Month: January 2018

Inernet News and Motives

Steven Guccione

A Google search of “Las Vegas shooter motive” shows up the following headlines from major news sources (you can do your own Google for the links):

  • Las Vegas gunman carefully planned attack; motive is mystery
  • Las Vegas shooting: Police release preliminary report, no motive …
  • Las Vegas shooting suspect’s motive remains a mystery – USA Today
  • Las Vegas mass shooting: No motive uncovered | abc7.com
  • Still no motive in Las Vegas mass shooting – NY Daily News
  • No motive uncovered for Las Vegas mass shooting, sheriff says | WGN …
  • etc.

Now if you change the search slightly and Google “Las Vegas shooter losing money” you get:

  • Las Vegas shooter had been losing money for two years and ‘was …
  • Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock had lost money, been – CBS News
  • Las Vegas shooting: Gunman Stephen Paddock lost significant money …
  • Las Vegas gunman Stephen Paddock lost money in 2 years preceding …
  • Las Vegas Sheriff Says Gunman of Mass Shooting Had Been Losing …
  • etc.

So is losing ‘significant money’ at a casino for two years not a motive for shooting the place up?  Especially in the absence of any other reasons?  I guess that would be bad for business to publish that.

A Sense of Purpose

Steven Guccione

Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock ($5.7T AUM), sends out an annual letter to CEOs.  This year it talks about ‘stakeholders’ and long term value and “a new model for corporate governance”.   Worth a read.

A Sense of Purpose

. . . a company’s ability to manage environmental, social, and governance matters demonstrates the leadership and good governance that is so essential to sustainable growth, which is why we are increasingly integrating these issues into our investment process.

Companies must ask themselves: What role do we play in the community? How are we managing our impact on the environment? Are we working to create a diverse workforce? Are we adapting to technological change? Are we providing the retraining and opportunities that our employees and our business will need to adjust to an increasingly automated world? Are we using behavioral finance and other tools to prepare workers for retirement, so that they invest in a way that that will help them achieve their goals?

As we enter 2018, BlackRock is eager to participate in discussions about long-term value creation and work to build a better framework for serving all your stakeholders.

 

Wood Replacement

Steven Guccione

20180115_165632.jpg

Had a wooden shelf in our shower.  It was made out of some sort of exotic wood and did last a decade or more.  Decided to replace it when it started to fall apart.  After much searching for proper wood for this sort of environment (is there any such thing?) I decided to go with a cedar 2×4 I had in my shed and some fiberglass resin.  Used this stuff once when I was in high school to make a darkroom trough and it is pretty tough (and looks good too).  Will send an update when I get it bolted to the shower wall.