CNN American Morning Segment - Invest In Women

CNN American Morning Segment - Invest In Women

Ok..I am very technically challenged. Please click here to see the segment... Oh there was so much more I wanted to say! YES I was wearing my Wonder Woman Girl Power T-shirt! Why? Because Gloria inspired me.... Off to London.

CNN plus Investing in Women

I am so grateful to be back on CNN American Morning tomorrow to talk about Women and the Financial Crisis. (aprox 730 am) Though I am not sure exactly how the conversation will be framed, I am praying that I will have the opportunity to state that the time is NOW to Invest in Women and Women led solutions. An example of what that means will be the story of a woman from DC whose life was changed because of a program she went through that helped her transition from being a waitress earning $11,000 a year to her first office job and now one that earns her $50,000 a year. Investing in Women means supporting initiatives, programs, solutions that enable and allow women to fully participate in our society. Investing in Women means helping women to overcome the barriers that are keeping them and their families in poverty. Investing in Women means being asking why are women so underrepresented in positions of power and influence and working to have them there in critical pass so we will know, one day, what women's leadership truly looks and feels like. Investing in Women is saying ENOUGH to the status quo and using our economic clout for positive change. Investing in Women is acknowledging that the world will in fact be a better place if men and women worked in partnership to make it that way.

Theme Parks, The FED's latest move, CNN and London

I am on the plane home from 5 days in Orlando with the family. (posting now in the am) Judging only by the lines at the Theme Parks, you would never know there is a recession going on. By 11 am at Hollywood Disney the wait for the new Toy Story ride was 90 minutes long and the fast passes were all gone. Though it was a wonderful way to celebrate my daughters 9th birthday can I say, I am way OVER theme parks. From now on I will look forward to real vacations, though the American Idol Experience was totally righteous.

The FED – what a move today. They formally told the world what Chairman Ben has been telling us forever, that he will do everything in his power to pull us out of the recession. He will use every tool in the chest and the chest is deep indeed. Bet on Ben has to be the new trading and investment mantra. The announcement caused a huge rally in treasuries and in gold, and a falling US dollar. Quantatative easing is the new 'must know' financial term. What are the downsides of this strategy? Click here...

CNN. I am very excited to have been asked back again on Friday for another segment on American Morning. (show time as of yet unknown) What is ridiculously cool is that I proposed a segment featuring a success story from a Woman’s Fund, and with the help of the team from the Women’s Funding Network they are producing the segment! Tune in and better yet, send them an email of support after the piece. This story is about what happens when you INVEST IN WOMEN!!! Given the opportunity I am going to be calling on the administration to join thousands of donors who understand the power of this type of investment. Women’s Funds around the country have vetted solutions to our economic crisis and are ready, willing and able to deliver. If you want to learn more about what investing in women is all about please join us at the WFN Annual Conference in Atlanta April 30th. Click here for more information. It is going to be an incredible gathering, please join.

London. Friday I am off again, this time to London with my son to spend some time with family and friends and tour the sites. I should be blogging from overseas but just in case…. All the best and keep your seat belts fastened.

Gloria Steinem and Outrageous Acts!

Last night was amazing. I had the opportunity to celebrate Gloria Steinem's 75th birthday party in a private home in NYC with a small group of close friends and supporters. I have always been awed by Gloria, and last night was no different. Her activism inspires me and it just does not stop. The Ms. Foundation in celebration of her birthday created a new iniative called "Outrageous Acts for Simple Justice." I love it. I am already planning my outrageous acts. A friend who was there suggested we added this .... "outrageous acts and subtle interruptions." I love that too. Click here to hear more and plan your own kick-off party. It is time we all do more more MORE to make this world a better place.

More on the amazing work of the Ms. Foundation - click here.

I am signing off for a few days to spend some time with the family in celebration of my daughter's 9th birthday. All the best!

Alan Greenspan on the Defense in the WSJ

Yesterday in the journal Alan Greenspan pleaded his case for why we should not blame federal reserve policy for the big fat mess we are in. He argues that the fed does not control long term rates, and therefore mortgage rates, so really it was not in his zone to stop all this craziness. He states that the "Federal Reserve became acutely aware of the disconnect between monetary policy and mortgage rates ......." And???? And??? How about "and so we went on the offensive talking about the potential issues because of our important role as leaders and major players in the financial system who are suppose to have the public interest as our core mission." I am not solely blaming them but they did not take appropriate action to make sure that massive and inappropriate leverage did not build up in the system causing what we are now experiencing. Just because it was not their sole and whole job does not mean it was not their job to do more. It is this siloed thinking that is responsbile for this financial, economic and now social global crisis. Leadership. Good leadership is both seeing the potential problems and taking responsibility for solutions, even if it might not be entirely your job to do so. Expanding on that it is about seeing the interconnectedness of it all, and then acting upon it. I do like how this piece ends and I agree with the solutions he is now offering. He warns of overregulation but does believe that "our challenge in the months ahead will be to install a regulatory regime that will ensure responsible risk management on the part of financial institutions, while encourageing them to continue taking the risks necessary and inherent in any successful market economy." I would add another call - let's expect more of all our leaders and hold them more accountable for the bigger picture. Also, for the record Mr. Greenspan, you did keep rates too low for too long.

