3 things to tell a new graduate

By Tyler Cowen, Money Magazine contributing writerMay 7, 2010: 6:37 AM ET

(Money Magazine) -- One reason behavioral economics has become such a hot field is that it has scads of practical applications. It can help you fire someone, choose a great restaurant, or get other people to do the dishes. But at your child's graduation from college or grad school, more important life lessons are in order. Three of them are based on the same insight: One of the hardest and most important things to do in life is to behave rationally -- or, put another way, to know your limits.

Your career: Heed your enemies.

In your business dealings, the people with whom you butt heads are often those who have the most insight into you. If someone thoroughly annoys you, chances are he has a good sense of your faults (maybe that's why you're annoyed!) or holds a point of view you don't often hear. Listen closely. Understanding the value of what your adversaries have to say will help you improve, giving you a big leg up.

Your investments: Buy and hold.In your business dealings, the people with whom you butt heads are often those who have the most insight into you. If someone thoroughly annoys you, chances are he has a good sense of your faults (maybe that's why you're annoyed!) or holds a point of view you don't often hear. Listen closely. Understanding the value of what your adversaries have to say will help you improve, giving you a big leg up.

People always like to think that they can beat the stock market. They're almost always deluded. No matter where you think the market may be headed, stick to a buy-and-hold strategy. You'll make more money in the long run, in part because you'll minimize your taxes and trading fees.

Your love life: Understand the odds.

When you have an argument with your future spouse, about half the time you're in the wrong. Grasping that hard-to-accept fact is one of the best ways to save yourself from a costly divorce.  

Small Business Assoc. to stand trial in discrimination suit

FYI,  This  suit was against the previous administrator/Administration but the current Administrator will have to deal with it.

http://www.bizjournals.com/extraedge/washingtonbureau/archive/2010/04/05/bureau6.html

http://www.louisianaweekly.com/news.php?viewStory=2583

Posted: Monday, April 5, 2010 2:44 pm
WASHINGTON, DC - District Court Judge Kessler Monday ruled against SBA's attempt to dismiss Diamond Ventures, LLC's (Dia_mond) landmark lawsuit against the Small Business Administration (SBA), setting the stage for SBA to stand trial for discriminatory practices in its Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program. (See case # 03-1449 Diamond Ventures, LLC V Hector Baretto and the United States Small Business Association (District Court of District of Columbia).

The judge's ruling marks a critical milestone in the suit between the SBA and Diamond.  Judge Kessler found credible testimony and reports that the program had only .86 percent (two persons) of the 350 licensed managers in the program who were African-American managers, that SBA's own statistics show Black-owned firms received just 2.55 percent of SBA approved financings, that .49 percent of all SBA dollars were to Black-owned firms illustrating that SBA's policies for decades have had a disparate discriminatory impact on Blacks and minorities.

"The judge's ruling opens the door to providing funding to minority- and women-owned businesses. It will also open doors for other minority and women owned businesses to gain necessary access to capital, as managers with proven skills are approved to participate in the $5 Billion a year program" says C. Earl Peek, Managing Partner of Diamond Ventures, LLC. Industry experts note that the ruling will be helpful to the President and Congress as they grapple with ways to deploy capital to create jobs in underserved communities in the tough economy.

This monumental case against the SBA began in 2003 after Diamond managers applied to and was rejected from the New Markets Venture Capital (NMVC) program and the SBIC program.  Court records show that SBA had concealed that Diamond was approved for the NMVC abundantlife@wi.twcbc.comprogram a year earlier. Judge Kessler also noted that during the lawsuit, "it was also discovered that the Report of the SBA Inspector General, issued March 20, 2003, concluded that 'the Division's evaluation of the application [of Diamond] and the decision to deny were not accomplished in accordance with the existing SBA procedures and criteria." See the full court opinion at www.dcd.uscourts.gov, https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/Opinions.pl?2010 or www.sba_li_ti_gation.com <http://www.sba_li_ti_gation.com/>.

/This article was originally published in the March 5, 2010 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper/

--
David E. Garnett, President
iAM Solutions, LLC
703.818-0859 (o)
703.926-9134 (m)
703.818-3101 (F)
www.emolis.com

How Racism Works ...

From Letters to the Editors @ Fort Worth Star-Telegram - today

 How racism works

What if John McCain were a former president of the Harvard Law Review?

What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his graduating class?

What if McCain were still married to the first woman he said "I do" to?

What if Obama were the candidate who left his first wife after she no longer measured up to his standards?

What if Michelle Obama were a wife who not  only became addicted to pain killers, but acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard? What if Obama were a member of the "Keating 5"?

