Ok. So, a good executive can be worth a lot of money to a company. I don’t have anything against a nice pay package, all things considered. But it is literally criminal for an Executive to receive a huge payout when they deliver negative results for a company. In my opinion, Exec pay should be merit based. If the exec delivers outstanding shareholder value, a big paycheck should ensue.

So, how then about these execs? Just 72 hours before the company filed for bankrupcy, Lehman awarded the top 5 executives $100 million. Yep. You heard that right. They drove the company into the ground and got rich off of doing it.
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Wow! The New York Times hit a home run today with this editorial column from Warren Buffett. So, for all of you guys who are feeling scared and wondering what to do with the economy in the toilet right now, you might want to listen to one of the richest men ever to walk the planet.

Buy American. I Am.

By WARREN E. BUFFETT

THE financial world is a mess, both in the United States and abroad. Its problems, moreover, have been leaking into the general economy, and the leaks are now turning into a gusher. In the near term, unemployment will rise, business activity will falter and headlines will continue to be scary.

So … I’ve been buying American stocks. This is my personal account I’m talking about, in which I previously owned nothing but United States government bonds. (This description leaves aside my Berkshire Hathaway holdings, which are all committed to philanthropy.) If prices keep looking attractive, my non-Berkshire net worth will soon be 100 percent in United States equities.

Why?

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Today the New York Stock Exchange had a record setting day… in a very bad way. Without warning and in a period spanning just one minute, the market lost a combined $60 Billion in just the top 30 blue chip companies. That’s with a “B” folks.

The Associated Press said the following:

Stocks Have Worst Day Since 9/11 Attacks: Dow Down 416, Nasdaq Drop 97 on Global Market Plunge

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks had their worst day of trading since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks Tuesday, hurtling the Dow Jones industrials down more than 400 points on a worldwide tide of concern that the U.S. and Chinese economies are stumbling and that share prices have become overinflated.
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Nitroglycerin is volatile. So are markets, all markets. Always have been, always will be. In 2000 the stock market took a nose dive, just as it has, on average, every 7 years since they opened the doors of the NYSE.

Spinach farmers can tell you a thing or two about volatility with the recent food poisoning scare that came out of California. And a lot of people have a lifetimes worth of experience with making and losing money on real estate.
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Hiring someone to help manage your investments is every bit as difficult and as critical as hiring employees at work. You will not get it right 100% of the time, and it will cost you money as a result.

Having said all that, I’ve put together a guide based upon my cumulative experience in this area. Stick to it and you should be able to gather a lot of good information for comparing advisors prior to your selection.
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If you’re like me, you’re wondering what this war between Israel and Lebanon is going to do to the market here in the US. Fear not, Smith Barney’s Consulting Group has produced an article that attempts to answer just this question…
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Ever thought about what would really happen to your family and yourself if you got hit by a bus? If you answered yes, you’ve probably got a will. But you probably assumed that you’d died. How about if you just slip into a coma or get severe brain damage? In these instances it is imperative that you have what’s called a living trust.
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