A Gift for PAWS - Guest Post ( Allie Zehner)

For my birthday party I asked my friends to spend 1/2 the money (or no more than $10) on a gift for me and the rest I asked them to donate to a charity called PAWS. I chose PAWS because I care alot about animals and I want them to have nice homes. Today we went there to deliver the money - $150. They were excited to have the gift. Inside the building there was a big bulletin board that had the names of some of the dogs that were up for adoption. Through a window we could also see some cats that were just relaxing in the room. The lady that worked there showed us around. They take care of up to 30 dogs at a time and up to 100 cats at a time that are all up for adoption. There is a waiting list for animals to get in to PAWS. We really liked a puppy named Ernie who is a pit bull terrier. ( pictured here) I felt very happy that I did this because it felt really good to give. I encourage every child to raise some money for charities. You can donate online to PAWS and/or you can give stuff like dog and cat food. Allie Zehner ( age 9)

Nationalisation and the Future of Capitalism ... I keep on adding to this one

How does one do these topics justice? I will not try, but I will suggest you pick up the Financial Times all week as they are doing a series on it. The opening article today was a piece from Martin Wolf called "Seeds of its own destruction" and he says the 'era of financial liberalisation has ended." The system has FAILED us he says, and to that I would agree. I have written more then a couple of entries on what has FAILED and I am getting close to letting it rip once again... a long blog entry is coming. On the topic of Nationalisation I offer you a couple of articles worth reading. The first is a another piece by Martin Wolfe that was in the FT on the 3/4 called "To nationalise or not to nationalise is the question." The second piece is one that was in the Times over the weekend by Alan Binder, former Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve. Alan's piece, called "Nationalize? Hey, Not so FAST", is where I end up and does a good job describing the key issues. At the end of the day we have effectively nationalised many of our largest financial institutions, and I do not agree with Senator McCain who said today on the news to just let some big banks fail. We cannot. Period. We can wipe our shareholder equity, perhaps even make the bond holders take some pain, but fail? NO. I am not sure if the 'stress-testing' will be enough to sort the good from the bad but it is a process and it will allow for some insight/transparency in to the state of these financial institutions. I like the solution that is being followed giving preferred equity to banks that need it that can be converted in to common. I am also in the camp that some good-bank, bad-bank structure is where we will end up.

More on what has failed in this white paper - "Too Big has Failed" by Thomas Hoenig - President of Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas.

If you have not yet subscribed to Naked Capitalism - do... great reads sent right to your inbox.

7 pm - I quick add to my earlier entry as this is just in from BASELINE SCENERIO - if you don't already subscribe to them, you must. Their take on all the talk on what to do about the banking problems and Nationalisation - click here and here.

Asteroids, The Markets and PEACE

The good news from this week is that Asteroid 2009 DD45 did not hit planet earth! Now for the bad news. Really, where does one start? Citigroup? AIG? Fannie Mae announcing a $58 billion loss, which is more then all their profits since 1992? GE’s woes? The ridiculously bad unemployment numbers? The market plunging to new lows with the S & P down 7% for the week and 24% for the year? Sorry… the news is just all bad at the moment. All bad.

Bill Dudley the new NY FED Chief gave his first public address this week and I say “Welcome” to Bill in his new role. I had the pleasure of working with Bill at Goldman and I think very highly of him. Unfortunately he wasn’t exactly a perky puppy this week either saying that the “deleveraging process is still far from complete.” I know the FED is all out doing as much as they can to stimulate the economy but as we all know, we are in uncharted territory. Personally I have a lot of questions as it relates to ‘quantitative easing' as it seems that is all we are reading about these days. I wasn't particularly encouraged when I went to wikipedia and it described it as "creating money out of thin air." The UK engaged in aggressive QE this week resulting in a 53 bp rally in gilts. Read this piece in the FT for details. So can the US government just 'print' as much money as they want to? We know the downside of this, a plunging US dollar and inflation, but they are clearly not worrying about that at the moment. Eeeekkkk.... my brain hurts.

PEACE. Readers of my blog know that I had a PEACE party a while back and last week my daughter Allie decided she wanted to have one to celebrate her 9th birthday. In honor of trying to make the world a better place she asked that people spend only 1/2 the amount they would normally spend on a gift and give the rest in cash so she could donate it to her favorite cause - animal protection. Thanks to her extremely generous friends she is going to deliver a check for $150 to the Norwalk Animal Shelter. Now that is "doing what you can, with what you have, where you are." The Zehner Family is trying to start something here - have your own PEACE party to raise awareness and raise money for your fav cause. Once you do, please share the results. If you would like to donate too - Click here for PAWS Norwalk.

