Ujamaa | Cooperative Economics - Master P + Baron Davis to Buy Reebok

 I got my toughest challenge a few months ago when someone tried to label me. I'm not one for labels, so I stumbled when asked "What are you?": a Mentor, Wellness Trainer, Personal Finance Advisor, Life Coach. I simply tell people I am a businessperson. I challenge everyone in the world to begin to act and think like one. Why??? Because once you leave the safety net of your parents home (usually @ 18 years of age), everything else in your life with be a contract --- economically and spiritually. I think back to leaving college and everything from the cell phone, apartment lease, rental truck, job offer, car loan, and monthly credit card bill were all contractual obligations. If I'm not a businessperson, then why am I signing a contract??

So it's only fitting that the black candle of Kwanzaa on Day 4 symbolizes my most blogged about subject, Cooperative Economics. Economics was one of my favorite subjects in school because it had basic assumptions that focus on what humans do when they are facing certain options --- the guns vs butter theory. A quick trip down memory lane:

A nation, and I apply this to your concept specifically to your household, must determine how to spend its monies (budget). If you spend it all on butter (food, schools, etc.) then everyone's bellies are full but this nation may not be safe. If you spend it all on guns (fences, alarms, rifles), then you may feel very safe but go hungry. Ironically, these are the simple items most people and politicians still fight about today. 

• Increase the security defense budget?
• Decrease the budget for food, school, and health assistance?
• What about arts, culture, drug mitigation, violence mitigation?

In your home, one must decide:

• Do you buy a home, how much?
• Do you buy that new car or take the bus?
• How much do we spend on food, toys, education?

All tough decisions but necessary ones that must be made. So my challenge is for people to be humble, focus on strengthening your knowledge and collectively working together to build and expand the economic profile of yourself and your family. Work hard, then harder as we have one life to live. If you're pop culture, you now call this concept the gig economy or accumulating side hustles. 

I call it UJAMMA - I look at how history has treated the middle class in America and across the world and more importantly I looked at how history has treated people of color, anyone who looks different. I took Economics and loved it and realized very quickly the data doesn't lie. The middle class is getting gutted and poorer, year after year. Communities of color make advancements, but due to government policies or the lack thereof suffer massive setback during recessions, depressions, and periods of health pandemics. If you've read my previous posts on this subject, this equates to a person of color losing a massive amount of their equity or wealth roughly every 8-12 years. 

So I challenge you to focus on where I spend most of my energy, achieving balance and UJAMAA. I have a cooperative of investments that ensure I will withstand things I cannot control and the things I know people will try to do to hold me down. 

• I have a saving account that will withstand 1-2 economic recessions
• I have an investment account to supplement my retirement and fund investments
• I work a Corporate job, earning pay and benefits such as a 401K which I've maxed out every year for 18 years (someone is giving you free money)
• I have a side hustle, where I work with persons of color, veterans, woman, single moms as I try to diversify Corporate America while bring them value in the Cybersecurity space
• I own real estate which pays for itself and provides income for my next real estate venture

I just learned that Master P and Baron Davis are looking to buy Reebok for roughly $2.4 Billion dollars. Ironically, what I was more interested in is who is the investment team that came together to pitch the deal terms. Fact is most deals done are done as a cooperative, in Silicon Valley they rely on Venture Capitalists and in our community we must embrace this concept. I also challenge you to shop with black owners but I challenge my black owners to think bold. My cyber services are not limited to a group of people, many of your products will need to be able to supply the world. This helps you achieve SCALE. A level where you can supply many people across the country and eventually the world. Sky's the limit

What You Need in Life -- Invest Like a "Middle Child"

 

Investing In Yourself – Using Pillars to Build Your Core	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2015/04/urbanomics-pillars-path-set-for.html
Setting Budgets + Saving for Black Swans	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/personal-finance-budget-101-free-credit.html
	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2019/11/hey-henry-high-earner-not-yet-rich.html
How to Open My First Brokerage Account	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2015/04/personal-finance-101-starting.html
Diversify your Life (Mind, Body, Soul, + Investments)	Search My Blog

The Pillars - The Miseducation

In my culture, lessons are taught by the elders to the community and especially to the young children. Ironically, one thing has not changed over time which is song is a form of communication used to narrate stories.  This is still on display today with the power of music artists sharing stories through song  If you have read my blog you know that I like a flashback and reference songs that were defining for a generation.  When I thought of this post, a song came to mind popped in my head that defines success.  Success for many could be summed up through the hit track "Money, Power, Respect".  Many will believe this song was a track by Lil Kim.  Simply, before there was a Nicki Minaj or Cardi B there was Lil Kim eviscerating hooks like she did for the L.O.X on this track.  No disrespect to The L.O.X or Lil Kim, but my generation and generations before that bought into the wrong message:

See I believe in money, power, and respect. 

