Archive for August, 2010

The Fake Market Is Thriving

August 24th, 2010

If it’s an article of quality there are fakes to be had
If it can be made, it can be faked as well. It means anything from a Rolex watch to a Gucci handbag. This is a story about a shopkeeper in Italy who placed an order with a Chinese sneaker factory for 3,000 pairs of white Nike Tiempo indoor soccer shoes. The order read “urgent”. The factory had no license to make Nikes. They didn’t mind. A week later they had a pair of authentic Nike Tiempos, took them apart, studied their stitching and molding, drew up their own design and produced 3,000 Nike clones. A month later the shoes were shipped to Italy. They are now awaiting repeat orders.

Masterfaker
The faker, Lin, has spent most of his adult life making sneakers, though he only entered the counterfeit business about five years ago. “What we make depends on the order,” Lin said. “But if someone wants Nikes, we’ll make them Nikes.”

The fake market
The fake market is thriving. In the last fiscal year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized more than $260 million worth of counterfeit goods. The goods included counterfeit Snuggies, DVDs, brake pads, computer parts and baby formula. But for four years, counterfeit footwear has topped the seizure list of the customs service; in the last fiscal year it accounted for nearly 40 percent of total seizures. Electronics made up the second-largest share in that year, with about 12 percent of the total.

Nike
Nike is widely considered to be the most counterfeited brand of sneakers. One Nike employee estimated that there was one fake Nike item for every two authentic ones. The fake factory is off-white, five stories tall and fronted by a brown metal gate. It was a seasonable summer afternoon when I visited. Lin is 32, with a wispy mustache and a disarming smirk. He met me outside the factory and took me through the gate. We scaled two flights of aluminum stairs and entered a production floor echoing with the grinding and hissing noises of industrial labor. A few dozen workers stuffed shoe tongues with padding, brushed glue onto foot molds and ran laces through nearly finished sneakers. Nike and Adidas boxes were stacked in one corner, a pile of Asics uppers in another. On this particular day, the factory was churning out hundreds of Trail Runners.

The Nike trail
In September 2007, police officers in New York City seized 291,699 pairs of fake Nikes from two warehouses in Brooklyn. The early morning raids were part of a simultaneous crackdown on a counterfeiting ring with tentacles in China, New York and at least six other American states. Employing undercover agents and wiretapping, the joint operation, run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the police exposed a scheme in which counterfeit Nikes arrived from China, were stored in Brooklyn and then shipped, often via UPS, to stores around the US. The total street value of the seized goods turned out to be just over $31 million.

Posted in Economy, Personal / Internet | No Comments »

August 30th Will Be a Big Day for Warren Buffett

August 23rd, 2010

Happy 80th to the “Oracle of Omaha.” And many, many more!
Here’s one man who will not be applying for any kind of loan in order to throw a birthday bash. For Warren Buffet this will be another milestone in his long and successful life. So here I am, a little early in the long line, come to shake your hand. “Congratulations, Mr. Buffett! Well done for a life well lived. May you have many more good years.”

Berkshire Hathaway
As chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. for almost half a century, you have become deservedly very rich and very famous, truly an American original. Arguably the greatest investor of them all, you have been unwavering in your investing principles, a buy-and-holder who once said: “My favorite time for holding a stock is forever.” Well, in fact, Warren, you have sold stocks from time to time that you didn’t feel would pay off over that forever time-frame. And some of your few critics have said that you have held on to certain investments too long.

The difference
Every time I read about you in the news, I wonder briefly what makes you different from the rest of us, how and why you became the great investor you are. I came to the conclusion that it is a case of rare intelligence enhanced by focus and a real understanding of people. Here’s an example. About 15 years ago, when you were around 65, someone asked you about your plans for retirement. You were quoted as saying, “Retirement plans? About five to 10 years after I die.” I’ve never met a 65 years old businessman who thinks like that.

The numbers game
I’m 65 and while people say age is just a number, these are getting to be significant numbers. As someone who really knows numbers, you will know that 80 is a more significant number in life’s time frame than 65. Sixty-five is official old age. Eighty is roughly the life expectancy of the average American. Not that you are an average American, even if you do like to cultivate that down-home image, an image that has worn well over the years and continues to endear you to millions of admirers. Your well-chronicled wit and wisdom help put a very human countenance on a deeply complex character, a financial genius so far above the crowd.

The charity thing
Recently, you and your friend Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft took philanthropy to new levels, talking 50 other billionaires into pledging half of their fortunes to charity. You’d already said a few years ago that you’d give 98% of your fortune of almost $50-billion to the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation. This has put an entirely new perspective on the subject of wealth.

Celebrate
Once again, best wishes for the big day, Warren. Go down to the Dairy Queen and get yourself one of those big cones you like.

Posted in Economy, Finance | 1 Comment »

Did You Inherit The Family Jewels?

August 20th, 2010

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