Soap Box, Money, and Bethany.....

Thanks for all the lovely emails and posts (Facebook) about my latest CNN appearance this morning. Some of you have been sending me your list of the various uses of BRILLO pads, which are very funny. When I was looking for a soapbox this morning before I jumped in the car that was all I could find to fit in my handbag. They are soappads! I brought them because what I thought we were going to talk about this morning was a broader conversation about leadership and money. I was going to get on my soapbox that the President and his sidekicks have to be much more thoughtful of how he (they) talk about money: how we use it, invest it, spend it, give it and save it AND who has it. The conversation was to be a response to this piece in the WashingtonPost - "A Week of Revelation" by Michael Gerson. The CNN producers had wanted to bring up the topic of 'class warfare' to the panel of 'experts.' Personally, I was particular miffed with this line in the NYTimes earlier in the week saying "the Affluent are top on the President's list of Losers." I can hope to understand why people are upset at the 'rich' but last time I checked 'rich' was something most people wanted to be. Yes the rich spend their money sometimes unwisely and many have made it in ways that have caused other people harm, BUT just as many, and I think more, employ people, run and built businesses, make sound investments, give away big dollars, and together pay the lion's share of personal income taxes. There is no one 'rich' and 'rich is bad/money is bad' is a message that we could do with out. Period. Most I know that are of means are accepting of paying higher taxes but they don't want rotten tomatoes thrown at them at the same time. One would hope that the President sees 'the rich' as part of the solution and not only the 'cause' of the problems. He needs to encourage those that can most afford to do it to spend, invest and give to help get our economy out of this mess. I have not heard that in a speech lately..... I vaguely remember the President Elect saying we are all in this together or was he only talking to the 98% of the population that make less then $250,000 a year.

A friend who I asked to read the OPED sent me these comments - "It is true that income inequality has increased over the recent past. But it is also true that the wealthy have paid a larger share of total Federal personal income tax revenues. Higher tax rates on the wealthy will reduce after tax income inequality. The important question is whether higher tax rates and perceived hostility to success will also reduce absolute tax revenues. If that happens, Obama's budget is unsustainable. Even if we don't reach the point of diminishing returns immediately, it seems clear that we will get there relatively soon as the social security and Medicare liabilities mushroom with the aging of the baby boom.

There are no responsible budget projections that suggest that this nation can pay the amounts of social security and Medicare entitlements created under current law. Yet, rather than address this directly, and reduce the entitlements as it is clear we must, the politicians rail against the wealthy and suggest that higher taxes on them will solve the problem, knowing full well that it won't. We demonize mortgage bankers who put homeowners into mortgages that would be a challenge to repay. How should we view politicians who lie and encourage us to rely on benefits that they know can't be paid."

On another note I have to highlight my friend Bethany's latest article. She just published a great piece on the private equity shop Fortress called "Over The Hedge". After making the move from FORTUNE where she was forever she is making her mark at Vanity Fair. You go girl... Click here for the article.

CNN Again plus brief market comments

CNN - American Morning. I am so blessed to be called back again tomorrow - 4th time in a week! (pictured right with John and Kirin on Monday) I am suppose to be going on around 8 am to talk about the latest mortgage plan. This has been such an amazing experience and the many opportunities are related to the economy being front and center at the moment. Thanks again to the Womens Media Center for making it happen!

The market got a bit of a bump today. Why? Relief rally perhaps after reaching new lows. China announced a new stimulus package which is much needed, but I would be stretched to say how much good it is going to us here in America. The economic news continues to be horrible. As for the mortgage plan I think it is certainly a step in the right direction. What is very clear is that the Government is trying more innovative programs to get help to struggling homeowners in an attempt to slow the downward momentum in housing prices. This is good but man or man... the cost of all this???? We don't want to know.

In my continued interest in linking to the best I read during the day I would suggest this piece by Thomas L. Friedman - "Obama's Ball and Chain." We are facing some really complex problems (as if you all didn't know this)... with no easy and obvious solutions.

"How Does Securitization work?" and "How to Value Stocks"

SNOW DAY! There is something quite lovely about waking up to a blanket of white, though I rather it not be in March. I woke up early with the intention of finishing two articles that I need to write but I got stuck in my inbox reading and watching. Here are my favs.......

The first is a video that explains the mortgage mess including how securitization works. Though clearly VERY oversimplified it does offer a great sketch of how securization and leverage works. I am going to watch it again with my kids. HERE IT IS.

