About Me - Milton Laene Araujo

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Lake Worth, Florida, United States
My name is Milton and I am a reader. I love to feed my mind with what if’s?, through stories.

8/16/13

O Castelo de Lauro Muller SC Brasil


O  CASTELO DE LAURO MULLER SC BRASIL


Lauro Müller SC é um município brasileiro do estado de Santa Catarina. Localiza-se a uma latitude 28º23'34" sul e a uma longitude 49º23'48" oeste, estando a uma altitude de 220 metros. Sua população estimada em 2013 e de 14.900 habitantes.

Foi na administração de Veterlli que se construiu o castelo de Lauro Müller a mando de Henrique Lage para homenagear sua esposa Gabriela Bensanzoni, servindo o castelo posteriormente como casa para os engenheiros dirigentes da empresa. Depois o Castelo se transformou numa pousada, e depois disso passou a ser uma residencia privada.

 
 
 

A historia do castelo vai mais ou mens assim:

 

No Rio de Janeiro, Henrique construiu um grande castelo onde ele e sua esposa Gabriella Bensanzoni passaram a morar. Ao mesmo tempo, em 1919, enquanto suas minas de carvao no sul de Santa Catarina estavam sob a administracao de Walter Vetterli,  ergueu em Lauro Müller um empreendimento menor, mas não menos importante O CASTELO DE LAURO MULLER. Na cidade ele e Gabriela ficavam quando vinham visitar suas minas e terras. No castelo costumavam hospedar também os amigos, geralmente homens do governo que ocupavam cargos na República.

Henrique Lage foi um dos mais promissores industriais do começo do século. Adquiriu empresas carboníferas, instalou usinas termoelétricas, teve uma frota de navios, bancos, arrendou o porto de Imbituba e a Estrada de Ferro Dona Tereza Cristina. Entre tantos feitos deixou o seu nome registrado na história do Brasil.

 Assim sendo, durante anos o castelo serviu de moradia. Depois, ficou fechado por um bom tempo, até que em 1994 começou a ser restaurado.

 Quandoi reaberto, alguns anos depois. Segundo Adriana Oliveira “O castelo virou uma pousada ou uma atração para quem visita a região. A reforma do local procurou manter as características da época da construção. Arcos, janelas e móveis são os mesmos do início do século. Os cristais conservam o desenho da Cruz de Malta, que identificava as empresas de Henrique Lage”.

 
Cabe lembrar que Henrique Lage estudou nos Estados Unidos, e se casou nos Estados Unidos. O divorcio se deu muito tempo depois. Durante este periodo de separacao com a esposa Americana, Henrique Lage entao conheceu Gabriella Bensanzoni, uma cantora lirica Italinana. uma das realizações de Lage foi a construção de um castelo, exigência de Gabriela por quem ele se apaixonou. A italiana só casaria com Henrique se fosse morar em um castelo. Casaram-se e sua vontade foi realizada.

Henrique Lage morreu em 1941 e Gabriela não conduziu as empresas do marido. Grandes disputas pela herança acabaram surgindo e o governo resolveu encampar as empresas. Depois da segunda guerra mundial, parte dos bens foi devolvido. Havia algo preocupante sobre seus investimentos, pois quando faleceu, deixou tudo para Gabriela, mas ao mesmo tempo sentiu que ela poderia perder tudo: Veja este artigo tirade do site "O FALECIMENTO DE HENRIQUE LAGE"


 ""Quanto ao testamento, Henrique Lage lega à Gabriella Besanzoni todos os bens pessoais, inclusive imóveis. Com relação ao patrimônio das empresas, Lage distribui da seguinte forma: Gabriella Besanzoni Lage, 52%; Henrique Victor Lage, 16,5%; Eugenio Martins Lage, 16,5%; Pedro Brando, Oswaldo Werneck da Rocha, Álvaro Catão, Ernani Bitencourt Cotrim, Mario Jorge de Carvalho e Antonio Tavares Leite, 2,5% para cada.

