(Editor’s note: Charley Polachi is a partner at Polachi, an executive recruiting firm. He submitted this story to VentureBeat.)
2010 is winding down rapidly with all indications that the worst is behind us – hopefully. At the very least, that’s the sentiment of many of the executives we deal with.
As we gave forward into 2011, we queried several of our executive search partners around the world to get their input on what they see happening in their back yards and what they anticipate for the year to come. Here’s what they had to say:
Sean Carroll, Polachi (NYC)
“If there is any meaningful uptick in the economy, good talent that may be on the sidelines will be gone and entrepreneurs will have a tough time hiring on their own. Also, I suspect there will be a strong M&A market as we’ve seen with Netezza, Unica, Coremetrics, etc. Corporations have lots of cash and will buy at the right price.”
“Lastly, as entrepreneurs pioneer innovative solutions, there will always be a shortage of skills as the experience or domain does not exist yet. A good example is SEO products. Automating SEO is an interesting problem to solve but there are only a few young product companies, so the only place to get SEO experience is the agencies…no SaaS or product experience there. Entrepreneurs need to make bets that talent can step up in a new sector.”
Andy Price, Schweichler, Price, Mullarkey and Barry (Silicon Valley)
“My view is that the talent pool is getting snapped up pretty fast and once again we’re seeing a very competitive landscape for people. We’re competing against two forces: Other companies recruiting, and inertia driven by either risk aversion or someone’s low priced options are suddenly in the money and they’re inclined to take risk off the table. That said, people believe startups have a chance again so they’re willing to talk to you. Closing people is the hard part right now.”
Steve Lavelle, Gillamor Stephens (London)
“In Europe, access to the talent pool is there, provided the company’s proposition is compelling enough. Closing candidates can be challenging though and having been through the low point of hiring activity, it’s only going to heat up as we move into next year.”
Sal Rocco, Stonewood Group (Toronto)
“We are seeing more product development, engineering-oriented searches than in the past 2-3 years. The only thing we can attribute this to is that when the market tanked and companies were cash strapped, the focus was on revenue generation and selling what we had. They gutted costly product development and engineering teams. The thought was: Don’t worry about new product development because we may not be alive in 2-3 years if we don’t get cash today.
“To the extent they were doing searches in the past 2-3 years, the searches were on either outward looking sales & marketing types focused on making money or CFOs/Finance types focused on raising cash or slowing the bleed. Today, as the future looks brighter and companies realize that their products are dated, they need to hire engineering leads and product development types, which they were laying off over the past 2-3 years.”
So, for 2011 the future looks fairly bright. VCs are investing and companies are hiring. A few things entrepreneurs can expect to see and look out for are the following:
- Senior talent is getting scarce again
- Social media works for staffing at many levels, but not at the executive level
- Cleantech continues to march on – and more opportunities will be there for investors
- Venture capital is emerging from a difficult stretch, but there is money for good ideas and strong teams in mobile applications, gaming and health care IT
- Candidates want cash and equity.
- Acquisitions will provide the bulk of exits in 2011; the IPO market isn’t here yet.
Next Story: Verizon iPad 2 to join the Verizon iPhone in 2011? Previous Story: Computer platforms with the biggest buzz will be the biggest malware targets in 2011
No summary of 2010, visual or otherwise, would be complete without an extensive overview of what pundits call Monetary Stimulus, quantitative easing or Large Scale Asset Purchases, and the peasantry calls, just as correctly (with a few footnotes), the printing of money. If there are two words that define what we had an absence and an abundance of in the past year, those would be jobs, and money. As some of the key jobs-related charts were presented yesterday, below, once again courtesy of BusinessWeek, are the main charts that among other things demonstrate the various currency manipulation playbooks, the price of gas in bacon and other products, the annotated strength of the dollar through time, and what is actually printed when the Fed does print money.