If you do not already subscribe to BASELINE SCENERIO you need to. I have been for months now and I find the writing incredibly insightful and right on. Read his latest.

A thoughtful piece from an economist on the latest round of horrible economic data combined with some insights on what the administration could and should be doing.

Last - a piece from Econbrowser on what to expect from the stock market. I am not an expert here, and appreciate expert thinking. Again I am not saying I agree with it all but it is worth the read. Warning... somewhat advanced.

Have a great day. A few hours of work and I am going to play in the snow with my kids and my dog. It does not get any better then that..........

Toilet Anyone?

Wednesday night at about 1 in the morning I could not get to the object on the left fast enough. I am not sure if I had a touch of the flu, I was stresssed to the max, I was suffering from lack of sleep, I drank too much coffee... or now I am thinking my stomach was processing what my brain would soon have to....... the budget of President Obama and the latest round of US economic data. I have felt sick to my stomach ever since. The sad thing is everyone I talk to seems to be feeling the same way.

I mean yes, in an ideal world I would love to have a vibrant source of clean energy, education for all, health care for all but right now I think the President should be paying most of his attention to the economy. The economic (lack of) growth data announced on Friday was shockingly bad. The unemployment data? A disaster. GM reported (lack of) earnings? A nightmare. Billions more for Citi, Fannie and AIG. Honestly, although I told people watching CNN on Wednesday morning that they have to get their heads out of the sand if they think things are going to be 'ok' I think I am ready to put mine back in. I could write and write and write and write but it is afterall Saturday night and my kids want me back on the couch to watch Harry Potter. What could be better then that?

Transcript from CNN Live This Am! PursePundit Debuts and CNN!

I had the most amazing time on CNN this morning and they invited be back tomorrow... 6 am and 8 am. I am keeping my fingers crossed that they ask me to comment on Leadership and Investing in Women - two that you all know I am passionate about! Thanks to all my dear friends who have continued to support me on this journey in to the media world....

ROBERTS: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." That view from one of our iReporters underscores America's economic crisis. This morning, we're hearing what Main Street thinks of the president's recovery plan. And we're talking with some of the sharpest economic minds in the country about what it means to you and your financial future.Economist Diane Swonk joins us this morning from Chicago, and here in New York investment adviser Ryan Mack and Jacki Zehner, founding partner of the Circle Financial Group.We welcome you, Jacki, for the very first time.JACKI ZEHNER, FOUNDING PARTNER, CIRCLE FINANCIAL GROUP:

ROBERTS: Let's go to you, first. And let me preface this by highlighting here a comment that was sent in to us by a viewer. Dave in Omaha, Nebraska, writes to us this morning and says, "Although the meat of the speech was very hopeful, I felt it was more like a pep rally. The only thing missing was the band and the cheerleaders. I still want to know how we will pay off this debt, how is this administration putting people back to work, and why do I have to help someone pay -- why do I have to help pay else's mortgage? I feel this was not addressed."These are questions, Jacki, a lot of people are asking today.

ZEHNER: Those are really good questions. I actually think Nancy Pelosi was their cheerleading. I think all that was missing were the pompoms. But those are all my questions. It was a pep ralley. I like talking about hope and possibility, and I think the world needed that message and the markets so far are responding. He said, I'm in control. I'm going to do something, but what's the something?And actually, I thought he missed a big opportunity to talk about investing in America and a broader basis than just talking about Wall Street and the negatives of Wall Street. I think there's a much broader conversation that we can have about small business, about female entrepreneurship, about financial literacy, about a broad-based conversation about investment. And that was really missing.

ROBERTS: What do you think about all of that, Diane, because typically these addresses whether they be just to a joint session of Congress or whether they be actually titled a State of the Union Address, which is next one will be, are usually about grand themes and broad brush strokes. The details come later.

DIANE SWONK, ECONOMIST: Exactly. I think actually what impressed me was the one-two punch. Ben Bernanke was on his "A" game yesterday. And he really dealt with a lot of these issues earlier in the day in great detail. It was actually one of the most insightful, which doesn't say a lot.Q&A sessions that Congress has ever had with Ben Bernanke. But these senators actually finally got it. And I think that laid the groundwork. One of the comments that Ben Bernanke gave in response to that very issue on foreclosures, he said, you know, you could punish your next-door neighbor for smoking in bed by, you know, not calling the fire department when his home caught on fire, but if it burned down the whole neighborhood, how much does it help you?And I think that analogy is very important. And that's what the president has got to bring, is that analogy that we're on the same boat, and unless we're all in the same boat with our oars in the water rowing towards the same destination, we're all going to sink the boat.

ROBERTS: Ryan, let's turn this one toward you. Carolina, in *, Florida writes this this morning and says, quote, "After Obama's speech, I feel confident that he will bring us out of this economic mess. I was happy to hear some positive comments rather than all the doom and gloom that the American people are constantly being bombarded with. Thank God we have a new administration."Was it an appropriate amount of optimism that the president exceeded last night?

RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: I think it was great optimism. I think that his direction was very -- very optimistic and very happy about what tomorrow actually holds.One of the striking things he said, we are also suffering a deficit of trust. I think that in previous administrations, a lot of individuals had lost trust with an administration, so that actually leads to a lack of confidence in the leadership of this country. And him coming in and actually going back and talking about things about the GI bill, sent a generation of college students made the largest middle-class in history.So I want to have by 20-20 had the highest proportion of college graduates in this country. But then the devil is in the details. I'm going to put $31 billion in college affordability and Pell Grants and tax credits to make sure that individuals are going to school. And he also said, you know, enough of this not graduating from high school, you know? It's on you. We have to graduate from high school and make sure we're getting our...(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTS: That's an interesting part of the speech. But, Jacki, just in terms of this optimism, just saying it doesn't necessarily make it so. He's got a lot of work to do to actually get these programs into practice.

ZEHNER: Absolutely. But we also have a lot of work to do too. I love the messages about personal responsibility because at the end of the day, and this is my favorite quote, which I repeat again and again, "do what you can with what you have where you are". I think he has to empower people to be part of the solution, not wait for government to solve all our problems because they can't. And he said that, but I really wanted the exclamation marks behind that. I really did, because those are the conversations I'm having. People need to get together, share their problems, share solutions.Ryan and I spoke a lot about financial literacy, doing financial preparedness. You cannot have your head in the sand about this anymore. It's not going to get better overnight, but it is about people coming together, talking through problems, offering each other solutions, supporting one another in business, helping out. You can't -- we can't -- walk around like this( hands up and open) waiting for this the government hand-outs. It's just not going to happen. There's not enough money and we're selling our children's future.

Jacki, thanks for joining us this morning.ZEHNER: Thank you.ROBERTS: Great to have you here for the first time.ZEHNER: Thank you.ROBERTS: We'll get you back as well as Ryan.ZEHNER: Thank you. Thank you very much.

CNN - My First Appearance!

I am about to jump in a car to head to CNN in New York City to participate in a panel discussion on "American Morning!" Thanks to the Womens Media Center for creating this opportunity for me! I will be on sometime between 8 and 9 am. The panel will discuss last night's Presidential Address and I am beyond honored to be a part of this important debate.

"China's Dollar Dilema" , and Once Again, Financial Preparedness

I cannot tell you how often the issue on the top of my economic and financial worry list, within short order, is the feature article in the Financial Times! I keep worrying the world, particularly China, is going to stop buying ( or start selling ) US Treasuries. Things are already bad, very bad, and not getting any fundamentally better any time soon, but this debt thing is a big problem. I am sorry but I do find it ironic that at the same time we are telling individuals that they were irresponsible and need to work hard to pay down debt, the leadership of this country is doing the opposite on a historic scale. I do understand the many arguments why we NEED to spend out way out of a problem caused by too much spending, but it is still ironic. My husband has been talking about the "China Issue" forever and this article summarizes the key points he has been talking about it a very worthwhile read. He thinks one of the answers is for them to buy GOLD - a lot of it. Who knows, maybe they already are.

The financial markets? I have continually written about the deleveraging process that has taken hold. It is not over and will not be until asset prices find some sort of bottom. What will it take to find a bottom? Consider reading these two pieces (below) by folks a lot smarter and more connectect than I am. Oh... and they also make more money, at this point, likely more than any other person on the planet. What YOU CAN DO is basic financial prepardness. On how to do it, click here. Please consider sending that link around to everyone you know that you think needs help during this historic and difficult times.

The reads.......

Bill Gross of PIMCO - BEEP BEEP. Paul McCulley - Saving Banking.

(if you did read Bill's piece click here... maybe Bill should hire me?)

This Has to End! It Has to - Violence Against Women and Children

Why do we care? Why do we do what we do to try to make the world a better place? Why, for me, is about women and girls? Why do I believe that the world would be a more just and equitable place if women and girls were treated in a more just and equitable way? Because I believe in the GIRL EFFECT. Because you can extend that in to the WOMEN EFFECT which is the paradigm embraced by the Womens Funding Network and many, many many more organizations such as CARE. Click on both to learn more. I believe with my whole heart the power of investing in women and girls.

This weekend I was stopped in my tracks when I read this piece, The Invisible War, by Bob Herbert in the New York Times. We have heard these stories about rape and torture of innocent women and children but have we truly paid attention to them? Even if we do pay attention, what do we do with that? We have to do something. We have to. We just have to. This has to end. Violence against women and children has to end. Read it.

Ok now what you ask? Here is a list.

