Greenback University

Greenback Review: “On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System”

David — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 21:19:03 +0000

When Hank Paulson came to Washington from Goldman Sachs in 2006, he could hardly have known that he would soon find himself at the center of the efforts to save the global financial system from collapse. As Fannie and Freddie began to falter, and as the global credit markets dried up, Paulson, in concert with Bernanke, Geithner, and others, worked tirelessly to prevent further catastrophes. As we all know, the situation became far worse, eventually reaching its peak in September of 2008 as formerly venerable firms such as Lehman Brothers and AIG faced imminent demise.

“On the Brink” gives a fascinating first-hand account of these events and provides a glimpse into the politics, strategy, and the economic realities of the financial crisis and the government’s controversial responses to it. Overall, Paulson does a good job of tying together the relevant facts and dynamics of the crisis with an interesting (and relevant) bit of personal narrative and character reflection. While “On the Brink” is a fairly pleasant read, some parts are a bit technical. As somewhat of an economics/finance nerd, I really appreciate this aspect of the book; however some may need to do a bit of Google-ing to keep up. Either way, I would certainly recommend “On the Brink” as a great way to understand the financial crisis and some of the major players involved.

“On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System” by Henry M. Paulson, Jr. was released by Business Plus (New York) earlier this month.

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Get Rid of That Early Morning Email Addiction!

Nikolai — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:33:26 +0000

41% of people check their email before they do anything else in the morning. This often leads to increased stress and decreased productivity. Are you a part of this group? What can you do to get off this habit?

This habit can be attributed to the task dominant lifestyle we tend to lead. In a strange way, we look for new tasks we need to perform without considering the fact that there are plenty of important tasks left undone. This leads to increased stress as our pile of work grows the second we wake up. This habit sets the tone for the rest of the day. If you do this every day (as most do), then you are setting that tone for the rest of your life.

Here is a simple plan to get off this habit:

1. Gather your inspirational resources

iPhone and iTouch users – Download the Solace and Courage Iphone App by Ajnaware. For those of you who are not familiar with this app, I consider it to be one of the best applications out there and easily the most inspirational.

Non iPhone or iTouch users – Print quotes from either Third Minds or another website with inspirational quotes. On a side note, we promise to keep updating our quotes section!

2. Read at least 3 quotes on either the app or the paper the second you wake up. Then pause for exactly one minute and think about them.

If you follow this habit I guarantee you will find yourself leading happier days and sleeping better. What has been your experience doing this? Any other tips you use to start the day off successfully?

For more success tips and resources visit www.thirdminds.com.

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Thriving in the New Economy

Elizabeth — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 13:26:16 +0000

Lori Ann LaRocco of CNBC just published her first book, Thriving in the New Economy: Lessons from Today’s Top Business Minds. She recently discussed it in an interview which is posted on Clusterstock at http://www.businessinsider.com/business-news/jan-21-larocco1-2010-1. In her interview she illustrated some key points from her book about dealing with the drastic changes occurring right now in the U.S. economy.

We all know that we have been in a downward spiral but the “Top Business Minds” that LaRocco interviewed for her book saw and continue to foresee pockets of opportunity. These can make even the everyday investor a good amount of money if they invest carefully. As Ron Baron said, you need to invest in what you know. He was less affected by the recession because he never invested in derivatives since he didn’t understand them. He suggested investing in institutions of higher education– while more people are being laid-off, they are returning to school to complete higher levels of education. Likewise, you should stay away from the consumer-discretionary sector because consumer spending has plummeted.

Another interesting point that LaRocco made is that governments need to work with businesses during a recession. This means rather than instituting taxes, governments should be encouraging them (someone should tell President Obama!).

We all learn harsh lessons during bad times but those that take advantage of opportunities will come out of the recession relatively unscathed.

Obama Proposes Tough Restrictions on Banks

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Obama Proposes Tough Restrictions on Banks

David — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 23:33:18 +0000

In an effort to prevent another banking crisis (or, alternately, to gain political points as his administration continues to loose favor) Barack Obama has proposed some tough new restrictions on the banking industry. Among the suggested changes, Obama supports the prevention of banks from owning or investing in hedge funds and from carrying out proprietary trading operations. His backers claim this will help to tamp down on volatility and prevent banks from becoming “too big to fail”. However, in a recent CNBC article, Ralph Fogel, an investment strategist at Fogel Neale Partners, explained his view of the consequences of this in pretty stark terms:

“This is going to have a tremendous impact on big-name brokerage firms like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan [...] If they stop prop trading, it will not only dry up liquidity in the market, but it will change the whole structure of Wall Street, of the whole trading community.”

