Robin Hood – 2.0? The inaugural Robin Hood Investor’s Conference just completed with the most influential players in our global economy to debate, discuss and share their views on today’s markets. The conference was a who’s who in the world of high finance: Bloomberg, Paulson, Geithner, Ackman, Jamie Dimon, Einhorn, Tepper and even Ivanka Trump (wow) just to name a few.
I could focus on the specific investment ideas of the speakers, but suffice to say most of the speakers were extremely bullish on the economy and markets overall, with the exception of a few short plays. In fact most of the speakers were very very bullish – just throw a dart and go long. At the same time I just couldn’t resist at looking at this spectacle from a far. The venue is what caught my eye – a Robin Hood Investor’s Conference?
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore, a highly skilled archer and swordsman, who robbed from the rich to give to the poor. At a modern day Robin Hood Investor’s Conference just who is robbing from who? In fairness, the name came from the sponsor of the conference, a charity organisation (Robin Hood) that is supposedly helping poor people. Maybe its just me, but a bunch of banksters and rich folks in a bizarre twist, who have gotten fabulously wealthy while the rest of the population get poorer, invoking the name of Robin Hood? This is just too funny.
Since 1988 the Robin Hood charity organization has focused on finding, funding, and creating programs and schools that generate meaningful results for families in New York’s poorest neighborhoods. Over its 25 year history, Robin Hood has distributed more than $1.25 billion to hundreds of New York City-based soup kitchens, homeless shelters, schools, job training programs, and other vital services that give New York’s neediest citizens the tools they need to build better lives for themselves and their families. Wow, and look at their board members, even more rich folks, sounds like some really nice people.
Yes I am being a bit snarky, I am sure the Robin Hood charity group is doing some good in New York, so for sure these efforts should be applauded. But just how well is poverty doing in America? Despite the billions poured into helping the poor, the needle has not even budged – click here for a report. There are more poor in America then ever. And the rich? Do I need to go into how well they are doing? Just think how much worse it would be if there was no help for the poor? Robin Hood would be proud.
The reality is that these guys bribe politicians to lower their taxes and cut benefits to the poor, manipulating markets to take from the retail investor, leverage their positions under “too big too fail,” monopolizing markets to push down labor rates and offshore their jobs to countries that practically have slave labor conditions, make the poor, poor. So to alleviate some of their guilt, they have cooked up this Robin Hood 2.0 scheme. Such irony !!!
On one last thing that will give you a sorrowful chuckle in the FAQ (frequently asked questions) of their website: How much of the ticket price is tax-deductible? LoL !!! If you really want to help the poor, just start by paying your F-ing taxes !!!
Blue Point Trading, William Thompson