BarrieBergman

Over the Rainbow

It seems like almost every week there’s a new billionaire entrepreneur.  They mostly come from the tech sector, but occasionally other types of businesses are represented.  This week Facebook goes public with an offering worth $16 billion, just the latest of these spectacular success stories.

I speak at colleges and universities about entrepreneurial pursuits.  The interest among kids in business ventures today is amazing.  Everybody wants to be Mark Zuckerberg.  When I went to school everyone wanted to work for IBM or later Goldman Sachs.  Doing ventures for oneself is an exciting way to use the freedom that we have.

The opportunity here is still unparalleled in the world.  I’m sick of hearing people talk about the lack of mobility in our society.  Individuals in this country are only restrained by their own lack of creativity and hard work.  The Horatio Alger dream is still alive.

At a time when Greece is failing because they refuse to live within any reasonable boundaries of spending, the US with its limitless resources can continue to prosper, if we just can find a way to compromise about our political differences.

I love America.   It has been so good to me and my family.  I am sick of hearing about all the things that are wrong here.  We have always been able to co-operate with each other, when the chips are down.  Tell the fools in Washington to accommodate each other and continue the greatest social experiment the world has ever seen.

~
I feel good
Like I knew that I would
I feel nice
Like sugar and spice
-James Brown

Interesting Times

If I were running a company today, the company would be doing great and expanding like crazy.  In the interest rate environment we find ourselves in, it’s almost impossible to do poorly.  I would be borrowing as much as I could from any bank, that would lend it to the business, and expanding as fast as we could go.

I always pushed hard for growth, when the economy was at its worst.  Most people stopped growing and sat on the sidelines, but I felt the time to expand was when others backed off.  It was easier.  It takes cajones to do this, particularly because banks hate it.  But, if the organization is good enough, the style really works. 

Banks, which are run by people who can’t make it in real business, always believe in going with the trend, while I believe in going counter-trend.  Running counter-cycle is the best way to make money that I know, but it’s hard to swim upstream, when everyone thinks you’re crazy.

As the economy gets better and companies make more and more money, the Stock Market is going to go up.  My fearless prediction for this year is somewhere in the 10-15% range.  I also believe that Congress will begin to act more responsibly and start to limit spending.

I’m an eternal optimist, so don’t base any investment strategies on anything I say, but if you do and you make any money, I would love a piece of the action.  If you lose money, call Newt Gingrich.  He told you the world was coming to an end.

Musings

I kinda like Mitt Romney.  He’s handsome, prolific (lots of kids), and he’s a good businessman.  He jumps around on issues, but then don’t most politicians.

I’m probably not his target demographic, since I’m a Democrat, and I’m not going to vote for him.  But among the respective Republican candidates, he’s an easy choice.  Thus, I’m sick of Romney getting pilloried for being a good business person.

If more people in government had a clue about how to make money (i.e. buy low, sell high) we might be able to finance our debt without running a series of fund raisers.  Perhaps, if we could get some of the same greedy bastards that run Wall Street to run the government, we would do better – Oh wait – we tried that under Bush, and look how it turned out.
                                                              ~
A fan at a hockey game was recently fined $200 for throwing a banana at a black player.  Police said there wasn’t enough evidence to charge him with a hate crime.  What do you think it was, a dislike crime?  Later in the game another fan threw a bagel at a Jewish player, but he wasn’t charged because there was no cream cheese or lox.  Yeah . . . I’m just kidding about the bagel.

It’s OK for hockey players to beat the crap out of each other, just don’t throw stuff on the ice, except in Detroit, where they throw octopi for some unfathomable reason.

My New Year’s Resolutions

 1.    Spend less time with serial killers on television and in books
 2.    Lose weight
 3.    See my children and grandchildren more
 4.    Don’t let the stock market upset me
 5.    Don’t let politics upset me
 6.    Lose weight
 7.    Travel less and enjoy the wonderful place I live
 8.    Go to more movies and watch less television
 9.    Eat and drink less
10.    Don’t get crazy, when Carolina loses a basketball game
11.    Lose weight
12.    Don’t get angry, when some deluded person misses a line call and calls one of my ace services “out”
13.    Go to the beach more
14.    Be charitable to people rather than institutions
15.    Stay in touch with my friends
16.    Lose weight
17.    Walk more stairs
18.    Spend more time with my lovely wife.

Happy New Year!

A Walk in the Park

The sit-in demonstrations about Wall Street reminded me of the 60’s.  I had a front row seat for the 60’s, when I was running a record store in Chapel Hill, NC.

I was opposed to the Vietnam War, but I had a hard time agreeing with the demonstrators, most of whom I thought were a bunch of pissed off college kids.  They were angry with their parents; and the war, civil rights, school rules, etc. were a convenient place to let off some steam.

During the civil rights demonstrations in Durham, NC, I can remember being in our store with a friend of mine.  We were going to defend the store from looting and pillaging.  That we did this, in retrospect, seems idiotic, but I was young and stupid.

I am very much in favor of people’s right to demonstrate peacefully, but the leaderless mob of Wall Street seems to have no particular agenda, other than the quest for a good suntan.  Some of the financial guys are greedy bastards, but what else is new?  They didn’t act any worse in the latest financial crisis, than they did for the last hundred years.

The worldwide financial system has changed lately, but it has always changed as the world has morphed.  I would rather see the demonstrators use the same energy positively to elect officials who would alter the markets to run more efficiently and fairly.  Or I guess they could kick out the jams, smoke a little weed, and party like it’s 1968.