The first chart shows the progression of dollar strength (and weakness) with an annotation for contemporaneous global events. What is ironic is that while everyone realizes the world is still in a very week position, the core debate over who is weaker - Europe or the US, is sure to provide many hours of entertainment in 2011. And as a bonus, the man whose policies, together with those of Bernanke, are instrumental in just how weak the dollar gets, is presented in his key natural states: from lying just every so slightly, to lying a lot, to lying profusely to save his life, to lying at such a rate, it would make those whose pants are burning, blush with envy. And now you will know how to distinguish the four...
The next chart deals with the actual money printing, but not in an deeply philosophical manner, one in which hours of debate are wasted over whether trillions in excess reserves are actually printed money (even though the last time someone acquired USTs, MBS, and soon Munis and ETFs, with pixie dust, the legal consequences were not all that palatable). Of the just over $300 billion in actual currency printed in 2010, the vast majority was in $100 bills, next up was $20s, followed by $5s, $10s, and lastly, singles. Not a single $50 bill was printed. Also noted: the amount of cash in corporate America. Of particular interest: GM has more than half of its market value, or $27.5 billion sitting in cash. Lastly, and this not come as a surprise to many, the money multiplier: the money supply divided by the monetary base, is at near record lows, courtesy of the $1 trillion in excess reserves.
Another popular meme in 2010 was pricing X in Y, most often the stock market in gold, in which basis it is still down for the year, as gold (not to mention silver), despite the short memory of many, is by and far the best performing asset class of 2010. Those who followed our advice in early 2010 to avoid stocks and to invest in gold, are ahead of most. The chart below takes a comic approach to this relative performance, showing how much the price of gas changed when priced in other "currencies."
Last, and probably most interesting, is the graphic presentation of the currency manipulator playbook: in a world in which Ben Bernanke knows very well he has little competition when it comes to doing as he chooses with the world's reserve currency (for now), other sovereigns are forced to come up with their unique responses. The playbook below shows all the various defensive tactics adopted so far. Luckily, few offensive plays have been established to date. We doubt that will be the status quo for a long time.
And as John Taylor and many others have pointed out, now that the fiscal "stimulus" of the payroll tax has been exhausted in a few short weeks courtesy of the jump in crude oil, and any further fiscal intervention not likely to occur unless Congress wants another incumbent bloodbath next time around, as Americans are tired of subsidizing banker lifestyles, expect to see many additions to the FX manipulation playbook, as the year progresses and monetary intervention continues to be the only direct way of making sure every new banker bonus year is a record one is via the Fed and its ongoing dollar printing-cum-debasement. That said, should the bankrupt European house of cards continue to wave a white flag of surrender every 3 months, the race to the bottom may not have a clear winner well after 2011 is also history.
All charts courtesy of BusinessWeek
robert shumake
Weirdest Finding of 2010? Balmain Hair Extensions – Fashionista <b>...</b>
Fashion Industry News, Designers, Runway Shows, Style Advice. Send Tips � Advertise � About Us � Network � Above the Law � AltTransport � Breaking Media � Fashionista. Search for: ... Posted in: Beauty, News ...
Foot-and-Mouth Outbreak Spreads Through South Korea - AOL <b>News</b>
South Korea is suffering its worst-ever outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, with the highly contagious virus spreading to farms across the country despite a nationwide quarantine effort.
Dawn Comes Twice in European Solar Eclipse - AOL <b>News</b>
A partial solar eclipse darkened European skies just after dawn this morning, casting an eerie darkness over the continent just as morning light was supposed to be spreading. But cloud cover prevented sky-gazers across much of the ...
robert shumake detroit
Weirdest Finding of 2010? Balmain Hair Extensions – Fashionista <b>...</b>
Fashion Industry News, Designers, Runway Shows, Style Advice. Send Tips � Advertise � About Us � Network � Above the Law � AltTransport � Breaking Media � Fashionista. Search for: ... Posted in: Beauty, News ...
Foot-and-Mouth Outbreak Spreads Through South Korea - AOL <b>News</b>
South Korea is suffering its worst-ever outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, with the highly contagious virus spreading to farms across the country despite a nationwide quarantine effort.