No documento, alguns trechos chamam a atenção, como os que se referem ao casamento do empresário com Gabriella Besanzoni:

[...] cuja união, efetivada civil e religiosamente, considera firme e boa, não admitindo qualquer contestação, lega todos os seus bens [...] disse, mais,
que, se porventura, vier a ser levantada qualquer dúvida a respeito do seu casamento com Gabriella Besanzoni Lage, serão esta legatária dos bens aqui à mesma [...] distribuídos com o nome de Gabriella Besanzoni.
Em outro trecho do testamento, Lage aborda a questão da unidade das empresas:
[...] recomenda à sua mulher, seus sobrinhos e demais legatários, reúnam, em uma só organização, as Empresas ou Firmas, pertencentes a ele testados, de modo que formem um todo, como sempre estiveram em suas mãos, pois esse patrimônio não deve, nem pode ser dispensado, devendo aquele que não tiver força ou capacidade para suportar os encargos da administração ou que, por qualquer motivo, queira se desfazer da sua parte no
legado, oferecer antes, a sua parte à aquisição dos demais legatários. [...]
Observa-se, portanto, a grande preocupação de Henrique Lage quanto ao questionamento de seu casamento com Gabriella. Para salvaguardá-la com relação aos bens, o empresário estabelece que, caso Gabriella Bezansoni Lage tenha que retirar o nome Lage, o testamento se cumpra da mesma forma. Outra inquietação de Henrique é quanto à unidade do patrimônio empresarial, por isso conclama aos legatários que mantenham as empresas sob uma só organização.""

VOLTANDO A POUSADA...
 

Com 12 apartamentos e cinco quartos a pousada dava aos visitantes um retorno ao passado. Os turistas se encantaram com cada detalhe e ficaram fascinados com a tranqüilidade e com a história de amor ainda tão presente.
O turismo de inverno trouxe à região visitantes de todas as partes do país. O período de maio, junho e julho é considerado alta temporada. Por isso, era necessario fazer reservas com antecedência.

 O Castelo era na epoca parte de uma grande Fazenda, ou seja a Fazenda Castelo. Cada um dos 231,5 hectares da fazenda serviu para complementar a história. Os pomares carregados, a centenária figueira, o lago, as trilhas ecológicas, os passeios a cavalo ou de charrete. Cada detalhe contribuiu para transformar a pousada em um lugar místico e cheio de segredos.

“Eles dizem que tem uma energia diferente que deve ser aproveitada ao máximo", comenta a sócia-gerente da pousada, Yara Maria Jung Crocetta. "Vendemos sonhos, é o que temos de mais significativo com relação às outras pousadas. Aqui nós mexemos com a emoção das pessoas", observa Yara. ““O friozinho de Lauro Muller é um convite para saborear os pratos variados, acompanhados pelo bom vinho da reserva especial, produzido de forma artesanal, sem conservantes.”
E isso mesmo e de se esperao de uma obra constuida por amor. Henrique e Gabriela não construíram somente uma obra de concreto, edificaram sonhos que se mantiveram vivos até o fechamento da pousada. Cada um dos visitantes da pousada sentia a extensão do amor que uniu o casal. Os hóspedes testemunharam de que nem mesmo o tempo é capaz de destruir um verdadeiro amor.
 
 

Hoje se procurarmos alguma descricao do castelo, e provavel que encontramos isso:

A obra que se tornou ponto turístico em Lauro Müller é o famoso castelo. Uma construção realizada em 1919 por Henrique Lage, maior responsável pelo desenvolvimento da siderugia e da exploração do carvão no Estado de Santa Catarina.

Henrique Lage, construiu o castelo para Gabriela Benzanzoni, uma cantora italiana de ópera com quem se casou e foi morar no Rio de Janeiro, onde já havia construído outro castelo, hoje transformado no Parque Lage.

O local é tombado pela Fundação Catarinense de Cultura e atualmente pertence ao Grupo Salvaro.

Colonizada por italianos no início do século 19, a cidade foi batizada de Minas - nome que perdurou até 1912 - por conta das jazidas de carvão que se espalhavam pela região. 

Hoje, o "ouro negro" não é mais a base da economia local, mas ainda faz parte da história de Lauro Muller. Um exemplo é Festa de Santa Bárbara, a padroeira dos mineiros, comemorada todos os anos no distrito de Barro Branco, no mês de dezembro.

