It took years and years (we started here 10 years ago) for a reclusive corner of the academic world to come to the conclusion I came to 10 years ago: that accounting and earnings fraud is pervasive in America and goes, for the most part, undetected.
From NYT”
Dyck is a professor of finance at the University of Toronto, who just published a provocative new study on the pervasiveness of corporate fraud. The study has been passed around in the world of academia in recent weeks, and has become a fascination among general counsels, corporate leaders and investors.
It suggests that only about a third of frauds in public companies actually come to light, and that fraud is disturbingly common. Dyck and his co-authors estimate that about 40 percent of companies are committing accounting violations and that 10 percent are committing what is considered securities fraud, destroying 1.6 percent of equity value each year — about $830 billion in 2021. Dealbook, January 14th, 2023
“What people don’t get is how widespread the problem of corporate fraud is,” Dyck said about his study, which was published in the Review of Accounting Studies this month. Dealbook, January 14th, 2023
A professor from the University of Ontario did this study this month…It’s not about Sam Bankman-Fried…It’s about the hundreds of them out there no-one knows about…
The post Fraud everywhere first appeared on Wall Street Financier: Notes from High Altitude©.]]>“Most charge $5,000 or less in annual dues, plus a smaller sign-up fee though those at the top end can charge considerably more..
WSJ
Becoming a member at these clubs might take some time. Zero Bond [a 22,000 square foot private membership club in the heart of Noho] relies heavily on recommendations from current members in adding to its membership roll. Mr. Sartiano declined to say how many members he has but said Zero Bond has about 8,000 members on its waiting list.
NeueHouse earns about 35% of its revenue from membership fees, with the rest coming from brand partnerships, private events and its restaurants and bars, according to Chief Executive Josh Wyatt.
Kate King, WSJ
Zoom fatigue ? Do you really need a private club to go out for drinks and dinner ?
On the wheel of full-throttle snobism, here at Wall Street Financier: Notes from High Altitude, I am the only one seeking refuge from the vagaries of this vane and empty world. I stand alone, as I always stood, firm in my ancestor’s- Spartacus place.
And now a word from Sadhguru, the Indian mystic
When you have some spare time, I invite you to listen to this talk
“If you are going to be an expert archer,
You must shoot before you think.
Otherwise I’ll be too late.”
Alan Watts
Meanwhile, in investment banking… Steve McLaughlin of Financial Technology Partners LP is “comfortably the highest paid investment banker in America [WSJ, Dec. 5th, 2021]
The post Wisdom from the giants first appeared on Wall Street Financier: Notes from High Altitude©.]]>- If you are/were at a large or mid-sized organization (middle range businesses are those that have 250-500 employees) start looking at small sized businesses and startups.
2. Participate in conferences, developers forums, seminars and strategy forums. The more involved you are in your profession and the more you know about verticals the better. Speak to and meet your peers and avantgarde leaders.
3. Whatever your last employer, your best chances are to get hired by a competitor. This doesn’t change regardless of your industry and profession.
4. If you haven’t bought the Book of the Underdog yet, buy it. It is the best, life changing book on personal and professional development of the last decade. Now, 3 years later and into a new decade, the book still holds as the gold standard.
5. Pivot if you have to. Read the 15 Invalubale Laws of Growth by John C. Maxwell and The Big Pivot: Radically Practical Strategies for a Hotter, Scarcer, and More Open World by Andrew S. Winston.
Relationships
All amorous relationships in your life need to be dynamic. We have numerous posts here on relationships from the male perspective: do a search for 2019 and 2020 and you’ll be floored with relationship advice. We don’t follow the mainstream advice on “working in relationships” because once a relationship needs “work” (other than minor corrections) I believe the relationship should be curtailed. Things to bear in mind:
-People naturally grow apart.
-Monogamy is a myth and all the happy couples that I know have or have had, multiple lovers.
-All relationships end in breakups, hopefully the breakup is gracious and well-choreographed, eg. you have a prenup and a postnup.
-The way you got into that relationship the same way you will split up.
-I don’t recommend marriage for men. If you get married you need to clearly spell out your economic arrangement with the woman. No ambiguity. (The honeymoon phase usually ends in 6 months).
-If you’ve made the mistake of getting married and have kids, you need to obtain 50/50 custody. That is for the kids since they need both a father and a mother in their lives.
