2015 ONE AND ONLY BLOG NOTE POST HAPPY NEW YEAR AND THOUGHTS

2015 one and only TommyT Freedom Tour Blognote

TOPICS

Happy New Year

Morgan Stanley and industry layoffs/changes

The Big Short------ the fictional movie version.

Funny Bones are BACK!!!

Bruce, the River Tour REVISITED

Blessings and family.

Best wishes 2016.

Well I hope 2015 was a rewarding and fulfilling one for you and wishing you the best for 2016 and Happy New Year. Sabbatical #2 has come to a close for me and I am looking forward to re-engaging in what I hope will be a creative and positive experience for all involved as I embark on launching some high-end connectivity tools for clients alongside my partners at CastleOak Securities, where I will reside as Senior Advisor as of Monday, January 4th, 2016.

2015 has many memories, most of them involving travel, fun and occasional professional exploration and mission-search. That search has found a very creative home that I look forward to sharing with you in the near term.

In the meantime, I can't help but reflect on the continued evolution of Wall Street's New New Normal, where shrinking and displacement are constantly in flux alongside continued fines for doing everything regulatorily possible to get fined for! Well, all of that is coming home to roost for the shrinking work force despite record corporate bond issuance and record M&A activity. The NEW NEW NORMAL is regulation overpopulation, an incredibly burdened compliance arena, alongside the shrinking capacity to fulfill client needs. Tough environment indeed.

My friends at Morgan Stanley stole the December headlines with a aggressive shrinking of their own with over 1200 layoffs in markets jobs around the globe, and I know both many of the displaced and those that had to do the displacing. Many of these 10yr/20yr/25 year veterans are looking forward to finding a place to re-energize their relationships and positive client service, something they knew so well at that firm. I look forward to being as helpful as I can be.

I did go see The Big Short, and while it has a good handle on some of what happened to create the mortgage/housing/markets implosion 2007-2008, there were a few missing stars of the movie as I saw it. Barney Frank was one noticeably absent star, alongside any FNMA/Freddie/Agency reps. Seems like the movie version forgot that Wall Street had plenty of help, from Washington DC to the irresponsible Florida and Vegas property speculators. The folks who called it and got it right were there, but they never knew how right it was going to be. So +489% at Scion was the result of a lot more than Wall Street repackaging, but for movie purposes it serves the entertaining plotline and political winds.

FUNNY BONES are back!!!! I loved them as a kid growing up, and for Xmas my wife gave me a 10 pack! That pack of Funny Bones is long gone, but it is good to know I can always get more after I give up everything sweet and lose the weight and reduce eating and drinking etc and all the other commitments to health that are ready to launch with January 1, 2016.

2016!!! Holy Cow, last time there was a thing called "The River Tour", I took my girlfriend to Madison Square Garden for our first "Bruce" date. Now, Q1 2016, 35 years later than that November 1980 show we have quite a bit of road traveled and shows seen and life lived. Blessed and Happily. Two sabbaticals, three kids (no grandkids yet, but two son-in-laws after 2016), two labradors (Jake left us this October after nearly 14 years as the best puppy on the planet), and one wife who is under-appreciated because one can't put a price on putting up with me.  No, I'm not saying I'm priceless. I'm saying she is.

Hope to see a few of you on the road with "The River Tour " Springsteen in Q1 2016.

I could have much more to say and write, but perhaps this is the new "normal" for me. I'm hoping this note finds you, and finds you well. I'm hoping the blessings of life and meaningful tasks and work and fulfillment have continued for you on your path and your Camino. I'm hoping your family, friends, and all loved ones have carried you to a happy 2015 and I wish nothing less for you and yours for 2016.

Peace
TT
12/31/2015