G'Day From Downunder

Make the cup of tea strong this week 'cos the subject I've got for you will be equally strong.

Some months ago I touched on the subject of 'Big Business Banks' and their likes and how they rip off the poor, so now let me raise my voice in condemnation of the $3,000 suit men.

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are two names that would very easy slot into any comedy act or Disney show and we all might very well be in hysterics.

However, this is no laughing matter and this is not the first time the finance industry has been brought to its knees by the greed merchants or as I like to call them "the $3000 suit men".

Those mortgage lenders lent monies to people who could not afford to pay.

What logic lay behind their decision? To help the poor? I think not! To build up a good reputation? I think not! To line their own pocket? That is more accurate.

To be even more precise, greed......greed......greed! I can't say the word enough times.

Those greed merchants knew the fairytale would end one day and if they didn't know, they should have known.

Who now takes responsibility for the massive lump of Cow Poo that's choking the economies of the world? Someone has to.

The company executives blame the sales force and the sales force blames the client. Who does the client blame? The dog?

I say good leaders attract good followers and bad leaders attract bad followers.

Like usually hangs around with like, therefore, if a company doesn't have good smart and strong leadership as it should have then it doesn't have the right ingredients to provide a good and honest service for its clients.

I live about ten thousand miles from you in the US (New York) and I was not educated at Harvard or Oxford.

I left school at the age of twelve unable to read or write and Dyslexic to boot, yet even I was able to understand what was coming.

I'm no Warren Buffet I had spent some time with a US economist in Sydney in 2005.

We discussed the future decline of the US market and he explained the sub prime mortgage pending disaster to me then.

So again I ask you, if I knew what was going to happen in the US what in God's name are those 'Captains of Finance' getting paid for?

Excuse my cynicism, to play golf on Wednesdays and tennis on Thursdays? I think not! It sure looks like it for they certainly don't have their finger on the pulse of their responsibilities and while the mortgage sector is falling apart don't think the rest of the finance industry is any smarter.

Those university educated text book gurus, the geniuses with their arrogant smirks and little or no practical experience, whose only concern is for their own comfort and lifestyle, those who like to play Monopoly with your hard earned money spare no thought for their victims.

I said a while ago in one of my articles that I wouldn't even have some of those Dum Dums wash my car or allow them to sweep my office floor.

I have been in the financial industry for over twenty five years and I can tell you I have met some real egg heads in $3000 suits.

It doesn't make you smart; just because you wear a $3000 suit and it doesn't make you trustworthy either.

Trust is something you earn over many years with lots and lots of practical experience not something you get with a college degree and a silver tongue.

Too many people have lost their life's savings at the hands of those so called financial gurus.

Again hundreds of thousands of people have been led up the garden path by those greed merchants who obviously learned nothing and I mean nothing, from previous crashes.

After all who cares? It's only your money and they walk away Scott free, in lots of cases with a Golden Handshake, only to move on to create another disaster for some other poor suckers.

Governments have to bring in more stringent laws to make these $3000 suit men, not more accountable, but accountable period.

They have been getting away with their theories and Monopoly game for far too long.

If I put my hand in your pocket and pulled out a wad of notes I would get arrested and get time in jail, however if I gamble your money on the stock market and loose the lot that's okay. No! No! No! It's not okay at least not in my book.

Do you remember Alan Bond the Australian entrepreneur? If not you should.

He's the one who masterminded and organised the funding of The Australia II attack on the America's Cup in 1983, and where do you think the money came from? Out of his own pocket? No, it came out of the stockholders pockets.

He won the America's Cup but sent his company and stockholders to the bottom of the sea.

In case you are wondering, no, he is not going to share any of his $265 Million wealth with the stockholders whose money he stupidly and reckless lost back then.

I tell you there are more crooks in $3000 suits, than you will ever find in dark alleys.

One of my favourite sayings is, "no one on this earth can look after your money better that yourself," for the minute you give it to someone else its not going to hurt them as much as you if they badly invest or loose it.

If there is anything to be learned from this current disaster let it be 'you never trust any of those financial whizzes' you always make them accountable to you; if you are tempted to invest make sure you meet regularly with them to monitor how your funds are growing and if they are not growing don't be shy to ask why. After all it is your money.

We live in a changing world and so do investments. There is a time to be in conservative stocks and a time to be in aggressive stocks and anyone who is worth their pound of salt in the finance industry should know when to be in and out of conservative and aggressive. It is called timing the market.

The lazy finance gurus say it's time in the market not timing the market. I say that's bullshit; get off you ass and earn your big fat salaries, be proactive not reactive.

Yes there is an enormous arrogant streak in the finance industry no question about it.

We supposedly live in a time of service and yet you would have to put a bazooka to some financial advisers asses to get them to come and see you.

They expect you to take a day off work to go and visit them.

If you are not being educated on the workings of the investment world and meeting your adviser at least once a year to bring you up to date with what's happening with your funds its time to get some one who appreciates your business.

If you were meeting with your adviser, as you should have been, your monies would and should have been placed in conservative funds and the dilemma of the current situation would be of much less concern to you.

My analysis of the industry is about 70%-30%. 70% is working to make money for themselves and 30% to help you. If you do decide to change advisers I suggest you interview at least two if not three others. So don't make quick decisions, be well prepared and don't hesitate to check their background thoroughly.

Let's say you had two or three hundred thousand dollars to invest in the stock market but instead you decided to buy another house and you then rented it to me.

Wouldn't you want to do a thorough check on me to make sure I was employed and could afford the rent etc? You would check my credentials in my last rental property to make sure I didn't abuse it wouldn't you? If not you should.

So must you check he or she who is looking after your retirement fund. Be wise with your hard earned money, learn from the past. Trust doesn't make you rich, wise decisions do.

Heed those wise words: "a fool and his money are soon parted".

To those of you who lost your homes and retirement funds my prayers are with you tonight.

To those of you who caused this blight it's time to stand up and be responsible for your actions.

Of, course although I have addressed these comments to the USA and its finance industry, the impact of recent happenings reverberate around the whole developed world.

Australian stock markets have fallen in the same way as American and although the mortgage market is in less of a mess our $3,000 suit men operate in much the same way as yours and with little more care about the hardship they bring to people by their actions.

Until next time be good to those who love you and Slainte from Downunder.