US Billionaires Pledge Fortune to Charity

What they said [from telegraph]:

Here are some excerpts from letters written by the US billionaires taking the pledge:

Laura and John Arnold, hedge fund manager: "We view our wealth in this light – not as an end in itself, but as an instrument to effect positive and transformative change."

Michael Bloomberg, New York City Mayor: "If you want to do something for your children and show how much you love them, the single best thing – by far – is to support organisations that will create a better world for them and their children. And by giving, we inspire others to give of themselves, whether their money or their time."

Philanthropist Eli and Edythe Broad, Philanthropy: "Those who have been blessed with extraordinary wealth have an opportunity, some would say a responsibility – we consider it a privilege – to give back to their communities, be they local, national or global."

Investor Warren Buffett: "Were we to use more than one per cent of my claim checks (Berkshire Hathaway stock certificates) on ourselves, neither our happiness nor our wellbeing would be enhanced. In contrast, that remaining 99 per cent can have a huge effect on the health and welfare of others."

Microsoft founder Bill and Melinda Gates: "We have been blessed with good fortune beyond our wildest expectations, and we are profoundly grateful. But just as these gifts are great, so we feel a great responsibility to use them well. That is why we are so pleased to join in making an explicit commitment to the Giving Pledge."

Hotel magnate Barron Hilton: "It is my hope that others are inspired by my father's story, and by our family's steadfast adherence to his charitable philosophy."

Corporate executive Jon and Karen Huntsman: "It has been clear to me since my earliest childhood memories that my reason for being was to help others."

Banker George Kaiser: "I had the advantage of both genetics (winning the 'ovarian lottery') and upbringing. As I looked around at those who did not have these advantages, it became clear to me that I had a moral obligation to direct my resources to help right that balance."

Media entrepreneur Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest: "The ultimate achievement in life is how you feel about yourself. And giving your wealth away to have an impact for good does help with that feeling."

Business Wire founder Lorry Lokey: "There's an old saying about farmers putting back in to the ground via fertiliser what they take out. So it is with money. The larger the estate, the more important it is to revitalise the soil."

Moviemaker George Lucas: "My pledge is to the process; as long as I have the resources at my disposal, I will seek to raise the bar for future generations of students of all ages. I am dedicating the majority of my wealth to improving education."

Tashia and John Morgridge, former Cisco CEO: "The more personally involved we have become with the causes we support the more effective we seem to be."

Peter Peterson, founder of Blackstone Group equity firm: "As I watched and learned from my father's example, I noticed how much pleasure his giving to others gave him. Indeed, today, I get much more pleasure giving money to what I consider worthwhile causes than making the money in the first place."

David Rockefeller, patriarch of the Rockefeller family: "Our family continues to be united in the belief that those who have benefited the most from our nation's economic system have a special responsibility to give back to our society in meaningful ways."

Jeff Skoll, former eBay executive: "The world is a vast and complicated place and it needs each of us doing all we can to ensure a brighter tomorrow for future generations."

Asset manager Tom Steyer and Kat Taylor: "Surely the pleasure we derive from St. Francis' active verbs of consoling, understanding, loving, giving and pardoning far outweigh any selfish and passive pleasures of owning, having, or possessing."

Media magnate Ted Turner: "I'm particularly thankful for my father's advice to set goals so high that they can't possibly be achieved during a lifetime and to give help where help is needed most. That inspiration keeps me energised and eager to keep working hard every day on giving back and making the world a better place for generations to come."

Former Citigroup executive Sanford and Joan Weill: "Our Pledge is this: We will continue to give away all of the wealth we have been so fortunate to make except for a very small percentage allocated to our children and grandchildren between now and the time we pass because we are firm believers that shrouds don't have pockets."

Robert Peston: Britain 1, Speculators 0

From BBC Robert Peston's Picks:

It has been a lousy three months for hedge funds.

According to Hedge Fund Research's HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, funds fell 0.94% on average in June and 2.79% in the three months ended June. This was, apparently, the worst second-quarter performance since 2000 when the industry lost 3.42%.

Read full article here.

Message of the day: The Oil Age is Over

The BP Deepwater Disaster, one month later: Greenpeace oil specialist and marine biologist Paul Horsman visits the Mississippi Delta to see first hand the oil which is beginning to wash onto the shores of delicate coastal ecosystem.

Apple Issues Advice to Avoid iPhone 4 Flaw

According to BBC:

Apple has released official advice for iPhone 4 owners to overcome the problem of the device losing signal when held by the lower left corner.

Steve Jobs responded to a query about the problem from one owner by saying: "Just avoid holding it in that way."

The official advice is to "avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band".

I am still quite happy with the functionality of my 3G phone. No need to folk out hard-earned money for the new version of the same gadget.

Euro Could Collapse, Says George Soros

News: Soros warns that German economic policy could destroy eurozone

As the credit outlook of southern European high-deficit countries worsened, Soros said Berlin needed to switch its economic policy from deep austerity measures to a more pro-growth agenda. Chancellor Angela Merkel announced plans this month for €80bn (£66bn) in budget cuts.

Soros said: "German policy is becoming a danger for Europe, it could destroy the European project. Right now the Germans are dragging their neighbours into deflation, which threatens a long phase of stagnation. And that leads to nationalism, social unrest and xenophobia. Democracy itself could be at risk."

