Archive for November, 2009

My “Feel-Rich” magazine arrived this morning

November 23rd, 2009

This is the cheapest “Pick-me-up” I know
The New York Times “T” magazine was delivered with my copy of the International Herald Tribune this morning, making my day. I can’t think of anything else that lifts me into another class the way the ads and the articles in this magazine do. I guess it’s because it advertises all sorts of items that I would not normally buy and features articles about all sorts of exotic places that I will probably never visit. Whatever, I read it from cover to cover, ads and all.

The watches
The watch ads are what get me really turned on. I haven’t worn a watch for about 10 years now, mainly because I am either in front of the computer which shows the time, or busy with a cell-phone which does the same. A watch is an unnecessary accessory. But that doesn’t stop me from looking at them and often wishing that I had one, especially one of the new-look hi-tech models. I could really go for that black Chopard that sells for about $6,000. For a change the Rolex ad has no picture of a watch but of filmmaker Martin Scorsese and the names of some other greats who wear Rolex watches. Maybe I’ll arrive one day…

Phnom Penh
I enjoyed this article. I have traveled in Thailand, set foot into Laos, and longed to visit Vietnam, often described at the most beautiful country in the world. Cambodia has never featured in my plans and the John Bowe’s article came as an eye-opener and made me move Phnom Penh up a couple of notches on my “places-to-visit’ list. The wealthy among us do not keep such lists, they simply go.

Hotel Stationery
This article is stunning. Whenever we stay over in a hotel, my wife comes home with little bottles of shampoo and miniature soaps in fancy wrappers, but whoever thought of collecting the little note pads that hotels place next to the phone in case you have to jot down a number in a hurry? Eric Torkells’ article opened a whole new world, not only about the collecting part of the notebooks but the creating of a record of one’s hotel stays. Staying in hotels always makes me feel wealthy and it’s a nice break from cadging beds from friends.

The fashion mobile phone
It had to happen, of course. The cell phone is now part of the fashion world. The one-page ad by a company called Vertu showing a hand holding a cell phone took me by surprise, but all that means is none of my children or their children own one of these fashion phones. I Googled it. Vertu is a British-based manufacturer and retailer of luxury mobile phones. The company is an independently run, wholly-owned subsidiary of the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia. Their phones look good on their website. I will probably never change my first generation job for one of these. But like the watches, they look great!

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Watch your money – Ponzi’s back in business

November 21st, 2009

Could Bernie Madoff be running a franchise operation?
Here we go again – the same headlines, the same accusations and the same agonized shrieks and violent threats coming from gypped investors. It all sounds so familiar.

Virus Warning
If someone, anyone, whether his name is Ponzi, Madoff, Standford, Tannebaum or anything else, offers you a return on your investments of 20 percent per month, hit delete and run for your life. You were at the point of losing everything. You were about to be stung by the Ponzi virus.

Money
Money is a strange thing – everyone wants it. They want theirs and they want yours too. If they have some they want more. Then they want yours no matter how little or how much you have. Some people cannot control their desire for money and will go to great lengths to get their hands on it. And some, of course, are prepared to sit in jail and ponder over their failure to make the hit.

A recession
Every financial situation gives rise to a new crop of crooks, those who come out of the woodwork when they get a whiff of money. The recession is producing its share of these people as well. Simply put, new financial conditions produce new challenges.

The recession factor A
One of the good (?) effects of the recession is that old and ongoing Ponzi schemes are not only affected, they are ravaged by the same fiscal turbulence pounding the world’s legitimate businesses. They have been collapsing at a record clip, exposing prolific, rampant and colossal frauds that have bilked investors of billions of dollars.

The recession factor B
The bad effects of the recession are that many more people are trying to set up fraudulent money making schemes. They use the low interest rates that prevail in such times to entice investors (read suckers) into placing money with them at high and unobtainable interest rates.

The latest
A South African by the name of Tannenbaum launched a scheme which has fleeced billions of dollars from about 400 investors, including some very high-profile businessmen. The scheme has been operating for about four years and provided investors a return of more than 20 percent over three months. In all honesty I ask you, if someone came and offered you an investment plan that would pay more than 20 percent over three months, wouldn’t you be suspicious, or at least cautious?

The high profilers
In every one of these Ponzi schemes that has burst into the limelight, we hear the agonized screams of the injured, the lamed and the ruined. “I put my life savings in there,” he/she sobs to the media. “How could my friend do this to me?”

It’s easy
According to the many Ponzi stories on the internet, it’s easy to get into this business. No start-up capital required. Just a little nerve and a great big uncontrollable desire to make money on someone else’s back.

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Tiger Woods, the world’s first sports billionaire

November 20th, 2009

He is every youngster’s dream come true

Here’s what Forbes Magazine had to say about the golf maestro: “Woods had earned a cumulative $895m going into 2009, by our estimates, from prize money, appearance fees, endorsements, bonuses and his golf course design business. If you add his $10.5m in 2009 prize money, the FedEx bonus and his take so far this year from his more than $100m in annual off-the-course earnings, Woods’ career earnings are now 10 figures.”

It’s all from playing a game

It is given to very few men or women to become the very best in the world and on top of that, to earning a billion dollars doing what you like best. Tiger Woods is a phenomenon, an almost unnatural man with the grit and resolution to be the best and then having the instinctive know-how to manage it all, both on the golf course and in the office. I’m sure he is not the manager of the billion dollars, but I bet that he has the ability to find good managers that he can depend on.

A hundred million a year

The world’s greatest golfer has made more than 100 million a year for the last 3 years in a row and will certainly match that in 2009, Last year Woods had a 8 month lay off after he had knee surgery but this had little effect on has annual earnings. Woods’ actual earnings on the golf course only amount to 10% of his income and the rest comes from his massive sponsorships.

Where the money comes from

Prize money: $8m. Career prize money, earned from competitions played around the world but mostly in the US.
Appearance fees: $15m. Woods demands $3 million a time for appearing in prestigious events around the globe and on average he will accept five invitations a year.
Course Design: $10m. Three courses are being built, one in Dubai featuring mansions and palaces, one in Punta Brava, Mexico and his first designed in the US, The Cliffs at High Carolina.
Sponsorship: $55m. Nike pays $20m a year for Woods to promote the Tiger Woods name on their equipment, Gillette offer $15m for promoting their razors, and global management consulting Accenture pay him another $20m a year. Total Amount $111 million.

The challenge

Tiger Woods insists it is not the money that drives him, but the tremendous challenge that the game presents and his love of glory. He is currently four Majors short of equaling Jack Nicklaus record of 18. Woods is now 33 and with his form and his terrific dedication to the sport, it looks like he will equal that record before long.

The dream

Every kid has a dream and it’s usually to be the best at something. But how many have the determination to realize their dreams, especially when one takes into account all the traps and obstacles that have to be overcome along the way to glory. Well done, Tiger!

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