anecdotes

Rebellious Bavarian monks penned a series of 12th century poems. Explored the role of fortune in our world, the cycle of life, and death, of love and sex, corruption in the Catholic Church. Their work remained hidden till 1803. By 1937, Carl Orff had lived through 3 turns of Germany’s wheel: Empire, Weimar Republic, Nazism. He composed music. Set these poems to his most powerful piece: Carmina Burana. It moves me lik

Empires grow to the sky then crash to the forest floor. The USSR collapsed. Communism’s rot and the arms race weighed heavily, plus we funded jihadists – ooops, freedom fighters – to whittle ‘em down in Afghanistan. Europe grafted some shrubs to a few trees, called it the EU – latest in a long series of failed attempts at empire – wish ’em luck. America over-reached, claimed the globe, boasted sequoia status, n

I played Lacrosse and didn’t suck. But to be great, you gotta play rightie and leftie with near equal skill, grace, confidence. I never could. By college, I’d recognized this problem, but at that level it’s damn hard to catch up. The best time to confront weakness is when you’re at ease – under no real pressure – my window had shut. So I made up for a weak left in lots of ways, hit guys real hard, hustled

We ordered. A light lunch. Conversation’s better that way. And the tables were just far enough apart. The perfect distance. He’s a pro. Connects Wall Street (and Mayfair) to Washington. Exchanged stories, shared gossip, then dug in. Obama’s election committee is sketching out The Plan. Three parts. (1) Copy Ronald Regan’s tax cuts for corporations and individuals, cut deductions. (2) Reduce regulation, shake up the E

What’s the right price? I got asked that all week. Of course, there’s no definite answer, just opinion. Nobel Prize winners say stocks are always the right price. Perhaps. But how the hell does that help? Truth is, today’s price reflects a perfect stand-off between Bulls and Bears. When the totality of Bulls/Bears are relatively optimistic about our future, the stock market is priced high relative to corporate earnin

I got an Economics degree, they call it the dismal science. But I don’t really think that’s fair, ’cause I’ve studied it for 26yrs and have yet to find much about it that’s scientific. Nope, Economics is the study of Human Behavior, it’s impossible to precisely predict, but still we try. CEO’s, investors, politicians, central bankers, hell, everyone uses Economics to answer one simple question: Up, down or sideways?

Jeremy and I were 23yrs old in ’89, when rebellious youngsters tore down the Berlin Wall. By ’92 we’d snuck our way onto Lehman’s proprietary trading desk, in time for the next revolution. The European Exchange Rate Mechanism, a rigid/outdated structure invented by old men, was on its last legs. What fun we had ripping it apart – young men intoxicated by inexperience, ambition and fearlessness. We were just 2 r

I grew up in a modern American family; 2 dad’s, 2 mom’s, 7 younger siblings. One dad spins money for a living, another spins propellers. And both did real well but ended up broke. You see, if you make too much too early, you tend to piss it away. And if you’re an engineer, well, you never make much anyhow. Plus, college costs a fortune and they sent us all to great schools. Of course, being broke is the mother of inv

I drank with a buddy, discussed life and death. And evolution. What an ugly business; struggle, pain, defeat, then every so often, blessed triumph. And it never ends, yesterday’s finest creations die, conquered by greater achievements. Darryl’s a tech entrepreneur, gives birth to new life. He’s on biz #5, the first 4 were lesser creatures, either devoured or starved. But this latest is a new species: Magnifico Monstr