The Frustrated CFO

Photo Quote of the Week: The Millennial Conundrum

© 2016 Original by YAC. All rights reserved.

Photo Quote of the Week: Listen to Your Comrade, Bernie!

A Few Quintessential Problems with Rabble-Rousers Like Bernie Sanders

Well, I stayed out of it for a long time.  I snapped at the phony feminist sisterhood only 2 or 3 times and tried to ignore the offensive, nonsensical, anti-American garbage pouring out of the Jacobin of Vermont.  But he did not go away, and considering the mental state of the Union, I shouldn't have hoped for that.  Now we are definitely on dangerous ground.  At this point, no one who understands the historical, economic, and social impact of Mr. Sanders's candidacy should remain silent, no matter how small their voice.  

Here is what History taught me about the seemingly far-out rabble-rousers like Bernie Sanders:

1.   They are fanatics in the most literal definition of the word, i.e. they are possessed by overwhelming and unwavering zeal for their extreme causes, whatever they may be: class equality, ethnic or religious purity, condemnation of cultural traditions, intellectual ostracism, or expropriation of private wealth into the government's treasury.  As fanatics they are dangerously immune to logic, critical reasoning, and morality.  They are absolutely intolerant to the opinions and ideas of others, and will treat their opponents as mortal enemies - Qui non nobiscum, adversus nos est (Those who are not with us are against us).

2.  Contrary to popular belief, they are not actually rebels with breakthrough ideas; they are nothing more than followers.  They are not capable of independent thinking and invariably get fixated on the ideas of others, frequently misunderstanding, misinterpreting, and misappropriating the original thesis.  Older siblings are often responsible for shaping their overly impressionable minds.  They are prone to idolization of certain historical figures.  And every one of them uses some preexisting model as a framework for their own system of beliefs: Roman Imperialism, the Reign of Terror, the Communist Manifesto, or "Danish Socialism," to name a few.         

3.  They usually have no regard for fundamental principles and cornerstone concepts.   Private property and the creation of profit are the carrying pillars of the United States of America, as it was conceived by our founding fathers.  Anyone who wants to topple them down is nothing if not anti-American. But the delusional rabble-rousers always believe that a structure can remain sound and functional even if its backbone is completely removed.  Time and again throughout history they have found themselves on a pile of rubble, trying to put together a "brave new" world out of broken pieces.  They are oblivious to the undeniable truth that it's easier to destroy than to create.

4.  Of course, it is quite possible that they don't know and/or understand what these fundamental principles are.  The truth is that most rabble-rousers don't know much about anything except the rabble-rousing itself.  Many political figures start their agitating undertakings early on in their lives and simply don't have time for in-depth studies or any sort of self-growth.  An overwhelming number of the most dangerous historical figures were expelled from schools and universities, (Note!  This is very different from dropping out on your own volition, especially in pursuit of more adequate education. A student activist wants to stay a student activist as long as he can, and that has nothing to do with education), couldn't hold a job, or achieve any success in their desired calling.  

The undergrad student Bernard Sanders, for example, was an avid member of several political organizations, including the Young People's Socialist League.  There was no time to dig into books.   A few odd jobs here and there, and by 27 he had snugly settled into the life of a political campaign operator in Vermont.  Sadly, monetary matters, political economics, commercial entrepreneurship, medical and all other sciences, and especially historical analysis are the notorious blind spots of all politicians, but especially so of narrow-focused zealots.    

5.  Yet, a rabble-rousers' occupation, by definition, mandates not just simple talking, but actual orating and expressing opinions on some lofty and important subjects.  And address big issues they do, but in absence of a solid theoretical foundation, they become surface-gliding fantasists.  They spent most of their time in meetings, travels, conversations, briefings on various issues, etc.  While doing that, they pick bits and pieces of information here and there, selectively squirreling those that fit their agenda.  Oh, you have free health care?!  That's neat!  The government here pays for your education?  Awesome, dude!  All that childish excitement is based on quick glances at glossy surfaces.  Of course, they fervently believe that they can simply will or force their dreams to come true. The unfortunate truth is that most of the time they don't even see the reality - they see what they want to see.  

In September 2015 Bernard Sanders declared that he liked "Danish Socialism" because "he talked to a guy from Denmark" who told him that in Denmark “it is very hard to become very, very rich, but it’s pretty hard to be very, very poor.”  This created quite an uproar in Denmark - the Prime-Minister had to go on record and explain that they are not a socialist country, but a hybrid of a market economy and a welfare state, which proved to be successful in Nordic (SPECIFICALLY!) countries.  (Well, I personally find the Nordic governments' interference with private and personal property as well as citizens' individual rights nothing short of barbaric, but that's not the subject of this discussion).

