A Life as a Stock

by C. M. Fields

Overview

The era of communication in which we currently live, along with the speed of globalization, is quickly transforming our world. While we have no way of knowing where will these trends take us in twenty or thirty years, we can picture a not-too-distant future in which the impact of current decisions and events plays a major role in the lives of ordinary people.

Young Rick McMahon has big dreams and is ready to take advantage of the opportunities of that world and of a global market integration called GeoOne. Unbeknownst to him, his world is about to become more exhilarating than he ever could have imagined.

Lara Brown is a motivated, well-respected reporter, covering the important events happening around the world. She explains the workings of this globalized system, seeking to offer an intelligent and unbiased view. She suddenly finds herself explaining a financial meltdown on a global scale, along with its many implications.

The financial meltdown and surrounding events covered by Lara now threaten Rick’s life and dream, and only time will reveal the ultimate result. Can these two views of the world reconcile—and save Rick’s dream in the process?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781462026579
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	09/12/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	586 KB

Read an Excerpt

A Life as a Stock

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By C. M. Fields

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 C. M. Fields
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-2659-3

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Chapter One

"We are entering an era of change. An era of flow and an era of prosperity. Our world has never been so interconnected as it is now. The concept of border is slowly diffusing as we get to interact more and more with each other. Country with country, region with region, language with language, and person with person. We are becoming a true global village. We are beginning to see beyond our differences and more into our commonalities.

"Up until this moment, the market system has been the one that has shown the most resiliency of the economic systems—not without its imperfections, but time and again it has shown its potential for good. A potential to create wealth, jobs, and opportunities. A potential to bring many out of poverty, to open doors, to promote commerce and the exchange of ideas and communication.

"It is this ease of exchange that has brought wealth for what we call developed countries. This same exchange is helping developing countries reduce their level of poverty, increase their levels of literacy and, overall, improve the well being of their population. Allowing them to have a say in the global table and even to flex their newly acquired muscle.

"The investors of the world have had to deal with different currencies, indexes and rules. Not anymore. Today, we are creating a truly global market. Where companies can have easy access to the member economies. Where investors can trade on any stock, independent of where their company is based. No longer will it be necessary to open new subsidiaries under different rules. An entity in this global market will be recognized as a valid legal entity by all its members and will be subject to the same set of global rules as the rest."

(Applause)

"This era of communication, innovation, and empowerment of the individual has made it clear that we are up against a new wave. A wave of change in our paradigms. It is no longer companies who can and have to benefit from the international markets. This new era also belongs to the individual and their unique potential. In this global market an individual will be able to have their personal stock trading symbols. They will have access to a streamlined process of launching a business, to tools needed to protect their intellectual property, and to a global pool of different types of investors. Most importantly, they will have access to freely develop their ideas in the member economies.

"It is then with great pride and hope that I present to you, GeoOne. Our global market."

(Standing ovation)

(Camera focus changes to reporter)

"That was Ricardo Velez presenting GeoOne. First president and founder. It was he who envisioned it and put his plan into action. In his tenure he has held important jobs: former president of the World Bank and member of the board of directors of different banks. He is a well-recognized figure and has widespread support.

"His rise to this position was stellar, especially considering his story. He grew up in the middle-class neighborhood of Vila Mariana in São Paulo, Brazil. He got a scholarship for the University of São Paulo, or USP as it is known, and then emigrated to the United States to pursue a master's and a doctorate degree in economics.

"Investors all around the world are excited, and there is expectation that GeoOne will have an excellent opening tomorrow at the ring of the bell. One thing to mention is that this will be the only time the bell will be rung. As a truly global market, it will never close.

"This is Lara Brown reporting from New York at the headquarters of GeoOne."

Chapter Two

Rick McMahon stopped digging, lifted his hat, and cleaned the sweat from his forehead. It was December, and it was as hot as it could get in South America. Hot and muggy. He was in Peru volunteering with his high school for a project to build a school addition, install a self-sufficient electric grid for the small community, and teach sustainable practices. The town had about five hundred people, and most of them spoke a mix of Quechua and Spanish. There were only a couple of translators who facilitated communications between the locals and the visitors.

Rick was about six feet tall, slim, with light olive skin and dark hair that nicely complemented his blue eyes. He had an eternally curious mind and was always trying to understand the how and why of things. This characteristic had allowed him to master several subjects and win different prizes. The trip to Peru was one of those prizes. He had won it for doing the best work on the importance of the educational infrastructure at the elementary levels and its discrepancies across nations.

The town was in the mountains, near Cuzco. Days ago he had been taken to the peak of the nearest mountain to see the view. It had been breathtaking in the early morning, with some of the other mountains covered with fog. It was hard to find nature in such pristine condition.

