Will the Euro last?

The 17 European countries that gave up their own currency on 16 December 1995 in favor of a common currency, the Euro, had hopes of trading with the world in a unified way using a simple, single currency.  Alas, things haven't been working out so well.

Now the question is, will they restore unity and keep the Euro or go back to the old D Mark, French Franc, Spanish Peseta, etc?

I am betting the Euro won't hold together in its current form.  -- Stevin

Presidential candidate Herman Cain and the issue of sexual harassment

For an interesting twist on the societal problem of sexual harassment, watch the movie "Disclosure" (now almost 20 years old) starring Michael Douglas and Demi Moore.  See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disclosure_(film)

Value Line

The Value Line Investment Survey has been a weekly reading staple of mine for many years. Each page packs more punch (=information) than most 20-page research reports issued by large brokerage firms. Each week Value Line covers approximately 50 companies. So if I don't answer my phone on Saturdays, it's because I'm reading my just-arrived Value Line to get set for the week ahead. Long live Value Line! -- S.

What constitutes physical fitness?

As we age, it is easy to lose our focus on getting or staying physically fit.  Also, what may be "fit" in one person's mind may not be so in another's. 

There is no true definition for physical fitness.  It varies greatly, depending on who you talk to.  However, fitness does have certain key components. One expert came up with five.  He demonstrated that if you don't clear the following five tests, you cannot be called physically fit.

One thing has been proven to me over the years:  If you work on all five of these components, you will find that you can carry out your everyday tasks much more easily as you age. I'm finding out what many of my elders have told me many times: "Aging ain't for sissies." Working on the following may help:

1. Body Composition

This is an indicator of how much fat and lean muscle your body has. The lower your fat content and the higher your lean muscle mass, the better health you can be said to have. This is a better indicator of health than just one's body weight. Your ideal body composition will vary depending on your age and sex.

2.  Flexibility

This has been a tough one for me -- and many other men as well.  Flexibility declines with age and lack of exercise. It can, however, be regained by doing flexibility exercises such as stretching and yoga. Also, the more nimble and flexible you are, the less likely you are to develop joint problems (e.g., in the knuckles of the hands) and arthritis.

3.  Muscular Endurance

This is the ability of the body to perform repeated actions or a single action over an extended period of time without becoming fatigued. Muscular endurance can be improved by doing aerobic and anaerobic exercises such as biking, walking, and low-weight-high-rep exercises. Muscular endurance will reduce your fatigue levels.

4.  Muscular Strength

This is the ability of your body to lift a heavy weight for a fixed period of time. This should not be confused with muscular endurance above, which measures your ability to lift weights for a prolonged time. Muscle strength can be developed by performing exercises such as bench presses.  I personally don't like weight-lifting and building up big muscles because I feel it compromises my flexibility.

5.  Cardiovascular Fitness

A healthy heart is of great importance. Cardiovascular (heart) fitness can help you to do the other four above. Cardiovascular fitness measures the heart and lungs’ ability to carry out their functions. It is typically tested on a treadmill. Aerobic exercises, such as walking, jogging, biking, and swimming are great ways to improve cardiovascular fitness.

Anyone who works on all five will I think become more physically fit, regardless of how that term might be defined. -- S.

In Memoriam: Roy Edward Segers (30 Nov 1948--14 May 2011)

My good friend Roy Segers of Brookhaven, Mississippi, died this morning at the University Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi.  "Captain," as he was called by many who knew him, leaves behind a wonderful wife, Elena, and their magnificent young daughter, Madeleine, not quite three years old.  He is also survived by three adult children from a previous marriage.

Roy had a soaring intellect, with an IQ that placed him among our best and brightest.  Professionally, he "soared" in the literal sense -- he was a pilot and instructor pilot for many years. If anyone was born to fly planes, it was Roy.  He started out helping crop-duster pilots on the family farm in his native Louisiana as a kid and continued to fly planes his entire adult life.  He could fly anything, from big cargo planes to sleek Learjets and Gulfstreams.  He was one of the best pilots -- and kindest human beings -- I ever had the privilege of knowing.  Roy, you are gone but not forgotten my friend. -- S.

An Impressive New Female Pop Artist

A female pop artist from England named Adele is gaining traction in the United States.  This Grammy-award winning singer has a big voice, as evidenced in her "Rolling in the Deep," where she serves up a unique sound clearly influenced by r and b, gospel, and country. Have a listen by clicking HERE. -- S.

Buffett and Sokol Will Remain Unscathed

If the Lubrizol brouhaha involved anybody but Warren Buffett and a chief deputy, I would say the SEC would use their immense power to squeeze that chief deputy until they got something on the man at the top.

