Category Archives: Blog

THE WORLD IN A (CRACKED) NUTSHELL: THINGS HAPPEN

Investors and people in the business world need to be aware of world events and the impact they have on their business outcomes. Recent events of which we should all be aware are:

• The Russian-Turkish Rivalry
• The Apparent Steadying of the European Economy
• The Death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
• Prison Riot in Mexico City
• The Northwards Spread of the Vika Virus
• Trade Dispute between Russia and Ukraine
• Rapid Changes in the Syrian Civil War
• Economic, Security and Political Developments in Central Africa
• Growing Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan
• The Weakening of the Indian Rupee
• Growing Stresses between North and South Korea
• Poor Performance of Japan’s Economy
• The Persistent Decline of Oil and Gas Prices
• American Political Chaos

 

For More: http://www.financialpolicycouncil.org/blog/world-cracked-nutshell-things-happen/

Pissing Away Money Down the R&D Rat Hole

Let me start by saying that I am a physicist and have been involved with many of the leading U.S. research facilities over the years — Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia Laboratories, just to name two.  I also directed the Socrates Project under the Reagan administration.  So the quick knee-jerk reaction to the title that “I don’t understand research and development or the value of technology” holds no water at all.  Please don’t even try to argue this point.

Research and development (R&D) does not equate to a competitive advantage in the marketplace or on the military battlefield.  Knowledge for knowledge’s sake is a worthwhile pursuit.  Totally agree.  But it is conceptually flawed and detrimental to the objective — being competitive — when companies and governments use the need to increase economic and military might as justification for higher expenditures on R&D.  But yet this is the rapidly rising battle cry among the leading thinkers in Congress, the Pentagon, academia, think tanks, and the press — “Raise R&D funding levels, and America’s future will be secured.”  How so far from the truth.

One highly critical set of decision makers who suffers from this R&D is the key to competitiveness thinking is the leadership in the office of the Secretary of Defense.  But this was all avoidable.

 

ForMore: http://www.financialpolicycouncil.org/blog/will-stop-blindly-pissing-away-money-rd-rat-hole/

Thank you,

When Will We Stop Blindly Pissing Away Money Down the R&D Rat Hole?

When Will We Stop Blindly Pissing Away Money Down the R&D Rat Hole?
By Michael C. Sekora – Past Director of the Socrates Project, President of Quadrigy, Inc. affiliated with Operation U.S. Forward

 

 

Let me start by saying that I am a physicist and have been involved with many of the leading U.S. research facilities over the years — Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia Laboratories, just to name two.  I also directed the Socrates Project under the Reagan administration.  So the quick knee-jerk reaction to the title that “I don’t understand research and development or the value of technology” holds no water at all.  Please don’t even try to argue this point.

Research and development (R&D) does not equate to a competitive advantage in the marketplace or on the military battlefield.  Knowledge for knowledge’s sake is a worthwhile pursuit.  Totally agree.  But it is conceptually flawed and detrimental to the objective — being competitive — when companies and governments use the need to increase economic and military might as justification for higher expenditures on R&D.  But yet this is the rapidly rising battle cry among the leading thinkers in Congress, the Pentagon, academia, think tanks, and the press — “Raise R&D funding levels, and America’s future will be secured.”  How so far from the truth.

 

ForMore:http://www.financialpolicycouncil.org/blog/will-stop-blindly-pissing-away-money-rd-rat-hole/

Investors Can Boost Their Cybersecurity

Security Essential for Financial Transactions Online

Now that the Cyberworld is upon us, most of us do most, if not all, of our financial transactions online. Long gone is the day when most of us paid our bills by check or delivered a check to our brokers to invest for us. Now we pay our bills online, either on the biller’s Website, or on our bank’s Website. We don’t write checks – we transfer funds. We rely on the security of the Web site with which we are dealing to protect the security of the transaction. Most of us make sure that the “HTTPS” designation is at the beginning of the address for every Website on which we conduct transactions or share sensitive information. We maintain security and privacy settings on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social Websites where we publish. We have firewalls for our computer systems, our personal computers, and our home networks. We have anti-virus software and run it rigorously. We have our Outlook set for appropriate levels of security and use spam settings to segregate anything that looks like spam, knowing that in the spam box we can see the REAL addresses behind the links in emails.

 

We know enough not to click on any link in any email, instead copying and pasting the address into our browsers. We have our browsers set for appropriate levels of security and privacy, and use a secure browser like Firefox or Tor. We have our networks set for security against invaders. We understand that the weakest link is usually the employee sitting at his keyboard, and have established suitable policies, procedures and penalties regarding cybersecurity for our employees. We use, and require our employees to use, “strong passwords” and change them often.

 

For More: http://www.financialpolicycouncil.org/blog/investors-can-boost-cybersecurity-back-basics/

Thank You,

Key Financial Regulations To Monitor

Fourth quarter 2015 was a hard precursor to 2016 both in capital markets and financial corporate governance. Highly volatile commodities and equities markets, an overall slowing of economic growth and a cooling of tech business growth have left the investing landscape bearish. In addition, corporate governance of major financial and business institutions showed signs of increased shakiness; in 2015 HSBC took the governance world by storm with tax evasions, Bank of America and Citi continued to fail bank stress tests and capital requirements and JPMorgan’s stock has significantly underperformed analysts’ expectations.

