Lucky Number 6

Figured I'd get in one more post before the close of the month. Things are going well. The internship is still going well and the roller-coaster is starting to go through another loop. It's always nice and exciting to see new events unfold.

As an intern I'm going through the process now of trying to figure out how I can work for Itau in the future. It would be awesome. Working in the US for Itau would be great, but working in the Cayman Islands would be even better. They have operations there. I'll have to see how I can get employed there, if at all possible. I don't think anything could be much better than getting off work and being able to go for a walk on an awesome beach.

I also get to add another chapter to my book of disastrous flirting attempts. If you remember my last post. There was a girl I was attempting to woo. Turns out she has a husband. This seems to be the norm for me: either they're married or have a boyfriend, both about the same in Utah; or they are a little too crazy for me and we don't have compatible religious views. I guess it's a good thing I don't have too many targets at work, mostly since going after anyone in my own area/group is prohibited. 

I've also started Portuguese classes. They should prove to be quite beneficial. Hopefully, I can take a few of the clep test when I get back to USU and get a few more A grade credits in Portuguese. As of yet no strike.

Interesting Week

Things have been kind of slow at work. The kind of slow where you really wish analog clocks were the norm, just so you could watch the arms move around. Work normally isn't like that. I usually end up doing project after project, but right now, I'm in a lull. Don came back from the SIBOS. I'm pretty sure he has some stuff thought up for me, he usually does.

I've also been thinking about what I'd like to do for the rest of my life. I like finance but I need to see some people! I know I'm an intern and once I actually get a job it should be better. However, it's never a good sign if you're at a job and you wonder what it would be like to chase down criminals or drive a tank. I also plan on going to graduate school, so whatever my first job is it needs kind of interesting.

On a lighter note, I pulled a Castanza. Basically, if you remember the episode of Seinfield where George leaves his hat at this ladies house so he can go back and get it just to talk to her, I did that. There's a pretty cute girl at work, in a different area than mine, that I want to get to know a little better (wink, wink). I'm trying to be like that advertisement that she can't get out of her head. Maybe a little annoying at first, but after awhile, you can't stop singing it. Anyway, it will at least give me something else to do.

Panic

The financial world is in upheaval, if you haven't noticed. Many of you might ask why. There are several reasons. Primarily, excessive greed. For years we've encouraged this on wall street. People leveraged profits from everything. Financing with debt and hoping that this financed debt could be passed on at an arbitrage profit. It worked for years. A lot of people got what they wanted and nobody was complaining. Too many people wanted to cash in. Wall Street has for years been where some of the best and brightest go to cash in. Unfortunately, these people might have been too smart for their own good, and everybody else's.

The sub-prime loan is part of the problem and many people are going to blame average Americans for this mess. You'll hear people in the states portrayed as morons for getting these loans by some financial professionals. This isn't exactly the case. One only need ask oneself who thought up these subprime loans. It wasn't Billy Jean down at the gas stations. I'm pretty sure not many people thougt, "Hmmm, you know what would be great. If I could get a giant loan and only pay part of my interest payments. I'm sure my house value will appreciate even though Americas population isn't exactly exploding. If I need it I'll have equity in my house and I can just refinance it again." As we can now see this wasn't a good idea.

In all honesty this has been a great opportunity for me. I've seen, what is being called, the biggest financial crisis since the 1930s first hand. My vantage point has also been particularly interesting. I'm in a country that has experienced phenomenal growth recently. Brazil is also tied somewhat to the US. A lot of people also blame the US for all current financial woes, world wide. For me the main question is, how long will this crisis exist? Are we nearing the end? Did the Fed actions temporarily solve the problem? Will the problem snowball and get even worse?

For me the last questions is more pressing. How did the government magically solve this problem? Did the debt disappear? Unfortunately, I don't think so. IN order to solve he problem it will take time and some self control by all Americans. Americans need to learn to save and focus on growth. Once this happens things should start to improve, I think.

Mysteries

It's 12:30 a.m. and not much is going on. The phone starts ringing and I pick it up. This doesn't happen much. Mostly because I'm never home and secondly because nobody knows my phone number. "You're Tyler and you speak Spanish, right?", says a female voice in Portuguese. It was very late, my brain wasn't running at full speed, and I was really confused, but I managed to let her know she had the right guy. 

At this point my mind was racing. Who was this person; someone from work, the hotel front desk, I had no idea. The fairer sex soon made know her purpose, "Do you want some company tonight?" This statement nearly short circuited my brain. Where was I? What was going on? I'm pretty sure she didn't want to talk politics, or have a nice quite game of chess. Yep, she wanted to keep me "company".

I'm the kind of guy that doesn't really believe too much is real in movies. However, after this little experience, I think I can echo Chris Farley's epic words, "What kind of hotel is this?" I have noticed that one of the desk clerks has been given me the old wink and smile when I walked by. Anyway, it's a great story to add to my life, which has been so full of similar stories.

Bovespa Fun

This past week I went to Bovespa. It was awesome! We also went to BM&F. BM&F still has an open outcry trading floor, where people run around screaming orders. There really aren't many left. Mainly because everything is going electronic. It's interesting to see places where large amounts of money and goods come together in one place. It brings many other things together as well. It's pretty fascinating. 

Next week at work should be pretty cool. CustodyConnect is coming to present their product to Itau. It should be interesting, and as usual, I'm probably going to learn a ton. The Portuguese is also coming along a little better. I've found a few people that seem to want to help me learn. I have four months left, so, I'm going to make the most of it. I figure if I'm fluent in Spanish and can show I have an ability to learn Portuguese I should be able to find a pretty sweet job.

One such job that I think would be sweet is international sales, even at Itau. Last week we went to the SCE, or Superindendencia de Clientes Estrangeiros. It was great. This group basically goes all over the world and sells Itau products to other institutions. They have groups all over the world. If I could work for them, it would be pretty sweet. 

September

No real news. The internship is still going great. I've learned a ton so far. I am excited for an up coming meeting. That's right, I said it, I'm excited for a meeting. A group from JP Morgan is coming to present some information to Itau. It should be great. It will be interesting to see the presentation JP Morgan has prepared. It should be pretty good.

The business communications classes have started. The first class went well, I think. We covered nouns. Surprisingly, I think I'm going to learn quite a bit from the class myself. It might even improve my GMAT score when I take the test. The class is going to last for about 12 weeks. We'll end up covering most of the grammar and vocabulary to help the employees improve future English tests they'll have to take.