Dawn Comes Twice in European Solar Eclipse - AOL <b>News</b>
A partial solar eclipse darkened European skies just after dawn this morning, casting an eerie darkness over the continent just as morning light was supposed to be spreading. But cloud cover prevented sky-gazers across much of the ...
robert shumake detroit
(Editor’s note: Charley Polachi is a partner at Polachi, an executive recruiting firm. He submitted this story to VentureBeat.)
2010 is winding down rapidly with all indications that the worst is behind us – hopefully. At the very least, that’s the sentiment of many of the executives we deal with.
As we gave forward into 2011, we queried several of our executive search partners around the world to get their input on what they see happening in their back yards and what they anticipate for the year to come. Here’s what they had to say:
Sean Carroll, Polachi (NYC)
“If there is any meaningful uptick in the economy, good talent that may be on the sidelines will be gone and entrepreneurs will have a tough time hiring on their own. Also, I suspect there will be a strong M&A market as we’ve seen with Netezza, Unica, Coremetrics, etc. Corporations have lots of cash and will buy at the right price.”
“Lastly, as entrepreneurs pioneer innovative solutions, there will always be a shortage of skills as the experience or domain does not exist yet. A good example is SEO products. Automating SEO is an interesting problem to solve but there are only a few young product companies, so the only place to get SEO experience is the agencies…no SaaS or product experience there. Entrepreneurs need to make bets that talent can step up in a new sector.”
Andy Price, Schweichler, Price, Mullarkey and Barry (Silicon Valley)
“My view is that the talent pool is getting snapped up pretty fast and once again we’re seeing a very competitive landscape for people. We’re competing against two forces: Other companies recruiting, and inertia driven by either risk aversion or someone’s low priced options are suddenly in the money and they’re inclined to take risk off the table. That said, people believe startups have a chance again so they’re willing to talk to you. Closing people is the hard part right now.”
Steve Lavelle, Gillamor Stephens (London)
“In Europe, access to the talent pool is there, provided the company’s proposition is compelling enough. Closing candidates can be challenging though and having been through the low point of hiring activity, it’s only going to heat up as we move into next year.”
Sal Rocco, Stonewood Group (Toronto)
“We are seeing more product development, engineering-oriented searches than in the past 2-3 years. The only thing we can attribute this to is that when the market tanked and companies were cash strapped, the focus was on revenue generation and selling what we had. They gutted costly product development and engineering teams. The thought was: Don’t worry about new product development because we may not be alive in 2-3 years if we don’t get cash today.
“To the extent they were doing searches in the past 2-3 years, the searches were on either outward looking sales & marketing types focused on making money or CFOs/Finance types focused on raising cash or slowing the bleed. Today, as the future looks brighter and companies realize that their products are dated, they need to hire engineering leads and product development types, which they were laying off over the past 2-3 years.”
So, for 2011 the future looks fairly bright. VCs are investing and companies are hiring. A few things entrepreneurs can expect to see and look out for are the following:
- Senior talent is getting scarce again
- Social media works for staffing at many levels, but not at the executive level
- Cleantech continues to march on – and more opportunities will be there for investors
- Venture capital is emerging from a difficult stretch, but there is money for good ideas and strong teams in mobile applications, gaming and health care IT
- Candidates want cash and equity.
- Acquisitions will provide the bulk of exits in 2011; the IPO market isn’t here yet.
Next Story: Verizon iPad 2 to join the Verizon iPhone in 2011? Previous Story: Computer platforms with the biggest buzz will be the biggest malware targets in 2011
No summary of 2010, visual or otherwise, would be complete without an extensive overview of what pundits call Monetary Stimulus, quantitative easing or Large Scale Asset Purchases, and the peasantry calls, just as correctly (with a few footnotes), the printing of money. If there are two words that define what we had an absence and an abundance of in the past year, those would be jobs, and money. As some of the key jobs-related charts were presented yesterday, below, once again courtesy of BusinessWeek, are the main charts that among other things demonstrate the various currency manipulation playbooks, the price of gas in bacon and other products, the annotated strength of the dollar through time, and what is actually printed when the Fed does print money.
