Global Economic Crisis

I always enjoy October. In the northern hemisphere, the leaves turn fiery reds, oranges, & yellows, the light from a lowered sun evokes images of the winter storms to come, and the nights turn cool, alluding to the imminent Holiday evenings. It all points towards Christmas for me and the excitement begins to build. I find myself thinking more and more about the Christmas season.... not with the logical & diligent mind of a CEO who is about to enter the busiest season of the year, but rather the child-like wonder & excitement I have experienced every year for as far back as I can remember.

But I must tell you that this year's excitement is somewhat muted. Yes... I have been as busy as ever with pre-Christmas season preparations these past 4 weeks or so since I last posted. These are the crucial weeks in which we lay the legal & operational foundations for the work that must occur from late November through December 24th in order to ensure every child has a magical Christmas morning. This work energizes me because I can visualize the joy in the eyes of tens of millions of children on Christmas morning. But I also know that this Christmas won't be like the Christmas before it. Or the one before that. For many, it might be like the Christmas of 1929.

As many of you know from my earlier posts and interviews, I personally fund the entire North Pole Inc. operation. I am able to do so as I inherited a significant sum from my father, a former king. Over this past year... and particularly over this past month... I have been hit hard by the crisis that is currently gripping the world's economy. My personal net worth, and the investments held in the trust supporting North Pole Inc., has lost 43.3% of its value from 1 year ago. In order to ensure the long-term health & sustainability of our Christmas Eve operations, we are going to have to cut back significantly this year. While I am very confident the markets will turn around, it is not going to happen over night. I believe it is going to take years. We must be diligent in our spending now or we could easily run out of funds before the economy turns around.

Despite the fact that we need to cut back this year, there is plenty of reason to be confident in our future. At North Pole Inc., we live within our means. If we can't pay cash, then we don't buy it. We maintain a very significant cash reserve, we hedge currency exchange, we maintain an emergency fund in gold, and we leverage a very conservative portfolio of investments. We believe we have the fiscal discipline to make the cuts necessary to ensure our spend rate is in line with the earnings we will generate from our investments.

But the implication though, kids, is that this may be a tough Christmas. It is likely you may not get that exact toy your asked for... I just may not be able to afford it. It is possible that you may not get as much as you did last year. Please know that I want more than anything to give you exactly what you want... and I will go to every length possible to provide it... but it just may not be possible.

Kids, and adults too, I encourage you this Christmas to strongly consider how much you do have. Count your blessings. Consider what others may not have... and see what you can do to help them rather than focus on what you may not get. Look around you... odds are that your neighbor, your family member, your class-mate or co-worker, or your teammate, etc. is struggling this Christmas season. Remind yourself of what Christmas is all about. Ponder that first Christmas... the one without me, without Christmas trees, without lights, without egg nog, without carols, without gift cards, without ornately wrapped presents, and without stockings stuffed with loot. Then find it with in yourself to focus not on what you may not have, but rather, on what happiness you can bring to someone else. After all, nothing heals an aching heart or calms fear like the joy and satisfaction of helping someone else through a challenging time.

This Christmas... likely to be the poorest in our lifetime... can be your richest, if you choose to make it so.

May God bless you all.