 

We now open the year 2016 with an SEC fraud charge against the entire executive management and Board of Superior Bank for overstating loan performance. In this light, 2016 will be a year of continued US Federal Reserve and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) financial regulation.

For More: http://www.financialpolicycouncil.org/blog/key-financial-regulations-monitor/

Thank you,

Doomsayers Be Right and Can They Make Us Any Money? – Ziad K Abdelnour

When Will the Doomsayers Be Right and Can They Make Us Any Money? – Mark Skousen and Ziad K Abdelnour, Financial Policy Council Event, Monday, 16 November 2015, 6:00 – 9:00 PM.
Location: The Graduate Center / CUNY at 365 Fifth Avenue at The Elebash Recital Hall – On the main floor of the building and on the left as you enter into the main lobby.
Moderator:
Mark Skousen, Ph. D., Editor of Forecasts & Strategies, is a nationally known investment expert, economist, university professor, and author of more than 25 books.

The Panelists:

Ziad K Abdelnour is a Wall Street Financier, Author, Philanthropist, Activist, Lobbyist, Oil & Gas Trader & President & CEO of Blackhawk Partners, Inc.

Vince D’Addona is a senior executive with Strategies for Wealth – a wealth planning and management firm – with 36 years of experience providing financial planning.

Michael Grad has been employed by AIG, Inc. from 2009 through this month. He joined AIG in early 2009 as Senior Managing Director in the Restructuring Group.

 

Thank You.

Money, Power, Respect

We all know that man comes in the world alone and goes from the world alone. He is only remembered by his acts. Some do good for others while some spend their lives running after money.

One cannot deny the fact that Money is power. Money is though erratic, when in low positions, respect acts an important support. By the same token, money can’t buy respect but respect can help earn money. Besides, you can have all the money you want, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into power or respect. Money can buy power at times, but respect is hard to demand.

money-power-respect-which-trumps-all

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For More: http://ziadabdelnour.net/money-power-respect-which-trumps-all

Ziad K Abdelnour is a Wall Street financier and President of Blackhawk Partners

Ziad K Abdelnour, Wall Street financier, trader and author is President & CEO of Blackhawk Partners, Inc., a “private family office” that backs accomplished operating executives in growing their businesses both organically and through acquisitions and trades physical commodities – mostly oil derivatives – throughout the world.

 

Ziad K Abdelnour is also Founder & President of the United States Committee for a Free Lebanon (USCFL) – America’s premier pro-Lebanon lobby and Founder & Chairman of the Financial Policy Council – a public policy-oriented organization with an objective of educating and informing the public about economic and fiscal matters. Moreover, Ziad K Abdelnour is a Member of the Board of Governors of the Middle East Forum and the Former President of the Arab Bankers Association of North America.

 

For more: http://ziadabdelnour.net/

Why the Crisis of 2008 is Bound To Happen Again

1. The so-called Volcker Rule has yet to see the light of day.

 

2. The banks’ balance sheets are better than they were five years ago. The banks have raised lots of capital and written off many bad loans. (Their risk-weighted capital ratio is now about 60 percent higher than before the crisis.) …. But they’re back to too many of their old habits.

 

3. Millions of Americans are still suffering the consequences of the Street’s excesses. Yet the Street’s top guns and fat cats are still treating the economy as their own private casino, and raking in even more than before.

 

The fact is, the giant Wall Street banks are ungovernable – too big to fail, too big to jail, too big to curtail. They should be split up, and their size capped. There’s no need to wait for Congress to do it; the nation’s antitrust laws are adequate to the job. There is ample precedent. In 1911 we split up Standard Oil. In 1982 we split up Ma Bell. The Federal Reserve has authority to do it on its own in any event. (Would Larry Summers take such an initiative? Highly doubt it….besides the guy is always asleep)

 

Legislation is needed to resurrect the Glass-Steagall Act that once separated commercial banking from casino capitalism….. But don’t hold your breath.

For More: http://ziadabdelnour.net/why-the-crisis-of-2008-is-bound-to-happen-again

 

Thank you

Ignoring China is no more an option

I strongly believe that China will continue to grow over the next few decades. It will increase not only its economic power but also its geopolitical power in the world. It will be not only a large consumer market but a strong breeding ground for innovations as well.

 

Twenty years from now, for a lot of global companies, China will be at the center of their strategies.

 

Besides, the Chinese have always been known as good entrepreneurs, and particularly good small-business people. This has been in the blood of the Chinese for maybe as long as the Phoenicians (Lebanese) have been trading. So you’ve got entrepreneurial people at the grassroots level who are very independent minded. They’re very quick on their feet. They’re prone to fearless experimentation: imitating other companies here and there, trying new ideas, and then, if they fail, rapidly adapting, correcting, and moving on.

 

For More: http://ziadabdelnourblackhawk.com/ignoring-china-is-no-more-an-option/

Thank you.