Thursday, March 12, 2009
It is all relative
"The deterioration of the macro economy is still unfolding. We expect 2009 will be a challenging year for most CMT sectors, as the recession is likely to have a number of negative effects on demand for CMT services as well as bad debts, capital spending needs and headcount requirements. We expects the recession to be deeper and more protracted than post 2001, with the economic environment continuing its malaise well into 2010, if not beyond."
Some bs i am writing for work.
Fucking fantastic... We are all fucked. In 2001, the bubble, the dot coms, IT, related comm was a tiny fraction of our economy. It was painful. Then 9/11. but whatev. we are looking financials, auto, commodities, housing.. huge portions of our economy which touch each and everyone of us.
Trent and I were lamenting about our respective fates last night - mid 20's, finance background, both some what precariously employed, no real assets to speak for (great I have a car which I don't drive, an apartment filled with a few toys, some savings, some stocks that are worth 80% less then the day I bought them)... After busting our asses for the past 5 years we have essentionally have been reset to college graduation. Fuck Fuck Fuck
But, to be honest, not a bad place to be. It is incredibly easy to be inwardly focused right now, indulge in a healthy serving of self pity... No. Just stop. This is not specific to us. Learn from this experience, modify you behavior, consumption habits, priorities..
Who I feel for... the new family, two young kids, single earner family, with a mortage... the late50s somethings who just watch the Dow Jones go from 13,000 to 6,800 and their retirement savings fall by half...
Ha, so I am fucked, on a relative basis, less...
Friday, March 6, 2009
Funnel
Avocados
Today I was a bit disappointed - brought one for breakfast - it was not ripe. In general I struggle with breakfast foods. Don't get me wrong, I love the classic eggs, bacon, toast, oj etc (or huevos ranchito). most simple breakfast foods are uninspiring? cereal underwhelms
Was also disappointed as I had to pass on what was a pretty cool investment opportunity.. my boilerplate pass script has become
We get it, like it, it’s creative…
We can see a path to a reasonable return with low downside risk – though in the case with XYZ I believe we would have to adjust XYZ – you start messing around there and you can start seeing a return in excess of 3.0x
In a normal macro environment we would be inclined to pursue it further but given limited resources (time, money), there seems to be more interest at the partnership level in pursuing investments where the underlying business provides a solid chance at a reasonable return and the dislocation / distress in the capital markets creates a window for Columbia to be opportunistic and potentially get returns in excess of what a reasonable return might be a similar investment in more normal times (e.g. solid business, but distressed balance sheets or distressed investors)
and yes, I also have scripts for I break up with women.... when telling people bad news I have to write it down, make sure I power through all my talking points, and then let them respond... otherwise it ends up being a unproductive conversation
Monday, June 30, 2008
I need to do a better job at this
In other news... will be heading to Seattle for the first time in ~ 2 years this coming Thursday. Will be meeting up with Trent, Joel and some other Seattle deizens for July 3rd-July 9th, and then spend time with Andrew, my older brother, his fiancee Jillian and other assorted family members for the remainder of the trip. Andrew's bachelor party is on the 11th. Good times to be had by all.