer brands, but it was very schmatta,[below, the inspiration for No Bunk! No Junk!]. The idea was like, to combine these two elements and give it a Band of Outsiders spin—something that’s not Euro, not too slick…” -Scott Sternberg (GQ interview)

Band of Outsiders No Bunk! No Junk!, available now at Barneys New York’s Madison Avenue, Beverly Hills, Chicago, Copley Place, San Francisco, and Scottsdale stores. For locations, visit www.barneys.com

Someone forwarded me an article from last Friday. The headline reads, “Wall Street bankers at front of queue for scarce swine flu vaccine.“

Now, from what headline, what would you say the article is about? I know, right. Another story about corporate interests muscling their way to the forefront of American politics. But read the actual article, and the issue becomes a little more muddied.

According to the article, “pediatric and pregnancy clinics had already received banks were among the first 50 private employers to get vaccines simply because they were among the first to apply”.

That sounds legit to me. They’re playing by the rules. And the vaccine will only be administered to “staff who fall into high-risk categories including pregnant women, diabetics and employees suffering from cancer or liver disease”. So what’s the problem here?

The problem is that when you lose someone’s trust like the major financial institutions have, people automatically start thinking and expecting the worst. So the banks were unfairly bailed out with taxpayer money. They must’ve pulled more strings to get the vaccines too!

See why trust and reputation are so important?

9/365.