"The Micro Revolutions©" off Wall Street -- Micro Financial Services in the Developing World = Equity Manna(C)

***

Where is the Upside or Equity Manna(C) for the poorest of the Poor ?

Equity Manna(C) = Cell-phone-based purchasing of micro amounts of stocks & ETFs via MMT (mobile money transfer)

Can stocks be micronized for a micro-DRIP or a micro-Equity investment plan?

E.g., Safaricom stock? Or PT Telkom Indonesia stock? Or China Mobile stock? Etc.

Are national lotteries a better asset allocation plan for the Poor in Africa or Asia?


The microfinance world continues to over-focus on debt-based approaches or products, and foolishly touts micro-savings and micro-insurance as stunning innovations. In truth, micro-moaners are stuck in a deep-debt mental rut from Dhaka they will never escape.

For this reason The Micro Revolutions© ideated and advocated by Carbon Manna Unlimited in San Diego will only be embraced by rebellious young minds with innate urges to smash intellectual pumpkins and spray paint gang slogans on the group-think bridge abutments of BIG Microfinance Limited.

Very Limited.

For example, the field of financial services is obviously a fertile area for micronization, but where are the "new" or "novel" ideas for micro-investments or micro-equity participation by the Poor ? Lamentably and predictably, no such innovations will come from London, Washington (DC), Dhaka, New Delhi, Seattle, Geneva or New York City.

Rather, let us country bumpkins in San Diego, who are smarter than we look, list them here and detail how they will be implemented...

To wit, manifestations of "The Micro Revolutions©" off Wall Street as applied to Financial Services -- or Equity Manna(C) -- will include:

(1) micro DRIPs / microDRIPs (dividend re-investment plans)

(2) micro ETFs / microETFs (exchange-traded funds)

(3) micro mutual funds

(4) micro IRAs / microIRAs (individual retirement accounts)

(5) micro bond funds

(6) micro hard-asset purchase plans -- reference:

--->> http://dekadrakma.blogspot.com

(7) micro ________ <<-- Add your favorite financial service or product here!


# 1 -- Cell-phone-based micro DRIPs (dividend re-investment plans) are the easiest to implement as the software already exists to buy DRIP-plan stocks on-line split down to 1 ten-thousandth of a share --> 1/10,000th --> or 4 decimal places. Hence even the poorest person could use their cell phone and existing MMT (mobile money transfer) systems in Africa & Asia to buy small amounts (less than one U.S.$) of common stock. The middleware needed to interface existing DRIP-plan software with existing MMT system software could be written by a high school AP (advanced placement) programming class over a looooong weekend.

Micro-moaners and well-fed nano-detractors with high body-mass indices will immediately say stock investing is toooo risky for the Poor in the Developing World, but why are the Poor denied all potential to participate in their domestic or international equity markets ? Why are they deprived of all Upside ?

And what do they do now ? All studies show a strong inverse correlation between annual income and participation in legal lotteries or illegal gambling. So will micro-moaners say, then, that a better use of the Poor's little income is losing it to their national governments in lotteries, or to "the house" or their neighbors in games of chance ? Clearly "No". But that's where the Poor "invest" or lose their money now, sadly.

So let them not eat cake, but, rather -- buy stocks !

Stock in what ? -- you might ask ? As one example, there is a 100-year history of highly reliable stock-market gains from investing in the national telecommunications carrier of any country. Examples include British Telecom Plc, Deutsche Telekom, AT&T (and its predecessors) and Nippon Telephone & Telegraph (NTT). Investing in publicly-traded legal monopolies or oligopolies is hardly "risky" and 100+ years of data show good gains for stockholders. We suggest the Micro Financial Services Industry start with these.

And, obviously, purchases of any particular stock could be limited to small weekly or monthly allotments so no Poor family could become "overweight" in any financial instrument or asset category, thus mathematically enforcing a portfolio approach to investing. Our Nobel Prize-winning friend & neighbor here in San Diego, Harry Markowitz, the "Father of Portfolio Theory", will be very pleased...!


# 2 -- Micro ETFs (exchange traded funds) -- technical implementation of these would follow the exact same process as the micro DRIP above. In particular, and as one concrete and important example, even the Poorest of the Poor worldwide should be able to own part of the so-called "People's Central Bank" -- the SPDR (Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipt) Gold Trust ETF or GLD on the NYSE:

-->> http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=GLD

or:

-->> http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3AGLD

The most obvious Developing World market for such a cell-phone-based gold micro-ETF would be India -- historically the world's largest importer of gold. China would be next. Thus, even the poorest of the Poor, who already own a cell phone or who have access to one via a neighbor, could invest 50 cents or a few rupees or a few yuan in a gold-backed asset.

Now the Poor in India store their limited wealth in gold jewelry worn on the body. So when the worldwide market price of gold has declined periodically during its unrelenting ascent since August 1971 when Nixon abrogated/eliminated the Gold Standard in the U.S., are the Poor therefore poorer and stupider for having bought their gold jewelry? Patently "No!"