The first chart shows the progression of dollar strength (and weakness) with an annotation for contemporaneous global events. What is ironic is that while everyone realizes the world is still in a very week position, the core debate over who is weaker - Europe or the US, is sure to provide many hours of entertainment in 2011. And as a bonus, the man whose policies, together with those of Bernanke, are instrumental in just how weak the dollar gets, is presented in his key natural states: from lying just every so slightly, to lying a lot, to lying profusely to save his life, to lying at such a rate, it would make those whose pants are burning, blush with envy. And now you will know how to distinguish the four...
The next chart deals with the actual money printing, but not in an deeply philosophical manner, one in which hours of debate are wasted over whether trillions in excess reserves are actually printed money (even though the last time someone acquired USTs, MBS, and soon Munis and ETFs, with pixie dust, the legal consequences were not all that palatable). Of the just over $300 billion in actual currency printed in 2010, the vast majority was in $100 bills, next up was $20s, followed by $5s, $10s, and lastly, singles. Not a single $50 bill was printed. Also noted: the amount of cash in corporate America. Of particular interest: GM has more than half of its market value, or $27.5 billion sitting in cash. Lastly, and this not come as a surprise to many, the money multiplier: the money supply divided by the monetary base, is at near record lows, courtesy of the $1 trillion in excess reserves.
Another popular meme in 2010 was pricing X in Y, most often the stock market in gold, in which basis it is still down for the year, as gold (not to mention silver), despite the short memory of many, is by and far the best performing asset class of 2010. Those who followed our advice in early 2010 to avoid stocks and to invest in gold, are ahead of most. The chart below takes a comic approach to this relative performance, showing how much the price of gas changed when priced in other "currencies."
Last, and probably most interesting, is the graphic presentation of the currency manipulator playbook: in a world in which Ben Bernanke knows very well he has little competition when it comes to doing as he chooses with the world's reserve currency (for now), other sovereigns are forced to come up with their unique responses. The playbook below shows all the various defensive tactics adopted so far. Luckily, few offensive plays have been established to date. We doubt that will be the status quo for a long time.
And as John Taylor and many others have pointed out, now that the fiscal "stimulus" of the payroll tax has been exhausted in a few short weeks courtesy of the jump in crude oil, and any further fiscal intervention not likely to occur unless Congress wants another incumbent bloodbath next time around, as Americans are tired of subsidizing banker lifestyles, expect to see many additions to the FX manipulation playbook, as the year progresses and monetary intervention continues to be the only direct way of making sure every new banker bonus year is a record one is via the Fed and its ongoing dollar printing-cum-debasement. That said, should the bankrupt European house of cards continue to wave a white flag of surrender every 3 months, the race to the bottom may not have a clear winner well after 2011 is also history.
All charts courtesy of BusinessWeek
robert shumake
robert shumake
Weirdest Finding of 2010? Balmain Hair Extensions – Fashionista <b>...</b>
Fashion Industry News, Designers, Runway Shows, Style Advice. Send Tips � Advertise � About Us � Network � Above the Law � AltTransport � Breaking Media � Fashionista. Search for: ... Posted in: Beauty, News ...
Foot-and-Mouth Outbreak Spreads Through South Korea - AOL <b>News</b>
South Korea is suffering its worst-ever outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, with the highly contagious virus spreading to farms across the country despite a nationwide quarantine effort.
Dawn Comes Twice in European Solar Eclipse - AOL <b>News</b>
A partial solar eclipse darkened European skies just after dawn this morning, casting an eerie darkness over the continent just as morning light was supposed to be spreading. But cloud cover prevented sky-gazers across much of the ...
robert shumake
Weirdest Finding of 2010? Balmain Hair Extensions – Fashionista <b>...</b>
Fashion Industry News, Designers, Runway Shows, Style Advice. Send Tips � Advertise � About Us � Network � Above the Law � AltTransport � Breaking Media � Fashionista. Search for: ... Posted in: Beauty, News ...