But the man at the top in this case is Warren Buffett.  He is untouchable.  If the SEC were to try to use David Sokol, the underling who bought Lubrizol shares for his own account before the holding company parent he works for bought all of Lubrizol, to get to Buffett, it would be the SEC, not Buffett, who would lose.


Will the SEC subpoena Buffett?  Don't hold your breath. - S.

Why is writing fiction better than managing money?

Absence of paranoia!

Writers are not enforced to adhere to rules established by congressional mandate.  Money managers are.  The power of the SEC is no laughing matter.  Believe this if you believe nothing else:  The SEC can and will crush you if you violate securities laws.

The broad enforcement authority given to the Securities and Exchange Commission by Congress allows them to bring strong civil enforcement actions against individuals or companies alleged to have committed accounting fraud, provided false information, or engaged in insider trading or other violations of the securities law. The SEC also works with -- indeed usually guides -- criminal law enforcement agencies to prosecute individuals and companies alike for offenses which include a criminal violation.

I know of no fiction writers who got prison terms for what they wrote.  I know of many money managers and investment professionals who got prison terms for what they did.  Wall Street is a cheater's haven.  Fiction writing is an honest pursuit.  The little tricks of the writer's trade amount to child's play in comparison to the shenanigans going on within major financial firms.

I love writing books.  I don't miss working on Wall Street.  I have experienced not one iota of paranoia since I turned to writing.  By contrast, trading stocks or giving advice meant paranoia was an ever-present condition.  -- Stevin Hoover

THE HANNAH CHRONICLES will soon available on iPad, iTouch, and most mobile devices

My debut YA novel, The Hannah Chronicles:  The Adventures of Hannah Hadley, Girl Spy got a nice review in Kirkus Reviews.

I am surprised but grateful for the positive reception this book is receiving.  Hannah Hadley, girl spy, seems to resonate with all of us -- girls, boys, and adults as well.  I liked the part where the reviewer says "smart is cool" and Hannah Hadley (modelled after my 11-year-old daughter Hannah) is "Nancy Drew on steroids."   I'll take a review like that!  -- Steve

P.S. The eBook should be available in a matter of days on Apple's i Bookstore app for the iPad, iTouch, iPhone, and other mobile devices.  The paperback version and Kindle version are currently available on amazon.com.  To locate the book quickly on amazon, simply type in "Steve Hoover" or "The Hannah Chronicles."

In Memoriam: Greg Acuff

I just learned of the premature death of my prep school classmate and riotously funny friend -- and also my U.S. Air Force Academy classmate and Squadron 13 compatriot -- Gregory M. Acuff.  Greg was a stand-up guy in a sit-down world.  He died all too young.  Greg, my friend, we'll all be joining you soon enough. -- Steve

Learning from mistakes & accepting criticism

It's almost Election Day, and its politics as usual:  Highly partisan hand-to-hand combat.  Politicians are quick to point out their opponent's mistakes. 

Mistakes are good if we learn from them.  In investing, we learn less from our successes and more from our mistakes --if we take time to analyze them.  The same seems to apply to life.  You make mistakes in life.  You pay for them.  You hope you learn from them so you don't repeat them.  The goal is to minimize their number and size. 

In July 2010, Walter Breuning, the oldest living American man, celebrated his 114th birthday in Montana.  When asked what advice he has for us "young folk," he said be more tolerant.  To me, that means forgive ourselves and others for making mistakes.  Move on with the intention of doing better.  And accept well-intentioned criticism.  In the political ads currently permeating the air waves, the politicians have "gone negative."  There's plenty of criticism but not much good intention. Victory at any cost is no victory at all.  -- Stevin

Quality in Children's Publishing

Quality is never an accident.  When it comes to quality in the books we read, we have a special obligation to our children to write, edit, and publish books of the highest quality.  But quality's not something that can merely be promised or argued into children's literature. 

First, the author must work hard at writing it.  Then a good editor or several good editors must help the author refine and improve the pre-existing quality they have identified. 

Huge publishing houses with significant children's imprints turn out many children's books every year.  Some are great.  Some are good. Some leave you scratching your head.  The YA/Middle Grade fiction genre lacks, in my humble opinion, consistently high quality.  As the Oakland Tribune recently pointed out, "in this glutted book market, mediocrity reigns."  This seems particularly true of children's literature, the stuff read by impressionable young minds.

