Oddly Relevant Feb-25-2013

Moody’s downgrades UK to Aa1 from Aaa; outlook stable: due to (1) continuing weakness in UK’s medium-term growth that could last into 2015+, (2) challenges that extend well into the next parliament, and (3) deterioration in shock-absoprtion capacity due to high and rising debt burden. [Note: hard ot quibble, but does it matter to UK’s gilts?]…Source: http://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-downgrades-UKs-government-bond-rating-to-Aa1-from-Aaa--PR_266844

Japan plans to sell $10bn statke in cigarette firm: Japanese Tobacco that Finance Ministry owned just over 50%. The deal will be priced next month and the process will be used mostly to finance reconstructurion from the country’s natural and nuclear disasters in 2011. [Note: and raise the smoking tax through the roof later on]…Source: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/japan-to-sell-10-billion-stake-in-cigarette-maker/

Life on the edges of America’s financial mainstream: FDIC’s survey founde that 1 in 12 American househoulds are “unbanked” (w/ no current or saving account). 2 reasons for hope: (1) lenders and credit bureaus are starting to use broader range of data to determine creditworthiness, (2) increasingly competitive market in pre-paid cards. Source: http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21571882-life-edges-americas-financial-mainstream-margin-calls

Bryon Wien’s 14 lessons: (1) concentrate on finding a big idea that will make an impact on the people you want to influence; (2) network intensely; (3) When you meet someone new, treat that person as a friend; (4) read all the time; (5) get enough sleep; (6) Evolve; (7) travel extensively; (8) when meeting someone new, try to find out what formative experience occurred in their lives before they were 17; (9) On philantropy, my approach is to try to relieve pain rather than spread joy; (10) younger people are naturally insecure and tend to overplay their accomplishments; (11) take the time to pat those who work for you on the back when they do good work; (12) when someone extends a kindness to you, write them a hand-written note, not a email; (13) At the beginning of every year think of ways you can do your job better than you have ever done it before; (14) never retire. [Note: yes sir.]…Source: http://www.blackstone.com/news-views/blackstone-blog/blackstone%27s-byron-wien-discusses-lessons-learned-in-his-first-80-years