I am back

OK, OK, I have been away for a while…. more like over a year. I guess 2010 was not my blogging year. But here’s the good news (or bad for some, or even “who cares” for others) -- I am back. I am also amazed how my 2009 blogs remain very relevant in 2011. Remember my prediction that the DOW would stabilize around $10 to $12K and I even see it pushing closer to the $12K mark. Also remember the inverted bubble concept and how things might start turning around faster than we expected. Regardless, how about you catch-up on some of the previous blogs and I will start soon writing new ones.

Data Consolidation

Do you need to make decisions but believe that the information you have is either unavailable or incomplete? Many companies already have reporting teams however the struggle happens when senior management needs more than a static historical view.
The best way to resolve this issue is by mining data without introducing complex and expensive systems or disrupting business flow.
In order to do so, just follow these easy steps:

• Does the data needed exist? If not then work with IT to identify data needs and build a database.
• Is the data correct? If not then test and recommend data fixes.
• Can you get the data consistently with minimum effort? If not then prototype and test solutions to download data more frequently.

Once data is defined and stored in a “single-source-of-truth” fashion, then information could be organized to allow in-depth analyses while supporting and not paralyzing decision-making.

What is OSM?

OSM stands for Office of Strategy Management. The term was introduced and then expanded on by Robert Kaplan and David Norton in their book “The Execution Premium”. The idea is that a new practice is needed within an organization to make strategy a continual process. Key concepts include:

• An excellent strategy often fades from memory as the organization tackles day-to-day operations issues.


• The operational plan and budget should be driven from the revenue targets in the strategic plan.


• The senior management team needs to have regular, probably monthly, meetings that focus only on strategy.


• The Office of Strategy Management is a small cadre of professionals that orchestrate strategy management processes for the executive team.

Down Again

Mortgage rates are down again!

M&A Recovery?

Manufacturing On The Rise

Scammers!!!

Scammers Three months ago, a hard-working friend entrusted me to advise him about an investment opportunity where an investment manager had been calling him frequently to invest in his double-digit "guaranteed" returns strategy. I was amazed that after Madoff, Petters and the likes, Ponzi schemes were still thriving!
The company is Oxford Global Partners and the scheme is still describe under allegations, but the investment opportunity had all the attributes of a Ponzi:
- Returns are “guaranteed”
- Clients sought after are hard-working people who are not financially savvy
- The setting is made to impress: They were the new tenants of the Van Dusen Mansion, and they chose the name “Oxford” to sound like a well established long-timer
- They boasted about state-of-the-art technology that helps them trade foreign currencies
- They supposedly found a loophole in trading currencies in Jordan for double-digit returns

Well, I am so happy that my friend did not invest (hopefully my advice was a factor). The company is making the news today and over $15M already disappeared. Check this Star Tribune article.