anecdotes

“The Euro’s a widow maker, it’s horrible,” he pro- nounced. So began our convo. “All anyone talks about these days is the Euro, I’ve had it, not even worth thinking about” — and I’m not sure if he said that and I thought it or vice versa. Doesn’t really matter. Point is, it’s true. And we discussed two different categories of trending markets. One looks like the Euro – female dog variety. Everyone pretty

I didn’t really want to answer. You see, when trying to keep an open mind, it’s always better to ask questions, and just listen. And these days, the world’s most precious commodity is an open mind. But I was thinking, I hope he’s right, the consequences of him being wrong are pretty awful. The good news? He usually is. Once one of London’s top prop traders, he now swings polo mallets in sunny South America, looking a

BearBucks. It’s a fiat currency. Issued by 4th grade teachers at Roosevelt. Ain’t called Elementary School for nothing; they teach the basics. And face it, these days, any child unschooled in the ABC’s of money gets left behind. So I asked my oldest son, Jackson, and his buddy Liam, how school’s going. Liam’s real earnest, “My teacher’s having a tough time, it’s his first year – our class is a little out of con

“Three days of your life,” said Perry, thanking me for leaving Mara and our four kids to join his Mississippi clan. Opening the memorial was Minister Hong – a North Korean political refugee – so happy to escape communist repression he doesn’t realize no one understands a damn word he says. But no matter. Carl Parker had five kids, and his only daughter married a minister, who took the pulpit, led the beau

Leaders from rich countries flew private. Corrupt ones from impoverished nations did too. The rest stumbled outta 1st Class. Commodity exporters swaggered through customs, high on coking coal, copper, crops, cash. A couple Greeks did the perp walk, shamed, invisibly shackled. No doubt, each annual IMF meeting’s different. Last year’s hero is often today’s zero, and vice versa – as national fortunes (ego’s too)

Teddy and I built a castle, made of sand. He positioned it just above the water line. We are all drawn to risky endeavors. We taunt Mother Nature, tempt fate – always have, always will. Yet before I knew it, his plan changed, they usually do. Teddy transformed the castle into a throne. There he sat, perched high, proud, defiant, smug, as the first waves gently swept in. We contained the damage, made repairs. But befo

These days, when stock markets air-pocket lower, fellas head to Walmart, filling Hummers with handguns, Jack Daniels, baked beans (gold too). And I get it, now that central bankers and politicians are nearly out of ammo, it’s tempting to load up on your own. But that ain’t an investment strategy. Last I checked, Ted Kaczynski never made the Forbes List. And you know me; I may drink with guys like the Unabomber, but I

“I kissed a girl and I liked it.”Crowd went wild. Generation Y. Gotta love ’em. They’re our future. “I kissed a girl just to try it.” Katy Perry’s California Dreams Tour. Santa Barbara native, our very own pop tart. Think Mara and I would miss her home-coming concert? No way bro. The 26yr old just tied Michael Jackson; five #1 singles on one album. “Last Friday night, we went streaking in the park, skinny dipping in

“Never hire a Harvard Business School grad until they fail at least once,” he advised me. You see, he taught there. Filled his life with books, movies. Jewish intellectual, author, psychiatrist to rock-stars, advisor to top CEO’s. Atheist. And you know, when staring into the abyss, that’s a damn hard thing to admit. But he did. Proud. Self made. Stubbornly independent to a fault. A lover of puzzles, excelling in War