Ground Zero for the Next Disaster

Robert Kiyosaki wrote in his latest article "Think the Gulf Spill Is Bad? Wait Until the Next Disaster":

While in London, I decided to go to dinner at London’s Canary Wharf, ground zero for the next BP. Only a few years ago, Canary Wharf was one of the centers of the financial universe. Condo prices were sky high, offices were packed, and high-paid bankers filled Canary Wharf with wealth and excitement. Today Canary Wharf seems to be dying. It has lost its vibrancy. Many restaurants and offices were nearly empty and there were few lights to be seen in those once high-priced condos.

Canary Wharf will be the next BP, and its BP stands for Bomb Production. Canary Wharf is much like AIG, a factory for exotic financial products known as derivatives. The problem is that most people do not know what these murky and mysterious products are -- and that includes the people who make or buy them. It’s why Warren Buffett has called derivatives “weapons of mass financial destruction.” That is how powerful they are.

Back in 1966, when I was a student training to be a ship’s officer, my ship carried bombs from California to Vietnam. During World War II, a ship exploded while loading bombs at Port Chicago, California, the port where the bombs were loaded onto ships. The explosion flattened everything for miles. It is said that the ship’s anchor, which weighed tons, was found more than 60 miles away. Derivatives -- financial bombs -- have the same power if they accidently detonate inside a bank’s balance sheet.

World's Rich Got Richer Amid '09 Recession

Reuters has just reported this:

The rich grew richer last year, even as the world endured the worst recession in decades.

A stock market rebound helped the world's ranks of millionaires climb 17 percent to 10 million, while their collective wealth surged 19 percent to $39 trillion, nearly recouping losses from the financial crisis, according to the latest Merrill Lynch-Capgemini world wealth report.

Stock values rose by half, while hedge funds recovered most of their 2008 losses, in a year marked by government stimulus spending and central bank easing.

Read the full article here.

Goldman Sachs Made Me "Special"

From Gary Sutton, Co-fouder of Teledesic

[Quote 1]: Banks of every flavor are in business to make money for themselves. They are not in business to make money for you. If they worried mostly about making money for you, they'd likely go broke, and you'd lose every penny.

[Quote 2]: So am I mad at Goldman? No. I just understand them better. They're out to make a buck. So am I. And they're better at it than I am.

How NOT to Invest: Four Lessons From the Goldman Case

Read the whole article HERE:

For many big financial institutions on Wall Street, we're simply customers to be sold a product.

The case is also a great example of how not to invest. You could go a long way in this life just by observing the behavior of wealthy and powerful investors in Abacus and then doing the opposite.

Never assume the big money is also the smart money.

What are the lessons?
1 Never put too much faith in a bank.
2 Think twice before buying any complicated financial product.
3 Be wary of investing in something you don't understand.
4 And when in doubt...

Message from the DOW’s 1000 point loss: The “ship has hit the sand”

View article:

Life is tough. We’re better off planning on how to manage through harsh and ugly reality than having it hit us over the head as we smile on believing the economies of the world are recovering.

CNBC is on TV claiming a trader error was responsible for the decline. What about the decline earlier this week? What about all the bourses in Europe. What about the futures for Japan?

You people (the media) are bold faced liars. We cannot believe Anything you say.

Lets dump the talking heads at CNBC. This guy David Faber is ridiculous. Look at the carry trade changes today - the yen moved 4% verses the dollar today alone. Was that an error David? Huh David? You @#$%&!. Everyone can see that Greece cannot live up to any accord. They will default. And so will Spain and Portugal. And some major European banks will fail. And so will some U.S. Banks.

I watched the tapes today and I can tell you, absolutely and positively, that fear, not a trader’s error, took down worldwide markets. Tomorrow, many institutions are nervous and they are going to take money off the table.

Now the @#$%&! says that we in the middle of a recovery and expansion story. Lets watch foreclosures and jobs the next six months and see.

All you need to do is look at Greece to understand where we are headed. The populace is ticked off in a major way because now they are being told that they need to live within their means. Not only do they need to live within their means, the “forced austerity” will suck growth out of the economy and turn it negative to a greater degree. What I am trying say here is that the “ship has hit the sand” and the years of reflating the system have come to an end globally whether anyone wants to admit it or not. To raise taxes and cut spending during a recession is a Keynesian no no because the economy will spiral downward in a debt implosion.

THIS is exactly what the Austrian economists have said for years upon years while being laughed at and ridiculed. We will now see exactly who has been correct, the “paper pushers” or the “common sensers”. Did Greece go out on its own and invent deficit spending? Of course not. Have they done anything that anyone else (in particular Britain and the U.S.) did not do? No, in fact, just look at what the West has done for the last 18 months as their “cure” for the GFC and you’ll see Greece with twin turbos and NOS! The entire system has become unstable and anything can happen at anytime.

The “mark up” phase will not take very long, of course this also means that the “wipeout” phase will not take much time either. Millionaires who have lived on interest and dividends for years and have not worked in years (or maybe never did) will end up losing their wealth over what I believe could be as short as a 2 week period. Judging by previous currency collapses such as in Argentina, these privileged individuals may very well end up in dumpsters with their feet pointing skyward looking for food. Laugh all you want, this has happened before but NEVER on a global scale as today.

The new “indicator” of how things are financially will be Gold. People will wake up in the morning and look to the price of Gold as to whether it will be a “good day” or bad. Gold is up $32 right now and it seems a few people on CNBC understand what higher Gold means today. I am rubbing my eyes and trying to clear my ears because THIS is unbelievable. As I said before, “my how times have changed”. Stay alert, locked, loaded and fully stocked.

Got Gold?