No, the only secret organization I belong to is the Trilateral Commission. After doing my internship and requisite back room work, I received my first desk a couple of years ago. I started out being responsible for fixing the Zinc market. After a couple of years, I successfully increased prices almost 100%. On the strength of that performance I was given Copper. In the last year I drove that up a full dollar per ounce, from about $2.50 to $3.50, before we decided to keep it around a steady 3 bucks.
You'll find there are quite a few of us from the TLC on the board. Big Porsche fans, the TLC, is. Rumor has it that John D. bankrolled old Ferry because he liked his Abarth prototype so much. In return John D. and The Kids have always had something interesting. Some Italian trash in the parking ramp too, but the German marques are king. And then when one of them started driving the first turbo 911 back in the 70s, driving a Porsche and some serious track time has been almost a requirement for advancement at the TLC.
Jim Richards is a fellow desk man like me. He got his appointment through his dad's family and has worked mostly metals. I think he's running aluminum now. That's a nice desk. Good enough to retire from if you don't want to go any further, but a nice launching pad for an ambitious desk holder. I have my eyes on Silver one of these days. Jim and I just might be competing for that one. I got my initial appointment through my father's mother's side of the family. That got me in, but the rest is based on performance. TAB's is part of the family. He's not formally a member, he's kind of the black sheep of the family. Still, he runs special projects from time to time. But MOTHER is a legend. She was one of the first female principles of the Commission and still keeps active. She's tight with the guy who runs Oil and the one who controls Gold. She'll claim in the company cafeteria that she got both of them their starts after one too many martinis. There's talk about letting Wayne buy in. For now they just kick some business his way.
There's a few more of us on the Board, but most are still under cover. About half give out excellent advice here on the board to anyone who will listen. The other half have a strange sense of humor and spend their time telling people exactly the opposite. I'll leave it to you to figure out which are which.
By the way, there will be no Great Market Crash of 2010. Market might go a bit lower over the summer because of general jitters, but the underlying industrial orders will strengthen the economy and by the end of third quarter 2010 commodities prices will be going off the charts. In six months you'll know whether I'm one of the ones giving good advice or just having fun with the civilians.
