Despite this being one of the worst real estate markets for most involved, (agents & homeowners alike) I have a number of things to be very grateful for. To begin with I am very thankful to be alive as I failed a routine heart test and needed to have open heart surgery in April to which I give thanks to our fabulous medical community, Banner Good Sam, Dr.'s Benjamin, Laufer, Licht & my surgical team headed by my Rock Star Cardiac Surgeon, Dr. Kenneth Fang. I give thanks for timeliness of my diagnosis, the wonderful doctors and nurses that flawlessly saw me in and out of surgery & to the most important people in my life, my family. I've been blessed by having my wife Sherry & her parents, Bob & Mary Freund to keep my world going while I couldn't do anything but relax and heal. I give thanks for my son Sam as it was my obligation to be here for him that motivated me to seek out medical attention for a problem I didn't even know I had. Together Sherry, Sam, Bob & Mary were pillars of strength and again I owe a debt of gratitude for their endless love and support during one of the scariest times of my life.
With so many people for me to be thankful for, it gives me great pleasure to introduce you to someone that I think you will be, as I, especially thankful to meet given these times of economic uncertainty & vast hardship. Allow me to introduce you to HL Quist, author of a great read called, “The aftermath of GREED” “Get Ready for the Coming Inflationary BOOM” (“Greed”). In addition Mr. Quest has been a financial advisor for the past 35 years, a lecturer as well as makes his home here in Paradise Valley.
I ordered “Greed” from an email and when it arrived my wife started reading it and couldn't put it down. She started reading highlights outloud and I was so impressed I immediately called Mr. Quist (before actually reading his book) as I'm just tired of hearing Fox News & CNN tell me it's sunny out when I know we're in the middle of a very bad recession! Like many of you, I am thirsty for our leaders to tell it like it is and address the financial Armageddon Wall Street and it's band of thieves have perpetrated on the American people (affectionately called "Sheeple"). Mr. Quist, who goes by Buster, gave me permission to address him as such, but to borrow a page out of his literary prowessness I will refer to him as BQ. (you will need to read his book to appreciate most of what I'm about to say, especially the last statement)
“Greed” is very well written, even humerus at times, which is not a small feat given it's largely about Wall Streets pathetic, selfish, greedy (BLEEP) that were allowed to rake in millions and billions, through private equity deals, leverage buyouts and dishonest accounting, and unchallenged predatory banking practices which as we all know have led us to the doorstep of what looks like the next great depression. So much money made by the top 1% of these Wall Street insiders while the middle class has been left all for dead given Corporate America's broken contract with the American people. “Greed” my friend was written for the hard working men and women that make up this country's middle class and it's a must read unless you just want to put your head in the sand until the coming financial storms just blow over.
Now before you think my doctors left me on the heart / lung machine too long and I've become bitter, (but how could you with $4 gas, soaring unemployment & record foreclosures) let me just recite a few paragraphs from BQ's book...
BQ writes - Quote: “Case in point is the story of Stan O'Neal, CEO and Chairman of Merrill Lynch and Co., who joined Merrill in 1986 in its junk-bond division. In late September 2007 Mr. O'Neal informed his directors that the firm's mortgage losses would be $4.5 Billion, and two top bond traders conservative evaluation of the mortgage write down which boosted the loss to almost twice the original estimate to $7.9 Billion. The board, not liking bad surprises, promptly fired Mr. O'Neal. Only the “negotiation” of his severance package was open to question.
At the time of this writing, Oneal's exit package was estimated at $160,000,000, which did not include any severance pay. While Oneal's departure was being debated on CNBC, Ron Insana suggested that the former chairman be quizzed abut his golf game. It appears that O'Neal was a member of three exclusive golf clubs, and records showed that he had played twenty rounds of golf in the prior six weeks while his world was crashing in around him. Good point, Ron. Golf in the New York City area is an all-day excursion unless you 're in the office at 6:00 a.m. and take the afternoon off. And how can one shift the focus to golf when the penultimate pressure of public scrutiny is about to envelop you? No need to worry. Stan will have plenty of time and plenty of money to play the game now.” Closed Quote.
Ok... so corporate America, AKA Wall Street rewarded Stan O'Neal (SON) with $160+ Million dollars for playing golf while everyone who owned Merrill Lynch stock in the 401K got hosed, what the SON (of a B) did doesn't hold a candle to Franklin D. Raines' (FDR) story.
BQ writes, Quote: “One of the most egregious instances to develop this point is the story of FDR. Rains was the CEO of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (Fannie Mae) from 1999 to 2004. Wall Street marveled at Fannie Mae's performance under Raines, who was one of the their own as a former investment banker at Lazard Freres. Quarter after quarter Fannie met is earnings target. Raines and other officers earned fat bonuses each year based upon the stellar earnings. Only one problem: the earnings were phony! CFO Timothy Hoard and Raines had cooked the books and Raines was finally terminated in December 2004. Fannie Mae Had reported$9 Billion in earnings that did not exist, and the mortgage lender became severely under-capitalized and almost forced into bankruptcy. So what happen to the ex-CEO?
Powerful friends in high places (he was Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget in the Clinton Administration) kept Raines out of jail. His retirement plan valued at $25 remained intact, and as of this date Raines has not repaid any of the the $50 million in bonuses based upon fraudulent accounting.” Closed Quote.
So, what am I thankful for here.... it's finding someone like BQ who not only has the guts to write a book that basically tell the Wall Street “GREED” story (which is related to the real estate boom 7 bust) exposing the corruption and back room deals that have sold this country, and it's people down the drain, but BQ goes one step further and makes a few conclusions, as where he see's things headed, that every American needs to be made aware. He takes the reader through the various bubbles, the prior booms and busts of our economy and then makes a case for what is very likely to happen next, a concept he calls, “The Crack-up Boom”(CUB). It's during this CUB where he predicts a 20,000 Dow Jones Average and hyper-inflation that will make real estate prices that go through the roof. (no pun intended)
Now I know what you are thinking.... where will the money come from for all of this to happen?! We'll if I told you everything you wouldn't read the book and it's A MUST READ. Period, end of story, that's it... (see I told you I was feeling better...lol..) BQ, besides being a gifted writer, makes what could be a very depressing subject, a work of hope with an antidote and a financial play book to follow.
If you would like a signed autographed copy for around $20, just email me your request and I'll pass it on to BQ promptly. Or, you can just go to his publisher, online and order it from them at www.lulu.com/content/20384725.
The moral to the story is we may very well see, in the next year or two, real estate & stock prices do the unexpected given the current doom and gloom climate and news. Don't be caught flatfooted as this possible market bounce may be the time to unload your real estate at the top again as opposed to right now, if it's at all possible.
Just like I was given a second chance at life because I discovered a potential fatal health condition early so to do I pass on BQ's early warning to prepare for a coming inflationary BOOM! It's common that people feel the worse closest to market bottoms and euphoric at market tops...
Given the advantage foreign money has because of the gain due to currency exchange and how much paper money our federal reserve has floated throughout the world, a “Crack-Up Boom” seems very possible to me..... Your thoughts, after you read the book of course..... !
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