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Showing posts from December, 2012

Book Signing at Howard University

Author William Michael Cunningham will discuss his new book at the HUB on February 14th from 5-7pm. About the Book: On April 5, 2012, President Barack Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, better known as the JOBS Act. The act is designed to “reopen American capital markets to small companies,” defined in the act as Emerging Growth Companies. This is one of the most significant legislative initiatives in finance since the Securities and Exchange Acts of 1933 and 1934, and it opens up fund ing to a slew of companies previously shut out of the capital markets. How can you get in on the new funding opportunities? That’s what The JOBS Act: Crowdfunding for Small Businesses and Startups is all about. Investment expert William Michael Cunningham shows how the new law will enable you to use the internet to raise significant amounts of capital funding for your startup. RSVP: http://tweetvite.com/event/JOBSAct

Black Male Achievement (BMA) Fellowship

The Black Male Achievement (BMA) Fellowship is a new fellowship program established by Open Society Foundations and Echoing Green dedicated to improve the life outcomes of black men and boys in the U.S. It is the first fellowship program of its kind that targets social entrepreneurs who are starting up new and innovative organizations in the field of black male achievement. The application for the 2013 BMA Fellowship will be available online from December 4th 2012-January 7th 2013. http://www.echoinggreen.org/bma-fellowship#Assessment

Commentary: The quest for crowdfunding enters a complicated, but critical phase

(Photo from: The JOBS Act: Crowdfunding Guide to Small Businesses and Startups by William ... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MT104U1/ ) Since President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act last spring, the most successful crowdfunding campaign — for an e-paper wristwatch called Pebble Watch — raised $10 million. Another campaign — this one for a video game, raised $6.3 million from 90,000 fans online — shows that companies with innovative products and services can raise significant amounts of money online. In about six months, the beleaguered Securities and Exchange Commission will put forward rules that will govern how companies can raise equity capital using crowdfunding. It has been slow going. The SEC, staggered by its role in the financial crisis, is extraordinarily cautious now. The agency remains under the influence of the industry it regulates, which is frightened by crowdfunding. Industry officials have built obstacles in the SEC’s path to creating crowd

Two of the first infographics created

I thought we would post, from 2008 and 2009, some of the first infographics  we created: Global Market Turmoil Graphic and Financial Crisis Calendar Graphic , by Creative Investment Research, Inc., December, 2008 and November, 2009.

Blood on their hands

A recent announcement by a very large private equity/venture capital firm stated as follows: "In 2006 affiliates of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. made a financial investment in Freedom Group." Freedom Group manufactures the Bushmaster Rifle. The Bushmaster was used to kill 26 people in Newtown, Ct., including twenty 6 and 7 year old children. As the firms' press statement noted, "established in 1992, Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is one of the world's leading private investment firms. Cerberus has more than US $20 billion under management invested in four primary strategies: distressed securities & assets; control and non-control private equity; commercial mid-market lending and real estate-related investments." In seeking social credit for moving quickly to sell its investment in Freedom (Firearms) Group, Cerberus makes a number of spurious and disingenuous claims. Among these are the following: "As a Firm, we are investors, not s

Took a while, but we got there: 7.7%.

According to recent news reports , "Despite Hurricane Sandy and the nationwide shutdown of Hostess Brands Inc., with many of the Twinkie company's 18,500 workers laid off, the nation's payrolls expanded by 146,000 jobs while the unemployment rate dropped to 7.7 percent, the U.S. Labor Department reported." These numbers are in line with our October 31, 2012 forecast. As we said then "The consensus forecast is for a 7.8% to 8.0% unemployment rate. Our Fully Adjusted Return (TM) Model, combining social and financial data, predicts a 7.7% (unemployment) rate." Unemployment was 7.9% for October. On November 2, 2012 , we noted that "As is often the case, the Fully Adjusted Return (TM) methodology is early. ( On December 22, 2003 and February 6, 2006, we warned the S.E.C. and other regulators that statistical models created by the firm using the Fully Adjusted Return (TM) Methodology signaled the probability of system-wide economic and market failur