6.  What they lack in quality erudition and critical thinking, rabble-rousers make up for in tautology, sophism, and all other skills of demagoguery.  As I said, they talk!  Some of them even end up being listed as the greatest orators of all times, evil-doing notwithstanding.  And with what fervor!  I watch him and I am, like, he is a raven lunatic, like the others!  And they twist every fact, every notion, and every quote to serve their cause!  They will repeat the same gibberish this way and that way over and over again, claiming that their ideas and conclusions are irrefutably true and their schemes are solidly plausible without supplying A SINGLE SHRED of evidence or valid reasoning to support their bullshit.  Everything they say is served up as "absolute truth;" no proof is required: like a politician from a state, where white folks compose 95% of the population, claims on record that race relations will "absolutely" be better if he is in the White House; not that he will try to do his best or that he has definite steps in mind, but just "absolutely better!"    

They talk this way about their ideological platforms and economic proposals; they throw brazen accusations at their opponents ("reactionary," "not progressive," "funded by Wall Street"); and they do it with such conviction that they are the first to believe it.  If you challenge them, they will equal themselves with true innovators and brilliant visionaries of the past - those who worked hard and actually knew what they were doing.  They will tell you that revolutionary ideas, such as theirs, have always been dismissed.  They will try to shame you as a retrograde equal to Giordano Bruno's executioners!

7.  Because their fantasies are so deliberately populist and because their agitating rhetoric is so stupefying, the likes of Bernie Sanders invariably attract a hysterical following of ignorant crowds.  Rabble-rousers worth nothing in the absence of their rabid supporters.  Together, though, they constitute the symbiosis of encyclopedic proportions - more profound than clownfish and sea anemones.  This is where the power, and the evil of the provocateur lies.  As history shows; because the majority of humans are more responsive to simplistic slogans than to complicated logic, and cannot see the truth behind the stage decorations, the inflammatory bugs coughed up by agitators usually spread over rather large portions of the population.         

8.   All rabble-rousers are faithful students of Machiavelli when it comes to his maxim that the end justifies the means.  They are always very eager to argue that their actions can only be considered morally right or wrong by virtue of the morality of the outcome.  This is why human rights are sooner or later violated by pretty much every rabble-rouser throughout history.  This is why individual well-being becomes unimportant to these people, as they are in the pursuit of a "better future" for some abstract society as a whole.  They will stubbornly sacrifice everything and everyone for their "ideals," including the lives of hundreds of American veterans, if you put them in charge of the Veterans' Affairs. (As a side note: Who the fuck decided to put this career anti-war protester in charge of the veterans' benefits?)  And of course, if you don't believe that their ultimate purpose is moral, you become the "people's" enemy (see item 1).  

9.  This believe that they must do whatever it takes to see their ideas realized is precisely why the rabble-rousers will accept "help" from anybody who offers it, especially if it comes from people and entities with a lot of means and real power.  Yet, they always fail to realize that they end up being puppets in the much bigger scheme of their benefactors.  The entire bolshevik revolution was financed by the Germans, desperate to weaken Russia on the Eastern Front of World War I.  In the spring of 1917, they had stuffed an ironclad railcar with money, Lenin, and 31 of his comrades and transported them from their comfortable exile in Switzerland to Russia, assuring the success of the October Revolution.  In return, the new Russian government signed a peace treaty with the Germans only one month after usurping the power.  At the end that wasn't enough to counteract the joint efforts of the British and French troops, but it definitely cost the allies a lot of extra blood.

And so, I keep wondering, how is it that, after 23 years of political failures and then (finally!) 16 years of a lackluster career in the House of Representatives, 65-year-old Bernard Sanders was all of a sudden elected to be one of the 100 people that constitute the upper echelon of our national Congress?  And now he is in the presidential race?  Doesn't it sound like someone's (not Bernie's) long con?  I have 10 different endgame scenarios fully fledged in my head, but all of them are too "controversial" to discuss even in this tiny blog.

10.  Oh, how I wish for Bernie's supporters to sober up (or smart up - same difference!) and see that at their very core all rabble-rousers are liars.  They know that mass appeal is mandatory for their survival, and so they come at you with all sorts of impossible promises, false guarantees, and seemingly genuine care for the "real people."  They say exactly what masses want to hear. "Free" is their favorite chant - land to peasants, factories to laborers; entire foreign countries with serving nations at citizens' disposal; free healthcare, free education!  They are veritable Robin Hoods: expropriate and redistribute!  And "real people" are just eating it all up!  But it's all a lie, of course.  The only thing that a fanatic cares about is the ideological victory.  They have no regard for consequences, actual realization of pledges, the morality of the methods that will be employed in the name of their ideas, or how perverted the results will be.  Open your history books, people, it's all there already!       