First You get the money. 

Then you get the power. 

After you get the power, MF will respect you

Song: Money, Power, Respect; Artist(s): The L.O.X ft. Lil Kim,

While Lil Kim described one way to obtain respect, she forgot to tell you that this way is not sustainable for everyone.  So I challenge, what you need in life --- are the pillars.  We need to strengthen our mental fortitude through education.  Those are skills that can never be taken away from you.  We need to use our skills to invest in our own assets.  By being independent, no one can dictate the terms to how you live, especially if you live within your means.  I'm proud when I see people discussing the pillars in our community here a few recent examples:

I believe J. Cole's has unplugged from the Matrix and understands the Pillars. He's on the same mission, Check out his lyrics from the track "Middle Child":

What good is the bread if my brothas is broke?

What good is first class if my brothas can't sit?

That's my next mission

That's why I can't quit

Just like LeBron

Get my brothas more chips

I think Kanye read my post on Master P. Go back and read how I wrote that over 20 years ago he inspired me to be independent, black owned, and bout it bout! People are finally understanding the stakes. Yes, Kanye you are the talent, why don't you own your own masters sir. Don't be afraid brotha because as a producer, artist, businessman, and family man you owe it to yourself, family and community to negotiate your own terms as long as you know your worth. Thank you for seeking out Master P and as I've told many people, you will grind for years but you must flip the switch to negotiating own your own terms when the time is right. I look at all my business deals closer, eliminate the middle men, and because it's my business I can choose to keep the money in my community and invest in people who share my values.

For years I've been talking about living within your means and prioritizing ownership and investing in assets that appreciate.  I was pleased to see the rapper Plies make this comment:

Finally, I'm hopeful people are listening.  I read a great story and about a business man, named Young Bleu.  He talked about his goals of being an independent music artist and how he already owns a few assets: a house and a restaurant.  And the thing I love the most about his article was an example that he gave: Young Bleu Interview courtesy of HipHopDx:

"I’m going to put it like this. Just say as a rapper, you got $400,000 in your account. You don’t got a house, right? Now just say that your label say, “F&ck you.” You know what I’m saying? “F&ck you. We don’t want to do nothing with your shit right now. We don’t feel like we want to do shit with you right now.” All right. You got $400,000 right? Okay. A nigga come up to you and say, “Man, shit. I can get your record going. Shit, we can go and do radio 150,000, 200,000.” Okay, there’s always a chance that this shit might not go as planned. So now you only got $400,000 but nowhere to go besides what someone says they can do for you.

Now if you already had a house, you already had cars paid for, why would you spend the $400,000? You know what I’m saying? If all else fails, you have a home to go back to. But if you don’t you’ll be scared to spend that money if you felt like, “Damn. Shit. If I blow this shit, it’s over and I’m back at the bottom. Shit, I’ll probably be back staying with my mama. Goddamn.” You feel me? If you got your shit in order, you will be more comfortable spending money, you know what I’m saying?"

Sound familiar?? All I can say is well said young brotha. This young man understands the game.  If you dissect his statement, he says: "what is the point of having so much capital (or cash) in your account and you own nothing.  If you own a house and have assets to fall back on (especially if this house was paid off), then when someone approaches you about doing business you are more likely to take prudent risks and make more investments knowing that you have something to fall back on.  As he eloquently stated, if you don't own that house (or some asset that appreciates) you will be scared to spend that money. I have a 9-5 job and a side hustle for income; my assets range from: 2 homes, have a individual retirement account that I could live off of and I use my brokerage account as war chest and make numerous investments every day...I'm not scared because I approve every investment. I can't wait to invest with J Cole, Master P, Young Bleu, Kanye if they share my value (b/c I don't always see eye to eye with some folks). But if we can agree people of color need their contracts rewritten, need independence, and they need investment...then let's do business.