Contornada pela Serra do Rio Rastro, a cidade tem a natureza como cartão-postal. A serra é cortada pela estrada que leva ao litoral e descortina uma das mais bonitas paisagens de Santa Catarina

Vale a pena enfrentar o vento frio e as curvas sinuosas para chegar ao mirante, na parte mais alta, a 14 quilômetros de Lauro Muller e a 1.460 metros de altitude.

De volta ao Centro da cidade, faça uma visita ao
Castelo, uma bela obra inaugurada em 1919 e que pertenceu ao industrial Henrique Lage. Réplica de um castelo suíço, a construção abriga residência principal, mirante em forma de torre, terraço, coreto, jardins, lago e pomar.

Hoje, varias pessoas questionam como o castelo foi tombado. Numa discussao na media social um internauta se referiu ao castelo da seguinte forma:

Se é do castelo que estão falando, alguem pode me explicar como se chama o ato de transformar um PATRIMÔNIO TOMBADO, em uma residencia de gosto duvidoso?

Segundo a internauta, “Este castelo fazia parte da memória de todos os laurumullenses, que como eu, ia com as irmãs fazer pic-nic no pátio, que disputava uma olhadela pela porta, nos poucos momentos que era permitido, que olhava lá de baixo e admirava essa cópia de um castelo suíço e que acreditava que era fruto de uma história de amor.

Ela continua:

 "Pelo menos é esta a informação que se tem quando se busca a prefeitura para alguma pesquisa a respeito. Será que foi DESTOMBADO? Será que a sua importância se foi junto com os operários que o construíram sem planta? Apenas com o seu conhecimento empírico?"
Postado em maio de 2013. Reeditado em Novembro de 2012

“Antiga pintura do castelo. As características de castelo eram muito mais visíveis, concordam?

Depois de varias opinioes por internautas, uma frase que impera o comentario de uma Luromullense:

Vi que é quase unanime a opinião que o castelo, em sua construção original é o sonho de muita gente. não sei se sabem, mas o que aconteceu com o NOSSO castelo não foi transformação, e sim crime. A referida construção é um patrimônio tombado pela secretaria estadual de cultura Santa Catarina. Sou formada em história, nascida em Lauro Muller e como muitos o castelo povoou a minha infância. depois de algumas entrevistas a fim de realizar trabalho de conclusão de curso, cujo tema seria o castelo, verifiquei que na prefeitura local não se encontra um documento sequer do imóvel. A construção foi realizada por profissionais do local, a maioria do material de construção foi retirada das proximidades e somente o acabamento foi importado. Projeto de construção não existia até a década de 1960. Até aí, tudo se encaminhava para ser um pro...A indignação é tanta que até a minha net caiu. voltando. Tudo se encaminhava pra ser o trabalho dos meus sonhos. Ao procurar na net mais alguns detalhes sobre a vida do castelo, me deparei com a premiação do arquiteto que realizou o referido crime, optei por abandonar o projeto em protesto pela falta de cultura e desrespeito de forasteiros "novos ricos", que em nome da modernidade destroem um patrimônio público e cultural em favor de uma casa de campo. Resta a pergunta: E as autoridades locais e estaduais que deveriam preservar a memória do povo catarinense? Que lei permite que um patrimônio tombado possa sofrer tamanha atrocidade?

Nao poderia ser melhor explicado que um misterio existe sobre a passagem deste castelo para uma propriedade particular. Porem isso ja conteceu ha algum tempo, e tambem se entende que os novos donos estao mantendo o castelo numa condicao perfeita, algo que o municipio nao poderia se responsabilizar em manter. Neste sentido, nao vejo nada fora dos conformes sendo uma propriedade privada. Mas adoraria se fosse tambem um ponto turistico com as historia de Lauro Muller. Um lugar aonde os estudantes fossem passar uma tarde, como era do meu tempo.


 


Retirado de sites locais - Lauro Muller, SC - Referencia Prefeitura Minicipal

Profissionais iniciam estudo para elencar potencialidades turísticas de Lauro Müller

Uma equipe de 14 profissionais de áreas como museologia, geografia, economia e história estão elaborando um Diagnóstico de Turismo dos municípios da Região Carbonífera. Através deste levantamento será possível identificar as características geográficas, econômicas e de infraestrutura das cidades.