He sat down and drank some water, stopped the song by the Black Eyed Peas playing on his music player and looked at the construction site. They were nearly done with the extra classroom. The septic system he was working on was still at the beginning stages. His buddy Joe Komisarenko saw him and decided to join him on his break. Joe's long hair and glasses gave him a hippie look. Brilliant and kind, he was often in his own world but was always quick to help anyone in need.

"So what do you think, Rick?" said Joe.

"I think we're gonna be done by tomorrow. Then we'll be ready to finish the floor and walls. I think we'll be able to have the whole thing done the day after tomorrow."

"Yeah. I think so. So, what do you think about the trip? Pretty eye- opening, no?"

"Yeah. Makes you count your blessings, don't you think?"

"Totally."

* * *

"All right, everyone. Time to wrap up. We're done with our project. Pack your things and say good-bye to our new friends. We will be leaving for Machu Picchu tomorrow morning to spend two days there. Then we will be heading home," said Tim Boswell, the teacher and leader of the group.

Tim was one of the teachers at Rick's high school. He had pioneered the initiative to bring the group to Peru to help expand the school and teach self- sustainable practices to the community. Long hair, glasses, and a relaxed attitude about everything made people wonder if he had been a pothead in his younger years. He was, however, very good at organizing work to help the community, making everyone aware of how fortunate they were to have an education and easy access to knowledge.

The next day, the group took the bus and headed to Machu Picchu. Some of the locals decided to travel with the group and tell them the history of the place, as a way to thank them for their kindness and efforts. Rick sat next to one of the windows and later found a companion, a twelve-year-old with the name Francisco. His features were Native American, with black, spiked hair and deep brown eyes. He was very friendly and talkative. He was constantly asking questions, and it became evident that he was a brilliant individual. Francisco, in his own way, made himself understood and provided as much information as he asked. What's this? What's that? Constantly pointing to different things and asking what they were or how they worked. Francisco also made sure to share with Rick and his friends any important sights or things of interest on the trip.

After a good number of grueling hours, the bus finally stopped. They were in the town of Aguas Calientes, the last town before Machu Picchu. Everybody got their bags. Rick headed to the hotel's desk with Francisco trailing right behind him. The hotel was not a high-end hotel but it looked clean, comfortable, and the rate per night was not bad, especially for those traveling on a budget. The reception desk was to the left, a wooden counter with enough room for only two clerks. To the right there was a fireplace, a couch, and a couple chairs. It was not luxurious, but it was definitely comfy.

After arranging their stay, everyone headed upstairs to rest. The trip had been long, and they were visiting Machu Picchu the next morning.

The view of Urubamba Valley was spectacular. The clouds, the mountains, the remains of the buildings. It was hard to process such an overload of stimuli in such a short time. They all scattered for a short while to take in the beauty of the location and admire the impressiveness of the architecture. Rick, Francisco, and Joe walked from the main square through the residential section and sat at the terraces. They sat there for a few minutes admiring the view toward Huayna Picchu. Rick and Joe noticed the look of pride in Francisco's eyes. After all, it had been his people who had built this place. Joe took a couple of sandwiches from his backpack and shared them with Rick and Francisco.

"Damn, Rick. This place is amazing. Can you imagine all that knowledge that was lost with the conquest?" asked Joe.

"Yeah. Sad, no? Astronomy, medicine, architecture, et cetera. It's hard for us to understand how such valuable things could be destroyed the way they were."

"Well, yeah. But as sad as it is, it is the way people thought back then. Anything that was not Catholic Christian was thought to be heretic. Of the devil, you know?"

"Well, you know that in those times the natives were not thought to be human. They were considered subhuman," Rick replied.

"I guess it's hard for me to digest that shit, Rick. I mean, in this day and age. Look at our friend Francisco here. I can tell you he's f—ing brilliant. Do you think he'll have much of a chance to go to a good university or school? It's kinda hard when you realize his possibilities are limited. Such a waste."

Francisco elbowed Joe softly and pointed to the sky.

"Que pasa, Francisco?"

"Mira, un condor," replied Francisco.

"I think that has some kind of meaning for him," said Rick.

"Yeah, I think that's right. I don't know what it is though," replied Joe.

"Me neither," said Rick. He stood up and stretched. "Talking about condors. What do you say we go see the temple of the condor?"

The group finished the visit to Machu Picchu and headed back to the hotel to get some rest. The next day they were on their way back home.

Chapter Three

"So, Lara, you covered GeoOne's inauguration. There are many questions about what it is exactly, how it is going to work, and what we can expect out of it and this global market integration," said Campbell Brown of CNN.