Not Wasted in Margaritaville

I’ve had a few heroes in my life, mostly sports stars.  Among them are Willie Mays, Dick Goat, David Thompson, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Roger Federer.  I've had a vew business heroes as well . . . Sam Walton, The Nordstrom family, and lately Warren Buffett.

I love Warren Buffett.  He is always the smartest guy in the room.  His investing style of taking the long term view, picking good companies, and staying out of their hair is commendable.  His acumen in picking companies is extraordinary.  Following him around is a great investing strategy.

What Buffett did this week, investing in Bank of America, is a perfect example of why I love him.  He invested in a beaten down company, that is still viable, contrary to all the rumors.  He got a preferred interest rate and great upside on the stock.  He made the investment to make money for his shareholders, but it also helps the bank with credibility.  He did the same thing with Goldman Sachs in the middle of the recession.  Watch him make money with this investment.

The stock market acts irrationally in the short term.  Adam Smith said in the prologue to The Money Game, that the market acted like a bunch of women at a sale, running from counter to counter.  Warren Buffett approaches the counter slowly and stays there.  He can do my shopping any day.

There is a documentary running on HBO called 50 State Road Trip.  It made me prouder to be an American, than I’d been in a long time.  Watch it and see what you think.
 

In Vino Veritas

OK.  Now I’m pissed.  Congress won’t compromise; Italy, Spain, and Portugal are going broke; and France is running out of foie gras, or something.  I really don’t care about any of this, except when it starts to affect my pocketbook.

This week when the greedy pigs on Wall Street were totally spooked because S&P decided to manage the government of the USA, my family lost a lot of money.  Who the hell is S&P, and why are they limiting my ability to buy wine and other necessities?  Could any of this be politically motivated, just because Michele Bachmann is a part-time analyst for S&P?

A friend of mine told me that the people who panicked the most this week all watched Fox News.  They say the stock market cannot come back until Obama is out of office, even though the stock market is up dramatically since he took office, and it was down dramatically during the previous Republican administration, and it was up smartly during the Clinton years.  We should all also remember Herbert Hoover, a Republican who brought us the song, “Brother Can You Spare a Dime?”

We are all sick of Washington on both sides of the aisle, but for our country and ourselves we need to pull together and fix this great country.  i.e.:  Stop fighting, compromise, and everybody get by on a little less.  Except for me and my wine cellar.

Boys and Toys

Another sad week went by last week.  The first buffoon decided not to run for president (big surprise!), and the governator turned out to be Johnny Appleseed, although he wasn’t planting apple seeds.  Also, the Republicans’ other major clown, Newt Gingrich, self destructed.  Without Trump and the Newtster to kick around, who are we going to laugh at?  Is Bristol Palin too young to run?

Watching politics and the class of individuals it attracts, reminds me once again of sports team owners.  Why do sports attract all these sleaze balls?  For every Rooney family there are five McCourts, Jerry Jones, or Marge Schotts, not to mention the worst of all time, the late, great George Steinbrenner.  What is it about teams playing games that attract these lowlifes?  Why do they love to go down to the field during and after games and prance around like they had some involvement in the outcome of the contest?

The owners meddle in the running of the organization without any knowledge or expertise just because they made a few bucks in the oil business or home improvement.  They become enraged when anyone questions their decision making, and the solution for very problem is to fire the coach or the manager.

I just heard that a hedge fund manager put $200 million into the NY Mets for a minority share.  The Mets are in trouble because their owner invested with Bernie Madoff.  The hedge fund guy said he’s doing it for fun.  Big Boys and their toys!

Ends & Odds

In a stunning turn of events several senators are opposed to eliminating earmarks.    Of course they are.  Why would any legislator be opposed to the best way of pissing away a lot of tax payer money?  Once again my theory of nothing ever changes in politics, no matter which party is in power, is born out.  By the way, the President and the Republicans are for doing away with earmarks.  I guess we’ll just have to see what happens.

In another surprising development the Christmas shopping season has started.  I know that it comes every year, but as I age, it seems to roll around much quicker.  One will notice that I did not refer to the day after Thanksgiving as “Black Friday,” a name I detest.  When I was a retailer in the olden days, we rejoiced when the season started.  It was hardly a black day, originally used when the market crashed in 1929.  I much prefer calling it “Green Friday” for obvious reasons.

When I first was in business in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, home of the University of North Carolina, I had a competitor who hung a huge banner, when the students came back from summer break.  It read Welcome Back Money.  I could think about the Christmas season in those terms, if I were greedy and crass, which of course I’m not.

Election Day Highlights

Our long national nightmare is over.  Election Day has come and gone.  The Republicans are happy, the Democrats are sad, and I don’t have to see Meg Whitman’s face anymore.

Ms. Whitman spent $140 million running for governor of California.  It seems to me that there are a lot better ways to use $140 million, but as F. Scott Fitzgerald said so many years ago, “The very rich are different from you and me.”

California is an out of control state that is absolutely ungovernable.  We’ve chosen as our governor a man who failed miserably before, so why not give him another chance.  The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.  So let it rip, Jerry.

Judging by the stock market’s reaction to the situation, the Republicans have fixed our economic quandary in the last three days, which is very reassuring to me.  I believe my wife Arlene has misplaced my Ferrari catalogue, which I need to find immediately.  I must get my order in for my new car before the line gets too long, the result of our new national prosperity.

Whenever there is a national election, I am either ebullient or downhearted about the result.  I have no idea why I react this way.  Nothing ever changes.