Para discutir o assunto e iniciar os trabalhos no município de Lauro Müller, o prefeito Fabrício Kusmin Alves recebeu na tarde dessa segunda-feira (12), os profissionais da Satc, que firmou uma parceria com a Amrec para a elaboração do projeto que irá traçar um raio-x do turismo regional.

"A ideia é fazer uma análise e lançar projetos que possam impulsionar o setor regionalmente", explicou o coordenador do curso técnico em Guia de Turismo da Satc, Ari Azambuja de Oliveira, que participou da reunião.

O prefeito Fabrício destacou a importância do projeto para toda região, em especial para Lauro Müller. "Esse estudo vai colaborar muito com nosso município. Sabemos o quanto temos para explorar, são inúmeros atrativos turísticos, entre eles a Serra do Rio do Rastro, eleita recentemente como sendo a estrada mais espetacular do mundo. E esse levantamento poderá abrir outras portas para desenvolver este setor", destacou o prefeito.

A partir de agora, o grupo começa a fazer o levantamento no município, visitando os locais e identificando as potencialidades a serem exploradas. O documento deverá ser entregue ao município até o final deste ano.


 
A inquietacao a respeito do castelo nao parou. Um outro internauta postou isso na media social:

"O famoso Castelo de Lauro Müller, antes da família Catão, agora do clã Salvaro, passa por profunda reforma sem perder suas características. Hoje, mais de 60 homens lá trabalham para entregar a obra- que será uma pousada - até novembro. Será o cartão-postal do Sul e onde a família Salvaro receberá seus amigos, convidados e hóspedes, principalmente nos fins de semana. Quem assina a repaginação é o arquiteto Arlon Fernandes, o preferido de Henrique Salvaro, até porque dentro da profissão é altamente competente.”

Deixe seu recado, sua mensagem se voce tem algo que possa ser adicionado nesta historia.
http://www.lauromuller.sc.gov.br/arquivosdb/noticias/0.836405001376423970_turismo1__2_.jpg
Tenho escrito outros posts sobre Lauro Muller, e sempre quiz saber a historia do Castelo. Agora estou dividindo  o que sei 




http://www.lauromuller.sc.gov.br/arquivosdb/noticias/0.836405001376423970_turismo1__2_.jpg

Um abraco,
Milton Laene Araujo

Miltonibt1@gmail.com 

8/08/13

The Commodity Broker Chapter 8 END

The Commodity Broker Chapter 8 and Final


 

Chapter -8

 

October, November and December of 2007 were three good months for commodity investors. Most clients made their money back, except for those which were told to re-invest. Sofia’s customers were happy, and Paul made sure that a follow up call would be made to them asking for their return, once Sofia was not part of the business.

NFA demanded Stonegate to close its doors in March 10th 2008, and all opened accounts were transferred to another firm – Friends with Paul. The game continued, and in less than a year later, that company was forced to close due to same problems.  The principal of the new company gave Paul a percentage of the commission, and most employees lost their job.  By July 2008 Paul opened a business to trade metals (an item that is not regulated by NFA), and hired back all his friends, and sooner than one year, that firm was closed down due to the same problems, but this time, some customers received compensation.

As of 2009, Diva moved in with Paul and helped to run Paul’s new adventure on Insurance business. The business, yet regulated by various agencies, leave room for lies and sale of medical insurances without offering the benefits promised at first. It is another business that needs regulation and close supervision. People are buying Medical Insurance to learn later that it covers almost nothing.  Paul kept on lying to people and Diva was his secretary and part time lover.

                                                                ********************




 

Chapter  1  http://miltonlaenearaujo.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-commodity-broker-chapter-1.html

Chapter 2  http://miltonlaenearaujo.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-commodity-broker-chapter-2.html





 

The Commodity Broker Chapter 6 and 7

The Commodity Broker By Milton Laene Araujo


Chapter 6

Sofia learned about the commodity business, and very soon she was aware of all complications related to this business. She visited NFA site constantly to check on up-dates. She was not sure if she was made-up for this business. Money was very good, actually, too good to be true. She had made at least $25,000 in commissions in only two and half months. In December Stonegate was forbidden to charge more than $100 per trade in commission, and Paul saw this as a sign that something bad was about to happen. Once well informed about her position within the company, Sofia changed her ways of dealing with her boss, Paul.

