“In 1923, seven men who had made it to the top of the finan­cial success pyramid met together at the Edgewater Hotel in Chicago. Collectively, they controlled more wealth than the en­tire United States Treasury, and for years the media had held them up as examples of success.

Who were they? Charles Schwab, president of the world’s largest steel company, Arthur Cutten, the greatest wheat spec­ulator of his day, Richard Whitney, president of the New York Stock Exchange, Albert Fall, a member of the President’s Cabinet, Jesse Livermore, the greatest bear on Wall Street, Leon Fraser, president of the International Bank of Settlement, and Ivan Kruegger, the head of the world’s largest monopoly.

What happened to them? Schwab and Cutten both died broke; Whitney spent years of his life in Sing Sing peni­tentiary; Fall also spent years in prison, but was released so he could die at home; and the others Livermore, Fraser, and Kruegger, committed suicide”.                                       

Donald McCullogh,  Waking from the American Dream

Charles Schwab

Charles Michael Schwab (February 18, 1862 – September 18, 1939) was an American steel magnate. Under his leadership, Bethlehem Steel became the second largest steel maker in the United States, and one of the most important heavy manufacturers in the world.  A fortune of $500 million prior to 1929 was all but wiped out in the October collapse and he spent his final years in a small apartment.  Shortly after his death, World War 2 restored the fortunes of his steel company, Bethlehem Steel.

Arthur Cutten

Arthur William Cutten (July 6, 1870 – June 24, 1936) was a Canadian-born businessman who gained great wealth and prominence as a commodity speculator in the United States. He was all but wiped out in the 1907 collapse of the cotton markets.

He appeared before the Banking and Currency Committee during its investigation of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The government issued indictments against him for tax evasion.  He died of a heart attack a few weeks short of his sixty-sixth birthday. The tax suit was settled by the executors of his estate as his fortune was vastly depleted by the stock market crash and the cost of lawyers to defend him from the government lawsuits.

Richard Whitney

Richard Whitney (August 1, 1888 – December 5, 1974) was an American financier and president of the New York Stock Exchange from 1930 to 1935. Having retired as president of the New York Stock Exchange in 1935, Whitney remained on the board of governors, but in early March 1938, his past began to catch up with him when the financial controller of the exchange reported to that Richard Whitney was an embezzler and that his company was insolvent. Within days, events snowballed, and Whitney and his company would both declare bankruptcy. He was convicted of embezzlement and imprisoned.  On April 12, 1938, six thousand people turned up at Grand Central Terminal to watch as Whitney was escorted in handcuffs by armed guards onto a train that delivered him to prison.

Jesse Livermore

Jesse Lauriston Livermore (July 26, 1877 – November 28, 1940) was an American investor.  A legendary trader who worked alone without partners and in isolation from others in an office of advanced technology for the time, receiving price data directly from the floor of the NYSE.  He made and lost his fortune on numerous occasions.  His skill was market timing combined with considerable mathematical skills and a clear trading strategy. He would invest a small portion of his planned amount and see how the market reacted.  If the price continued to increase, he would invest yet more until he was convinced of the general trend of the market before securing his ultimate position.  He would not tolerate a fall in price of more than 10% and would sell his position quickly, thereby not endangering his capital.

On November 28, 1940, Livermore fatally shot himself in the cloakroom of the Sherry Netherland Hotel in Manhattan. Police found a suicide note of eight small handwritten pages in Livermore’s personal, leather bound notebook. The note addressed to Livermore’s wife Harriet (whom Livermore nicknamed “Nina”) read, “My dear Nina: Can’t help it. Things have been bad with me. I am tired of fighting. Can’t carry on any longer. This is the only way out. I am unworthy of your love. I am a failure. I am truly sorry, but this is the only way out for me. Love Laurie”

Leon Fraser

Leon Fraser (born November 27, 1889 in Boston, April 8, 1945) was an American manager. 

Fraser graduated from Columbia University and from Colgate University Law School. He worked as a reporter for New York World until he was admitted to the bar in 1914. He enlisted in the US Army and fought in WW1 leaving with the rank of officer.  From 1922 to 1924 he practiced international law in Paris. He was a consultant for the Dawes Plan and from 1924 to 1927 was the Paris representative for reparations payments.

In 1930 he became president of the newly established Bank for International Settlements.  In 1937 he became president of the First National Bank of New York. He also held senior positions with General Electric, US Steel and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.  In the courtyard of his Granville home, Fraser shot himself in the head. His farewell letter pointed to depression.

