Marc Sussman's Money Message Blog

As not to downplay the importance of the upcoming election, let me say that if you don't kmow who to vote for at this point, I will pray for you. Moving on.

Some time ago, I began writing a series of articles called America in Recovery. I did this because addiction is very easily identified – if you’re an addict. Let me be direct about what I see. I have been there.

We’ve all known family members who seem to be able to hold it together, to keep jobs, have relationships, to function in spite of something so destructive really going on.This is exactly what has been developing in our country for decades, and now accelerates in our financial system. Our financial infrastructure is crumbling, despite the frantic efforts being made to shore it up. America is fast approaching its bottom, (the addict bottom- not the market one) and our financial problems though seemingly insurmountable are not our biggest problem - but more on that later.

Now, I have never made the short list of those considered for the Nobel Prize for Economics. In the past I’ve needed an interpreter to understand the comments of then Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan. My financial credentials and background do not include MIT, Princeton or any of the many impressive think tanks that have produced so many of the “smartest guys in the room”. It’s not investing acumen that caused me to begin to reallocate client money to CD’s 2 years ago. I just know an addict when I see one. Most of the finance world trusted, blinded by our “apparent” success, but forgot that good ideas are nothing without good intentions.

A trillion here, a trillion there, pretty soon you’re talkin’ about real money.

Ladies and gentleman, we’re seeing the greatest grift in our history. If you look up a grift in the dictionary, its defined as a swindle - a confidence game.

We’re told by regulators, bankers, politicians, that they didn’t know that deregulating the banking industry would lead to problems. They didn’t know that if you bypassed the process of actually qualifying for residential loans you’d have problems later on. If your breath could fog a mirror - you qualified.

In other words, the people lending the money were not concerned about how it would be repaid. We should have asked why. It was simple - they sold the loan the minute the loan closed. Other institutions bought these questionable loans. Again, we should have asked why.

They say they didn’t know that the loans were questionable. That’s one big pile of cowchips, boy. These are the smartest guys in the room.

They packaged these risky loans into investments called CDO’s. Collateralized Debt Obligations. Then they sold them back to us. As the loans were becoming worthless, they sold them to us.

This is what is called a grift.

And so, in the twilight of their careers - at just the right moment - many, many Chief Executives at financial firms cashed out to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in phony profits. Are these grifters going to jail? No. Are we getting any of this money back? If we are, I haven’t heard about it.

No, instead we’re signing a promissory note to the tune of $850 billion dollars for starters.

It’s the greatest travesty of social and economic justice in our history. Before its over, every dollar that baby boomers were going to inherit from their parents will be used to stop the bleeding. No inheritance, no property values, nothing.

You had to be impressed with Hillary Clinton last night. She did what had to be done. She asked her troops - why were they in this fight? Was it for the America, or was it for her? It was the pivotal question of this Democratic Convention. She was powerful, and although we may not have a woman in the White House yet, Hillary has certainly paved the way.

Perhaps it was because Labor Day approaches, but I heard the theme woven throughout her speech - the fight for the rights of working men and women.

My father was a garment worker, a pattern maker, a man who left for work in the dark, came home in the dark. A member of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. Growing up I saw what it was like, to work for people who refused to treat you with common human decency. I met many listeners on the Air America Cruise who had family in the Labor movement. Union organizers who were beaten, some lost their lives fighting for workers rights. Today, management still treats workers as a cost of doing business. If you want to where the gap is, there it is. Nothing really trickles down.

I was shocked last year when there was no Labor Day Parade. Union leaders just shrugged. This year the parade is back. Maybe that’s a message, a sign - one that we should pay attention to.

Without progress, without respect, we’ll never be able to march proudly on Labor Day. Until we can, we should call it what it is - marching in place.

Marc Sussman is an investment professional for the past 30 years. He asks that you forgive him.

In 2005, for no apparent reason, he launched a radio show on the Air America network called the Money Message.

Please keep it under your hat that this individual has been allowed to join The Climate Project, Al Gore’s army that presents a Powerpoint for the ages.

“If they think the story of our environmental impact is An Inconvenient Truth, wait until they get a loada me.”