11.  Here is one of the most important lessons of History:  It is a grave mistake to dismiss these rabble-rousers as a joke.  Time and time again people have made this mistake in the past and paid with their lives for it.  Right before someone, who in retrospect we define as a scary dictator, came to power, reasonable and intellectual people refused to take him seriously.  Invariably the line of reasoning went something like this: "There is no way anyone with a bit of brain will buy into this cockamamie bullshit!"  But the reality is, that precisely for the reasons listed above - their mass appeal, amoral flexibility, fanaticism, and willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of their idee fixe, these clowns can be propelled by the forces behind them to positions with the powers to do the utmost damage.

Resist!  Resist!  Resist!                  

Photo Quote of the Week: Behold Our Half-Ass Reality

On Tuesday, January 26th, the entire NYC block of East 56th Street between Lexington and Third Avenues was closed to motor vehicle traffic due to a possible mainline gas leak (the pedestrians were allowed to walk into the danger zone without any restrictions or even a warning).    Apparently someone called 911 around 9 am to report the suspicious smell, which not only filled the street but was also distinctly (as I was informed) felt inside the buildings.  Yet, at 3 pm, when I happened to turn the North-East corner of Lexington and 56th, three emergency vehicles were still there and a few maintenance-looking people were poking around the uncovered manholes.  A fire engine just joined them a few minute ago (it passed me on the way in).  

By today's standards 6 hours lead time is totally okay - the emergencies nowadays are not what they used to be, as some say, back in the day.  Plus, the City was assaulted by the blizzard just three days ago; it would be silly to expect an expedient clean up.  It is rather difficult to get around, on foot or wheel.  And maybe there was no real danger anyway; maybe everything was in order and the repair people were just knocking about to clock the working hours away.  A little gas escaped - not a big deal!  

However, clearly there were still some concerns regarding possible flameage that required a certain level of readiness -  the red and shiny FDNY vehicle was connected to one of the hydrants, taking in the water.  Well, maybe "connected" is not the right word.  Even by mediocre working standards, a proper connection of the pumping hose between the truck and the hydrant would imply seamless fitting, tightening of the locking mechanisms - some sort of professional decency, for the lack of a better word.  Unfortunately, that was not the case.  The connecting hose was carelessly shoved onto the hydrant and the truck, with water gashing through and over both ends, forming a small river on the ground.  

I guess at $76,700 average annual salary it is too much to ask of a firefighter to care about the quality of his work.  And what else can we possibly expect?  That the emergency workers would be different from anyone else?  I was standing there looking at that sad metaphor of the way we live now, contemplating whether anyone in their right mind can trust their lives to these "rescuers" in case of fire.  And don't get me started on the water waste...

©Photos by M. Guzik.  All rights reserved.    

                

The Frustrated CFO's Take on the Impending Market Crash

By the end of last Friday, the Dow Industrial dropped 400 points and the market is now down cumulative 8% in 15 days of the new year!  Oil teeters at $28 and it looks to me that  it is inclined to slide down, not climb up.  Just as expected by some, and say it with me, please, "It's only going to get worth!"

But people (again) are like, "Oh, my God! My Apple stock!  I should've sold at $139!" (FYI, it's  at $97 as of Friday).  And the media is all like, "Market crash robs $2.3 trillion from investors!"   

Seriously?  It's the market's fault???  Hello, people, can't you read?!  They state it plain and simple on every trading site and in every market investment document:  "May lose principal value."  It's in smallish, but not invisible, print - if you care to see it, you will.  How can anybody possibly blame the stock market for being what it's meant to be: the gambling boiler fueled by unsubstantiated rumors, false promises, illogical hopes of overnight wealth, and herd mentality?  The chances of losing all your money there are pretty much the same as those in pressing the slot machine's button for days and days in a row.  

In fact, casinos are far more honest about it - when you walk in, you know that the odds of setting yourself for life by winning there are very low.  And nobody blames the casino.  You blame the Fortune.  The reality is that the stock market is not much different.  