Foot-and-Mouth Outbreak Spreads Through South Korea - AOL <b>News</b>
South Korea is suffering its worst-ever outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, with the highly contagious virus spreading to farms across the country despite a nationwide quarantine effort.
Dawn Comes Twice in European Solar Eclipse - AOL <b>News</b>
A partial solar eclipse darkened European skies just after dawn this morning, casting an eerie darkness over the continent just as morning light was supposed to be spreading. But cloud cover prevented sky-gazers across much of the ...
robert shumake detroit
You have probably heard it said that anyone can make money, and I believe it is true. After all, just look at the young kid out there selling lemonade with their uniquely constructed lemonade sign and stand. So here is proof that with a little knowledge, and after applying oneself to a given task, that a child and even a bum can make money. However, the problem is not always in MAKING money, be it small or large, the problem is that most people do not know how to KEEP it. This is evident through the statistics done on many lottery winners around the world over the past several years who are rich today, but eventually wind up broke, busted, and disgusted tomorrow. Yeah, I know that's an exaggeration on my part. Well if not tommorrow, usually within a few short years, because before they know it their millions soon transform into pennies, and their wealth gone. Therefore, I have found that it will take our operating in WISDOM and DISCIPLINE in order to keep money.
So who was the richest man who ever lived? The Bible says it was a man by the name of King Solomon. So how did he amass such a GREAT fortune? Was it simply because he was born into royalty and money? Yes and no. Yes, Solomon came from an affluent family, and likewise succeeded in inheriting the throne of his father, King David, and yes this definitely gave him a jump start toward financial success. However, Solomon was only just beginning. He was a novice. How would he govern a vast nation of people? Could he keep the family fortune that was now his and continue the regal financial legacy of his royal family? The answer, YES. We learn that this relatively young and inexperienced leader eventually far exceeded even the riches of his father and the nation by and large. How was this possible? Because, at his earliest beginning he sought after and asked only one thing from the Lord, and that was wisdom (i.e. not long life or riches). Yes, I said WISDOM! His desire was for godly wisdom and guidance to rule a nation, his family, and his finances and this is what has made his name reknown up until this present day. For Solomon himself, penned these very words, "that wisdom is the principal or chief thing, so in your getting, get understanding"(Proverbs 4:7). So below you'll find just a few tips that I believe will help you hold on to your money longer. After all, they are working for me!
PROVERBIAL TIPS:
1) Ask the Lord for wisdom every day in your decisions. "He will give it to you liberally" (Book of James 1:5).
2) Count or consider the costs before beginning or undertaking any type of endeavor or project (e.g. time, money, resources..).
3) Tithe and/or give generously to help your fellow man (e.g. charities, churches, organizations, community) "Give and it shall be given to you...." (Gospel of St. Luke 6:38).
4) Investments are great assets. So be sure to find a good one.
5) Save $100 or more when possible and place into a money market savings account on a regular basis so you can accrue a little interest. Besides even "the ant gathers its food in the harvest" (Proverbs 6:6-8). Now that is what I call insectual wisdom!
6) Do not max out your credit cards. Besides, having ownership of only ONE major credit card will ensure that you don't build up a long line of debt. Also, pay those bills early so that extra fees will not come into play. Remember, "the borrower is subject to the lender" (Proverbs 22:7). So be sure to watch your spending.
7) Use cash whenever possible. There are no interests, fees, nor debt pileup when using currency.
Here is one final word from the one of the wisest and richest men of his time, "Labor not to be rich: cease from your own wisdom. Will you set your eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven"(Proverbs 23:4-5). See there is a far greater and wiser investment to consider and to invest in, and that is the riches of ETERNITY.
For more information visit my daily-weekly newsletter/blog site at http://proverbsonmakingmoney.com or http://proverb2money.wordpress.com for my Wisdom2Money blogs.
robert shumake detroit
Weirdest Finding of 2010? Balmain Hair Extensions – Fashionista <b>...</b>
Fashion Industry News, Designers, Runway Shows, Style Advice. Send Tips � Advertise � About Us � Network � Above the Law � AltTransport � Breaking Media � Fashionista. Search for: ... Posted in: Beauty, News ...
