Letter To A Fearless Leader

Foreword: Fairly early on, I promised myself I would not get involved in politics on this blog. It is the one area that can get me quite irritated. Yet here I am, feeling the need to acknowledge the hardship of the role of President of the United States. Ironically, I am not a U.S. Citizen and can't even vote....

August 29, 2011

Letter To A Fearless Leader

Dear Mr. President Obama,

Courage – defined as "the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc."

Nearly four years have passed since your election to Commander in Chief with the task to lead this nation into its next chapter. Your election brought hope to a country that was facing war and an economic crisis at the time. You became the symbol of the American spirit, we looked at you as the "American promise that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain." As so well stated in your acceptance speech, you made us "fix our eye not on what [was] seen, but what [was] unseen, that better place around the bend."

Anyone who has ever led a team or made a decision impacting more than a handful of people can appreciate the challenge of "doing the right thing" and pleasing the people you lead. If we magnified this sentiment and challenge by 1000, we would still not capture the burden carried by the position of President of the United States.

The role of President is defined by living in the public eye, being confronted with the consequences of decision making that is always accompanied by harsh, public criticism and the sobering citation of poll numbers. Let me state clearly that I do not and have not always agreed with your priorities and decisions. Neither with those of Congress. Yet public outlashing as so often heard is disrespectful and unnecessary.  Strong emotions are understandable when the fundamental beliefs of the people are impacted and you are dealing with people who believe and care about human rights and their country. That is what makes this nation so great.

The idea of living a normal life as President simply does not exist. There are no text books written on how to answer ethical questions raised by your daugthers. How do you explain that you cannot join your family for dinner because you have a war to lead and an attack to order?

The burden is mountainous: war, healthcare, unemployment, immigration, education, balancing the budget. The tasks are plentiful and never ending. The twists and turns are unpredictable, results delayed. None easily addressed. No right or wrong - though everyone not in your position believes otherwise and generally disagrees with the decision that was made independent of what it was.

One could argue that we are facing similar challenges today as we were in 2008: war and economic crisis. Political challenges in Iraq, Iran, Egypt, and Libya, the fight against terror, the Taliban… all challenges that we have faced before and continue to face. Many changes have taken place, some progress has been made. But many of these challenges remain and will remain; they are not contingent on who the leader of this country is.

At the beginning of your tenure in the White House, you committed to "end[ing] this war in Iraq responsibly and finish[ing] the fight against Al Qaida and the Taliban in Afghanistan...I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation, poverty and genocide, climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future."

An admirable call for duty, a dream worth fighting for. Chances of accomplishing them in the current political system, let's be honest, rather slim. The constant fight surrounding partisanship, which consistently blocks progress toward the overarching, possibly best solution.

How do you prioritize which goals to focus on? What is more important, saving the lives of our soldiers or creating jobs for our nation? Establishing a health care system that supports everyone, even the poorest, or making sure "no child is left behind"? Saving thousands of lives by preventing genocide and offering help to restore other nations' governments? All while balancing the budget and making sure the economy does not fall apart and managing the consequences of natural disasters.

Few live up to the demands of this job with grace; criticism is constant and unavoidable. Your presidency has raised the level of our international credibility, which we had lost for many years. You spoke of "restoring legacy" and your stewardship has raised our image across many nations.

Your governance, care, and intelligence have been respectable. You have set high goals for your tenure, which have been hard to accomplish and in the end may lead to a turnover in presidency come 2012.

Your dreams, efforts, and hopes whether accomplished or not, have been appreciated. Your courage is admirable. Stand tall, keep dreaming, and keep fighting.

All I ask is please do not mortgage the future of our children and think about the legacy: Yours and that of our World.

Courage – the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc.

 Image: http://obeygiant.com/images/2008/10/obama.jpg

Wall Street or As the World Turns

August 9, 2011

Wall Street or As the World Turns 

Harsh times – truly. As an investor, how do you prepare and how do you respond? Do you stay put and wait it out or do you try to make adjustments to your portfolio, which seem oh so unpredictable? It seems that every time I read the daily newspapers, the commentary on investments and stock markets is contradicting what it said the day before. And who is to blame with so much uncertainty, economic crises, etc. Who can truly predict how major investors react on a day-to-day basis. Us small fish only seem to be able to make small adjustments, the less risky kind, but we are clearly vulnerable to the large investors that seem to change direction from one day to another, with some fantastic master plan in mind: ripples for them, waves for us.

Image: http://www.loveisanorientation.com/

Just last week, there was an article in the WSJ talking about the promising after-IPO gains investors could benefit from.  The government had reached a consensus and made a budget deal, dare I say there seemed to be hope. Companies such as Pandora and LinkedIn that had recently seen great gains during their IPOs, seemed to signal positive energy in the market.  And then the tower started shaking… Standard and Poors downgraded the U.S.' AAA credit rating and the stock market began sliding. According to USA Today, the Dow slipped over 600 points yesterday, and those shining new stars on the stock market saw their share prices decline. The article continues to point out that the "window for IPOs [slammed] shut". In fact, if you have read any newspaper over the last few days, the most common headlines are "economic recession expected to be worse than in 2007" or "Just when it seemed safe, Wall Street tanks like it's 2008." How comforting. But where to turn?

International investments seem to be a non-option. Climbing debt is shaking the foundation of several economies/countries. The Euro may be a bit unpredictable, maybe not depreciating as rapidly as expected, but so far in 2011, the currency peaked in February and has been depreciating (with a few ups and downs) ever since. Real estate is a tough one these days [think long-term my fellow real estate owners!!]. Gold never seems to fail, up +3.7% yesterday and +20.3% for the year. [Protect your jewelry ladies!!]

So, what are our prospects? The Federal Reserve Policy Committee is meeting today to discuss the state of the economy, but seemingly no one expects a stimulus plan to be presented. The downgrading of the country's credit status has President Obama committed to finding additional ways to cut back and reduce the deficit [tax discussions remain on the table], though he clearly seemed aggravated by the credit rating and the impact it had on the already wounded economy. President Obama, I hear you loud and clear. If things were not bad enough, Wall Street just needs to add another layer of complexity, panic, and financial crisis….Thank you very much!!  While I do have investments and manage my portfolio, my random word associations with Wall Street are "legalized gambling" and "mafia". Too harsh? Obviously with discussions and credit ratings of the current nature, consumers will panic and spending will be conservative. The downward spiral continues. So who is helped? We shall return to this thought... 

To add to the investment and economic confusion, USA Today also reports that "U.S. banks get more cash than they want". With the European debt crisis, investors have pulled away from European banks leading to cash influx in the U.S., but apparently, they don't want the cash either given that there is little current opportunity to invest it profitably.

Oh what a dilemma! Those who have it don't want it and those who don't have it are desperately seeking it.  In the meantime, those controlling it are playing games and setting the world in panic [to make even more money]. So what are we supposed to do? Once again, are we supposed to stay put in fear of rising unemployment and layoffs? Should we conserve our savings and spend cautiously? By the way what is going to happen to our interest rates and inflation? Let's see what the Fed's policy committee comes back with. Better yet, let's not read newspapers for a week and pretend Wall Street does not exist and everything is the same…oh what peace….