Dana Barfield

Timeline of the 2010 Gulf oil spill legal cases: — April 20, 2010: An explosion and fire on the BP-operated drilling rig Deepwater Horizon kills 11 workers. Thousands of gallons of oil begin gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from the blown-out well. — June 16, 2010: BP agrees to put $20 billion into an escrow fund to settle economic injury claims by fishermen and various Gulf industries. — December 15, 2010: The Justice Department files suit against BP and eight other companies over the accident, asking they be held liable for removal costs and damages caused by the explosion and spill. — January 12, 2011: The 380-page report from government-appointed National Oil Spill Commission finds that time- and money-saving decisions created an unreasonable amount of risk that triggered the Deepwater Horizon explosion. — March 2, 2012: A few days before the trial was to begin, BP... (more)

Financial Advisor’s Business Model Costing You Needlessly?

When I started this firm twenty years ago this coming April, I didn’t start with a blank slate. I started this firm already possessing eight years of experience in what not to do. Permit me to explain.  I started my career with an insurance agency that disguised itself as a financial planning firm – never got a single client as I knew something was seriously wrong – so I lasted six months. Turns out these folks were selling stamp and coin “portfolios” for two to three cents on the dollar. If you gave them $50,000 they would acquire a block of “valuable” stamps and/or coins, actua... (more)

Housing Crisis and Lower Income Home Owners

Finally the other shoe drops. On the front page of Monday’s USA Today, research done by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies discovered “Homes that cost less hit the hardest.” The article details the fact the lowest price homes in markets all across the US have experienced price drops greater than homes which cost more. This is no surprise and it is the natural consequence of artificial incentives instilled into the housing market by the Community Reinvestment Act originally signed by Jimmy Carter, and subsequently updated in the Gramm Leach Bliley Act signed by ... (more)

Whom You Align Yourself With…

And the corollary is, be careful who you let align with you. In this day and age there is constant discussion and effort a bout partnerships, high performance teams, the team approach, and alliances. The rationale is one can accelerate or maintain one’s position more effectively by teaming up with others. While partnering with others has its benefits (at least in certain cases), it also has real draw backs. There is an old saying a bout a chain being “only as strong as its weakest link”. Anyone seeking a partnership of any kind needs to keep this wisdom in mind, especially regardin... (more)

On the 4th of July – Independence Day

"This was the o bject of the Declaration of Independence. Not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said before; but to place before mankind the common sense of the su bject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent, and to justify ourselves in the independent stand we are compelled to take." --Thomas Jefferson "All that I have, and all that I am and all that I hope to be in life I am now ready to stake upon it; and I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the... (more)