Small Businesses and Profits, Wall Street Has Lost It's Reputation, and High End Vegas Housing Troubles.

An interesting article at the NY Times on the loss of Wall Street firms reputations. If one has read any history on Wall Street firms, you would know they have always been knee deep in all kinds of shenanigans. The article mentions the good ol boy network, which exists in almost every field. The one thing which is not mentioned is how the creme usually rises to the top. Jaimie Dimon endured plenty of humiliation by being fired at Citi, for really no reason other than the nepotism of Sandy Weill, and had to wait a year to get the head job at Bank One, which was in the dumps. He then turned it around, JP Morgan bought it and made him head honcho, and a few years later, he is now the king of Wall Street. Patience, brains, toughness and doing your homework paid off for Mr. Dimon, as it usually does for those with those unique traits.

Here is the article: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/as-wall-st-firms-grow-their-reputations-are-dying/

Nice summary by a business owner on the psychology of making a profit when you are a small business. Most businesses, contrary to what many people believe, are small businesses. Just a thought- no huge company became that way without first evolving froma startup, to a small business, and then a medium sized business, and then a monster.

http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/26/what-it-means-to-make-a-profit/?ref=business

Finally, as a Las Vegas born and raised here, it makes me a bit sad to see the state of our housing environment. I can recall for 15 years in a row, you could buy a house really cheap. Now you can again, and probably will be able to for a few more years. The only other pertinent comment is when you see markets going up 50% or so in a year, it might be a good time to wonder is this sustainable, or at least ask somebody else the question. If more people would have done that, well, they didn't and we are where we are.

As always, on any company mentioned here, past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. One should research any investment and make sure it is suitable with your objectives, risk tolerance, risk profile liquidity considerations, tax situation, and anything else pertinent to your financial situation. Also, the CFA credential in no way implies investment returns will be superior for any charterholder.

Yale Bock, CFA
President, Y H & C Investments