Eye opening crooks

Part of this high tech business education I'm receiving involves an immersion in all things financial. I take it our professors want us well-tuned to the beat of American finance and all things Wall Street. To that end, my managerial accounting class suggested each student subscribe to the Wall Street Journal which I did immediately. After watching my dad read that paper for as long as I can remember, now I'm in the inquisitor seat digging out what nuggets I can from its pages.

Short version? WSJ rocks! That is an excellent paper and it is fascinating to just read it everyday. (Yes, this is coming from a generation-X'er who still loves his news updates via Google News: http://news.google.com/ ). Did you know Kraft is trying to strongarm Cadbury into being bought out? Or that Mars SWALLOWED Wrigley's gum last year? And in other news, I guess I've just been in a cave under a rock under the earth's core somewhere, but while we continue to lambast ol' Bernie Madoff for his treacherous Ponzi scheme, I have learned through WSJ that there are Madoff-spinoffs who are just as bad! These guys are not shady wanna-be multi-level marketers hawking every version of water filter, super vitamin, and weight loss pill known to man...these guys are established in the American financial sector, respected in their communities, and generally thought of as decent guys. That is, until the fateful day when they walk up and announce to their investors the impending doom that they face. I imagine it sounds a little like my dad put it once, when I was expounding on the corporate benefits of organizational communication and he said "Oh, so somebody just needs to say HEY YA'LL! WE GOING BROKE!". An entire semester course summed up in 5 words and the worst part is, he's 100% right. Where's the accountability? Where's the checks and balances? Where's the guy with the bullhorn belching out my dad's line at the top of his lungs? Woefully, nonexistent - again, bear in mind some of these guys are MBA types like I'm trying to be - makes you wonder. Heck, even Bernie was a former chairman of NASDAQ! Can't get much more established than that.

Anyway, good guys will be good guys and bad guys will be bad guys and at the end of the day, you better have some form of internal gauge on how you handle money that is based on something more substantial than whether or not said decision will yield you a positive net income. That's what Bernie used to do and I emphasize USED to.

To conclude, here's stories about two other Ponzi schemers that aren't getting much press right now - that is except in the Wall Street Journal:

Idaho man makes off with $100M! That's a whole lotta potatoes!!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123216172808292889.html

New Yorker takes dirty money and gets it dirtier!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125242221709292609.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Rich man fresh in jail:

Same man, not so rich, not so fresh. Any questions?

Random Labor Day thoughts

#1 Nothing really heavy to share today. I'm quite appreciative of the fact I can have my folks and my in-laws over for a BBQ and everything goes well. Good food, fun, and fellowship. In case there is anyone left on planet earth that hasn't figured it out just yet, a loving family is more valuable than all the degrees and high-paying jobs in the world. Even when your baby looks at you like you're crazy!

#2 After much reluctance, I must admit facebook is quite addictive. Never mind the number of people who try to "friend" me who were never really my friend, it really gives you an effectice way to catch up on old times with lots of good people from your not so distant past. I'm interested in growing my lists from a networking perspective but I take it linkedin is more geared toward that type of thing. Great, another site to register for. Oh and twitter serves no purpose for me whatsoever. I do not want you to know when I go shopping, jogging, and cutting my weed-infested grass. It's just not that serious.

#3 The more I learn of this amazing world, the more diverse my interests become. That's a good thing right? WRONG! At a time when I'm trying to pinpoint that final big career that's going to take me into my gray years, that one thing that pays ridiculous money yet feels like fun, that one thing where I'm going to earn my 25 year pin, that "thing" could potentially be any NUMBER of things. Even during down time when I visualize ideal career scenarios that get my juices going, it could be

• V.P. Marketing and Sales for a Fortune 500 foodservice provider
• Senior Director Corporate Training and Development for a resort chain
• Program Coordinator for distance learning degree options at a major university
• Business Professor at an HBCU
• Upper administration at an HBCU
• Management Consultant specializing in lean enterprise initiatives
• Founder, CEO for a new restaurant franchise based on my mom's Cajun and southern recipes
• Founder of a company that produces one product that I can't tell you about right now (it's just that good)

You see where this is going. I'm intrigued by a whole lot of stuff. So until that majestic day when I graduate with MBA in hand I'll continue to ask questions, investigate, and perhaps the final pick will be something I haven't even thought about yet.

#4 Recently added another role model to my list of people to keep an eye on. Check him out:

http://marquisweblog.blogspot.com/

#5 HAPPY LABOR DAY!