The “TA” (Telephone Approval) was rarely approved by phone, but implied same-day-fast-tracking. It was an innovative document we used at the bank to streamline an emergency credit request from a business. The TA took a 25-page, analysis-heavy, structured credit document and shrunk it down to a one page, hand-written form, sent and approved by (pre-email) fax. I’m ancient.
It might surprise you that emergency credit requests ate up a lot of our time as commercial bankers, sometimes all morning, and often 2 hours, daily. This was always a stressful experience, since as a rule, in our segment of the business, all the cheques cleared by default. Thus, we had to make individual decisions – the negative of which might spell the end of a business, a bounced pay-cheque, or at least an angry, disheveled client.
One client, a chronic offender, would go over each cheque with me on Monday mornings and pick the winners and losers based on pub sales in his establishment over the weekend. One day, after some soul-searching, he came up with a magical solution. All the waitresses would just put cash receipts in to a big rum barrel, then take money out as needed. “It’s a win-win.“
Sorry, no. This guy was a total Tucker T. Mudsucker. As you may have guessed, he ultimately lost-lost everything as we got tired of all the bouncy-bouncy. His kindly uncle had a whopper of a tax write-off that year.
Speaking of Uncle Sam’s and Overdrafts, US congressional leaders approved a late-hour, one-week funding bill to avoid a total shutdown of government one week before one week before Christmas. Look for more brinkmanship next week. Because -- drama sells.
On the Worldwide Financial Front:
Emerging markets: A ripe climate
The development of safe, effective vaccines and a weak U.S. dollar solidify our constructive view of emerging market equities, and undemanding valuations further burnish their appeal. We maintain our long-standing preference for Asia (ex-Japan).
U.S. equity performance, inflation, and jobs
U.S. small caps lead on strength in Energy and Health Care, RBC Capital Markets’ chief U.S. economist looks at inflation, and the latest jobs report showed more than expected initial claims.
Read more here: Global Insight Weekly
Enjoy your weekend. Santa is greasing the skids on his sleigh!
Mark