SPACS Lord Chamath is portrayed in the first June issue of The New Yorker.
Of hedge-fund managers: “Let them get wiped out. Who cares? They don’t get to summer in the Hamptons? Who cares?” (He made both proclamations after he had become a venture capitalist and started a hedge fund; he has yachted off the Italian coast.)
"In 2019, when he was trying to persuade investors to support his first spac—for the space-tourism company Virgin Galactic—he met in New York with a group of mutual-fund managers and gave a dazzling speech about helping mankind reach for the heavens. It went unmentioned that Virgin Galactic had burned through nearly a billion dollars, and that in its fifteen-year history it had missed every major deadline that it had set for itself. Instead, Palihapitiya proclaimed that the company would likely earn enormous profits—and change the world." -The New Yorker
What else is there to say ? That this Joker slides on slime ?
“Having a great story, and knowing how to tell it, can be a quick way to get rich. “
The New Yorker
And now a quote from me:
People are stupid. You can always bet on people’s stupidity.
Don’t blame Chamath that he possibly is worth more than Michael Milken (whose net worth is $3.7 Bn). Blame yourselves and your own stupidity. At least Michael Milken is a genius. Chamath is the Joker of Silicon Valley.
The post The Joker of SPACS first appeared on Wall Street Financier: Notes from High Altitude©.]]>I’ve picked up some good moves from the episodes and some non-sense you should stay away from…when dealing with women. Of course the producers and consultants of the show don’t have the life experience that I and many of my readers have.
St. Patrick’s asks his mistress, Angela: What’s wrong, baby ?
You never ask that question.
I guess naming the nightclub St. Patrick opened “Truth” is one thing, actually knowing you never covet to a woman is another. It is interesting Tasha, St. Patrick’s wife, knows all about his drug dealings, while his law-enforcement mistress sleeps with him to discover who he is…but he discovers who she is first.
“If that girl loved you like you love her that girl would be here in your time of trouble.” -Tommy’s mother to Tommy
In this case, mothers know best. If you have a girl who loves you, that’s the “love” of a woman.
“I love you, Jamie.
You do, don’t you ?”
At least that answer to women’s shit “I love you” is right.
St. Patrick, it seems, continues sleeping with Angela the government lawyer instead of cutting it off.
“It’s easy to love someone when you only see him an hour a day.” – Angela’s friend
That sounds like my advice, and of many others, of how to best be with a woman. I say see her once or twice, a week. (Friendly reminder, the best post of 2020 was Goldman’s Socks 69 Rules of Being a Man)
Who wants to fuck the good guy ? -Tommy Weaver to Angela, discussing the possibility of St Patrick being Ghost.
Holly Molly. Nobody does.
Let’s see how Kanan rolls, since he’s looking to take St. Patrick out. We’ll keep you updated as we dig more interesting facts from the show.
Until next time,
Your Man,
Max Cantor
It is time that someone wrote a real guide not only for the men working in the investment industry but for all men who aren’t jokers. I mean, you can listen to the Joker (Boris Brejcha) which I do even in this post. But don’t make your life a caricature. So this list was born. There aren’t 99 Rules in this list, but we’d like to aim for a good-measure number (69 would do it).
1. Marriage is OUT.
In the past decade, marriage has has become the rawest, worst deal for men in America and the West altogether. Marriage is an outdated institution with laws giving women the upper hand, no man with some self-esteem should walk that dark alley. (70% of divorces are initiated by women, and that number climbs higher, to 90% for college-educated women).
2. Social media is poison, and even if you’ve joined Twitter (dada: Twatter) you know by now it’s a garbage cesspool.
3. If your girlfriend is an Instagram person, you’ve got a coochie bug.
Not worth it !
4. Learn to cook for a change. It’s one of the essential skills a man needs to have.
5. The Modern Woman doesn’t need protection from anything really, it is you who need protection from women.
You can fill in the blanks…from __, ___.__
6. When in doubt, leave her. Don’t fall for the fallacy of sunk costs.
7. Alcohol is another thing that is OUT. In is milk who does a body good.
You will stand out if you don’t drink at a party.
8. No matter what Silicon Valley vampires tell you, you can still make a good impression if you’re wearing fashionable shoes and a great watch.
9. Lunch and dinner etiquette: eat light. When you eat a heavy meal, your energy is diverted to digesting it, making you sloppy and slow-thinking and acting. Never eat full.
