It is not official whether the AIJ debacle is a ponzi scheme (using new investor capital to create above market income returns to existing investors) but with talk of both pooling of investor capital along with massive amounts missing, this does seem to have Madoff style ponzi written all over it. The loss at AIJ is staggering at close to $2.6 billion. Japan probes asset managers after AIJ loss Money Fund in Japan Told to Halt Operations And some smart commentary from CFA AIJ Investment Advisors: Made (off) in Japan Continue reading More on the topic of financial regulation | AIJ Investment Advisors lessons learned

This is an interesting post from an Austrian VC Oliver Holle.  The parallel between his view of European VC investing compared to that of the Silicon Valley ‘Go big or go Home’, and that of the Austrian financial history such as Hayek is fascinating. Hail the hidden champions: Why fringe markets may beat Silicon Valley (at least for investors) These are companies like Sipwise, Gaminside or Grin.com, our most recent investment; not too fancy, and surely no Pinterest, but great growth, great teams and great financials. I would argue that these three are far better investments than the vast majority … Continue reading ‘Hail the Hidden Champions’ | Speedinvest

Every once in a while I have to get back to the value that is yet to be proven for internet marketing.  When I say yet to be proven I am thinking here of the promise to get beyond sub 0.5% conversion rates usually seen in traditional marketing.  This is the promise that is held out for the Twitter and FaceBook models that somehow they have transcended the value which traditional interruptive marketing brings.  (For my thoughts on Groupon) Mathew Ingram writes a succinct summary of the problem on GigaOm: Both are seeing their share of the ad market grow, … Continue reading Some thoughts on internet marketing and the challenge facing FaceBook and Twitter

Disclosure:  I have/ maybe/ do/ could have/ subscribed to Stratfor.  Stratfor is a great source of analysis that I compare to the Economist.  Anonymous and now Wikileaks have figured out that people and companies will pay for geopolitical analysis. Brilliant. Continue reading “The shadow CIA” | the joke is finally on wikileaks

The degree of financial malaise is highlighted by this story.  It is a classic tail of rationalization of investment (present value of investment and interest rates) but if we apply common sense it just not stand up at all. To Pay New York Pension Fund, Cities Borrow From It First | NYT The public employers that borrow from the pension system essentially contribute less than they owe in a given year, and agree to repay the difference, with interest, over a decade. and this The state’s borrowing plan allows public employers to reduce their pension contributions in the short term … Continue reading States including California, Connecticut and Illinois have been borrowing to pay, or even deferring, their pension bills

Eurozone agrees biggest bailout in history with Greece | times The deal, which gives Greece a financial lifeline in exchange for strict surveillance of Athens, came after 12 hours of tense talks in Brussels that saw Lucas Papademos, the Greek Prime Minister,act as go-between for ministers with negotiators for private creditors. Continue reading Euro ministers agree on a Greece deal | Feb 21st, 2012

As a Scotsman and a life-long supporter of the conservatives, I must note that David Cameron has displayed massive ineptitude in accommodating Alex Salmond and his crazy arguments.   My 92 years old mother refers to Salmond as a windbag.  Windbags should not be accommodated. The SNP have gone from no-where (in a UK sense) to now defining the next two years.  Its obvious that if Scotland left, then the conservatives would own the next 20 years of general elections.  But that should be a problem to solve for the conservatives, rather than even allowing the contemplation of a country break … Continue reading Scotland 2012 (Salmond) is reminding me of Quebec 1976 (Levesque)

A great example of why a 2 tier approach to law exemplified in Russia, is bound to suffer from the natural weight of lack of fairness eventually. The topic here is the blue lights that government and top officials carry on their cars and which allow them to ignore traffic laws and making them right on case of accident, a withe the doctor in this piece, killed (half way through) and blamed for it. Russian Protesters Don Their Own ‘Blue Lights‘ Continue reading Russian protesters use the ‘blue lights’ in a smart protest