1) Write a letter to the New York Times and Bob Herbert thanking them for bringing awareness to this ongoing tragedy and ask them to do more. Write lots of letters.

2) Donate to VDAY and write Eve Ensler to thank her for the work she does in the world to bring the issue of violence against women from the private to the public space and more. Ask your friends to donate too.

3) Plan a PEACE Party to help bring awareness and to bring an end violence. I had mine two weeks ago, in support of Lamont Hiebert and his work in the world. Use your own creative ideas to bring people together to raise awareness and raise money.

4) Call your local domestic violence crisis center and ask what you can do to help. Volunteer.

Thanks for reading and thank you for being a person who cares.

As I put this to print I am watching Slumdog Millionaire win best picture - I LOVE IT!! This was the best movie I saw in a long time and here is why. It is a story about hope and possibility and it is exactly the right way to end this entry.

Nouriel Roubini for Treasury Secretary!!!! Plus..Canadian Banks

For those of you who do not Nouriel, you must, I am sorry to say.. have your head in the sand. Nouriel, or "Dr. Doom" as the press has chosen to call him, is an NYU economist and head of RGE Monitor, that has become famous for having been right on for years about what is going on in our economy. I had the pleasure last fall of attending a small group dinner with Nouriel following a discussion with him, George Soros and Jeff Sachs at Columbia University and let me tell you this is one smart and practical dude. I have since become a paid subscriber to his economic information and it is exceptional. I just finished reading an interview with him in this weekends journal and it is a must read. He calls to "'Nationalize'" the Banks" and though I personally am not sure that is the right thing to do, I trust this guy has done his homework and sees it as the only solution. In the interiew he says this - "Between guarantees, liquidity support, and capitalization, the governement has provided between $7 trillion to $9 trillion of help to the financial system." Though that is mind-blowing, the sad reality is that we are no where close to done. No where close. The government must take some action that gives the world some sense that they know what the heck they are doing. So far, in my opinion, the new administration has failed to deliver.

If you want an idea of what a healthy banking system looks like just look north of the border to Canada. Take a look at this FT piece "Canada Banks prove envy of the world" for the right long term model.

Another Historic Day - Equity Markets Move Below Fall 08 Lows

Another historic day yesterday as the US equity markets tumbled to a 6 year low falling through the previous bottom set November 20th of last year. With the DOW now at 7466 and the S & P at 779, levels not seen since 2002, one has to worry that we will remain in a shaky state for some time to come.

The why is well summarize by a question asked by Robert Zoelick, the World Bank President, in Thursdays FT – “What started as a financial crisis, become an economic crisis, is now becoming an unemployment crisis – and to what degree does it become a human and social crisis?”

I cannot help but reflect back to when I started blogging at the beginning of last year BECAUSE I felt we were entering a historic period for the US and global financial markets and I needed a way to share my opinions and more. At this moment I am just so angry. I am angry because of how long the ‘powers that be’ denied that there were any real problems to worry about. I am angry because at the time the government’s solutions to what few problems they acknowledged were to suggest we should just keep shopping. I am angry about years and years of people (including me ) just failing to do the right ( and often difficult) things. I have been an unwavering bear, A Mrs. Doom to Nouriel Roubini’s Dr. Doom, and yet at this moment I feel I did not do enough to help protect others and be part of the solution.

This is not about the level of the stock market. This is about who we are as people. This is about how we view ourselves, our role's in society and our obligation or lack thereof to care about the common good and take personal responsibility to do our best to keep our world, as well as our own life, on a positive trajectory.

Why I am being so self-reflective early this morning? Because in a few hours I have to speak to a roomful of incredible business leaders about these issues. About corporate ethics. Though I am long since a partner of Goldman Sachs where I had the huge personal responsibility to be a culture driver and carrier I am still that everywhere I go. For 14 years my space was primarily GS, and now it is other spaces and places but the obligation remains the same. As a leader, as a citizen of this planet, I feel strongly that I have an obligation to serve the common good and not just what is good for me. At the heart of it I think that is what is wrong with America, perhaps the world.

I need to add a few articles that I have clipped over the past couple of days mainly because I love saving them in a place where I can easily access them again down the line. If you are not yet a subscriber to Naked Capitalism I would highly suggest it… everyday some of the best business writings from multiple sources are collected and sent to you in one email… love it and thanks.

From the WSJ

“A short History of the National Debt” by John Steele Gordon – He gives some great history on government deficitis.
“Synchronized Boom, Synchronized Bust” by Marc Faber – Mark manages money and I follow is thinking in Barrons. He was featured in this year’s roundtable and I agreed with most of what he had to say. This article walks through the financial meltdown in easy in a very straightforward way.
“There is Virtue in Geithners Vague Bank Plan” by Nouriel Roubini and Matthew Richardson– basically argues that the many US banks will be nationalized.