Ivan Kruegger

Ivar Kreuger (2 March 1880 – 12 March 1932) was a Swedish civil engineer, financier, entrepreneur and industrialist. In 1908, he co-founded the construction company Kreuger & Toll Byggnads AB, which specialized in new building techniques. By aggressive investments and innovative financial instruments, he built a global match and financial empire. He ultimately controlled between two thirds and three quarters of worldwide match production, becoming known as the “Match King”.

Kreuger’s financial empire collapsed during the Great Depression. A subsequent audit of his more than 400 companies concluded that “The manipulations were so childish that anyone with, but a rudimentary knowledge of bookkeeping could see the books were falsified.”  In March 1932, he was found dead in the bedroom of his flat in Paris. The police concluded that he had committed suicide although his family believed he had been murdered.

Albert Fall

Albert Bacon Fall (November 26, 1861 – November 30, 1944) was a United States Senator from New Mexico and the Secretary of the Interior under President Warren G. Harding, infamous for his involvement in the Teapot Dome scandal. Fall was appointed to the position of Secretary of the Interior by President Warren G. Harding in March 1921. Soon after his appointment, Harding convinced Edwin Denby, the Secretary of the Navy, that Fall’s department should take over responsibility for the Naval Reserves including the Teapot Dome Naval Reserve in Wyoming.

In April 1922 Wall Street Journal reported that Secretary Fall had issued oil drilling permits within the Teapot Dome Naval Reserve in Wyoming to two of his friends, oilmen Harry F. Sinclair (Mammoth Oil Corporation) and Edward L. Doheny (Pan-American Petroleum and Transport Company) after receiving a bribe of $385,000. 

Fall was found guilty of conspiracy and bribery and was jailed for one year as a result—the first former cabinet officer sentenced to prison as a result of misconduct in office.

Just got a new Standup Desk.    If you are spending all day sitting you might consider this –  it is a lot healthier and far better for blood circulation and general physical fitness.  It is not so easy to stand all day and I have added 15 cms of foam to the floor and a nice red bar-stool.  Strongly recommended.  Beware –  it does change the way you work but it makes it far more productive on telephone calls as I can easily walk to the white board for note taking etc.  At sunset the barstool also comes in useful 🙂You might note the wall map,  we reprocessed 6 million km² of gravity data to better understand Tertiray basin structures and to assist in a regional geological and structural interpretation.

We all love muffins, but they are not the healthiest of snacks.  Here is an alternative, which is free of flour, refined sugars and added oils.  For those that believe they are gluten intolerant these contain no wheat flour!  This is a genuinely healthy alternative, high in fibre and essential nutrients.

In this recipe minimally processed rolled oats replaces refined flour, bananas or mangoes replaces oil or butter and a little honey sweetens the recipe and replaces refined sugar.  To take this a step further you can replace the eggs with chia seeds, just soak I tablespoon of chia in three tablespoons of water and allow to stand for 30 minutes.  I usually replace the banana with a large ripe mango for a different flavour and Rhum Clements 1952.

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups rolled-oats
• 2 overripe bananas
• 2 large eggs (beaten)
• ¹/₃ cup honey
• ¾ cup milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup sultanas
• 1 cup blueberries
• ½ cup Pumpkin seeds

Step I (30 minutes)

• Preheat the oven to 170°C
• Place all the oats on a baking sheet or whatever and toast until very lightly brown – but no more than 6 minutes.  Let them cool to room temperature.  This gives a slightly nutty taste.
• Put 1 ½ cups of toasted oats into a blender – and blend to a fine flour
• Place bananas or mango (yes take the skin off!) in the food blender with milk and honey and vanilla and – blend until smooth.  No not 30 minutes!
• Mix the dry ingredients, oats and your blended oat meal, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon in a large bowl
• Add the sultanas and pumpkin seeds and lightly mix (its about time for a little Rum, we strongly recommend the Rhum Clement 1952 – you deserve it)
• Fold in the dry ingredients and allow to soak for 10 minutes (the unprocessed oats will absorb some of the fluids)
• Fold in the blueberries lightly
• Spray a 12-pot muffin tray with olive oil
• Spoon a generous portion of the mix into the muffin tins
• Bake at 170° C for 20 minutes. Insert a tooth pick into the centre of a muffin –  if cooked it should come out clean.

Step 2

• Allow to cool
• Best served with anything cold and accompanied by tea or of course more the of the Clements.

Alternatives

You can replace the eggs with Chia –  see above.  You can replace the blueberries with, dried cranberries, apple and walnuts, frozen raspberries, diced dried apricots, pecans or virtually anything else you must hand.