"Hi, Campbell, thank you for having me here," Lara said and smiled, showing her bright, beautiful blue eyes that nicely contrasted with her brown hair. "Basically, what we have here is a truly global market. Before GeoOne we had the Dow, Nasdaq, and others in the US. The Nikkei in Japan, the Dak in Germany. Bovespa in Brazil, et cetera. So, if you wanted to buy stock in, for example, Microsoft, you had to open a trading account in the US. If you wanted to buy stock in any company not traded in the US, you would have to go through a complicated process and most possibly open a trading account in the country where this company was traded."

"Well, yes, but some banks like E*Trade offer this type of transactions. You can buy and sell stocks that trade in non-US markets," said Campbell.

"Yes. But the difference is that when you buy or sell, these banks have to do a currency exchange. They also go through third parties many times. So, in reality it is not as simple as it sounds.

"The difference with GeoOne is that you trade once and that's it. No currency exchange happens at the time of the transaction. No time lag. No intermediaries."

"Hold on. What do you mean, no currency exchange?" asked Campbell.

"GeoOne has its own unit, called the Unum. So, when you trade inside GeoOne, the transactions are executed in the same units without the need of third parties. The only time a currency exchange occurs is when an individual puts money into his or her account or withdraws it. Someone from the US will see the currency exchange take place from Unums to and from dollars. Someone from Japan will see it happen from Unums to and from yen, et cetera."

"Interesting," said Campbell. "So, what about that legal entity thing? Can you explain it in lay terms?"

"Let's start with the definition of this thing," replied Lara. "A legal entity is any individual, business, or organization that has the legal capability of entering into a contract with another individual, business, or organization.

"GeoOne is more than just a global market. It is also a global umbrella legal entity. It is officially recognized in the member countries. These are the US, UK, Japan, as well as the European Union, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, India, Russia, Peru, and a few more that I can't remember right now. So, if I open my company within GeoOne, it will be officially recognized by all these countries. That means that if, say, I opened my business in the US and I wanted to expand and start doing operations in Brazil or Russia, for example, I could simply go ahead and start my operations anytime. I would not have to go through the rigmarole of opening a subsidiary in the new country, having to wait forever for things to be approved, worry about following different accounting rules, and so on.

"The other thing to mention is that any country that integrates with GeoOne will also enjoy free trade agreements with the rest of the member countries."

"That's an interesting concept. I can see how that will speed business all over the world," said Campbell. "So, any country and company can just sign in and say I'm in?"

"No, it's not as simple as that." said Lara. "There are several stages to full integration. First of all, the member countries will recognize and uphold the International Law for the Protection of Private and Intellectual Property, or ILPPIP as it's also called. Their record in integration with this international law will be one of the factors for allowing full or partial integration into GeoOne.

"Second, besides recognizing their own accounting standards, the member countries have to recognize the International Financial Reporting Standard, or IFRS as it is known. So, any company wanting to integrate with GeoOne will have to keep their accounting according to this internationally recognized standard. This will help ensure that there's not a lot of book cooking happening," said Lara, smiling.

"There are other factors as well," continued Lara, "such as the overall evaluation of the credit system of a country. The more solid and internationally compliant it is, the better the ratings and the easier overall integration into GeoOne."

"Interesting. Now, let's get into the other side of the story. I keep hearing that in GeoOne people will be able to have their own stock tickers. Is that right? How's that going to work?" asked Campbell.

"Yes. But let me explain here in as simple terms as I can," said Lara. "This came about because Ricardo Velez realized that the technological advances we are currently experiencing in the world were actually creating a revolution in the way people communicate, exchange ideas, and do business. We see examples over and over of individuals being empowered by the masses. We are seeing these men and women do things that revolutionize our perception of things time and time again. So, Mr. Velez realized that the next wave of business and thought will focus on the individual.

"So, what he wants to do is actually empower people as much as possible. Allow them to get funds if they have a great idea or concept. Allow them to grow it, nurture it, and take it all the way to profitability. Part of the philosophy of GeoOne is that it also provides many tools to get the individuals—and companies, of course—fast access to protection of intellectual property, global logistics, and a quick path to international expansion under GeoOne."

Lara continued. "What we are seeing now is something really interesting, and it's actually pushing the envelope from what Mr. Velez originally conceived. We are seeing individuals fund not only their businesses, but also actually bank on their own potential. As soon as the plans to launch GeoOne were made public, we started seeing a new breed of talent scout. They are called IQ brokers. These folks scout around looking for people with potential and get them into GeoOne. End of day, they make money when the person starts making money. They call it consulting fees. Sort of like a realtor who makes money when you close on your house."

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from A Life as a Stock by C. M. Fields Copyright © 2011 by C. M. Fields. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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