Daily Intent

Santa Barbara, CA
“What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start.”
T.S. Eliot
“Little Gidding,” from Four Quartets

2010.  “Twenty-ten”!  We are living in the future.  3-D movies.  Soon to be 3-D TVs.  Spacecrafts that can carry pedestrians.  Video cameras that can recognize movements and hand gestures, permitting the user to compete in video games, snap pictures, or image and relocate them onto computers.  Book readers that can hold 1500 books in the palm of your hand.  Camera cell phones that can recognize your location and its historical significance.   It is exciting.  If all used correctly, our life will be more interactive and expansive. 

This technology boom involves us all in a rapid transition of lifestyle.  Our old ways of being are challenged.  We are all now accustom to email, the internet, and flat screen TV’s, but that which is ahead reminds us we ought to prepare ourselves for another wave of changes and new learnings.

I suggest having fun with it.  Those using iPhones have exemplified this emotional state.  Often you hear them say, “The phone functionality is the worst part about it.  But I will never go back.  It is too much fun.”

While this grand transition occurs, there is a granular transition occurring with the new year.  New Years and birthdays seem to always warp time into a tangible realm.  You actually feel time in these moments.  You act off these feelings.  Resolutions are the result.

Based off our Market Street’s “November Resolution”, you are surely two months ahead of the game.  Hopefully, the holidays amplified your desire to continue with these resolutions and may have even broadened your ideas of what they might look like.

My resolution for the Market Street Report in 2009 was to infuse creativity into our minds, promote ideas of opportunity amidst a grim and stressful business landscape, and to extrapolate tried and true methods from prominent figures.

In 2010, I plan to compound this spirit and knowledge.  We’ll include two further success factors into our scope.  Minds with Mike Towbes has me focused on encouraging detail.  Make yourself a success by doing the little things with great care.  Put your head down and get to work, consistently.  Second, a book I just finished by Bill Bryson, A Brief History of Nearly Everything, has reminded me how unlikely it is that we, as a human race, even exist.  Whether you are a believer in God or not, there are consistently great opportunities to find yourself in awe of the world and universe.  This view will have us analyzing work and life from a 30,000 foot level, through small and big reminders of gratefulness and awe.

Are you ready for the personal transition?  To take it best in stride, be sure to reflect on what transition means.  Remember, “All transitions are composed of (1) an ending, (2) a neutral zone, (3) a new beginning.” -William Bridges, Transitions - Making Sense of Life’s Changes.

Unsure where to start?  The end is where you start.  2009, in this case.
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PLAN
Catalyst for Thought - MINDS Lunches.  Within the coming two weeks emails will go out announcing the availability of tickets to intimate, 10 person lunches with Paul Orfalea, founder of Kinkos, and Jim Eiting, past CEO and now Chairman of Midmark, a $300m medical device company and author of the recently released book, Focus for Success.  Neither will you want to miss and both will sell out fast.  Register at www.CatalystSB.org to ensure you receive the email.
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LEARN
Buzzword: Dirty Float
“Also known as a ‘managed float.’  A system of floating exchange rates in which the government or the country’s central bank occasionally intervenes to change the direction of the value of the country’s currency. In most instances, the intervention aspect of a dirty float system is meant to act as a buffer against an external economic shock before its effects become truly disruptive to the domestic economy.

For example, country X may find that some hedge fund is speculating that its currency will depreciate substantially, thus the hedge fund is starting to short massive amounts of country X’s currency. Because country X uses a dirty float system, the government decides to take swift action and buy back a large amount of its currency in order to limit the amount of devaluation caused by the hedge fund.