Cost

Likely about 50 cents per muffin and US$1,000 for the Rhum Clements 1952.

If this recipe results in a hangover –  Enjoy!

A new business card
No contacts
Nothing on the reverse side
But the comment
“It’s a QRCode”

Why am I always getting the Blame.  I had nothing to do with the lack of posts on this Blog I was far too busy with gathering fat-rich nuts, defending my territory and finding a mate before the winter.  Nope nothing to do with me.

OK  – it was not the Squirrel but the SQL  – our bad!

A vexing little corruption that took the good people at Urban Design in Phonm Penh a day to resolve.  I strongly recommend Urban Design Studio for innovative and unique graphic and website designs.  From simple (!) logo design, to entire branding campaigns and website development, this team is exceptionally professional and cost competitive.

You can contact Urban Design Here.  Ask for Mark Lind or Sreychen Sok.

Now that we are back online –  its time to publish some materials.  There are a few projects that are evolving including a study of the relationship between CFCs and ozone, an analysis of the reported Fukushima radiation levels and releases and much more.

A very interesting study in Cell Metabolism demonstrates that energy-controlled high-fat low carbohydrate diets are not detrimental to health, but rather a ketogenic diet (with a very high proportion of fat) extends lifespan and slows age-related decline in physiological function in mice.

For information on ketogenic diets in humans

Download the Full Paper

Calorie restriction (CR) has long been shown to increase longevity in animal models.  However longitudinal studies in humans are not possible.  The exact mechanism for contributing to increased longevity in CR animal models remains unresolved however it has long been recognised that CR induces a shift from carbohydrate to fat metabolism.  Low carbohydrate diets (LCD) have been shown to induce a shift from carbohydrate towards fatty acid oxidation metabolism.

In this paper the authors have studied the most extreme LCD, the ketogenic diet in an animal model.  They studied mice by strictly regulating their diet and generated three cohorts:  LCD group fed 70% of their kcal as fat, a KD group fed 89% of their kcal as fat and a control group fed 65% of their kcal as carbohydrate.

The results of the study have confirm earlier studies which showed that a KD promoted an anti-inflammatory metabolic state with elevated blood ketone levels comparable to CR.  This study however goes well beyond previous studies following the population from birth to post-mortem. The primary objective of this study was the evaluate the influence of LCD and KD on longevity and health-markers in mice.

The results of this study include:

• The results clearly demonstrate that lifespan is increased in mice consuming a KD  when a feeding strategy is followed that mitigates weight gain in adult mice.  It is often assumed that a high-fat diet will shorten life expectancy  however, this study indicate that a calorie-controlled LCD started in middle-aged mice does not have a negative impact on aging.  Further evidence does not support the idea that level of protein is primarily responsible for the increased longevity;
• This study shows that a KD slows cognitive decline and preserves motor function in aging mice.  KD maximizes and preserves forelimb grip strength with age. Respiratory quotient was decreased by an LCD or a KD compared to a control diet.
• KD mice showed glucose intolerance however insulin sensitivity after a 4 hr fast was enhanced by a KD if compared to the LCD, indicating that insulin signalling is functioning normally in mice fed a KD
• Ketones would appear to positively impact muscle homeostasis and may play an important role as neuro-protective signalling molecules
• The level of acetylated p53, a key tumour suppressor protein, was 10-fold higher in liver after 1 month on a KD and as a likely consequence, incidence of tumours at time of death, particularly histiocytic sarcoma, was decreased with a KD

For information on ketogenic diets in humans

Download the Full Paper

A Ketogenic Diet Extends Longevity and Healthspan in Adult Mice

ABSTRACT

Calorie restriction, without malnutrition, has been shown to increase lifespan and is associated with a shift away from glycolysis toward beta-oxidation. The objective of this study was to mimic this meta­bolic shift using low-carbohydrate diets and to deter­mine the influence of these diets on longevity and healthspan in mice. C57BL/6 mice were assigned to a ketogenic, low-carbohydrate, or control diet at 12 months of age and were either allowed to live their natural lifespan or tested for physiological func­tion after 1 or 14 months of dietary intervention. The ketogenic diet (KD) significantly increased median lifespan and survival compared to controls. In aged mice, only those consuming a KD displayed preser­vation of physiological function. The KD increased protein acetylation levels and regulated mTORC1 signaling in a tissue-dependent manner. This study demonstrates that a KD extends longevity and healthspan in mice.