What if McCain was a charismatic, eloquent speaker?

If these questions reflected reality, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?

This is what racism does.
 
It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes positive qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative qualities in another when there is a color difference.   

Think about it.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Some Republicans Worry About Party's Chances

"It's hard being a member of the mean party," says Bob Borochoff, a lifelong Republican who was on Capitol Hill this week asking legislators to support bills that will benefit disabled people like his son, Bradley, and returning veterans suffering from mental illness. There's no shortage of horror stories when it comes to health insurance, but Borochoff's tale on behalf of his son took him on a political journey, as well, and his disillusionment is emblematic of the uphill climb the Republicans face in November. Borochoff's tidy life as a restauranteur and happily married father of three, including newborn twins, was shattered in 1988 when his 3-year-old son Bradley was bitten by a mosquito, which triggered encephalitis, a swelling of the brain and then uncontrollable seizures, leaving him disabled. The family's insurance premiums jumped from $300 a month to $2,500 a month. Borochoff hired a lawyer to fight the increase but was told he had no choice, so he paid the premiums. A year later, a notice arrived in the mail that the insurance company was canceling his policy along with coverage for his 100 employees. Well known in the restaurant business in Houston, Borochoff had political connections, and he worked every one of them, even securing an audience, along with other small-business owners, in the White House with President George H.W. Bush, all to no avail. In desperation, he contacted Sen. Ted Kennedy, telling a Houston Post reporter at the time, "I can't stand Ted Kennedy," but he hoped he would help. Kennedy intervened and the next day Borochoff got a call saying the insurance for him and his employees would be reinstated. It would be nice if the story ended there, but Bradley's care became more expensive. Medicine not covered by insurance was $2,800 a month. Borochoff's wife divorced him and in 2003, a single father with three teenagers, he filed for personal bankruptcy and received food stamps for six months. Kennedy's office contacted him several times over the years asking him to testify, which he did only rarely because he didn't always agree with Kennedy's approach. He was once a strong backer of Tom DeLay, and he counts himself a personal friend of DeLay's successor and the two other Republican congressmen representing the Houston area. But he's angry with them and his party over health care and immigration, and that's what brings him to Washington. He's rebuilt his life and now manages four Tex-Mex restaurants in Houston. He serves on the board of a local agency that provides mental-health services to the poor, and the tug he feels is reflected in his political donations; once almost exclusively to Republicans, now he estimates 40 percent goes to Democrats. This is one man's story but in a sense he is every man. Disillusionment with the Republican Party is profound. Retiring GOP Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia recently advised party leaders that the Republican brand was so damaged by war, corruption and incompetence, if it were a dog food it would be taken off the shelves. Republicans in Congress are bracing for major losses with Democrats expected to gain some 15 seats in the House and five in the Senate, bringing the Dems within striking distance of the 60-vote filibuster threshold. Whichever party captures the White House, Democrats will have a much stronger hand on Capitol Hill. Republican hopes that John McCain could salvage the White House got a jolt this week with the latest Quinnipiac Swing State polls showing Barack Obama ahead by double digits in Pennsylvania, comfortably leading in Ohio and edging out McCain in Florida. All three are key states for November that Obama lost to Clinton in the primaries, suggesting there could be some tectonic forces at play, and any Democrat (even Obama, or especially Obama) is positioned to bring home a substantial victory. If these numbers persist, McCain may have already peaked. His behavior this week suggests a certain amount of desperation. Why would he choose Houston, ground zero of the oil industry, to announce his support for offshore drilling, which he had previously opposed? A roomful of cheering oil executives is not the best advertisement. What's next, a photo-op on Wall Street next to Exxon's second-quarter earnings?The only reason McCain is competitive is his straight-talk brand, and he's squandering that with concessions that align him with business-as-usual in Washington. A moderate Republican and former Senate aide who asked to remain anonymous thinks the only way McCain gets back in the game is to come up with an eye-popping vice presidential pick. Her choice is New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. She doesn't think her party will do it, but she ticks off the reasons why it makes sense. He would make up for McCain's weakness on domestic policy, principally the economy, and he would help with the Jewish vote. A self-made billionaire with a social conscience, he could win over disaffected Republicans and independents. McCain made his name confronting partisan orthodoxy. Still, a lot more polls will have to show Obama a lot further ahead for McCain to venture that far outside of his party's comfort zone.  

By Eleanor Clift Updated: 2008-06-20 T20:02:18
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Is MagicJack the new Skype?

