Elate Partners, with offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, China; in conjunction with its sister company, PA Asset Advisors in Dallas, Texas; is pleased to announce that Ziad K Abdelnour, President & CEO of Blackhawk Partners, New York, NY, has agreed to serve as a board member at Elate Partners. Mr. Abdelnour is very connected in Wall Street financial circles, has a wide network in American politics, and will help guide Elate’s Asset Monetization business.

The partnership will focus on the interests of Blackhawk’s clients, from oil, gas, mines and specialty real-estate, to technology-based alternative energy, high-end equipment manufacturing, medical and biotechnology, modern agriculture, and aerospace.

Mr. Ziad K Abdelnour stated, “I am very pleased about the opportunity this partnership will create for both of our companies. Such a collaboration will help western companies expand into the vast Chinese market, allow western financiers access to China’s huge untapped asset base, and match needs of Chinese companies with western solutions.”

For More: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/elate-partners-and-sister-company-pa-asset-advisors-announce-new-partner-300187196.html

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Wake up folks…. It is high time to realize that the whole Syrian shenanigan was nothing but Assad getting in the crosshairs between his ally Putin and his Arab foes’ interests (Qatar and Saudi Arabia).

All the rest is for the birds… no matter what the US media leads you to believe.

No one gives a rat’s ass about 120,000 people dying or Assad playing with his toys…. It’s all about money, oil and power….. Very unfortunate state of affairs but true.

The fact of the matter is that Assad refused to sign a proposed agreement with Qatar that would run a pipeline from the latter’s North field, contiguous with Iran’s South Pars field, through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and on to Turkey, with a view to supply European markets – albeit crucially bypassing Russia.

Assad’s rationale was “to protect the interests of his Russian ally, which is Europe’s top supplier of natural gas.

For More: http://ziadabdelnour.net/its-all-about-big-oils-interests-stupid

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I believe success is all about empowering people. The more people you empower, the more money and power one acquires in addition to having an ever increasing impact on his/her constituency. Empowering people is in fact and in my opinion better than education and management hierarchy combined.

The Key question then becomes: How do you truly empower people?

I believe there are several ways to do it. Empowering is really like fueling them with the guns they need to shoot. Here are some ways:

1. Build a culture. Empowerment will not happen if there is a culture that doesn’t back it. A culture where challenges are thrown at people and their perspective is accepted, appreciated in handling the challenge. Form a team that helps , supports in getting team members do things. Let them realize that what they are doing is good even if they fail. Help them do things that are one step ahead and not in their job roles.

2. Be the best mentor/coach there is. Give them freedom. Let them make decisions. Help them validate those decisions. Teach them the ropes, then let them take risks and learn from their mistakes and successes without micromanaging them.

For More: http://ziadabdelnourfinance.com/about-empowering-people/

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For the small club of companies who trade the food, fuels and metals that keep the world running, the last decade has been sensational. Driven by the rise of Brazil, China, India and other fast-growing economies, the global commodities boom has turbocharged profits at the world’s biggest trading houses.

Who are those firms and what makes them so powerful?

They are the Club of 16 comprised of Vitol, Glencore, Cargill, Koch Industries, Archer Daniels Midland, Gunvor, Trafigura, Mercuria, Noble, Louis Dreyfus, Bunge, Wilmar International, Arcadia, Mabanaft, Olam and Hin Leong.

Together, they are worth over one trillion dollars in annual revenue and control more than half the world’s freely traded commodities. Many amass speculative positions worth billions in raw goods, or hoard commodities in warehouses and super-tankers during periods of tight supply.

How big are the biggest of them? Well, take Vitol and Trafigura as an example, they sold more oil last year than the oil exports of Saudi Arabia and Venezuela combined and their reach is only expanding.

Big trading firms now own a growing number of the mines that produce many of our commodities, the ships and pipelines that carry them, and the warehouses, silos and ports where they are stored

ForMore: http://ziadabdelnourblackhawk.com/the-best-kept-money-making-secret-on-planet-earth-today/

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The primary cry of these people is that children are no threat. That we are admitting babies. Hillary Clinton said, “Turning away orphans, applying a religious test, discriminating against Muslims, slamming the door on every Syrian refugee—that is just not who we are.”  I ask what is a child? Is she talking about the 18-year-old MS13 gang members that came in with the push that allowed them to cross the Southern border because they were “children.”

The total number of child soldiers involved in the war in the Middle East is unknown. Around 200 child soldiers have been confirmed killed in action by human rights groups over the past four years and, they say, the real number is likely far higher. Moreover, younger adolescents (ages of 13 to 17), usually males, may be employed as spies, guards, or smugglers. Human rights groups say that even 14- and 15-year-old combatants are not unknown in rebel-held areas.

For More: http://ziadabdelnour.org/what-to-do-with-syrian-and-other-refugees/

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I used to ask myself this question every day. I think I have finally figured it out after many years of soul searching…. Here are my thoughts. Would equally appreciate yours.

As we all know today, it is a cardinal sin to reason without sufficient data – In today’s world, if you are young, you have had hardly any time to explore anything very much apart from school work.

The little time you have before puberty hits with its own distractions, gets ground down in the relentless cycle of school and continuous adult supervision/micromanagement.

It’s never too late to choose your essence, or yourself, although if you are older, you will have to be much more patient in order to progress.

I recommend making a spreadsheet… When in doubt, make a spreadsheet, assess everything in columns – it’s a wonderful aid to analysis.

For More: http://ziadabdelnourfinance.com/what-is-your-purpose-in-life/

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One of the main features of the easy money economy of the Roaring Twenties was that investors could take advantage of investment margin leverage of 90%. This leverage was the fundamental reason behind the sharp run up in stocks, and this leverage left investors susceptible to market selloffs, which would come to pass in later years. All secular bears start by a triggering event that begins the de-leveraging process of the previous growth cycle. The Roaring Twenties, stock market crash and subsequent depression is a perfect example of this.

Similarly, today personal and government debt has once again become a major concern. Included in this is the recent growth in margin debt which illustrates how current personal debt is now exceeding debt levels seen prior to the 2008 fiscal collapse. Since the early 1970’s debt has escalated at a pace like we have never seen before in history.

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There are few threats greater to the global financial system than the expanding interconnectedness and dependence between economies around the world. In today’s world, the economic challenges faced by one country can create a tidal wave of problems worldwide due to the interconnectedness of global stock markets and banks. In recent years counterparty risk in the financial system has increased exponentially, with derivative markets growing to $700 trillion, an all-time high and ten times the size of the global economy.

The issue is that most developed world economies all face major headwinds that could cause sudden economic paralysis and spread globally. These issues include debt-ridden governments and consumers; austerity hampering economic growth at a time where growth is difficult to find; over leveraged banks, despite government bailout efforts; and very high unemployment levels that cost societies greatly due to lower tax revenues, increased government cost for social programs and poor psychology. The following outlines the most concerning economic environments around the globe.

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As populations age, the base of taxpayers to support them must grow in proportion, or otherwise face huge obstacles to meet obligations. Unfortunately for most developed countries, this will not be the case and as a result already over indebted governments will need to incur more debt to pay for increased social obligations.  We are at the early stages of this aging society process, so the problem will only get worse.

The above chart demonstrates the phenomenon of an aging population in Japan since the 1960s. Through the years as the population has aged, and birth rates have failed to keep up, the balance of older citizens to youth is becoming increasingly top heavy. Having fewer workers to support the aging Japanese population has had serious implications for Japans debt load, which has increased from just 70% of GDP in the early 1990s to 245% today, the world’s highest debt/GDP ratio.

Thank you,