Observations from the Edge

If I have any talent of merit, it is that I can plagiarize with the best of them. Read on.

A lack of investment acumen has turned out to be a valuable asset - I can focus on what is real, leave the frustration to others trying to know what cannot be known.

We’re finding out that good ideas are less important than good intentions. Some very smart people have brought us to the brink.

Two days after the Fannie/Freddie revelation, the shot not heard round the world, financial shows were in party mode.

I realize that I‘ve got some attributes that are unconventional. If you want to know whether I’m a trusted advisor, take a look at my office plants now. They’re thriving. Its unlikely that I would allow anything less for my clients.

These are times of subjective value. There is really nothing that you can recommend on its investment merits alone. You begin to see that there is only one thing left that jumps off a client’s statement. We can fall back on purpose - we call it socially responsible investment. A Purpose Driven Portfolio.

Socially responsible investment needs the marketing department in a hurry. Money for its own sake is one-dimensional - the how much. SRI is three-dimensional - the whole enchilada.

I never realized why my pro-bono work has been transformative. Now I might want a maximum account limit, not a minimum account size.

All that Glitters is Not Gold

If you want know the real story of the Beijing Olympics, you have to look more closely..

First, there’s the USA Men’s Basketball team. These are guys who have more money than Davey Crockett, nova-like star-power, and have been transformed. Just consider Kobe Bryant.

In Beijing, only Yao Ming gets ovations that are comparable to those reserved for Kobe. Here, he doesn’t understand the adulation- back home he expects it. If you watch the interviews, you see a remarkably different guy. Quiet, respectful, reserved, so proud to have the opportunity to represent his country. And if you followed his well-publicized problems, it would be hard to imagine that this is the same guy.

More remarkable is the team. They have become one. They sit on the bench respectfully, there’s no bravado. They are proud, happy, but not demonstrative. They do not challenge the referees. When Kobe charges and fouls his defender, bowls him over, he pulls him up, cups his head in a caring way, pats him on the back.

As I watch now, they are playing a talented Spanish team. Young. A 17 year old Spanish point guard is a coveted NBA prospect. He’s part Antonio Banderas, part Bob Cousy. There are others, just as remarkable.

But they are no match for this American team now. The Americans have always had the physical superiority, now they have emerged spiritually. They have become one, not Kobe, and Carmelo, and all the others that have checkered NBA and personal histories- but a team- a force to be reckoned with. They run over the talented Spanish team, by 30+ points. In their last meeting, the Americans lost. That team had “stars”, just like this one.

We need to discredit our political leaders. It is an indictment of our misguided society.

A ratings hungry media represents the public’s “right to know”, when that is hardly its objective. Human decency - nowhere to be found. We’re experts in righteous indignation. I’m sure some responses to this blog will reflect.

This year, there have been names added to the list of those forever branded sleaze.
Elliot Spitzer, John Edwards. Spitzer’s callgirl, the financial details of his sexual exploits, was newscopy for months. Spitzer’s real problem was that he got too many noses out of joint. A tough character.

Teary-eyed press conferences with dutiful spouses were tragic.

Elliot Spitzer may be a man in need of a recovery program. It doesn’t appear to be an indiscretion. Should that be true, he would hardly be unique. Bill Clinton’s history is even clearer. Let me tell you, you have friends and family that don’t want to be held to this standard.

Now we have John Edwards. His wife, stricken with cancer, stands up for him. Now this.

The public service records of these men will take a back seat, but not for me. That Elliot Spitzer was a tough SOB was a real benefit when he was Attorney General of New York. He did more to clean up the securities industry than anyone of memory.

On the first incarnation of the Air America Cruise, one of the questions asked of the audience, was how many had originally been John Edwards supporters. Almost unanimous response. I wonder how many hands would go up now. His ideas were adopted by both Hillary and Barack Obama.

I’m sure you remember Jimmy Carter’s “lust in my heart” comment. His crime was that he told the truth. A lust-free male is a rare commodity. If you fit that description, then you know women assume an ulterior motive when you talk to them. They have good reason.