10. Try to get laid on a first date. If you can do that with some frequency you’ll be a winner at everything eventually. It’s the War of the Sexes that must be won first.
11. Do have a Wall of Fame with canvas pictures of good-looking exes framed in your bedroom.
Your girlfriend must know where you come from.
12. NEVER buy dinner to woman you haven’t f****ed.
13. Hookers can be some of the most sincere women in the world, because they put a price on something that too often is overpriced.
14. Women nowadays are seriously overvaluing themselves. Even the ugliest of women looks good in some pictures. You need to give those women some space.
15. She’s not as important as you think she is.
16. For the married lads: now what ?
You’re slowly descending into mediocrity and you know it, what do you do ? The clock is running: tick-tock-tick. Your pal suggests you try a threesome…should you ? Would you ? Yes. Threesomes are in. MFF. Three is a magic number. There are three in the Holy Scripture. “Friends, Romans, Countrymen” -three in William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Mind, body and spirit -three.
17. The way you handle your boss is the same way you train a dog.
You give it a treat when he behaves and withdraw attention when he misbehaves. For more info, make sure you get your BOU (The “Alpha Male Bible” ).What does is look to be at the top of your game ?
18. With your girlfriends, may you have many and plenty all your life, always experiment. Women do not like being bored. Remember, life is an adventure.
19. Be her immutable, solid rock. Stay firm and rooted and don’t let the tides of life blow you away. That is the essence of being a man.
20. Always have time slots during the day when you are unreachable (no phone or internet connection).
Your own time away from everybody. As you get older and wiser, so do the “unreachable” times are getting larger.
21. The best pick-up line in the world: “Tell me something about you that I don’t already know.”
22. The Second best pick-up line in the world: “Lady, when I’m deep asleep I am 10X smarter than you are. Now, you were saying…”
23. Any woman in a man’s life is replaceable.
Women know this instinctively, as demonstrated by their propensity to pursue taken men. A man that’s taken -married or not- is seen more attractive to them than a single man.
24. “Only one woman in the world exists in the world, one woman with countless faces.” -Nikos Kazantzakis, 1952
25. The key to a woman’s heart is hidden in plain sight.
26. Talking about keys, the key to your career that will open the biggest doors is called envy.
27. Word on the Street is that being a feminist is the key to the heavens. I’m taking that advice to the bank.
28. If you have an overbearing, bad woman boss, what do you do ?
Well, if you’re married, say: “Tell that to my wife”, then hand over your phone to the boss. If you’re not married, say: “It’s not easy being green.”
So this happened: the new decade swooped in… and we have to make it to 69. Let’s get some more music in before we do that…
29. 2020s, a new decade ? Welcome to 2010 is more like it. With the passage of time, the worst of the old gets a facelift.
30. The Big Guns favor themselves. They love themselves so much, they came to with the idea of gender parity goals because…what’s better than cutting the nip in the buds ?
31. There’s no such thing as a bad woman boss.
Did you write that on your office whiteboard yet ?
32. Happiness without money doesn’t exist, but money without happiness sometimes does happen.
33. True gender equality at work will not be achieved until all women dress up exactly like men..or men dress up exactly like women.
34. Sample far and wide.
And by sampling I don’t mean food, I mean flings. I’ve had flings hailing from 18 different nations and four continents. To some that’s a low diversity number. Well, put me to shame. As far as I can tell, the farther they are from your original ethnicity, the more interesting things can get. Hop on the diversity bandwagon.
35. Women, as far as we can tell, divide men into two categories: Cads and Dads.
Sometimes Cads become Dads. These are the sad bunch. Score +1 Women to -1 Men. Very rarely do Dads become Cads. Women really hate that.
36. When Dads become Cads, women label it with the misnomer of “Midlife Crisis”.
37. I second the popular truth voiced elsewhere that people in position of power are more likely to cheat regardless of sex.
38. You can’t take a lady to the water park without getting her dress wet. You might as well not go at all.
39. Romance isn’t cheap, they say. I say there’s no romance to buy or sell.
40. On a TSA security check-up recently, while they were patting me down, I said: Oh, yes ! Harder ! Feel that round firm tights.
41. The most useful text message in the book of texting:
“I’ll take care of u” then hours later (5 hours or more) “when u’re ready” …more time lapse (one or more hours later)…”u horny ?”