The only people who manage to generate gains there are the most shrewd, the most intuitive, the luckiest, and, most importantly, active traders; those who understand the slightest nuances of the market's moves; who sit in front of their computers for 8 hours a day and follow their gut feelings when they personally manage their portfolios.  But those are one in a million.  The rest of the "investors" - from an average Joe to large pension funds are bound to lose.  Remember all those brokers and fund managers who handed over their investors' money to Bernie Madoff?  You don't expect them to start actively trading for you, do you?

And let's not forget the simple arithmetic fact that it is the mass public participation in the security exchange that drives the market value up and down in the first place.  We've already discussed the supply and demand laws on multiple occasions.  The more people buy the stocks, the higher their prices are.  And it's the mass panic that results in selloffs and crashes.  

Even if you don't understand the detailed dynamics of what happened on Friday, you can grasp the essence of the participation impact in the perfect example of Apple shares:  There were tons of companies that lost far more than Apple's 2.4% of their stock prices (Disney, for example, lost 5.3%), yet it was Apple that led the list of "wealth destroyers" (as some media geniuses labeled them) with a loss of $218 billion (26%) of their market value.  The reason for that is the astounding number the company's outstanding shares.  Everyone and their mother chooses Apple as their favorite high-tech investment.       

So, it's not an abstract "market's" fault; it's the investors' own undoing.  Nobody forced them to trust their pension and college funds to a gambling outfit.  And now, between the mass hysteria of people in fear of losing their last dime and the financial strains caused by the economic downturn, the selloff will accelerate.   400 points is nothing - there is a real crash ahead.           

Quote of the Week: Here Is Where We Are Now with Quality Control

From an actual email exchange that took place this morning (quoted as was written):

 

From a Customer to Operations Department of A_C Company:

Hi John,

Please deliver the second truckload from our current order on Monday 12/21.  Please confirm.

Customer 

 

From the Operations Department to the Customer, copying A_C Company's CEO as per protocol:

Good morning Bob,

Thanks for providing the delivery date!  We will begin to secure trucking.

Best regards,

John

 

From the CEO to the entire Operations Department, copying The Frustrated CFO and Managing Partners:

Please find a trucker who will not spill the product, drive into the customer's gardens, or drive recklessly through their parking lot damaging their employee's car, which all happened to this valuable customer in the recent past.

CEO 

Oil! It's a Gas - Grab That Cash With Both Hands And Make a Stash

I've been predicting that crude oil prices will eventually drop below $30 per barrel for nearly two years.  When I first started talking about it oil futures were trading on NYMEX at $108.  Everyone thought I was too radical in my predictions.  Even those interested in my reasoning refused to believe that such a drastic adjustment was possible. 

Then, on Friday, September 11, 2015, many industry insiders have received a MarketWatch alert letting them know that Goldman Sachs underbid my forecast, warning that "oil prices could sink to $20 a barrel."  I personally don't pay much attention to big-firm analysts (they are most likely low-balling because they have some shorting game in the works), but a few of my acquaintances thought I should've felt justified.  The only thing I can say is "What took them so long?"

Human myopia doesn't shock me anymore.   However, the level of denial exhibited by those in and around the business of oil and its derivatives borders on blindness.  I mean, it's not like I have some special connections or access to secret information, nor do I spent any time on extensive research.  The same self-evident facts were always right under everyone's noses, not just mine own.        

Look, having been one of the largest importer of oil in the world for decades, the United States used to limit supplies to other regions of the globe by consuming the majority of Saudi, Algerian, and Nigerian output, thus keeping everyone hungry and bidding.  Up to a certain price level it was considered more practical to buy foreign oil than to invest into domestic production by pretty much every branch of US energy and petrochemical sectors.  But as soon as the prices hit an attractive spot, everyone and their mothers started pumping more oil and throw it into the market.  The US production doubled; the same happened in Russia, Iraq, Canada.

Meanwhile on demand side, the oil consumption is slowly (too slow for my taste) diminishes.  Tapping into shale formations made natural gas a cheaper energy alternative.  Furthermore, the idea that switching to renewable energy (solar and wind) may offer a chance of survival seems to take a stronger hold in more reasonable heads worldwide.  Even in our country, in spite of all that protectionist auto lobbying in Washington, vehicular fuel-efficiency finally became a reality.  And those of us who travel to Europe and Japan have seen the itsy-bitsy cars most people had been driving there for the past 25 years. 

More significantly, the economies are weakening all over the globe.  EU is barely holding itself together.  China has finally admitted that the country has "problems,"  which is probably a tight-lipped way of describing a complete disaster.  This means shrinking consumption of everything, but especially of oil and oil-derivative products.   