Foot-and-Mouth Outbreak Spreads Through South Korea - AOL <b>News</b>
South Korea is suffering its worst-ever outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, with the highly contagious virus spreading to farms across the country despite a nationwide quarantine effort.
Dawn Comes Twice in European Solar Eclipse - AOL <b>News</b>
A partial solar eclipse darkened European skies just after dawn this morning, casting an eerie darkness over the continent just as morning light was supposed to be spreading. But cloud cover prevented sky-gazers across much of the ...
robert shumake
robert shumake detroit
(Editor’s note: Charley Polachi is a partner at Polachi, an executive recruiting firm. He submitted this story to VentureBeat.)
2010 is winding down rapidly with all indications that the worst is behind us – hopefully. At the very least, that’s the sentiment of many of the executives we deal with.
As we gave forward into 2011, we queried several of our executive search partners around the world to get their input on what they see happening in their back yards and what they anticipate for the year to come. Here’s what they had to say:
Sean Carroll, Polachi (NYC)
“If there is any meaningful uptick in the economy, good talent that may be on the sidelines will be gone and entrepreneurs will have a tough time hiring on their own. Also, I suspect there will be a strong M&A market as we’ve seen with Netezza, Unica, Coremetrics, etc. Corporations have lots of cash and will buy at the right price.”
“Lastly, as entrepreneurs pioneer innovative solutions, there will always be a shortage of skills as the experience or domain does not exist yet. A good example is SEO products. Automating SEO is an interesting problem to solve but there are only a few young product companies, so the only place to get SEO experience is the agencies…no SaaS or product experience there. Entrepreneurs need to make bets that talent can step up in a new sector.”
Andy Price, Schweichler, Price, Mullarkey and Barry (Silicon Valley)
“My view is that the talent pool is getting snapped up pretty fast and once again we’re seeing a very competitive landscape for people. We’re competing against two forces: Other companies recruiting, and inertia driven by either risk aversion or someone’s low priced options are suddenly in the money and they’re inclined to take risk off the table. That said, people believe startups have a chance again so they’re willing to talk to you. Closing people is the hard part right now.”
Steve Lavelle, Gillamor Stephens (London)
“In Europe, access to the talent pool is there, provided the company’s proposition is compelling enough. Closing candidates can be challenging though and having been through the low point of hiring activity, it’s only going to heat up as we move into next year.”
Sal Rocco, Stonewood Group (Toronto)
“We are seeing more product development, engineering-oriented searches than in the past 2-3 years. The only thing we can attribute this to is that when the market tanked and companies were cash strapped, the focus was on revenue generation and selling what we had. They gutted costly product development and engineering teams. The thought was: Don’t worry about new product development because we may not be alive in 2-3 years if we don’t get cash today.
“To the extent they were doing searches in the past 2-3 years, the searches were on either outward looking sales & marketing types focused on making money or CFOs/Finance types focused on raising cash or slowing the bleed. Today, as the future looks brighter and companies realize that their products are dated, they need to hire engineering leads and product development types, which they were laying off over the past 2-3 years.”
So, for 2011 the future looks fairly bright. VCs are investing and companies are hiring. A few things entrepreneurs can expect to see and look out for are the following:
- Senior talent is getting scarce again
- Social media works for staffing at many levels, but not at the executive level
- Cleantech continues to march on – and more opportunities will be there for investors
- Venture capital is emerging from a difficult stretch, but there is money for good ideas and strong teams in mobile applications, gaming and health care IT
- Candidates want cash and equity.
- Acquisitions will provide the bulk of exits in 2011; the IPO market isn’t here yet.