They key here is to send this texting sequence hours apart…It make the hamster go full 5200 rpm.
42. Own an emblazoned tie and cufflinks.
43. When you have bragging rights, write a book.
44. Scale it up and own the rights to a movie.
45. Your last breakup should be your ticket to freedom, as in more more lays and layaways.
What are you sad about, then ?
46. A woman doesn’t love you until she cries for you.
Ah, what about crocodile tears, I heard… Did you get a lighter and threaten to burn up her shoes ? Are you telling me those tears aren’t real ?
47. If you take up DJ-ing on the side, you’ll either become the CEO of Goldman Sachs or get more lays, but not both.
48. Ledger book love is overrated.
49. The difference between a wife’s and a concubine’s love is 5,000 feet and counting, with the concubine’s being the greatest (highest).
Both men and women know that instinctively.
50. Those who cheat, win. Take that to the bank.
51. The cheat codes are in the winners DNA.
Examples: A pretty woman will, in all likelihood, cheat. A smart person..will cheat. That doesn’t mean that ugly ones and dumb people don’t cheat, however.
52. Trying to cheat is NOT cheating. Cheating is NOT getting caught. If you get caught -that is not cheating. Every winner knows that.
53. When your woman says F.U., you got fucked a long time ago.
Women see their SMV (Sexual Market Value) plummet as they age (around 35 although some say is even earlier) while men’s, generally speaking, is on an upswing.
54. The Trivers-Willard hypothesis (gTWH) suggests that physically more attractive parents are more likely to have daughters than physically less attractive parents. Hence, women are the more beautiful sex.
The geniuses who have daughters plus half of China are now going to think they fall under the “attractive” category. Don’t hold your breath.
55. Women who cheat far outnumber the men who cheat.
56. In our progressive society, women hold the power while blaming and shaming men for having it.
57. The Mastery Key is unlocked when a man lives of a woman. In the guest house. A struggling actor can pull that off.
58. The key to getting a model is modeling for her.
59. There is no “cure” to cheating. Stop treating it like a disease. It is not. It is a feature.
60. Should a man who got a better job, a higher paying job, upgrade his wife ? By all means. If he was smart enough, he wasn’t married to begin with.
61. What makes a marriage strong: a healthy age difference between the man and the woman, where the man is considerably older than the woman.
Also, drop the monogamy garbage to the site curb where it belongs.
62. Older men are better than younger men.
Both men and women agree to it or they feign disagreement.
63. They say a woman’s loyalty is tested when her man has nothing while a man’s loyalty is tested when he has everything.
It is mostly the women who have everything…
64. The smartest way to deal with haters is to call them out: Yo’, women…
And put out some Lady Gaga lyrics:
“I can’t wait to smoke them all
Whole pack like Marlboro
Blow it in your face, blow it in your face
Blow it in your, blow it in your face
I can’t wait to rev you up
Faster than you can say Ferrari
Tearin’ up the gravel, watch you unravel
Now it’s a party…” -Source: Lady Gaga, A-Yo song, Joanna album
65. Women’s greatest fear is that they are no longer desired.
Their fallout is inevitable because beauty is perishable. That’s why we don’t invest in beauty with marriage.
66. Another friendly exchange:
You: What are you thinking ? Her: This, that.
You: Good, because I don’t have you thinking about my crotch all the time.
67. The hamster feeds into darkness. Feed it into darkness.
Few will understand this. Is that hamster splitting atoms by now ?
68. Instacrap + Facetoilet + Twatter = Let the simping GAMES begin !
69. The higher-ups pull the ladder up behind you.
With the abundance of geniuses who are also triathletes and meditators, rowers and God-knows-what, it’s become extremely difficult to stand out. Fortunately you have the backhanded compliments.
Poll
Disclaimer: “Goldman Socks” does not in any way refer to, allude to or personalizes the firm or character of banking firm Goldman Sachs.
The post The No Bullshit , not - Goldman Socks Guide to Being a Man first appeared on Wall Street Financier: Notes from High Altitude©.]]>The answer is: nothing. I wrote about Valentine’s before.
If you can’t buy my love, should I try to buy yours ?
Dipshits do not know Valentine’s Day had nothing to do with giving your fling anything:
” Valentine’s Day, in fact, originated as a liturgical feast to celebrate the decapitation of a third-century Christian martyr, or perhaps two…” via Smithsonian Mag
St. Valentine was not a romantic.