As I said, it's self-evident.  As far as I was concerned, expecting the downward turn of the oil market was the only sensible conclusion.  But everyone seemed to have gone stupid.  Seriously, what's wrong with people?  You don't need a PhD in Economics to understand this!  What happens when you have a product surplus in the market of diminishing demand? Does the price goes up or down?   

Of course, ever since the oil has become THE most important commodity on the market, it's been associated with that very special cardinal sin - Greed.  (If you search Amazon for books on oil, you will find the word "greed" on at least half of the covers.)  And greed is blinding.  It makes people reckless.  They refuse to consider a possibility that making a profit of $60 per barrel today can turn into a $20 loss tomorrow.

Greed always goes hand in hand with opportunism.  As I said above, higher prices attract more suppliers - it's hard for people to resist the opportunity to make an extra buck, regardless of the consequences.  All considerations of important values, including the planet's survival, are cast away in the pursuit of hot dollars.  They pump more and more.  They create new nightmare technologies like fracking.  They invest billions of dollars into new facilities, raping the Earth and turning household water into flammable liquids.  And then, these blind people have the audacity to look surprised when overproduction manifests itself in rapidly falling prices.

And it's not just oil - prices for every single product on the petrochemical flowchart (kerosene, polypropylene, PVC, polyethylene, etc.) are dictated by the prime material's behavior.  When the prices were high, the greedy piggies cranked up the production capacities of those products as well, with exactly the same result - massive overproduction followed by the drastic price drops.  What was selling at $1500-$1900 per metric ton a year a ago is now sold for $900.  

In theory, the only logical response should be to seize the output.  Yet, it's not easy to hit the breaks.  When in the fourth quarter of 2014 oil prices sharply adjusted from $93 to $45 per barrel, one CEO of a petrochemical trading company asked me, "Why those Russians and OPEC aren't doing anything to stop it?"  And I had to explain to her that for Russians oil is like payroll wages for an ordinary person - they need continuous oil income for sustenance.  They will not stop pumping no matter what.  What else can we possibly expect from a dictatorship where a handful of usurpers hold national property for personal gain?  And OPEC?  The cartel's members refused to cut their oil productions for an opposite reason: They are already so rich, they cannot be hurt by falling prices.  On the other hand, impoverishing the competition will benefit them in the long run.

Here in the States, though, we still have some shreds of the free-market economy left: shrinking markets and overflowing storage capacities inevitably result in industrial contraction.    So far 50% of rigs got decommissioned; research and investments are halted, over 200,000 workers have been laid off.

(Insider tidbit:  The other day, in casual banter over lunch, my commercial insurance broker told me that one of her Chinese clients is currently buying oil rigs and related equipment out of the US bankruptcy courts at about 15 cents on a dollar and shipping it to the homeland for resale.  Way to enrich our foreign creditors, you guys!)   

For the sake of clarity let me fiscally connect the sharp price drops to shutdowns and layoffs.  Let's say your product's market price was $1800 per unit, but it's now $900.  Even if you are a very shrewd business person capable to quickly adjust your costs to the changing market, avoid operating losses, and maintain your healthy 10% gross margin, in absolute dollars you are now making only $90 gross profit per unit instead of $180.  In other words, you have only 50% of cash available to pay salaries, benefits, rents, leases, bank interests, etc. - all those overhead items that have either fixed or increasing values.

And so, the steady stream of insiders' news that comes to me is not surprising at all: Nippon is closing their propylene unit, and Formosa shutting down its Delaware productions, and Exxon is halting their alcohol output, and Sterling Chemicals is running on the negative cash flow, etc., etc.     

Meanwhile, our state economists continue telling us that everything is okay and will be even better.  Well, I'm saying that it's only going to get worse (especially if voters will be fooled by phony, skin-deep feminism or silly, unattainable promises).  And you don't even have to take my "radical" word for it  - listen to you trusted "friends," the Goldman Sachs's analysts.

Why Do I Stay Subscribed to Quora Digest?

The truth is I have no idea why I receive Quora Digest emails.  I don't recall subscribing to the feed.  Of course, nowadays one can passively "accept" electronic deliveries of bullshit by failing to unclick some hidden option box.  I am certain, however, that  I'm not registered on Quora website.  I wouldn't.   

Quora, as in plural of Quorum - in the same way as Data is plural of Datum. It is basically a blogging hub masked as a Q&A platform: one registered person posts a question and all other registered contributors are invited to answer.  Strictly speaking, this unrestricted invitation to participate clashes with the name, which refers to "select groups."  Maybe the founders confused it with fora (the Latin plural of forum).  I don't know and I don't care: The whole concept reminds me of Coffee Talk with Linda Richman, when Mike Myers would get "all verklempt" and invite us to talk amongst ourselves by providing a discussion topic.        