“Sofia, you are killing me!” You have all these money sitting on customer’s account and you do not place them in the market. What the fuck are you waiting for? You could have made at least 50 trades this week, but no, you want to wait…what is wrong with you? I used to like you better, when you just started, but now you are affecting my business, and this is my company.

“Paul, I am a broker, therefore I am sharing with you 50% of my profits, while you give me an office to do my job. Your job is to make sure I have all the material needed to do my sales, and you are doing a great job with that. But please, do not think that I am handing over my customers to Peter or Steve just because you do business this way.  It is against the regulation to transfer customers to anyone inside the firm, especially when that someone has lost his license and is under investigation. I am liable to whatever happens to my client’s money. You are not. As a matter of fact, Paul, you shouldn’t even be here. I read that you are suspended, but you come in here and boss everyone’s around as if this is a pizza place. We are talking about investment Paul. We are talking about good faith. I will not allow you to touch my book, whether I am here or not, and it is BS that the client belongs to you. They are my clients because I am licensed to deal with them. You can make Victor, Diva and everybody else hand their clients over for you to do the trades behind closed door, but not with my clients.”

“How dare you talk to me this way? I helped you when you needed a job. I gave you money and a nice office, and now you turn against me?” Paul said to Sofia and to everyone who stopped doing whatever they were doing while participating the fight. No one dared to interrupt them. Sofia was showing her tough self, and for Paul it was an aberration. Not only for Paul. Everyone was afraid for Sofia, but no one showed any inclination.

“I am telling you Pal, that I am a licensed Broker who passed the Series 3 exam, and I am well aware of your ring of wrongdoings with many companies you had in the past. Chad is suspended; yet, he is not taking calls or touching the phone as you are. He does mostly electrical job in here. You, on the other hand, got your brother to be the boss, knowingly that you would deal the cards your own way, screwing everyone who sent you money, simply for the fact of getting a new Mercedes every year or a new apartment. How much did you say your net worth is? Last time you said that you had over 10 million dollars and you can stop working and retire…remember? Well, this is because you are stealing form people. You have your team of tainted licensed guys who cannot go anywhere. They belong to you. They have no other skills. I am sorry to say all this out loud, but it is true Paul. You only care about money! You hire anyone just to have the necessary brokers to cover up for those tainted ones. How many times I heard you say that Victor was not good, yet you never told him that, or fired him, for that matter. You need new brokers to balance the bad ones. It is illegal Paul! Yes, I am a fucking dike…isn’t what you tell everyone? It doesn’t bother me at all. I knew it first, and if you had a drop of dignity, you would not even try to approach me with presents or whatever you do to get women in your bed. I am tired of you, this business and everything related to it...not because of the business, but because of people like you! How dare you bring Frank to give us a speech, when Frank was the main reason a movie called “The Boiler Room” was created. Frank was recently released from jail and you invited him to come here and talk to us about leads etc. A guy who put his mother in jail… yes,  his brother and his wife were incarcerated due to his wrongdoings.  I read about him! I read about you! You are in the same path. Next one to go to jail will be your brother…just because of you!

“You are fired Sofia.” Get the hell out of my face

“Not so fast Paul! I have a clientele and I need to let them know that I am no longer in this business, but not because you are firing me! Oh No. You cannot fire me! Your name is not in any legal document pertaining to this firm. You are here, but you are no one. And as far as NFA is concerned, you shouldn’t be in here. I am going to pay them a call, if not a visit to Chicago and expose you, and the reasons you are firing me. Is it what you want me to do? Be careful, because if I call them I will expose you, your brother and everyone involved. Ask me if I care?”

“Let’s go to the lounge Sofia.” Paul said feeling that he shouldn’t have messed with her.

“I don’t want to go to the Lounge. You refer to me as that bitching dike, low life pig, etc…well, now I want you to hear what I have to say. Not you or your money will turn me into a robber. You can do whatever with them, but not with me. I do not want complications with you because it is not worth it. I want time to close my clients account, and when my book is finished, I will then leave, on my own. Do not ever threat me with security, because if there is one here who is trespassing, this one is you Paul. 

