In recent years Morgan Chase has invested much of its capital in derivatives, including gold and interest-rate derivatives, about which very little information is provided to shareholders. Among the information that has been made available, however, is that as of June 2000, J.P. Morgan reported nearly $30 billion of gold derivatives and Chase Manhattan Corp., although merged with J.P. Morgan, still reported separately in 2000 that it had $35 billion in gold derivatives. Analysts agree that the derivatives have exploded at this bank and that both positions are enormous relative to the capital of the bank and the size of the gold market. … It gets worse. J.P. Morgan’s total derivatives position reportedly now stands at nearly $29 trillion, or three times the U.S. annual gross domestic product. (02/10/02)
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We humans need our space-mind to survive in space. To be safe in the world of “is”, but we need our time-mind if we want to create a better world  —  a world that “ought to be”. Albert Schweitzer, the great humanitarian who worked with the poor and ill in Africa, said he wanted to see a world where there was no disease. Well, I think most of us would probably agree that represents  a good “ought to be”.  Now, its important to remember that not all “ought to be”s are good. “Ought to be”s are just opinions. Adolf Hitler wanted a world where there were no Jews. Not such a good “ought to be”. An “ought to be” is just an opinion. At its very best, it becomes an ideal. At its very worst it can become nightmare of crime and tragedy. Animals kill for food or to eliminate competing genetic lines, but only humans murder each other because their time-mind has decided that someone “ought not to be”.  (02/10/02)
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Stepping off the plane in Vietnam was one of the scariest moments in my life.  The plane ride had been very uneventful, and quiet. Everyone on the plane kept to themselves, and did not want to become emotionally involved with anyone else on board.  The stewardess’s tried to maintain a jovial mood, but you could see in their eyes that it was only superficial.  The only thoughts that I carried off the plane with me were the last words of my drill sergeant.  “You will never come back from Vietnam alive.  You are too tall an individual, and will make too good a target.”  He told me this with tears in his eyes, so I knew it was coming from his heart, and he really felt it to be true.  Since I was 6 feet 6 inches tall, and weighed close to 200 pounds at that time, and he was a  “short” vietnam returnee, I felt that there could be some validly to his statement. (02/10/02)
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Has anyone looked at the S&P lately.  They have some really nice companies that you might consider investing in.  One should know that the current price to earnings ratio in this index currently stands at over 40.  What this means is that the price of the stock divided by its annual earnings is over 40.  Would you really invest in a company that would take 40 years to return the money that you paid for it?  And most of these companies are not even paying a dividend.  If earnings go down, it will even take longer.  The market is not really a friend to the current investor.  Be careful out there. (02/10/02)