Thursday 15 March 2012

Kamikaze bankers and the Geneva car show . . .

I got so busy yesterday that I missed publishing a blog for the day. Apologies.


You had to love the kamikaze resignation of Goldman Sachs derivative sales dude Greg Smith. For anyone who's dealt with an investment bank in the last 20 years none of what he had to say could come as a surprise. It's worth reading as a piece of hubris if nothing else. I remember my own version of this back in '87 when I resigned from a London publishing company. I regret it and I'll bet that our friend here comes to regret it. The thing is that with social media this type of thing will always be just a google away. Good for him saying what he felt, but will it change anything?


On the humorous side am I the only one who sees similarities between Smith and his former bosses Lloyd  Blankfein and Gary Cohn?


Bald Jewish men rock at Goldman Sachs
I saw the OpEd piece between sets at the gym yesterday. Just a quick hour to recover from Tuesdays big ride.

Today my wife and I went off to the Geneva motor show. Its funny place, a mixture of top end auto glamour and bottom end body piercings on the patrons. What is it with the Swiss-Germans? 

There plenty of cool cars, but with our impending return to Australia I spent most of my time at the more down to earth VW stand. I've recently fallen out of love with cars. Maybe its the sheer efficiency of my current Merc ML 350. Its the best car I've ever owned. I mean I've done the Porsche, BMW etc. This Merc just gets the job done and I figure that its proven to me that cars are a utility item, not a fashion item. Anyone who has been to Australia knows that the top speed on a highway is 120kph (though its rare) and unlike in Europe it is enforced, as are the seatbelt laws and child seat regulations. Even if I wanted another sports car, whats the point?







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