Just Because You Have A Good Hand

I Always Tell People, "there's A Book On Everyone." I Get Some Of That Book Before I Do Anything. If I Want To Deeply Understand Someone's Reputation, I'll Talk To Their Friends, Their Former Bosses, Their Peers, And I'll Learn A Lot About Them. I Want Them To Be Trusted. I Want Them To Be Respected. I Want Them To Give A S - -. Then There Are The Intangibles: Physical And Emotional Stamina, The Ability To Confront Issues. I Can Ask All I Want About Those Things, But I Also Have To See A Lot Of It.

The Toughest Are People Mistakes, When You Put The Wrong Person In A Job. Sometimes You're Too Slow To Move Them Out. Or Not Getting The Right People Involved To Solve A Problem, Or Doing Something Out Of Anger; You Learn, Just Don't Do That. But I'd Have To Say The Whale Was One Of Them, And I Would Also Have To Put Bear Stearns And Washington Mutual On The List At This Point.

I Hate The Word Universal, Because I Don't Know Exactly What It Means. The Question Is, Does It Work For The Client? Travelers Was A Diversified, Financial Conglomerate That Did Very Well. The Businesses Had Nothing To Do With Each Other.

When You Walk Into A Store And You Want To Buy Something, You Give Them Cash And They Sell It To You. But Very Often, You Walk Into Our "store" And You Want Something - A Credit Card, Maybe, Or A Loan - And Very Often The Answer Is "no," Even If You're A Large Corporation.

You Can Design A Mortgage System That Is Different Without A Fannie And Freddie, But There Are Principles You Have To Have, To Have A Good System.