meek-investor

Arise Sir Fred, the Queen of England said in 2004 after tapping the kneeling Fred Goodwin lightly on the shoulder with her sword. This archaic ceremony is the conferring of knighthood by the Queen of England. If you are a citizen of the UK or one of its dominions then you can call yourself  "Sir". Fred Goodwin was the CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland in its boom years. An unknown, middling bank in Scotland (where's that for Gods sake), he took it to become one of the largest banks in the world. First the acquisition of Natwest, a big British bank much bigger than RBS. And then the mega takeover of ABN Amro, just as the financial crisis was unfolding. The bank was growing wildly through mega acquisitions and was cheered on by all and sundry - the shareholders, the market and even the government, including Gordon Brown, the then Prime Minister of the UK. Hence the knighthood. Sir Fred could do no wrong. Of course the party couldn't last. It came crashing down with the ...

Sup LA? How you been, girl? See you missed us real bad. Well, dry those eyes Shygirl because The Business LA is back Friday February 10th at 8pm! We're starting this year off right: a month and ten days after it started! Helping us usher in this year of Dragons and Me zo-Apocalyptic Mysteries is none other than Kyle Kinane and Louis Katz! Tickets are $10 at the door BUT... They are only $8 online with NO SERVICE FEE! GET TICKETS HERE: http://nerdmeltla.com/ tickets/ index.php?event_id=151 The show is at 8pm at Meldown Comic's Nerdist Theater in Hollywood. As you may remember, we had a rendezvous with Kyle Kinane way back in of 2011, but he caught the Demon Flu and disappeared into a fever dream of Dorrito farts. But we're cashing in our rain-check (Kinane-check, if you will) and using hand sanitizer to ensure he'll come give you the laughfluenza (ok, I'll stop). You should know take the time to know Kinnae if you don't but here is a starti...

Surprise! Sheng Wang is on The Business this week. Fresh off a weekend of dominant performances at Sketchfest, Sheng Wang returns to The Business this week. You may have seen him at the Punch Line, at Kevin Allison's RISK! storytelling show, or in line at Arinell's Pizza. Mr. Wang is a native of Houston, Texas, but came of comedy age in the Bay. His Comedy Central half-hour special premiered last year, and he's also appeared on Live At Gotham and toured with the Comedians of Comedy. He's a frequent guest to the Business, where he has also exhibited his photography. Is there anything this dude can't do? We've also got Chris Garcia, Caitlin Gill, Sean Keane, and Bucky Sinister rounding out the lineup. Admission is still five dollars, and you can bring in your own burrito if you like - I'm pretty sure Sheng will be bringing in his.

Newbies have to be broken in. If you throw them at the deep end, they'll simply die of shock. This blogger has a substantially inflated opinion of himself and proclaims expertise in matters that he knows precious little about. But even he readily admits to being a complete newbie in one matter . And he was very privileged to be broken into the said field by two acknowledged experts.It must be clarified right here that this blogger has not indulged in this activity for some 30 years and therefore approached it with some trepidation. They were very kind. They chose the shallow end of the pool for the first dip of the toe. Apparently this specimen which I was introduced to is not "typical".  But was sufficient to give a good general idea. They prefaced the experience, by a good nourishment of the body (otherwise called lunch) in preparation for nourishment of the mind. As it started, they very helpfully explained who was who. I was advised that the sum total of people in the...

Remember the old book series " Coffee Tea or Me " - well readers of this blog are probably too young to remember it. Maybe now its time for Coffee, Wine or me ! Why does a coffee chain want to serve alcohol ? Starbucks wants to try out having wine and beer on its menu in a few outlets in Seattle and Portland. At first sight it seems an odd combination. Why would Starbucks want to do that ?? The problem, as always, is growth. Starbucks hit a rough patch, if you remember, in 2008 which prompted the founder Howard Schultz to retake the reins as CEO. Currently it is doing well. Revenues in 2011 grew 9.3%. But how do you keep on growing the revenues. After all, how much more coffee can you stimulate your patrons to have. You  can push the "eats", but that's a limited range. They are trying to enhance that with an offering of " premium foods" - whatever that means. And now alcohol. But is Starbucks a bar ? No serious drinker will go to Starbucks for a pint o...

Today, I am finally in my forties using the lunar calendar. I would like take this opportunity to wish all my friends and relatives a prosperous and healthy year of the dragon. Huat Ah!

It must have happened to you too. Standing in a long checkout line in an Indian "supermarket". Rajalakshmi , in front of you, has 742 items to bill. You wait patiently (as if you can do anything else). The bloke behind you is poking at your spine as he wills you to advance. Rajalakshmi is intently watching the  amount totalling up on the display. It now stands at Rs 3742.50. After 18.5 minutes when all the 742 items have been billed (and not one second before), she digs into her purse and comes out with three fat wads of Sodexho coupons. All in denominations of Rs 5. And then proceeds to count them out laboriously. Being mathematically challenged, each time, she comes up with a different answer. 14 minutes later she discovers that she is Rs 5 short in coupons. She then proceeds to dig in to packed bags, go to the bottom, remove an item and ask the checkout guy to deduct that from the bill. She is now Rs 7 excess. She wants change back. He refuses ........You can do precious l...