From the FT

“Japanese Lessons for a World of Balance Sheet Deflation” by Martin Wolf. I love the FT opeds in general and this one highlights the indebtedness of the world.

Feeling Down? Volunteer.

I am back from a week in Arizona where I attended a Womens Funding Network Board meeting and spent some great one on one time with my 8 year old daughter. The downturn has definitely hit there with for rent and for sale signs everywhere.... everywhere. Our hotel was very quiet until the masses hit for NBA Allstar Weekend. The wives of many players have organized in to a philanthropic group called "Behind the Bench" and their annual fundraiser around this weekend benefited WFN. Many thanks!

Though there is MUCH to say about this weeks economic and financial news I am choosing an upbeat post thanks to Sylvia Ann Hewlett. I am honored to serve on her board, The Center For Work Life Policy. Not only is volunteering a good thing for the world, it is also a good thing for your health. If you need help finding a place to give your time please visit the brand new site created by our brand new President - USAservice.org.

Abelson, Fiscal Stimulus, Bridgewater, Nicholas Kristof and Women!

Live from Phoenix! Alan Abelson from Barron’s yet again gives a great summary of the week’s economic activity. His focus is appopriately on the job report released Friday, reporting 598,000 lost this past month bringing the headline number to 7.6%, a 16 year high. It feels more like the other number he highlights, something called the U-6 which included the ‘entire lot of folks who can’t find a job”, which is at 13.9%. “The stock market reacted to this employment report from hell just as you might expect. It staged a jolly rally.” Why? I guess because it was so bad that the government seems sure to pass the massive stimulus package. Which I guess they just did…I believe this bounce, and ones that will follow in the short term, will not last...

The stimulus package. I know we must spend money to help the tumbling economy, and actually I just heard over my shoulder on CNN President Obama say ‘it is only the government that can break the cycle” of this downward spirally economy, but I am deeply worried about how wasteful this package has the potential to be. We are spending our future. Let’s be clear about this. We are borrowing from tomorrow, from future revenues, to try to make things better today. There is no free lunch.

Bridgewater. For a rare, thoughtful, insightful and relevant interview with one of the smartest investment minds out there, click here. Ray Dalio, the CIO of Bridgewater Associates, in the piece “Recession? NO, It’s a D-process, and It Will Be Long” he shares why this time it is different, and why not to expect a quick and easy recovery no matter what the government does. At the end of the day the ‘government is going to print money.” He suggests that this has to end in currency devaluation, which is not in this case a bad thing. He is positive on gold, the yen, and ends with this. “Buying equities and taking on those risks in late 2009, or more likely 2010, will be a great move because equities will b e much cheaper than now. It is going to be the buying opportunity of the century.”

I am saving the best for last. I cannot begin to tell you how many people forwarded me this piece by Nicolas Kristof (pictured) called “Mistresses of the Universe.” You go Nic!!!! I could not agree more. Of note is that together with the National Council for Research on Women we are about to release a paper on exactly this topic!!! This has been a three year project and we are beyond excited about it. The question we asked? Why are there not more women in professional trading and portfolio management roles? We can stretch that even further and ask why is that women do not more equally share in power and decision making? If you are a regular reader you KNOW that I completely believe that we need a world where women and men more equally share in power. So much so that last night I actually dreamt about it. In my sleep I was asking myself this question. Why is it NOW that women are going claim their space as leaders and decision makers? Why now? In the middle of the night I woke up, grabbed a piece of paper, and wrote this – “Because we are ready. We are ready.” I swear with my hand on the hotel bible that this happened. I know it, in my bones, that women are ready to be part of the solution. Women are ready to be major players in this world, to work collectively with good men to make this world a better place. How do we do this? “By doing what we can, with what we have, where we are” ….. then doing more. At the end of the day however it is about women being in places we need to be in critical mass. It is only then that we will know what women’s leadership and women’s led solutions look like. Thank you Nicholas for all your brilliant writing on topics that deeply matter to me.

An excerpt from the piece I wrote called "Why are Goldman's Women Invisible?"

Might this be one of many factors contributing to what is wrong with Wall Street leadership today? Arguably at this moment of financial and economic crisis, after approximately $10 trillion dollars of global wealth has vanished, women remain virtually absent at the decision-making tables that count. For all those men who sat around thinking they were the "smartest guys in the room", is it not time to ask "what could we have done differently?" Could the difference possibly have been a critical mass of women? We will never know. Sure you can name a couple of women, but that is just it, a couple? It takes critical mass to know what women's presence and leadership looks and feels like, and we could sure use that data right about now. Don't call Goldman looking for that information though as they do not have it.

My piece Brokenness, Hope and Women from HUFFPO on the topic as well.