A dirty float system isn’t considered to be a true floating exchange rate because, theoretically, true floating rate systems don’t allow for intervention. “  -Investopedia.com

  Six Points to Ponder:

   1. Happy New Year.  The Markets welcomed all happily into the New Year with strong results out of the gates.   - The Dow is trading  at 10,573, S&P 500 at 1137 and the Nasdaq stands at 2301.  Oil is up over $10 since last month, $83/bbl.
   2. Cars Sell;  Clothes Hang; Homes Settle.   Toyota and Ford had US Sales up 15% in December compared to a year ago. Clothing sales hung down in December, selling less than a year ago. Home-Sales were down 16% month over month, but up 15.5% over one year ago.
   3. Google attempts to eat Apple at CES.  While sports fans get amped up over March Madness, the week of the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Vegas, the world’s largest, brings purpose to a techie’s year.  Google didn’t disappoint with its Nexus One cell phone that looks to compete with Apple’s iPhone.
   4. Obesity Meets Cigs in the Middle, at Disease.   Over the last fifteen years the number of US smokers has declined by 18% while obesity has climbed 85%.  As a result, obesity is competing for the leading cause of disease and deaths in this country.  Conditioning Specialists begins it’s Biggest Winner competition today.  $1000 to the winners.  Sign up at www.conditioningspecialists.com
   5. Santa Barbara’s Cybersitter Sues China.  Local Santa Barbara software company filed a $2.2Bn lawsuit against the Chinese government and two Chinese companies for copy infringement.
   6. Bowl’s Horns.  With the remaining two undefeated NFL teams losing over the last few weeks, all sports aficionados happily shifted their attention to the college ranks.  No game will be more watched than tonight’s National Championship game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.  The Texas Longhorns compete against the Heisman led Alabama Crimson Tide.

Positives:

    * Most years, January’s Market performance is a strong indicator of how we can expect the Markets to act the remainder of the year.  We’ve come out of the gates solidly.  Investors have heard all the horror stories.  No longer are they living under hysteria, selling everything around them when negative news hits.  This doesn’t mean they aren’t cautious with their decisions, it only means big, dramatic sustainable drops seem much less likely than one year ago.  Stability is important heading into more foreclosure and commercial lending head winds.   There are also broad concerns over inflation.
    * The main buzz coming out of this year’s CES is Google’s superphone, the many new touch screen devices, miniature internet devices and tablets.  Apple’s iPhone has spurred creativity and huge demand for portable connectivity.  Combine this experience with the recent surge in book readers and you have many vying for the hand-held / reader computer space.  Those that benefit most from this competition are us customers.  Lower prices, better quality, and more options.  While Avatar in 3-D has consumed movie conversations, Sony and others unveiled 3-D televisions for the home.  Yeah, your HD Flat screen is almost outdated.
    * Southern hospitality has over taken Pasadena, California.  Texans and Alabamans in SoCal.  Might we learn a few things?  One can only dream in Hollywood.

Negatives:

    * Clothing companies were were unwilling to cut prices as they did in ’08.  Clothing sales felt the affects, falling 1.8%. Department stores as a whole were down 2.3%.  The silver lining for investors is profits are expected to be up over 2008 because of these fewer discounts.
    * Home sales may have been down month over month, yet they were still up 15% over November 2008.  Buyers are out in full bloom.  They want to capitalize on the homebuyer credits, low interest rates, and low home prices.  This year should offer a great opportunity for buyers.
    * WebMD.com - “Because of the marked increase in the proportion of obese people, obesity has become an equal, if not greater contributor to the burden of disease than smoking,” write researcher Haomiao Jia, PhD, of Columbia University, and colleagues. “Such data are essential in setting targets for reducing modifiable health risks and eliminating health disparities.”
    * China, despite its continued growth and economic importance, still has huge copyright infringement issues.
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GET INVOLVED
Local:

Kids Helping Kids Benefit
Where: The Grenada
When: Friday, January 8th
Cost: $25 - $65
Why:  It is entirely student run.  It raises money for the Unity Shoppe and Five for Fighting is playing.
For other fun ideas, go to www.lovemikana.com

Live and Be Well,

Jeff Bochsler