Internet-call device selling 8,000 to 9,000 units per day, company says

By Peter Svensson

The Associated Press

updated 4:17 p.m. PT, Mon., June. 16, 2008

 

NEW YORK - What's the fastest-growing fixed-line phone company in the United States?

It's not Verizon Communications Inc. or AT&T Inc. - they're losing lines. What about cable company Comcast Corp., which is raking in subscribers for its phone service? Even that company is being beaten by a small Palm Beach, Florida, company called YMax Corp., judging by its own figures.

YMax may not be well-known but the company has been running TV ads for its product, the MagicJack, which works with a broadband connection.

It's about the size of a matchbox and plugs into a PC. After plugging a regular phone into the MagicJack, the user can make and receive calls much like using a regular landline.

 

In January, just after the broad advertising campaign started, YMax was selling a few hundred MagicJacks per day, said Jim Donlon, its chief marketing officer. Now, it's selling 8,000 to 9,000 per day, and the company is on track to have half a million subscribers by the end of June.

That's a meteoric trajectory in the phone business, propelled by the pricing: The MagicJack costs $39.95, including one year of free calls in the United States and Canada. Another year of service costs $19.95.

 

"It's extremely low-risk. Most people I know are willing to gamble on 40 bucks," said TeleGeography analyst Stephan Beckert, who follows voice-over-Internet providers.

Unlike most voice-over-Internet Protocol - or VoIP - providers, YMax is licensed as a phone company in the continental United States and operates a wide network of servers to carry its calls. VoIP providers generally outsource that side of the business.

 

Comcast, the fastest-growing cable voice provider, signed up a net average of 7,100 customers per day in the first quarter, ending with 5.1 million on March 31. Vonage Corp., the leading independent provider of VoIP that works with regular phones was averaging 334 per day, for a total of 2.6 million.

YMax's subscriber numbers are "significant," Beckert said, but he noted that its revenue is much lower than that of competing providers because it charges about as much for a year of service as its rivals do for a month. Even eBay Inc.'s Skype, which uses computers for calling, charges significantly more.

It's unclear what effect the MagicJack is having on competitors.

 

YMax Chief Executive Don Burns said many customers buy a MagicJack as a complement to a cell phone, compensating for poor cell coverage at home. When the computer is off, the service can be set to forward incoming calls to a cell phone.

 

Burns and inventor Dan Borislow founded the company, financing it largely themselves. They're telecom industry veterans - Borislow pioneered selling long-distance service to AOL subscribers in the 90s and Burns was the CEO of Telco Communications Group, which provided discount long-distance calls.

Burns says YMax's structure helps keeps cost low and call quality high. In the future, the company plans to sell advertising that shows up on the PC screen while calls are being placed. It would use its knowledge of the customer's location to display relevant ads.

 

Even so, Beckert is skeptical of the business model. Like YMax, Vonage has recruited customers by TV advertising for years. But Vonage has consistently lost money.

"I'm still not sure how you make money at $20 a year," Beckert.

 

MagicJack's next moves are to get on the shopping channel QVC and possibly expand sales beyond the Web and call centers.

"We have big-box retailers jumping at this," Donlon said.

 

Greed on the Street

This article talks to the greed on Wall Street.  How the executives are grossly overpaid.   Something has to be done.  We need a ground swell.
 
 I have highlighted some facts in the article in case you dont want to read the whole thing.   Scroll down quickly.
 
David
 
FROM THE EDITOR
My Take on Greed
Greed may throw the entire country into an economic recession. But greed has its upside too.
By Fred W. Frailey, Editor
From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, April 2008

Lately, I've been thinking about greed. In our capitalist system, it does a lot of good by prodding us to become successful financially. But it can also do a lot of harm. People break laws under the influence of greed -- or they do only what's best for themselves, at the expense of everyone else.
Want some examples? Out of greed, mortgage bankers made home loans to people with poor credit histories, then immediately sold the loans. Now when borrowers default, it's somebody else's problem.

Out of greed, Wall Street's investment bankers packaged the same loans in ways that earned the securities undeserved investment-grade ratings, then sold them to eager clients. As those securities are now downgraded to junk, they become pretty close to worthless.
Four of the five biggest firms on the Street -- Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley -- recently took losses in the tens of billions of dollars for subprime skeletons in their own closets.

Rewarding failure
So what did greed accomplish? It destroyed the share prices of the investment banks, punishing those of you who invested in them. It cost thousands of employees their jobs as the firms downsized. It may throw the entire country into an economic recession, by causing the financial machinery to seize up.