Moreover, many things about Quora simply creep me out.  For instance, Quora's T&C state that contributors retain the copyright to their content.  Well, it's great that they threw that in, however, the enforcement appears to be highly problematic.  Questions posted to the site are open for editing by everyone.  This includes official editors and all registered users.  Users can also submit unlimited number of suggestions for editing the responses.  Therefore, the possibilities for modifications of the original material are endless.  The apparent absence of a solution for the copyright sharing basically nullifies the notion of IP protection.

It's weird that the site demands its users to register with their real names instead of handles and go through email verification.  It's not that I think people should hide, but they must remember that Quoara automatically releases users' names to the search engines.  We don't know whether the site gets some sort of fees in return, but it wouldn't surprise me if they do.  Just like it wouldn't surprise me if they intend to sell the subscribers' lists to other marketers as well.  But these are just my speculations.  In the absence of a clear mission statement, that's the only thing one can do - guess.  

In reality, the fact that Adam D'Angelo (CEO) doesn't seem to be interested in generating revenues makes me very suspicious of his actual intentions and motivations.  It seems only logical to suggest that they are spying on the contributors, studying their interests, behavioral patterns, and tastes in preparation for eventual commercialization of the site.  Or is it something even more sinister?  How the hell did they get a $900 million third-round valuation?  What sort of potential revenue this number is based on? 

As I said, it's creepy.  I don't even open Quora Digest emails.  But I'm not unsubscribing either - because of the subject line, which always shows the top question of the day.  I don't want to give up the opportunity to glance at it.  Most of the time, what I see reeks of laziness.  I mean, we live in the Internet age - go on Wikipedia or just google this banal crap!  But once in a while some amazing shit pops up. 

The other day I read: "How can you maximize your happiness in life?"  Wow!  Is this person for real?  60,000 antelopes just died in Kazakhstan for unknown reason and half of Europe is covered in water and mud, but this human is not only happy, he wants to bring the bliss to the next level!  Even crazier, he expects to receive constructive instructions from his fellow Quora members?!  Well, good luck with that!

Actually, it's not this kind of oddities that keep me looking.  I am more interested in patterns and trends.  For instance, recently I've noticed an increase in frequency of the questions concerning material self-sufficiency and economic survival.  Well, it's surprising that people on Quora don't talk about their inability to support themselves all the time.  I'm guessing that most of them consider bringing it up under their real names in front of the strangers embarrassing.  Nevertheless, the number of such queries is apparently spiking. 

Below are three questions I found to be most typical; with my brief comments (remember: I'm not subscribed, so I don't know the answers that followed; I can only provide my own):

1.  "What kind of salary guarantees comfortable living in NYC?"  What a terribly formulated question!  It should've come with a separate note explaining what "comfortable" means to the inquirer.  Cause, what's comfortable to a person fresh out of Idaho who has never spent more than $100 on a pair of shoes and considers a $350 Michael Kors bag a chic statement may mean financial misery to someone with a different background. 

For the sake of argument, let's assume that the questioner is single and actually meant comfortable, but not extravagant, i.e. a good one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan with no roommates; year-round pleasant climate control; full range of cable and streaming entertainments; cell and land phones; a car kept in a garage; designer coffee in a favorite shop; going out for drinks at least once a week; eat out twice a week; cooking with high quality ingredients; good cheese, wine, and fruit in the fridge; mid-range ($800-$1500) outfits; 2-3 new pairs of $500 shoes a year; one new $2000-$3000 bag a year, at least one annual vacation; a play and a concert once in a while.  And the answer is - $250K annual salary should do it, assuming the drinking is actually limited to once a week. 

And you thought that those who made $250K a year are rich?!  Not in this town, baby!

2.  "At Facebook and Google, why are many new CS graduates offered 120K+ with a 30-120K signing bonus while those with a few years experience are offered a baseline salary with no bonus?"  Well, the direct answer to this question is simple: Computer Science, in a sense, is like Medicine and Pharmacology - they continuously undergo major changes and developments.  I mean, double-entry bookkeeping was created 600 years ago and it will remain fundamental as long as accounting records will be needed on this planet.  On the other hand, today's standard surgical techniques were experimental only 5 years ago.  It happens even faster in high-tech where innovations occur pretty much on a monthly basis. 