He was a fighter. The two or three people originally referenced Valentine were monks in the line of fire.
Dipshit’s jaw drops.
On this website, we train gladiators. We don’t sugarcoat limp dicks. We are not a doughnuts factory.
If you wanna buy your gf/bf a gift, of course you may. Buy a gift for your significant other when they do something nice for you. When they go the extra mile, you should reward them for it. But on the day a martyr was executed centuries ago ? Think long and hard before you do. Do not insult a decapitated martyr.
Prep up your pimp walk
The Shorty guy reminded me of the biggest U.S.-based drug runners from the ’80s and ’90s, The Boys, Willie Falcon and Sal Magluta. Their first trial, in ’90s Miami, ended up in an acquittal. If I remember correctly the star prosecutor in that case went to a strip club after the verdict and bit a stripper on the arm after buying an expensive bottle of champagne. (archive link)
”
On a makeshift gravel runway near the Mexican city of Durango, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, better known as El Chapo, climbed out of his damaged Cessna 206 feeling lucky to be alive.
He already knew one thing for certain. Miguel Angel Martínez, the inexperienced young pilot he’d recruited to transport cocaine from Colombia, wasn’t working out.
Two months earlier, a plane Mr. Martínez was co-piloting ran out of gas on approach and broke its landing gear. This time, he’d touched down so ineptly that the propeller struck the ground.
The boss gave Mr. Martínez an impromptu performance review. “Mr. Guzmán told me that I was a really bad pilot and that he didn’t want me to continue working for him as a pilot,” he said. The larger question, of course, was what El Chapo planned to do next. ” -WSJ
So what do you think Shorty did with the inexperienced pilot at the time ?
He promoted him, rather than having him eliminated. He even asked and got to be godfather to his newborn son. The takeaway: unconditional loyalty was the prime directive in the management style of Shorty.
Sam Walker says the “leadership lesson here is a murky one.” Walker doesn’t believe “loyalty first” management and treating close employees as family works best after all.
Here is what I think, and that relates to most, if not all, high-powered executives
- Giving a lowly employee a chance is automatically embodying loyalty to the N-th degree. But that offer has to come from you, not from the employee, to be fully appreciated. Otherwise it will be seen as acquiescence. Here’s how it usually happens: the boss “entrusts” X with a “secret” to see if it leaks out. If the probe-secret leaks out, then how can you trust that employee ? Bosses do “tryouts” like this for a reason.
- Loyalty to a person or circle is always higher than loyalty to an organization.
- Keeping tabs on employees communications is a good habit. Most bosses do that through automatic software and the compliance department: email and phone call monitoring is common nowadays.
- A system of rewards-for-performance has to be in place. It appears that becoming “family” as rewards-points -employed by Chapo- may have lengthened employment in a notoriously short-lived career such as the one chosen by these people. Good, bad ? In my humble opinion, making family of closed associates is both good and bad. They don’t get fired (or X-ed) but at the same time they’re too close and can bring about a downfall.
I was called the Pitbull of Wall Street like I’m walking around with a picture on my head, but Institutional Investor Magazine this month portrays another “pitbull”, Paul Singer of Elliott Management in The Last Hedge Fund Pit Bull (Michelle Celalier).
Getting into proxy fights is not easy, it is cumbersome, expensive and extremely difficult. Elliott’s fight with Arconic (last 10-Q ARNC ) is not over yet, but they’ve won 3 board seats at the company and ousted ex-CEO Kleinfeld in April.
From that fight Elliott had 9 pages of “ethical concerns” about the CEO. “It suggested the ex-CEO had an inpunitive personality and could not take responsibility for his own failures.” -II
Drilling down on C-suite personalities is incumbent upon someone that is looking at a level of misdirection or apathy in the leadership of a business.
Of course, Elliott is best-known for is protracted battle with Argentina, and they won 75 cents on the dollar for the bonds. But it took 15 years.
Who can successfully fight for 15 years ?
The seizure of that Argentinean ship in Ghana, It was largely symbolic because that ship wasn’t worth the scrap metal on it. But it made a BIG difference in the end.
So is “pugnaciousness” useful ? For lack of a better term, it is. It sounds better than rapaciousness.
Do you have a better word for it ? If you do, let me know.