Several children's imprints score high in quality over their competitors.  Delacorte Press and Yearling Books, both children's imprints of Random House, are great.  Another publishing house that, in my view, publishes children's books of high quality for children of all ages is Candlewick Press.  The Oakland Tribune went on to say, "Not so at Candlewick Press. . . . Lively stories, superior art, and revisited classics are hallmarks of this employee-owned company. Bravo to leadership that recognizes quality writing and artistry and chooses to promote them."

Candlewick publishes only those books it believes in, only those that speak to children and have words and art of the highest quality.  The 19th-century essayist and critic John Ruskin said that quality is never an accident; it is always the result of intelligent efforts.  Such is the case with the authors and illustrators Candlewick Press chooses for publication.  Perhaps that's why Candlewick Press has grown from a mere handful of employees when it started in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the late 1970s to the become a major publisher on three continents, now based in Somerville, Massachusetts.  Indeed, many of Candlewick's authors have won Golden Kite, National Book, and other awards.

Is Candlewick good because it's entirely employee-owned rather than part of a large publishing behemoth that stresses bottom line over quality?  Could it be because its founder, the late Englishman John Walker, took Ruskin's words to heart and embued them in the hearts and minds of Candlewick's dedicated staff of professionals?  I don't know, but for anyone who reads or writes children's books, or for those parents who read to their children, you can't go wrong with Candlewick. 

Look for the logo of the original Big Bear carrying a candle as he walks through the dark.  Or go here.  -- Steve

The Elimination of Back Pain -- Part II

There are four yoga poses that help strengthen my lower back.  They are frequently referred to as the "Four On The Floor":  Cobra; Locust; Full Locust; and Bow Pulling. 

See me here:  http://www.stevin-hoover.com/2008/05/bikram-yoga-posture-15-cobra-pose.html for the first of these, then go on to Pose 16 (Locust) , 17 (Full Locust), and 18 (Bow Pulling).

I just looked at the calendar.  I haven't done Bikram in over a month because I have to drive for almost an hour and a half to get to the nearest Bikram studio.  I don't miss it.  I like the rebuilding and strengthening and spirituality of the gentler yoga I'm dong now. 

I do, however, miss the heat.  I think....On the one hand, the 104-degree heated Bikram room makes my body more supple and malleable; on the other, I don't miss the wiped out feeling afterwards. 

Bikram says you take his class to "fill the gas tank," but I'm almost always on empty when it's over.  I almost always have to take a nap after a Bikram class, but then I love naps. 

Taking Vinyasa yoga from a bevy of different teachers, some of whom do an amazing stream-of-consciousness sort of flow from one pose into the next, has been an eye opener for me.  I'm more respectful now of ALL forms of yoga.  For example, I just read about some Indian physician named Dr. Madan Kataria, who started Laughter Yoga.  I went to YouTube and typed in "laughter yoga" -- thousands of people standing around and laughing. 

Don't laugh, but I'm gonna try it sometime. It looked like they were having a good time. -- Stevin

The Elimination of Back Pain

Lower back pain, especially sciatica, can be debilitating to the point of incapacitation.  Often, all one can do is lie down and hope it passes.  I cannot comment on how many women have lower back pain, but I know many middle-aged men do.  Sometimes it's caused by complete atrophy of the countervailing stomach muscles.  Some men have lower-back pain due to tight hamstrings and foreshortened hip flexors, the front, above-the-thigh muscles that lifts your legs when you climb stairs or put one foot in front of the other.

I started feeling bad back pain in the early summer of 2010 when I was throwing my 10-year-old daughter around in the pool -- she was perfecting her airborne backflip. 

Now I am doing a gentle, moderate, flowing yoga, and it is helping to open my hips and rotators and pareformus muscles.  To the militant Bikram yoga practitioners out there, I was one of you -- Bikram only! -- until I backed off and allowed myself to practice a more gentle and flowing yoga.  To anyone with serious basck pain, I say try any form of yoga before you go under the knife.  -- Stevin

And the beat goes on...

I heard Barbara Cook, the 83-year-old silvery soprano, sing last night.  I had never heard her before.  This multiple Grammy, Tony, and Drma Desk award-winner was a joy to listen to.  She sings songs that people love to hear in a voice that people love to listen to.  Barbara Cook is proof positive that adults, indeed seniors, can continue to sing and perform into old age. 

