I laid in bed moping about how crummy business has been in April. Then I saw my beautiful wife of almost 54 years snoring slightly next to me and thought, “You fool. You are incredibly blessed. Start thinking about all of your gifts.” And so I did, and I had my topic for the day. I was born in America at the end of World War II. My dad operated a machine shop with rows of Davenports and Acme machines. He was not marching in Europe or slogging through the Philippines. If my grandparents and great-grandparents had not taken steerage…
Author: Lloyd Graff
The NCAA Basketball Tournament, the less popular Men’s part, crowned the University of Connecticut as Champion for the second straight year. UConn didn’t just beat their six opponents in the marathon event, they crushed them. They averaged a 23-point margin in their victories. The final 75-60 win over Purdue was almost a moral victory for the Boilermakers. The UConn Huskies’ coach, Dan Hurley, is part of a fabulous basketball family. His dad, Bob Hurley, was the master of high school basketball in New Jersey. He coached the now-closed St, Anthony High School of Jersey City, which ceased operation in 2017.…
Danny Kahneman died a week ago at the age of 90. He won a Nobel Prize for Economics but always saw himself as a psychologist. Jason Zweig, columnist for the Wall Street Journal, wrote a brilliant obituary for Kahneman. He knew him well after writing two books with him and part of a third before he gave up because the aggravation was killing him. Nevertheless, the obituary was fascinating and complimentary. It taught me a lot about the man and his groundbreaking ideas. Kahneman was born in Tel Aviv in 1934 before it was Israel. His mother was on a…
“Take me out to the ball game…. Buy me some peanuts and crackerjack. I don’t care if I ever come back!” Opening Day. It’s tomorrow. Yet I’m nauseous. And, it isn’t from peanuts and Cracker Jack–it’s betting. It has infused the game. The number one story on ESPN.com today isn’t about Opening Day, or March Madness. It’s about the Babe Ruth of today’s game, Shohei Ohtani, who allegedly paid off the gambling debts of his close friend and interpreter to the tune of $4.5 million. There is constant discussion about odds on radio sports shows (whose biggest sponsors are betting…
I was in my early 40s, my son Noah’s age. when we built the 20,000-square-foot home of our machine tool business, over 30 years ago. Now change is being forced upon us as we prepare to move within the next six months. Moving ain’t easy. As a machinery trading business we live off of change. Companies buy and sell capital equipment to accommodate change. New orders, cancellations, bankruptcies, and change of owners all force buying and selling, which means opportunity for us. Now, with our lease of half the building expiring five years after I sold it means a jarring…
We underestimate the value of our printed photographs these days. My wife, Risa, and I have lived in the same house for almost 46 years. Recently, we had our home painted. We have photos strewn all over the house. Most are now on the floor as we decide whether to put them back where they have been for years or tuck them into albums. I glance often at the readily visible ones, but the effort to hang them seems daunting. When our children and grandkids come to the house, I notice them searching for the missing photos. They are riveted…
Harvard used to be the school you aspired to go to. It produced US presidents, Wall Street investment bankers, prominent lawyers, Supreme Court justices, and Nobel Prize winners. Today it is known for anti-semitism and rejecting outstanding students because they are Asian or do not fit the racial profile to reach the correct “equality and diversity” numbers. The school’s presidents plagiarize, and big donors are withdrawing their pledges. Harvard has become a joke with a $50 billion endowment. If it were a stock it would have lost half of its value. It is as broken as Boeing. *** Not every…
She lit up every room she was in. For Graff-Pinkert and Co., today she would have been accurately called Chief Operating Officer. She always called my brother and I “the boys” and my dad and his partner Mr. Graff and Mr. Pinkert. She was the spirit of the company. Arlene Leshner died yesterday at 95 years old. From the beginning of my work life, I knew Mrs. Leshner. That was what we always called her. I called her that when I first walked up the steep flight of stairs in Graff-Pinkert’s two-story 1903 building next to a chop shop on…
“I can’t hire a cam multi-spindle operator who knows what they’re doing! I’m throwing out my multi-spindles and going all CNC.” “These old Acmes, Wickmans, or New Britains pay for themselves every three months. They’ve left a wide open field for me!” Selling screw machines for our used machine tool business, Graff-Pinkert, we hear both stories every week. It is the story of change and fear. Today I will focus on the quandary and opportunity. Listen on your favorite podcast app using pod.link. View the podcast our YouTube Channel. Follow us on Social and never miss an…
A weekend of fantastic football and bad bets by the coaches. Two great teams faltered and were eliminated. Baltimore had the best team in the NFL this year. Lamar Jackson will be the league MVP, yet his coach, John Harbaugh, did not let him play his game. He has become a solid passer, but his greatness is still as a runner who can pass. But his coach called a game filled with passes, and Kansas City rushed him ferociously. The Ravens’ best receiver was coming off injuries and was limited in playing time. The Ravens committed too many key penalties,…