But many micro-moaners and nano-ninnies will whine that periodic declines in the price of a gold ETF would be "risky" and catastrophic for the Poor investor. But can a poor pedicab driver in India or a rural peasant in China buy 50 cents worth of physical gold ? Probably not.

But it is easily possible using a cell-phone-based MMT-enabled gold ETF. As well, the Poor then do not have to worry about theft of their now electronic gold (e-gold or m-gold = mobile-gold) physically stored safely in a vault in New York City or London or Geneva (where the physical gold backing the ETF is really kept). Imagine their peace mind at night ! :-)

Again, pico-pea-brains who doubt the 3,000-year track record of hard-asset investing and wealth preservation are directed to this blog for remedial instruction:

-->> http://dekadrakma.blogspot.com


And for # 3 through # 7 above ?? -- Ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto !


But what about "transaction costs" !?!?! -- some micro-moaners and nano-debt junkies will interject. Who cares ?

"Transactions want to be free!" Transaction costs want to be zero!

Inevitably, transaction costs will naturally and asymptotically approach zero over the next few years via new technology, enlightened corporate sponsorships or subsidies, and grants from self-aware foundations such as The Gates Foundation, The Omidyar Network and The Rockefeller Foundation.

Right ?

In sum, will contrite micro-moaners of the world unite, innovate and bring financial Upside within reach of the poorest of the Poor ? Nope. Rather, instead -- new minds, new paradigms, new companies and new organizations will bring Change & Wealth Accumulation to the Developing World, as the Old "Micro" Guard and pico-minded debt-prone Dhaka hyper-apparatchiks enter terminal ossification, sclerosis and marginalization.

Let the micro-enabled Poor save themselves financially via Equity Manna(C). Like us here in San Diego, they're smarter than you think.

Warmly & Richly yours,

David A. Palella
CIO - Chief Investment Officer
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
SAN DIEGO, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

http://www.carbonmanna.org
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/CarbonManna
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/1794312/


http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/01/prweb3459274.htm

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Carbon-Manna-Unlimited-1065919.html

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Carbon-Manna-Unlimited-1033328.html

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Carbon-Manna-Unlimited-1007638.html

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Carbon-Manna-Unlimited-991442.html

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Carbon-Manna-Unlimited-953397.html


I will be/was a speaker or keynote speaker at:
-------------------------------------------------------

2nd Kenya Diaspora Int'l Conference & Investment Forum

20-22 August 2009, Atlanta, GA

http://www.kenyaopen4business.com

---------------------------------------------------------------


"Microfinance for Institutional Investors"

21-22 Sept. 2009, Washington, DC

http://www.hansonwade.com/events/microfinance-for-institutional-investors/index.shtml

---------------------------------------------------------------


"Micro Financial Services World"

[ organized by Hanson Wade ]

11-12 May 2010, Amsterdam City Centre, The Netherlands

http://www.mfs-world.com

---------------------------------------------------------------


Green Business Africa Summit & Expo

02-04 June 2010, Nairobi, Kenya

http://www.greenbusinessafricaexpo.com


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The "Grand Micro Challenges©" or "Micro Grand Challenges©" to be announced by Carbon Manna Unlimited

*****

Smashing the pumpkins of microfinance

"All progress depends on the unreasonable man" -- or woman

The student surpasses the master, who gives way graciously


The Gates Foundation and other non-profits have issued Grand Challenges for global healthcare or space travel or mathematics, but where are the "Grand Micro Challenges©" or "Micro Grand Challenges©" that will generate New Markets-based Micro Ideas to economically liberate "The Next Billion"?

Where are these novel paradigms ?

The poverty of global imagination traps the "Bottom of the Pyramid" in "a cruel and malignant Fate" that no NGO nor charity nor government agency has ever been able to alter. The Deep Debt Rut from Dhaka shackles Womankind & Mankind in usury and existential penury -- and sycophantic accolades for simplistic ideas continue in the face of the conceptual progress manifested on this digital record of Micro Progress.

Can you too shatter the micro stereotypes and "Think Different" ?

History will judge us, not mere micro women or micro men.

Globally & warmly yours, David Palella

David A. Palella
Visionary in Chief
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED
SAN DIEGO, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
email (backup): dpalella@gmail.com

http://www.carbonmanna.org
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/CarbonManna
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/1794312/


http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/01/prweb3459274.htm

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Carbon-Manna-Unlimited-1065919.html

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Carbon-Manna-Unlimited-1033328.html

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Carbon-Manna-Unlimited-1007638.html

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Carbon-Manna-Unlimited-991442.html

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Carbon-Manna-Unlimited-953397.html


I will be/was a speaker or keynote speaker at:
------------------------------------------------------

2nd Kenya Diaspora Int'l Conference & Investment Forum

20-22 August 2009, Atlanta, GA

http://www.kenyaopen4business.com

---------------------------------------------------------------


"Microfinance for Institutional Investors"

21-22 Sept. 2009, Washington, DC

http://www.hansonwade.com/events/microfinance-for-institutional-investors/index.shtml

---------------------------------------------------------------


"Micro Financial Services World"

[ organized by Hanson Wade ]

11-12 May 2010, Amsterdam City Centre, The Netherlands

http://www.mfs-world.com

---------------------------------------------------------------


Green Business Africa Summit & Expo

02-04 June 2010, Nairobi, Kenya

http://www.greenbusinessafricaexpo.com


---------------------------------------------------------------

The Non-prophet Corporation

*****

"The Charities, like Dust"

!! DONATE !! an organ NOW !!