While doctors never stop studying and researching, most (not all) computer engineers and programmers are not as motivated to stay on top of the game.  Those in training are taught the most up-to-date techniques and methods; they are subjected to the most recent trends.  And that's what Facebooks and Googles want - the newest and the freshest; in order to keep ahead of the rat race.  So, it's not about whether you graduated this year or five years ago - it's the set of skills you put on your resume.  Veteran coders who can match the knacks with 22-year-olds can demand pretty much the same level of compensation. 

But what interests me the most in this inquiry is its fiscal aspect.  There is no way the $120K/year new hires of Facebook and Google will be able to enjoy the comforts similar to those listed in point 1.  These companies operate largely in San Francisco Bay area, which, according to my observations of exactly 2 years ago, is even less affordable than NYC.  Of course, high-tech nerds of both sexes go to work in khakis and polo shirts and don't carry Prada bags to the office.  On the other hand, they buy more electronic devices than any other human and their coffee is far more expensive.  So, some corners will need to be cut.  

Obviously their lower-compensated older co-workers have even harder time (hence, the exasperation and the bitterness).  Let's hope that they are smart enough to share expenses with their partners/spouses and don't plan on having any kids.

3.  "I'm unemployed, broke, balding, living with my parents, about to turn 30, friendless, depressed, and miserable.  How can I possibly turn it around?"

Ah, and here we come to the reality of the vast majority.  This boy probably forgot to mention that he has a degree(s) in Liberal Arts and no practical skills.  The horde of young people in similar situations is ever-expanding.  They are so far removed from the idea of "comfortable" living that a $120K salary seems just as fantastic to them as a $3 million book advance or a $20 million per movie compensation package.

They were brought up on the illusion that in this Land of Opportunities they have the freedom of pursuing their interests in humanities and, "as long as they work hard," their "rightful" place in the economic system is guaranteed.  They failed to realize that this clinically dead ideal has been kept on life support by the tuition-hungry education institutions for years.  They probably still don't know that the economic system in question has been deformed and became unrecognizable, just like the sociopolitical structures, environmental conditions, and human relationships.

I can just imagine the answers elicited by this question.  They probably fell into two categories: the ones from the peers ("Dude, you are totally fucked!" or "I hear you, bro!") and the ones from the middle-aged politically correct deniers of reality ("It's okay, things will get better" or "There is nothing wrong with being bold").    

As for me, only a few years ago I would've still tried to be motivational and push my entrepreneurial agenda, urging this person to crystallize his aptitudes into a small business idea and work hard on making it happen for himself.  I used to say that if misplaced children of my peers went into landscaping, housekeeping, and maintenance businesses, it would've solved both the employment and the immigration problems in one sweep.  But now we operate under the most severe government interference in the small-business matters (minimum wages, Obamacare tolls, US Treasury restrictions on borrowing, etc.) and the number of illegal immigrants became unmanageable.  So, giving such an advice would be adding insult to injury.  All I can say is - you are totally fucked, dude!                            

World Economy News Flash: Practical Application of Greece's Bailout

This morning, as soon as I entered Citibank's online trade-finance services, the following message jumped into my face:

Notice on Greek payments

Please be aware that Capital Controls have been introduced in Greece, as a result international transfers from Greek bank accounts to bank accounts outside Greece will not be processed until further notice.  Domestic electronic payments are expected to be processed, but are dependent on the local market factors and beneficiaries' banks.  Securities settlements are suspended.

Apparently "Capital Controls," accepted by the Greek government as one of the German government's bailout conditions, means freezing pretty much everyone's bank accounts - large and small companies, individuals, trusts, etc.  I have no doubt that this harsh measure adds fuel into the engine of Greece's newly-formed leftist anti-bailout party.  They must be having a field day with this - such a perfect agitation tool!  But an important lesson for everyone around the world to learn is that, in case of a "national emergency," your government will find a way to separate you from your money. Remember this!       

Just What Exactly Did the Doctor Order for the Healthy Living?

Three weeks ago, my 81-year-old father had to go to a hospital for angioplasty.  Truth be told, I'm not a big fan of my parents, but the tearful monster of the inevitable guilt demanded my dutiful attendance there.  

Aside from keeping company with someone who is forced to be in a scary medical place, where everyone's job is to cause you pain and discomfort for the sake of possible betterment, my presence there was actually useful in multiple ways. As sharp as my Dad still is and as good as the hospital staff turned out to be, the situation does call for a third-party facilitator: faster paperwork and check-in, better understanding of medical terminology, firmer grasp on the authority structure, timelier requests for assistance, etc. - little things that help.  I hope they did.

