For the small club of companies who trade the food, fuels and metals that keep the world running, the last decade has been sensational. Driven by the rise of Brazil, China, India and other fast-growing economies, the global commodities boom has turbocharged profits at the world’s biggest trading houses. Who are those firms and what…
I often wondered why some people go truly out of control when success, money, and power go to their heads until one day I read this: “Money doesn’t make you an asshole. Money just makes you care less if people know you’re an asshole”… How true. So why does this happen? Is it because the…
Having spent the last three decades of my life in the money world, I am frequently asked what are the smartest investing tips I would offer people looking in retrospect for someone starting his money career today…. Well here are my basic tips – some trivial , others much less obvious – for anyone wanting…
I don’t care what you’re doing in your life but you’re walking around with a safety net underneath it. Most everyone is. The safety net keeps you from pushing your limits, your comfort, your ability to see consequences. Don’t be stupid and live like you’re going to die tomorrow. Go to work. Love your family.…
For those of us in the West the answer is pretty simple: “Let’s just stay out and let them handle themselves while we take care of our daily routine” . It is a fact that many today, far too quickly, just dismiss the situation as Bush’s Folly, though few put any real thought into understanding…
With Russia’s increasingly important role today on both the global political and business fronts – especially when it comes to oil trading – , ignoring Russia is clearly no more of an option. The key though is truly understanding Russia and the Russians if you want to be truly effective in there. So what does…
This is clearly a question every non-profit Executive Director thinks about every day as funds for non-profits have been steadily declining for the last 2 years given the harsh economic realities we’re all still going through. So these are a few tips I thought I would share with you all. Whether you are an NPO…
An issue that clearly has been on the table starting with the Obama Administration back in 2009 and with NYC Mayor de Blasio as recently as early this year. Would we allow major social and political institutions to collapse or be severely harmed due to the economic cycle needing “creative destruction” to reach maximized efficiency?…
The world is clearly today a very different place than only 5 years ago. I see it even changing at a much faster pace in the remaining years of the current decade. To be perfectly candid, I believe that modern basic science tends to take far longer to reach markets than it used to (~20-30…
It is a fact to everybody today that Lebanon’s situation been teetering close to the breaking point. Unless Assad is dealt with once and for all, Lebanon’s political and security institutions, its economy and its social fabric will without a doubt disintegrate into oblivion. While the country’s main parties have joined a national unity government,…
Ziad Abdelnour 