#pillars, #independent, #Master P, #Young Bleu, #MiddleChildInvesting, #J Cole #educationispower

E-Trade (ETFC) --- Hookup Alert

Investing In Yourself – Using Pillars to Build Your Core	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2015/04/urbanomics-pillars-path-set-for.html
Setting Budgets + Saving for Black Swans	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2013/02/personal-finance-budget-101-free-credit.html
	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2019/11/hey-henry-high-earner-not-yet-rich.html
How to Open My First Brokerage Account	https://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2015/04/personal-finance-101-starting.html
Diversify your Life (Mind, Body, Soul, + Investments)	Search My Blog

Don't wanna go on livin' without you

I got the hook up holla if you hear me (Ughhhhhh)

And if we say bye bye bye then take my heart with you

I got the hook up holla if you hear me (Ughhhhhh)

Can we go on livin' without you

I got the hook up holla if you hear me (Ughhhhhh)

Artist: Master P + Sons of Funk ~ Song: I Got The Hook Up

So for a short period of time, I've decided to open up my portfolio to help educate people. United we stand and by investing you can be independent, self-owned and bout it bout (thanks P). You can follow wild Reddit investing pages that chronicle how one person made $1M out of his $35K retirement account but those stories never tell you how many people flamed out taking crazy risks. This is about investing in yourself and your goals for the long-term. It's about diversifying your streams of income so that you make decisions on your own terms. It's not a overnight dream, but a long-term goal that you have to plan for. Being musically inclined, I remember a time when Master P said Ughhhh but more importantly I always heard him say "independent, black-owned and I'm bout it bout".  Yes sir, I remember this like it was yesterday but it was over 2 decades ago since Master P dominated the scene. Flashback: In high school, I used to go back and forth about which record label was the best. My man Darryl Baxter was definitely in the No Limit Records camp (the record label of Master P) and so was Ed Whitney. I've always gone against the grain, so to make this a competitive debate each day I took the other side and would always say Sean Puffy Combs and his Bad Boy record label was better. I know --- two successful black men meant we all were right at the end of the day but those debates were memorable. But what they didn't know was I was in the No Limit Camp way before I was a fan of Bad Boy because my dad (being a music lover) brought home a "tape" from the "record" store back then. Don't ask me how or why but he had a tape of Master P's "Ice Cream Man" which I played on repeat over and over and over. The moral of this story is similar to Master P, I write this post to plan a seed in one person's mind just like Master P did when he had a whole generation repeating that phrase. And for the record, NO, I was not inspired to be the "Ice Cream Man" but to be independent black-owned and yes bout it bout it. Next time I'll tell you about Suave House and my clique but let's stay focused.

If you haven't noticed, over the years I've had my fair share of stock hookups. On Wall Street, we call this activity: mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers. My search for value sometimes leads others in the same direction and I get lucky if a big investor or company buys out the company I own for a nice premium --- a hookup. No long story today but I wanted to highlight E-Trade Financial. I like to do research to find my next investment and often benefit from small clues hiding in plain site. If you don't believe me go back and read my posts on Sprint. It will go down as one of my most memorable investments because it was based off of the fact that the CEO (Marcelo Claure) and the Chairman of the Board (Masayoshi Son) both sold their houses before the deal was ever close to being finalized. haha who sells a $10M crib next to Sprint's headquarters unless you're on good authority you won't need it anymore.  

Link: Sprint-t-mobile-hookup-alert.html

My trade in E-Trade (no pun intended) started from the fact that apps like RobinHood, Dough and others were massively disrupting the retail stock trading space. With 20 years of investing under my belt, I can truly tell you the hardest problem to overcome is the fees which eat into your profits when making a trade. RobinHood and others have helped to reduce those fees to $0. TD Ameritrade and E-Trade were hurt badly kinda like how record sales were impacted once streaming became a thing. So along came Charles Schwab (SCHW) who decided to hookup with TD Ameritrade. There were rumors that consolidation was coming to the industry but I was slow and missed an opportunity to trade AMTD. So I kept an eye on ETFC and decided if I couldn't get the first option, I would trade the second option. Morgan Stanley (MS) came calling and slid into E-Trade's DM. The terms are Morgan Stanley will give ETFC shareholders 1.0432 for every share of MS. This is a good example where my current trade is not yet profitable (note: it was prior to COVID-19 market crash) but you need to have patience. However, if the deal closes in the 4th Quarter as expected, this trade will become profitable once closed or when my trade expiry date (Jan 2021) hits. 

Always remember, there is strength in numbers