Next Story: Verizon iPad 2 to join the Verizon iPhone in 2011? Previous Story: Computer platforms with the biggest buzz will be the biggest malware targets in 2011
No summary of 2010, visual or otherwise, would be complete without an extensive overview of what pundits call Monetary Stimulus, quantitative easing or Large Scale Asset Purchases, and the peasantry calls, just as correctly (with a few footnotes), the printing of money. If there are two words that define what we had an absence and an abundance of in the past year, those would be jobs, and money. As some of the key jobs-related charts were presented yesterday, below, once again courtesy of BusinessWeek, are the main charts that among other things demonstrate the various currency manipulation playbooks, the price of gas in bacon and other products, the annotated strength of the dollar through time, and what is actually printed when the Fed does print money.
The first chart shows the progression of dollar strength (and weakness) with an annotation for contemporaneous global events. What is ironic is that while everyone realizes the world is still in a very week position, the core debate over who is weaker - Europe or the US, is sure to provide many hours of entertainment in 2011. And as a bonus, the man whose policies, together with those of Bernanke, are instrumental in just how weak the dollar gets, is presented in his key natural states: from lying just every so slightly, to lying a lot, to lying profusely to save his life, to lying at such a rate, it would make those whose pants are burning, blush with envy. And now you will know how to distinguish the four...
The next chart deals with the actual money printing, but not in an deeply philosophical manner, one in which hours of debate are wasted over whether trillions in excess reserves are actually printed money (even though the last time someone acquired USTs, MBS, and soon Munis and ETFs, with pixie dust, the legal consequences were not all that palatable). Of the just over $300 billion in actual currency printed in 2010, the vast majority was in $100 bills, next up was $20s, followed by $5s, $10s, and lastly, singles. Not a single $50 bill was printed. Also noted: the amount of cash in corporate America. Of particular interest: GM has more than half of its market value, or $27.5 billion sitting in cash. Lastly, and this not come as a surprise to many, the money multiplier: the money supply divided by the monetary base, is at near record lows, courtesy of the $1 trillion in excess reserves.
Another popular meme in 2010 was pricing X in Y, most often the stock market in gold, in which basis it is still down for the year, as gold (not to mention silver), despite the short memory of many, is by and far the best performing asset class of 2010. Those who followed our advice in early 2010 to avoid stocks and to invest in gold, are ahead of most. The chart below takes a comic approach to this relative performance, showing how much the price of gas changed when priced in other "currencies."
Last, and probably most interesting, is the graphic presentation of the currency manipulator playbook: in a world in which Ben Bernanke knows very well he has little competition when it comes to doing as he chooses with the world's reserve currency (for now), other sovereigns are forced to come up with their unique responses. The playbook below shows all the various defensive tactics adopted so far. Luckily, few offensive plays have been established to date. We doubt that will be the status quo for a long time.
And as John Taylor and many others have pointed out, now that the fiscal "stimulus" of the payroll tax has been exhausted in a few short weeks courtesy of the jump in crude oil, and any further fiscal intervention not likely to occur unless Congress wants another incumbent bloodbath next time around, as Americans are tired of subsidizing banker lifestyles, expect to see many additions to the FX manipulation playbook, as the year progresses and monetary intervention continues to be the only direct way of making sure every new banker bonus year is a record one is via the Fed and its ongoing dollar printing-cum-debasement. That said, should the bankrupt European house of cards continue to wave a white flag of surrender every 3 months, the race to the bottom may not have a clear winner well after 2011 is also history.
All charts courtesy of BusinessWeek
robert shumake
Weirdest Finding of 2010? Balmain Hair Extensions – Fashionista <b>...</b>
Fashion Industry News, Designers, Runway Shows, Style Advice. Send Tips � Advertise � About Us � Network � Above the Law � AltTransport � Breaking Media � Fashionista. Search for: ... Posted in: Beauty, News ...
Foot-and-Mouth Outbreak Spreads Through South Korea - AOL <b>News</b>
South Korea is suffering its worst-ever outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, with the highly contagious virus spreading to farms across the country despite a nationwide quarantine effort.
Dawn Comes Twice in European Solar Eclipse - AOL <b>News</b>
A partial solar eclipse darkened European skies just after dawn this morning, casting an eerie darkness over the continent just as morning light was supposed to be spreading. But cloud cover prevented sky-gazers across much of the ...
robert shumake
robert shumake
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