Baaaahh....

The market's volatility reminds me of a recent post I made about the need to have a contrarian perspective. Please, I beg you, stop following the herd. It's a loser's mentality and will cost you a lot of money and stress. Now is the time to buy under-valued equities. If Warren Buffett and other insiders are doing it, I'd say it's solid move.

The more the market tanks, the more you should load up. It takes guts, but it's how you make money. Leave the sheep behind.

Chopping Trees and Winning Cups

Don't these Stanley Cup Finals feel like the script for Rocky IV?

The Ivan Drago Canucks are freakishly engineered (see H. Sedin's forehead) and capable of playing at a superhuman level.  Meanwhile, the Rocky Balboa Bruins use a spartan approach and sweat for any advantage.  Can’t you see Shawn Thorton leading his team’s training between games—chopping down trees and throwing logs.

The most obvious metaphor came in game 3, when Aaron Rome blindsided Nathan Horton with a vicious hit. Horton layed on the ice in La La Land, like Apollo on the mat. Aaron "Drago" Rome made it more infuriating by showing little remorse...saying he’d hit him the same way again. 

"If he dies, he dies."

Inspired to avenge Nathan "Apollo" Horton, the Bruins have been playing fearless hockey--finally landing a booming upper-cut in the second period of game 3. The Canucks were human and the B's started to believe they could win.

Game 7 will be in Vancouver tomorrow night. If the Bruins can deliver one more visceral performance, I can see the home crowd turning on their team and starting a “USA! USA! USA!” chant. As the final seconds wind down, the Canadian crowd will rush the ice and lift Tim Thomas, draped in an American flag, onto their shoulders. (Just don’t expect Timmy to deliver Rocky’s post-fight “mutual admiration” speech).   

The fantastical dream then cuts to our heroes taking a Duck Boat trip around Boston and ends with Brigitte Nielsen marrying Brad Marchand in The Common. 

Just Do It

"Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves - regret for the past and fear of the future."  Fulton Oursler


Dreams discredited and opportunities lost...procrastination kills. Look at any successful person and you'll find they never wait; they act. Right or wrong, it doesn't matter.

Just ask John Kerry; his knack for debating a decision to death cost him the 2004 presidential election to Bush. 

Bold deciders win elections, get things done, and get re-elected. Obama authorizing an unprecedented mission--covertly flying Navy SEALs into Pakistan and terminating America's Most Hated--will go a long way in his re-election campaign.

Tackling the largest problems reaps the biggest rewards. Be bold and unwavering. Many things in our world appear hopeless and unfixable. This is when deciders prosper. Successful or not, those who push for positive change gain respect.

Jump off your crucifix and do it now. Obey The Swoosh.

Obey...Eat Ice Cream (and Recycle)

I snapped this photo after a recent lunch in Cambridge, MA

The Sinking Working Class

The income gap between the very rich and poor has grown to staggering proportions. In fact, it’s recently been declared the eighth wonder of the world. The average worker is treading water and quickly losing breath. 

The top 20% of earners received 49.4% of all income, while the bottom 20% earned 3.4%. That 14.5-to-1 ratio has nearly doubled since 1968 when it was 7.69-to-1 (According to the 2010 US Census).

And executive pay continues to rise, while the average worker's compensation stagnates. What's worse is most corporations are expanding their cash coffers, but not their employment base. Take a look at this useful indicator of employment health, the employment-population chart:

You see no uptick in private sector jobs since the recession ended. Ah...but an uptick in executive pay, yes. Because expanding profits is how executives rationalize their pay bumps. And as long as the unemployment rate remains high, corporations can continue to underpay employees--who should feel lucky just to have a job.

Beyond the ugly employment picture, a few other dark clouds lurk on the average worker's horizon:

• State and federal budget crises
• Inflation
• Baby-boomers retiring and the social security shortfall

We need to reign in executive pay and increase the wages of the common worker before the situation explodes into a crisis. (Think Arab Spring). Also, eliminating the tax break for the wealthiest Americans would be another helpful step (but that's for another post).

THIS IS NOT SOCIALISM. It’s simply doing what’s right—for working class families and the future stability of our country.

6/20/2011 UPDATE: READ BILL CLINTON'S THOUGHTS ON THIS