Micro stick-ups and Macro interest rates

26 % !! -- Are U-surious ?


If you visit the web sites of the thousands of non-profit corporations or "charities" in the U.S., you'll note immediately the most prominent feature is a brightly colored button flashing the words: DONATE NOW! DONATE NOW! DONATE NOW! DONATE NOW! DONATE NOW! DONATE NOW! DONATE NOW! DONATE NOW! DONATE NOW! -- But how annoying! How annoying! How annoying! How annoying! How annoying!

Secondary come-on's include guilt-inducing pictures of children with cleft palates or empty rice bowls. Or both.

But I challenge America's charities to replace their "Donate Now" buttons with a higher-value-added one flashing: INNOVATE NOW! INNOVATE NOW! INNOVATE NOW! INNOVATE NOW! INNOVATE NOW!

Or IDEATE NOW ! -- Meaning: "Give us a Good Idea! -- instead of cash, for nothing is more valuable than a Good Idea!"

But non-prophets (sic), lamentably, are mostly non-flexible and non-innovative by definition. They do not seek new ideas nor new paradigms. They do not see The Future, sadly. They are often populated by infinite legions of zero-sum thinkers who cannot fathom markets-based solutions nor execute on new Ways of Thinking.

Their lists of staff with job titles including the word "Development" are longer than a Quaker's beard. At first I thought this meant "Economic Development", such as growing the economies of poor African countries...? But no. They mean Develop or increase their membership to increase their own treasury. They mean Develop a higher revenue stream to fund their own organization and salaries & benefits.

And where are sooooo many of these non-prophets and charities located? In New York City -- the American city with the highest cost of doing business. So your donation is funding either their lifestyle or their 50 % tax-bill. Or both. Or they are located in London -- so ditto. Charities should rusticate (move to the countryside) and reduce their cost of doing business. Try Omaha, Nebraska. There are more millionaires there per capita anyway than anywhere else in the U.S. -- sounds like Heaven for a fund-raiser.

And Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs)? What does this term mean ? In many cases -->> Macro Stick-ups with a Micro label -- small loans with interest rates sooooo high that they would be termed usurious or usury (illegally high) in the U.S. If the repayment rate on micro finance loans is sooooo high, why are the interest rates also soooo high ? Either due to defaults or non-repayment of principal, or due to high transaction/processing costs for each small loan. Or both. In short, another paradigm that needs INNOVATION and new IDEATION.

But where is Innovation in the microcosm of micro finance? I search diligently with my lantern. In sum, many micro finance institutions should, as their name implies, indeed be duly institutionalized.

And what does the near-term Future hold for both non-profits/charities and for-profit MFIs (Micro Finance Institutions) ?

Hard Times. The world economy will struggle for the next 3 - 5 years, private donations and government grants will decline sharply, default rates on MFI loans will increase greatly, staffs will be right-sized, and the repo man cometh for the lease cars, laptops and lattes.

And this is the upside. Once Israel bombs Iran, which is already carved in stone -- "Never again" -- leading to The Third Gulf War, once oil resumes its march to US$ 200+ per barrel, once the U.S. Dollar collapses, once U.S. Government treasury bonds are downgraded to junk status, once Russia invades ________ (fill in the blank with the name of any 10 countries), once....once...once -- liquidity for the niceties of donations and micro finance loans will swirl around the bottom of the toilet bowl.

And the world dys-economy will flush twice.

And so, will New Ideas and Markets-based, Self-funding Solutions such as the cell-phone-based Carbon Micro Credit (CMC) described in this blog be the Deus ex Machina (god from out of the machine) that saves the Poor? And, tangentially, saves the charities, non-profits and MFIs that embrace it?

And what other Good Ideas are also before our eyes now but also ignored? Light your lantern and look first under your feet. Then, ask a child for New Ideas. Then inquire earnestly among naïve strangers. Then, like Dilbert, ask your garbage man for advice. The rough and uncouth unencumbered by knowledge and experience often see most clearly.

Warnest personnel retards,

David A. Palella
Chief Carbon Visionary Missionary
CARBON MANNA UNLIMITED

San Diego, CA
tel: 858-793-0741
email: dpalella@san.rr.com
http://community.keithferrazzi.com/profile/DavidPalella
http://carbonmanna.blogspot.com


P.S.: You can soak up the wisdom of Dilbert and his garbage man here:

----------->> http://www.dilbert.com/

----------->> http://dilbert.com/blog/

----------->> http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/

*****