This may be my last post for a few days and there are so many things I want to write I think my head is going to explode. I am going to spend some quality time with my 8 year old daughter Allie and then attend the Womens Funding Network board meeting here....

It is ALL about PEACE!!!

I am so excited! We are 1 1/2 hours away from our PEACE PARTY! My dear friend Lamont Hiebert is here with his band Ten Shekel Shirt and they are going to rock the house. We are raising funds to bring his beautiful and restorative song FRAGILE to video and/or for LOVE 146 that is working to abolition for sex slavery and exploitation. ( he is a founder) Watch the video sketch here. Buy the CD here. Please consider supporting Lamont and his incredible work to help bring PEACE to the world!

I am leaving before dawn for ARIZONA to meet up with my family, spend time with my daughter, and attend a Womens Funding Network Board Meeting. I will try to blog for there.. but just in case. Have a GREAT week...

One quick note - I had the honor of speaking at an event all about EMPOWERMENT for the Stern Women in Business. You all rock and I wish you all the very best. Sign up for my newsletter if I you are visiting for the first time.

Brokenness, Hope and Women!!! - REVISTED.....

I have been having many conversations about the financial markets being broken, the economy being broken, corporate business models being broken, corporate diversity programs being broken.... I went back and read this piece I wrote in DECEMBER ( on Huffington Post)- a piece of which is below... I want to put it back out there as a framework to what could be different the next time around....

"So much has to change in order for ours to be a more just and equitable world, and that change must occur in all levels of society for it to be sustainable. This theory of change is well summarized in the work of the Women's Funding Network which argues that "a bottom up belief that the whole community cannot be improved or changed without the full participation of women and girls and the full participation of women and girls cannot be achieved without bringing women and girls from the margins in to the mainstream."

We can talk about new appointments and new administrations, but it is in valuing men and women, boys and girls equally and in enabling their full participation in society, that we will set the course for the positive change we need to see in our families and our public and private institutions.

In Washington, as we witness this changing of the guard and hope that better decisions will be made, let us drive change elsewhere, in all realms of our society, from where we each stand. Where leadership is not diverse, strive it make it so. Where the culture is toxic, commit to changing it. Where talent is being underutilized, develop programs to change that. The solutions are there but what is missing, often, is the will, the commitment, to see such change through. What is missing is the equitable participation of women as solutions are being enacted. This is the message I delivered yesterday to over 200 women and if you can pull together a group of 200 interested men, call me, and I will deliver the message to them too. This is a world view when good men and good men both win. Do you see a broken world? If yes, then begin to see the world differently and then move forward to make the world different. Invest in women and girls. The time for real change is now."

It is so NOW....

Dear Diary plus..."Did You Know?......."

I have to admit I am feeling a little overwhelmed today. Perhaps I am reading too much, thinking too hard, pushing myself to 'be the change', trying to find solutions to the world's problems and design business models that can make back some cold hard cash. Besides that we are thinking hard about where in the world ( literally ) we want to live, move, be..... Layer on me breaking out the old movies of when the kids were babes and I quickly realize how quickly time goes by. Married thirteen, had my second child 9 years ago, gone from Goldman since 2002, rounding the corner to age 45......... Also, I have to say, I am just feeling very sad about what a total mess we (the US, the WORLD) are in financially and economically. I started writing over a year ago, logging now over 160 entries and 11 OPEDS, because I thought it was going to be a historical one in the financial markets and I needed to DO SOMETHING bigger then I was already doing. Tell people to look out, be careful and more.... but I truly did not imagine this. This hole is very, very deep and it is so far from over. I told my husband that I am going to make a list of the things I am mad at the world about, mad at myself about, and mad at him about. He is thankful that he was at the end of the list and it was in size order.....

Something must have been in the air because my husband decided to show me ( us - kids included ) this VIDEO called - Did YOU Know????? Most of it, no I didn't and now I feel even more overwhelmed. Time for a nice glass of wine and some SNL reruns....

Question to my readers - Where in the US, then in the WORLD - would you live and work if you could? I know it is a giant pain in the neck to log in and put in a comment... but if you have a sec, would love your thoughts.

The Problems With Banks

It seems as if we are to hear what the plan is going to be for the US Banking System as early as this week. My we are in a pickle. Maybe a pickle jar. Maybe a pickle pool. Maybe an ocean of pickels. What is the likely outcome????? I offer to you not my opinion, but those of a smarter bunch then I.

First up is George Soros who wrote a thoughtful piece in the FT last week called "The Right and Wrong Way to Bail Out the Banks." He points a key element of the challenge - "the hard choice facing the Obama administration is between partially nationalising the banks, or leaving them in private hands but nationalising their toxic assets."

Up second is Baseline Scenerio - a blog I have recommended to you before - that will link you to two recent opeds from the FT and the WP - both worth the read.

Will we end of with a Nationalized Banking System? You tell me..........