And yet, the four investment banks, plus Goldman Sachs (which didn't underwrite securities that contained subprime-mortgage loans), handed out year-end bonuses in 2007 totaling $39 billion -- that's right, billion. That's more than three times the combined profits of all five firms last year.
Bloomberg News, which recently revealed these interesting facts, quotes an executive recruiter: "It's critical that pay is still there or you're going to lose really good people." Let me get this straight: In reckless pursuit of underwriting profits, the executives and talented people at four firms almost brought down their companies and the U.S. economy -- and their reward is an even bigger bonus pool so they won't jump ship?
Still, I think greed can be good. Bill Gross has spent his adult life building Pimco, in Newport Beach, Cal., into a bond-trading megabusiness. As its co-founder and managing partner, he has amassed a net worth of $1.3 billion, according to Forbes magazine. And now he and his wife, Sue, are happily giving it away through their family foundation.

Hoag Hospital, in Newport Beach, recently got $20 million to build a women's pavilion. The couple gave the University of California at Irvine $10 million for stem-cell research. Most interesting of all, Gross, a collector of classic stamps from around the world, auctioned off his entire collection of rare British stamps for $9.1 million, which he then donated to Doctors Without Borders.

When it hurts
As my colleague Manny Schiffres and I finished an interview with Gross (see The Big Picture Isn't Pretty), I asked Gross about his philanthropy and his face visibly brightened (I think he was tired of talking about bonds). He credits Sue with doing the couple's due diligence, and he says they've given away about a third of their fortune so far.

"When you're 80 years old and about to kick it, anybody can give away money. It's important to give away a piece when it really matters and when it really hurts," says Gross, who is 63. "I'd suggest people try that."
 
So good things as well as bad arise from the investment world's rush to make every last dollar. That's important to remember as we lurch through 2008.

Clinton's "Big State" Theory

Obama Campaigns for All Americans, Not Just Some

By Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.

In the 2000 election, the one that created the red/blue
map, Vice-President Al Gore was officially credited with
winning 20 states plus Washington, D.C.  Had he captured
the electoral votes of even one more state, even one as
small as New Hampshire, he would have been sworn in as
President instead of George W. Bush.

So it make sense to look at who is winning the "Gore" states,
the "blue" states, the states that Democrats carried in 2000, 
rather than focusing on some new argument about "big" states? 
After all, one of the biggest states is Texas, Bush's home base,
which Gore never tried to carry.  The point is, one key to
winning is your ability to carry "blue" states first (plus at
least one more!).

Barack Obama has won more "Gore" states so far, by a 2-1 margin. 

Obama has won 12 Gore states: 
                      Maine                   Vermont        
                      Connecticut 
                      Delaware                Maryland              
                      Hawaii 
                      Illinois                Wisconsin       
                      Washington, D.C. 
                      Iowa                    Minnesota          
                      Washington 

Clinton has won 6 Gore states: 
                      New York                Rhode Island      
                      Massachusetts   
                      New Jersey              California        
                      New Mexico 

There are still 3 Gore states to go (plus we could mention
Florida, which Gore really won!): 
                      Michigan                Pennsylvania       
                      Oregon 

Isn't it at least possible that the ability to carry these
"Gore" states is more important than the ability to carry "big"
states?

Let me make one more point related to this whole Clinton
argument about the "big" states—as Bill Clinton himself proved
in his 1992 victory, the ability to win a Democratic primary or
caucus is not directly correlated to your ability to carry that
same state in November.

Guess how many states Bill Clinton won in the fall that he had
lost in the Democratic primary and caucus process?  I counted
13.

Of the 33 states he carried to win the Presidency, Clinton lost
2 states to Tom Harkin—Iowa  Minnesota.  He lost 5 states to
Jerry Brown—Nevada, Colorado, Maine, Connecticut  Vermont.  And
he lost 6 more states to Paul Tsongas—Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, Maryland, Rhode Island, Delaware and Washington.

The conclusion is obvious—losing a state in the primary/caucus
process to a Democratic opponent does not mean that you cannot
win that state in the fall against a Republican opponent.  Bill
Clinton disproved that theory in 1992—13 times.

Both of the points I made above—that Obama is winning the Gore
states, and that losing a state in the Democratic primaries does
not prevent you from winning it in the fall against the
Republicans—cast further doubt on the Clinton campaign's
newly-invented "big state" theory.  It may well be true that the
Clinton strategy for trying to win the Democratic nomination was
based on a group of big states—but that strategy has not only
fallen behind the Obama campaign strategy of treating all the
states as important, it is not necessary to win in November.

Al Gore showed us that in 2000.  And Bill Clinton showed us that
in 1992. 

(To confirm, contact Ken Edmonds at 202-445-1484. Feel Free to POST.)