Now on to Lady GaGa.  I don't care what anyone says, GaGa is, no less than Barbara Cook, a creative force to be reckoned with.  She too sings songs that people -- well, the young and the young-at-heart -- love to hear in a voice that is easy to listen to.  Try her on after you try on Barbara Cook. -- Stevin

Writers, take comfort

This summer, the summer of 2010, I cut back on the blogging to work on my "serious" fiction.  I have been bouncing around from Mississippi to New England to New York to the west coast to Mississippi again, and, currently, Florida, my legal residence.  I have been editing much good stuff away through excessive re-writes. As for speaking, I am definitely interested in doing more because I enjoy talking about ethics, and speaking pays better than writing.  Blogging is (by definition) spontaneous and ephemeral. When held up against the hard work of real writing, blogging usually comes off as trivial.

A woman named Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the completely annoying book (to me), EAT, PRAY, LOVE, said something in an interview that was great. It should help all writers and wannabe writers regain their focus.

Gilbert's memoir-novel-travelogue is about a divorced woman whom I found selfish, but then what's really wrong with that? Whatever one may think of that book, 7 million people bought it, and it's been made into a major motion picture starring Julia Roberts.  Clearly, many people liked what Gilbert wrote. 

What I like is what she said about writing:

As for discipline – it’s important, but sort of over-rated. The more important virtue for a writer, I believe, is self-forgiveness. Because your writing will always disappoint you. Your laziness will always disappoint you. You will make vows: “I’m going to write for an hour every day,” and then you won’t do it. You will think: “I suck, I’m such a failure. I’m washed-up.” Continuing to write after that heartache of disappointment doesn’t take only discipline, but also self-forgiveness (which comes from a place of kind and encouraging and motherly love). The other thing to realize is that all writers think they suck. When I was writing “Eat, Pray, Love”, I had just as a strong a mantra of THIS SUCKS ringing through my head as anyone does when they write anything. But I had a clarion moment of truth during the process of that book. One day, when I was agonizing over how utterly bad my writing felt, I realized: “That’s actually not my problem.” The point I realized was this – I never promised the universe that I would write brilliantly; I only promised the universe that I would write. So I put my head down and sweated through it.

This is a terrific observation.  -- Steve Hoover

The Five Biggest Ethical Problems Businesses Encounter

1.  Reporting inaccurate income (understating true taxable income).
2.  Misleading customers.
3.  Stealing from the company (at both the employee and management levels).
4.  Escalating compensation to senior managers using stock options.
5.  Buying another company and either (a)  laying off people -- oldest first; or (b) moving operations offshore and creating job loss.

These are just five.  All of them are, in my view, unethical. 

There are many other moral problems that businesses encounter. -- Stevin

Memory & Longevity -- Part II

As I reach for more Ginkgo Biloba but feel older and more stressed out than ever, I'm still asking "why do some people live so much longer than others?"

One common thread seems to be caloric restriction.  This is not new information:  many studies have data suggesting that eating less and reducing or eliminating meats and fatty foods from one's diet will increase longevity and health. 

Here's an interesting National Geographic short video about three places in the world where inhabitants seem to live longer and healthier and maintain better memory recall. Enjoy this short video here: National Geographic short video on why people who live in these three places live longer.  -- Stevin

Praise For Sen. Webb's Criminal Justice Bill (SB 714)

Members from both parties of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee state their support for Sen. Jim Webb's (D-VA) Criminal Justice Bill, otherwise known as Senate Bill 714.  It calls for a top-to-bottom review of our current criminal justice system.  Watch the video here. -- Stevin

Memory Loss & Aging, Part One

As my generation -- the boomer generation -- grows older, is there anything we can do to slow, stop, or reverse gradual loss of memory?  Is it futile to hope that we can stay super-sharp into our dotage? 

I have a friend who turns 80 today, and he shows high memory performance with few signs of even mild cognitive impairment.  I asked him what his secret was, and he said he really wasn't sure.  He has no special diet, takes no Ginkgo Biloba (an herbal supplement that purports to improve memory), and drinks at least one gin martini every night! 

So I started digging around on the subject and found a study in which scientists examined the brains of five deceased elderly people who were considered "super aged" because they showed high performance on memory tests. 

What the scientists found was that these five brains showed far fewer fiber-like tangles than the brains of those who aged normally.  The tangles that seem to do the harm are made up of a protein called "tau" that accumulates inside brain cells and is thought to kill the cells.  In addition, tau protein or plaque between brain cells may disrupt communication between neurons, according to the study.  See the link here. 

This is an exciting new find, but what can the average boomer who is experiencing normal memory loss from aging do to protect against it?  All I know so far is to apply the ancient proverb that says the shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory, meaning write things down so you don't forget. 

I'm going to continue looking into this, so please write down "re-visit Stevin's blog in a few days"......so you don't forget.  I hope to have concrete suggestions and usable additional information.  See you back here soon.  -- Stevin