Monthly Archives: September 2015

An Economic Plan Worth Considering

We’ve heard so far a number of economic plans from a number of the GOP Presidential candidates. Some very solid and detailed, others barely scratching the surface.

Given my 30 year experience on Wall Street, I thought I’d share some of my personal thoughts against the plans we’ve heard so far and maybe compare notes.

I believe the first thing to be done is to abolish the Federal Reserve. It is owned by and operated for the benefit of the biggest banks in the world. Its sole purpose has been to enrich the few at the expense of the many through its insidious use of inflation and debt issuance. It has been around for less than 100 years and has debased the USD by 96%. The U.S. Treasury has the authority to issue the currency of the country. It did so from 1789 until 1913.

The 2nd thing to do would be to have the Securities Exchange Commission be an essential part of the corrections needed on Wall Street because Wall Street’s business ethics are frankly at the lowest they have ever been and Wall Street simply cannot be trusted to manage its business properly anymore. $34 trillion in wealth destruction since 2008 & bankers from major institutions still haven’t been held responsible for financial crash. Insanity at its best.

From Lebanese- American Financiers, Differing Views on the Strife

Ziad K. Abdelnour and George F. Boutros have much in common. Born on the same day in Beirut to prominent Christian political families, each left Lebanon to work in the United States in the 1980’s and made a fortune on Wall Street: Mr. Ziad K Abdelnour, as a junk-bond salesman during Michael R.Milken’s glory days at Drexel Burnham Lambert and Mr. Boutros as a top deal maker for Credit Suisse First Boston.

But when it comes to the future of their war-torn country, their views diverge sharply.“There is no other way but to absolutely annihilate Hezbollah,” Mr. Abdelnour said. “I bleed when I see my country suffering like this, but you can’t build a Hong Kong and harbor terrorists. The Lebanese cannot have their cake and eat it, too.” Mr. Boutros, while opposed to Hezbollah’s primacy in southern Lebanon, sees the loss of life as unacceptable.

“I am appalled and horrified at the killing of innocent people in my country,” he said, his voice shaking with emotion. “The military actions being pursued in Lebanon are not going to stop Hezbollah — they will only make them stronger.”

 

For More: From Lebanese- American Financiers, Differing Views on the Strife

The Seeds of our Destruction – An academic outlook

When I became a citizen of the United States, I had to study the nation’s history in order to pass my citizenship examination. I approached this task with the same focused intensity with which I approach every challenge. I wanted to be as well versed on American history as the average person who was born here.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the average native-born citizen knows very little about their nation’s history. Many people with whom I have talked think that 1776 is the date we celebrate the victory of the United States over the British. It isn’t. It is the year that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. The American Revolutionary War went on for another seven years. A study by the American Historical Association randomly selected four hundred people from “Who’s Who in America” to take a multiple choice test on a general overview of American history. Over 70% of the respondents thought that Thomas Jefferson was one of the framers of the Constitution in 1787.

 

For More: http://www.financialpolicycouncil.org/blog/seeds-destruction-academic-outlook/

 

Thank you,

Insights into Physical Commodities Trading & Private Equity Sectors

Philosophy

The underlying philosophy of Blackhawk Partners business development approach is based on a model of organic growth and strategic partnerships applied to both trading opportunities and asset origination.

Strategy

Over the years, our activities have enabled us to develop remarkable insights into the physical commodities trading and private equity sectors that we believe are becoming increasingly interrelated.

Partnerships with participants in both sectors , global and local have played a key role in our business to date and will undoubtedly continue to do so as we move forward.

The Blackhawk business development team is led by seasoned experts predominately from the energy, trading and finance sectors. They have extensive experience in the energy sector both in developed and emerging markets. Their skill is in recognizing and evaluating partnership based opportunities that are fundamental to the realization of our vision.

 

For More: http://www.blackhawkpartners.com/business-development/

 

Thank You,

Risk Management is a Corporate Culture Issue

At its most fundamental level, we at Blackhawk believe that risk management is a corporate culture issue. To manage risks effectively over time, employees must put the firm’s welfare and the preservation of important client relationships ahead of everything else. Risk is risk, and you can’t be perfect at managing it.

Consequently, we believe that the three absolutely indispensable ingredients of our success in managing risk are: Escalation, Accountability and Culture.

1. Escalation means communicating risk concerns to higher levels of management, getting more fingerprints on potential problem risks and challenging the notion that a business group leader ought to make independent decisions on risks that affect the entire firm.

 

For More: http://www.blackhawkpartners.com/managing-risk/

 

Thank You,

Is the US to blame with today’s mess in Iraq?

Well at the end of the day folks… the point is simple and undeniable, Iraq would not be like it is today if the American led Coalition had not gone into the country in 2003.

This, of course, is true on a factual basis. Most likely Saddam would now be a very old man and perhaps his son Uday would be in charge. Even though daddy was bad enough by wiping out entire cities of Kurdish citizens with chemical based weapons of mass destruction, Uday would probably be putting Kim Jong Il to shame, by now.

Back to America the guilty. America was responsible for destroying the central working government of the Nation of Iraq. Perhaps today a maniacal tyrant would be in charge, but they would be getting a nice dose of state owned media (Uday, after all, was in direct ownership of the media back in 2003.) While the first three months of Iraq represented the most astounding feat of military superiority and execution, what followed was blunder after blunder of political ineptitude.

 

For More: http://ziadabdelnour.org/is-the-us-to-blame-with-todays-mess-in-iraq/

 

Thank You,

Strategies For Staying Out of Jail In An Age of Criminalized Business

The two worst things our government can do to someone are to conscript him for military service and deprive him of his liberty.

Losing or being threatened with loss of liberty is an ordeal increasingly suffered by average, law-abiding Americans.  We have become a nation of “No,” of the ever-present threat of criminal prosecution — even, perversely enough, in an era of “yes” and permissiveness on someone else’s dime.  The routine trip to the doctor’s office comes with the warning that “false statements” on the insurance form can result in prosecution.

Anything you do that involves either your receipt of money or ever-growing duties and responsibilities owed to customers, lenders, clients or the general public, now comes with the risk of being suspected, investigated and accused of a “crime.”

 

Thank You,