Posts Tagged ‘financial’

Tiny country – BIG in history, culture and economy! This week on Your Financial Editor.

Friday, May 13th, 2011

Be sure to join me this week  – my guest will be the ambassador of a very interesting country tucked away in Western Europe.  Rich in both history and culture, Liechtenstein has evolved from being a poor agricultural society to being one the most highly industrialized countries in the world!  Find out their role in today’s global economy.

Join us this Saturday morning at 8am on AM 930 WFMD, or listen from your pc by logging onto WFMD’s website and click the listen live button.

About this week’s guest:

Claudia Fritsche
Ambassador of the Principality of Liechtenstein
to the United States of America

 Ambassador Claudia Fritsche assumed her duties as the first resident Ambassador of Liechtenstein in Washington at the beginning of October 2002, after leaving her post in New York, where she had served as the Permanent Representative of the Principality of Liechtenstein to the United Nations from 1990 to 2002. Ambassador Fritsche served as Vice-President and Member of the General Committee of the United Nations General Assembly during its 48th Session. From June 1999 to September 2002 she served as President of the International Association of Permanent Representatives to the United Nations. Ambassador Fritsche headed the Liechtenstein delegation at major UN conferences.

She joined the Office for Foreign Affairs of the Principality of Liechtenstein on 1 June 1978 and served in a variety of diplomatic functions, inter alia as Secretary to the Liechtenstein parliamentary delegations to the Council of Europe and to the European Free Trade Association, as well as within the Liechtenstein Embassies in Berne and Vienna and the Permanent Representation to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

Mrs. Fritsche represented the Liechtenstein Government on the European Committee on Equality between Women and Men (CEEG) from April 1987 until August 1990, while also chairing the Liechtenstein National Committee on Equality between Women and Men.

Mrs. Fritsche was the personal secretary to the Liechtenstein Head of Government from 1970 to 1974 and to the Deputy Head of Government from March to August 1974.

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Sometimes boring is better.

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

The old economy, the new economy, the old economy is new again, and so it goes on and on.  With all of the “noise” from the financial media these days, people seem to be pulled to gold one minute, Apple stock the next (before reverting back to treasuries because of the worries of the world).

The fact of the matter is that the old boring implementation of Asset Allocation may be just what the doctor ordered for your portfolio.  Asset Allocation is based on something called Modern Portfolio Theory, which actually won the Nobel Prize in Economics.  It simply directs an investor to invest in core asset classes as opposed to trying to time the market, pick the next hot stock, etc.  Let me offer what is probably the best example of Modern Asset Allocation and Modern Portfolio Theory.  Mr. David Swensen, Chief Investment Officer for the $16 billion Yale University Endowment Fund, utilizes Asset Allocation. 

So beware of the “noise” out there, the buy this & sell that, get into this trend, the Dow is going to 20,000…no, wait, it’s going to 4,000.  Let me give you one example before down my pen.  When Mr. Swensen was asked about Jim Cramer from CNBC’s “Mad Money”, he said the following about Mr. Cramer:

“Educated at Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Cramer squanders his extraordinary credentials and shamelessly promotes stunningly inappropriate investment advice to an all-too-gullible audience.”

Asset Allocation vs. Investment “Noise”…sometimes boring is better.

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A Whole New Government Agency…Really??

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

Well it’s official…the administration is creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The new bureaucracy is being formed after a year long battle in congress that was led by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D) of Connecticut and Rep. Barney Frank (D) of Massachusetts.  More than a few Americans are questioning why Obama would pile on this new layer at a time of record government spending and deficits.   They have a point.

I mean, why wouldn’t the government focus its time and effort on enforcing all of the rules and regulations that exist already and have existed for decades.  Two former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairmen have said just that, “we don’t need new laws from Washington D.C., we just need those with the responsibility to step up and do their jobs”.  Instead, we hear stories of SEC enforcement officials surfing pornography at their work desks on the American taxpayer’s dime.  What a pathetic sight that must have been, don’t you agree?

So, who will build and lead this new agency?  Will it be Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard professor, or another Ivy League or Washington insider?  We’ll know this answer very soon.  The next questions are:

1.) Will the nominee be able to work with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner?

2.) Will the annual budget of $500,000,000.00 (yes, that’s $500,000,000.00 every year) corrupt those in power at the agency?

This administration, and the government in general, have not been able to balance its own checkbook and keep elected and appointed officials, aides, etc. in order…do they really expect the citizens of this great country to believe the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will do any better for you and me?

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The real people behind Lehman Brother’s fall and what makes our economy work? This week on Your Financial Editor w/ Chris Murray

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

Chris Murray, Your Financial Editor

Two of the best of past YFE programs will be on this week.  First up is an interview with Vicky Ward, author of The Devil’s Casino - friendship, betrayal, and the high stakes games played inside Lehman Brothers before the fall.  The second guest will be economist Craig Thomas, who penned The Econosphere - a look into what makes the economy really work, how can we protect it, and how can you maximize your opportunity for financial prosperity.  Join Chris this Saturday morning at 8am on AM 930 WFMD, or listen from your pc by logging onto www.wfmd.com and clicking the listen live button.

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A single ATM withdrawal involves 10 separate organizations working together – should you trust their integrity? This week on Your Financial Editor!

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

What do drinking safe milk, driving a car, withdrawing cash and financial reform have in common?  Tune in Saturday, on Your Financial Editor, when Chris Murray examines how the common thread of integrity is the bedrock of our economy and of our society.  Join Chris and his guest, Anna Bernasek, author of The Economics of Integrity.  Saturday morning at 8am (Eastern) on AM 930 WFMD, or listen from anywhere by logging onto www.wfmd.com.

About This Week’s Author:

Anna Bernasek is a regular contributor to the Economic View column in the New York Times.  She has been a staff writer covering finance and the economy at Fortune Magazine, TIME Magazine, and Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.  She has frequently appeared as a guest commentator on broadcast media including CNN, CNBC, public television and NPR.  Anna lives and works in New York City.

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Dangers of “Too Big to Fail” bailout policies – this week on Your Financial Editor

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

Chris Murray - YFE

Banks fail – some are hardly noticed.  Some, depending on their size, capture the attention of an entire nation…or even the world.  Saturday, on YFE, Chris Murray will be talking with Gary Stern, author of the book, Too Big to Fail. The potential effects of a big bank failing include risks to other financial institutions, to the financial system, and to social and economic order.  In response to these risks, policymakers in many countries respond by protecting these failing banks – making them ”too big to fail” or TBTF.  Chris and his guest will examine why these policies are a problem and will also explore better ways to deal with this issue.   Saturday morning at 8am (Eastern) on AM 930 WFMD, or listen from anywhere by logging onto www.wfmd.com.

About This Week’s Author:

Gary Stern recently retired as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.  He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Council on Economic Education and the Northwest Area Foundation.

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