(I have to make a CFO's aside here.  In the past 30 years I've observed and directly dealt with many profit, non-profit, and government organizations, in professional capacity and as a functioning individual; in different countries around the world, in various social and economic systems.  Based on my cumulative personal experience, I am strongly inclined to conclude that Mount Sinai Heart - the internationally celebrated cardiology division of Mount Sinai Hospital - is one of the most organized, efficient, smoothly functioning business establishments I've ever seen, with the most sensible technology utilization to boot.  Considering that most of our existence nowadays takes place in the vile swamp of unmanaged laziness and pervasive unprofessionalism, being there was like a breath of fresh air.  I honestly didn't think that it was possible to have such an experience in our times.)

Everything went quite well and we were getting discharged in the early afternoon of the day after the procedure.  All documents that my Dad needed to take with him, for his personal records and to pass onto his referring doctors, were organized for him in a folio: surgeon's summary, nuclear images, blood work, EKG's, follow-up instructions (i.e. important documents) in the right-side pocket; hospital's legal documents, releases, disclaimers, general recommendations for cardiac patients (i.e. generic bullshit) in the left-side pocket.

I checked thoroughly everything on the right and glanced through the other side without intending to actually read anything there.  But a sheet of paper right on the top of the left-side pile caught my attention.  Not I only did I read it, but I also pulled it out of the folder and kept it, because it contained

Seven Tips for Healthy Living

• Move More
• Cut Fat
• Reduce Stress
• Wear Your Seat Belt
• Floss Your Teeth
• Keep a Positive Mental Outlook
• Drink Plenty of Water

First, the list amused me with its glorious banality and brevity.  I mean, all that sophisticated and extraordinarily expensive research and diagnostic equipment in the hands of doctors with international renown and exorbitant fees - and it all comes down to just these seven items?!  Where do I even start or end?  We are being fried by the unfiltered UV rays all year round.  We breathe the air that exponentially increases annual asthma statistics.  Everyone has some sort of an allergy and the skin conditions have intensified to the point of Desonide shortage on the market.  We don't know what we eat anymore.  Yes, there is information on the packaged food, but there is none on the tomatoes or any other loose vegetables.  Even if they carry the "certified organic" stickers, do you really trust USDA?  By the way, what about smoking, drinking, overmedication? Is all of that less important than flossing?  That's hilarious! 

On the second glance, the list bewildered me by its ambiguity and the fact that even as is, with all those missing pieces, it's absolutely unattainable. 

Okay, maybe I'm over-thinking it.  I showed it to someone incredibly level-headed and unruffled.  She was curious and unfazed: "Is this in order of importance?" she asked.  "Well, dear, I cannot really fucking tell!"  Let's say it is.  Some people I know would be appalled by the bottom placement of the water consumption.  Others (also personally known to me) would rejoice in seeing that their running two miles a day at a sprinter speed for the past 50 years appears to be at the top of the list. 

But I personally would definitely like to ask for more clarification.  And not only about the ranking of the tips.  Move more how?  Any type of movement?  Running, walking, flapping your hands in exasperation?  Fat - cut it down or cut it out?  All kinds of fats?  What about the ones that help the absorption of vitamins and nutrients?  And are people okay holding their phones in their hands while driving as long as they are wearing seat belts?  Even flossing!  After every meal like I do; once a day at night; before or after brushing? 

Never mind the individual interpretations, however!  At least items 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7 can be actively controlled by a person striving for a healthy living.  But the numbers 3 and 6 are totally different animals altogether!  Any doctor who gives a "reduce stress" advice is an equivalent of an accountant whose business recommendations amount to "buy low and sell high."  Dah!  Any other bright ideas?  There are so many factors that contribute to our stress levels, it would be stressful even to attempt listing all of them.   You can meditate for an hour, decompress,  and whatever, but you cannot stop your mind from reacting to your reality: as soon as the first thought about your life, and never-ending obligations, and overwhelming responsibilities, and guilt, and uncertainties creeps onto that clarified canvas, the stress is back on!

And don't even get me started on the Positive Mental Outlook!  Look around yourself - you literally have to be mental to be positive right now.  Didn't you notice how the people with supposedly the most positive of outlooks, i.e. pregnant women with small children in tow, actually look completely deranged?

So, let's not worry about the silly list from the famous hospital. I choose to believe it to be a joke from some humorous nerd in the hospital's administrative offices.  The good news is that we most likely don't need to work too hard on trying to stay healthy anyway.  The probability of the damage we caused this planet hitting us back real hard with one or another pandemic extermination is way too high.  And I'm pretty sure that doctors know that as well.