Daily Intent

Santa Barbara, CA
A good friend passed along the below Washington Post article.  It felt very appropriate for The Market Street Report as we continue our efforts to see things others are missing.  To see opportunities missed by most.  Be intentional my friend.

“Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later: the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the till and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:  A 3 year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced them to move on.

45 minutes:  The musician played.  Only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.

He collected $32.

1 hour:  He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments …
How many other things are we missing?”
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Catalyst - Meeting of the Minds - “Tapping global resources, locally”
Premier executive lunches that bridge the entrepreneur with inspirational leaders who have dreamed, achieved, and created change.  Gain Insight. Be one of the eight.
Jim Wolfe, Past CEO/President of Balance Bar, will be our guest
Wednesday, July 29th.  12pm.  One seat remains.
 Visit http://www.catalystsb.org/meetingoftheminds

Bret Bochsler, aka “Big lil Bro”, Happy 23rd Birthday!

Buzzword: Two Dollar Broker
“A floor broker who executes orders for other brokers who cannot do it themselves because they have more business than they can handle at that particular time.

The name came about because brokers were once paid $2.00 for a round lot trade. Today, commission is negotiated.” -Investopedia.com

  Six Points to Ponder:

   1. California finally comes together and approves their budget.
   2. All Markets up again this week - The Dow is trading at 9093, S&P 500 at 979 while the Nasdaq is at 1965.  Oil is up too, $68/bbl.
   3. Obama spends the week making a strong push for Health Care Reform.
   4. Microsoft, Amazon and American Express all disappoint the markets.
   5. Consumer Sentiment took a dip in June, 66 on the scale after a 70 in May.
   6. Tour de France heats up with last important climb Saturday morning.  British Open ends in a 4-Hole Playoff leaving Tom Watson as runner-up.   Perfect Game pitched by White Sox’s Buehrle.

Positives:

    * California facing a huge budget crisis needed to make some dramatic strokes with their brush to get things headed back into the right direction.  $16Bn in spending was slashed along with some creative accounting measures taken.
    * Your investment portfolio, Yahoo!  It may only be on paper, but it sure does feel good to see dollars growing like the Summer harvest.
    * Lance Armstrong is in third.  Cantador, his teammate, is in first place.  There have been slight feuds and off colored riding, in respect to typical team protocol, between the two.  The stage is set for a fantastic climb tomorrow morning.  Set your alarm clocks for 6am!
    * A perfect game has only happened 18 times in major league history.  To get 27 outs in a row, with no errors, no walks, no nothing but perfection is phenomenal.  It takes a team effort as shown by his outfielder barely hanging out to a homerun ball he robbed in the bottom half of the ninth!

Negatives:

    * Seattle’s big two are seeing their big ticket items fall out of favor with the money saving nation.  Pessimistic investors were righted.  The good news is they still came in with huge dollars and will be able to weather these storms.
    * As jobless numbers continue escalating, even if they are slowing in their progress, the average American is building in worry.  Consumer sentiment measures this worry.
    * Tom Watson, would have been the first man to win a Major in three decades.  He would have been the oldest man to win a Major at 59 years old.  He played well.  He played consistent, but the extra luck needed to sneak a putt in wasn’t there.

Services: Relocating Because of a Job
I have spoken with a few of you that are looking to move elsewhere in search of finding a better situation.  Please keep me informed.  My living situations over time have left me with many contacts across the nation and Europe.  I’d love to link you up with good people.

Local:

Find a local farmer’s market and “stalk” up for the week
Where: Close to home
When: Saturday or Sunday
Cost: Your choice
Why:  Enjoy the music, the creativity and the healthy living.

Live and Be Well,

Jeff Bochsler