As you can imagine, the Street did not take receive the President’s proposals too favorably as the Dow fell 2% on Thursday, with the country’s major banks leading the slide. This follows a proposal last week by the administration to tax financial firms to help pay for the funds spent on their bailout packages.

It’s difficult to assess at this point just how detrimental these proposals will be, or to what extent their affects are felt. At first glance, it doesn’t seem to make much sense to rein in banks and financial firms just as the economy is beginning to recover. I’m also tempted to wonder about the constructiveness of this proposal, as opposed to the obvious punitive element. Should we worry when government appears to take an adversarial approach to business?

To read more about this, check out these articles from CNBC:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/34975288

http://www.cnbc.com/id/34978454

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Best Advice, Worst Advice and General Thoughts for Students Starting Their Own Business from Fracture

Adam — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:48:16 +0000

The Fracture Team discusses the best and worst advice they’ve ever recieved as well as doles out some of their own to students thinking about starting a business.

What advice do you have for students thinking about starting their own business?

What’s the worst advice you ever received as a startup?

What’s it like being a startup in Gainesville?

What advice would you offer to students on choosing a business partner?

Any other advice for students looking in to entrepreneurship?

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Fracture Talks about Starting a Business Straight Out of School

Adam — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:33:17 +0000

In the videos below, the Fracture Team talks about starting a business straight out of college including their motivations, their long-term goals and what gave them the conviction to forgo grad school to tackle this opportunity.

What are you here for? What did you want to get out of starting this business?

What is your vision for the future of this business looking down the road?

Can you talk about your Business Plan and how important planning is for starting a new venture?

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Secret to Becoming Smarter in 5 Days

Nikolai — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 07:15:28 +0000

Our goal in life should be to let others know how smart we really are, right? We spend our time taking tests, applying for awards, and interviewing all in an attempt to justify our skill set. But how do we define “smart”? It appears we have arrived at this definition: A core competency in a narrow area. This area consists of individuals far more knowledgeable than us and our aim becomes to seek and interact with these individuals. The focus on this specific area creates a habit of socializing with like-minded individuals while ignoring others with diverse skill sets.

Here is the Success Secret: Every single person is smarter than you in at least one regard (if you’re like me than probably more).

The intense focus on our one area of interest needs to be toned down. To escape this end, I propose a 5 day challenge. Each day in the challenge spend 10-15 minutes with a person you have always overlooked. Dig out that area where they surpass you and just listen. At the end of those 5 days you will find yourself a more complete individual in areas that never even occurred to you. That’s intelligence!

How did this go for you? What were those 5 encounters like?

Check out Third Minds for more success tips and tricks.

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Microsoft Problems

Elizabeth — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:16:59 +0000

Most have heard by now that Google has announced plans to leave China due to a hack which obtained the emails of activists opposed to the Chinese government policies. But what allowed these hackers to gain this information which was censored by Google? Microsoft. A security problem with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser is to blame for the successful hack. This computer attack has been all over the news but the same problem has affected over 20 other companies.

Less concerning but quite bizarre– a number of Microsoft smart phone owners have been receiving messages from the future. This problem began on New Year’s Day and the number of those experiencing the problem has steadily risen. When receiving texts, the dates on the texts show the year 2016.

To read the full article, go to http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/12/microsoft.2016.bug/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Microsoft’s Jim Allchin Goes Above and Beyond Corporate Executive

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Best Places to Work

Elizabeth — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:12:07 +0000

Glassdoor recently released their list of the top 50 places to work. While last year General Mills topped the list, Southwest Airlines is now on top. If you’re still looking for a job, make sure to check out this list as well as the rest of glassdoor.com. It’s a great source for information on salaries and company reviews, as well as interviews questions.

http://www.glassdoor.com/Best-Places-to-Work-LST_KQ0,19.htm?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=best-cnl-best&utm_campaign=best-cnl

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Entrepreneurial Activity Increases Among the 44+ Set

David — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:56:01 +0000

While entrepreneurial endeavors have typically been undertaken by young people (energy, enthusiasm, no kids), a recent study finds that older Americans are now more active in starting their own businesses. Meanwhile, entrepreneurial activity has decreased amongst the typical 18-44 age group. Questions remain as to the cause of this trend, although the study’s authors seem to suggest that tight financing from formal and informal sources (family, friends, and fools) may be partly to blame. While young would-be entrepreneurs tend to have little of their own capital to work with, experienced professionals in the midst of a career change may have a bit more to draw on as they strike out on their own.

Here’s the link to the original story at FoxBusiness. From there, you can link to the study from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor.

http://www.foxsmallbusinesscenter.com/humanresources/2010/01/13/older-americans-boldly-started/

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