“This got blown out of proportion. I am sorry Sofia. We need to talk.”

“Yes, we will talk tomorrow, when I return. I am taking the entire day off, and I will return tomorrow to check on my client’s contracts and see which one can be sold – but I will not hurry! I will do it properly. Please, stay away from me! Looking at you I can barely sustain the presence of vomit that rises to my throat.

Sofia walks out of the office with her book and goes home.  Diva comes to her rescue, after making sure no one would see her.

“Sofia, my Gosh, you told him off.”                                 

“Diva, I am from another country, and English is not my primary language, but I know when someone is cheating. Paul is this type of person. I just hope you take him out of your system, as you should.”

“I always knew that this type of job requires thick skin Sofia. What I mean is, everyone is doing the same thing as Paul. Don’t you know that he has no education, except this business, and this is his life! He loves his job and he wants to be involved.”

“Diva, you are only 21 years old. I am forty! I have been in sales all my life, but I have never lied to a client or a customer about my intentions. No one needs thick skin! Everyone needs to treat others as you like to be treated. Paul is an asshole. He pretends to be something he is not. I truly feel bad, but he shouldn’t have approached me with that tone, and tell me to give all my customers to a Loader.

“I know, he asked me to talk to you about that.”

“You see it Diva? He is working on you to change me.” How Lame. Did he ever care to tell you when you were hired that your license would be tainted? Does he actually tell his employees that they are signing up for a firm under investigation, and that all his employees were with him before, doing the same thing? No, he hires new people, give them $500 for passing the test, and make them all a telemarketer.

 

Chapter 7 –   December / January 2007

Jonathan Rolls from Missouri, a married man of the age of 37, with a net worth of $ 1,000.000 removed $20,000 from mutual funds to invest in Options.  On December 21st, 2007 he received a check of $21,326.00 from TRUSTCOM. He still has 5 open contracts on Crude Oil and 2 contracts on Euro currency.

Robert Bowen from Indiana, a married man of the age of 60, with a net worth of $1,000.000 received a check of $ $10,026.00 on December 20th of 2007 from TRUSTCOM. He still has 5 open contracts on crude oil and 2 contracts on Euro currency.  

Robert Jenkins left his money in the market and his account was transferred to Peter. As of now he has $47,000 sitting on his account and 25 positions on Crude Oil and 10 Positions on Heating Oil. He doubled his money in less than a month. He was going to send $50,000 more to invest, but he was told to stop sending money for now.

Barbara Lee Johnston, a widow form Virginia, age 55, with a retirement account only. She is very religious. She had a boyfriend called Milton who passed away. She works as a volunteer. Her initial Investment was $3,000 and she received a check for $3,250.00 on December 20th, 2007. Mrs. Johnston wanted to re-invest, but was glad to receive the check before Christmas. She has 4 contracts on Crude Oil and probably will double her money. She said that she will forget about this position and let God do his work.

Stephen Lee from Colorado, a married military man with an undisclosed net worth lost $3,000

Keith Douglas from Texas, a married man of 53 lost $10,000. His current broker is Cindy – Cindy called him back after he closed his account and invited him to return.

Bob Fitzgerald Hughes from New Jersey invested $5,000 and received a check for $5,135.00 on December 23rd 2007. Mr. Hughes re-invested his profit with a different company. As of now he has 4 contracts on Crude Oil with Sofia.

Terry Casanovas Brown from Canada, a married man of 49 invested $5,000 and received a check for $5,230.00 on December 17th 2007. Terry still has 4 contracts on Crude oil and 2 contracts on Soybeans.

Gerald F Simba from Canada, a married man of 50 invested $50,000 initially and now holds 48 contracts on Crude Oil.  Simba refused the return check and re-invested his profit. Now he holds a variety of contracts in varieties of commodities. Gerald does his own recommendation, and he puts money into his account as he see fit. Currently he is working with Peter.

Joseph Smith from Canada, married with 3 children received a check for $20,116.00 and closed his account. His initial investment was $9,375.00. He made all his money with Crude Oil

Francisco Herald from California, a widower, age 89 Invested $10,000 and received a check for $11,236.00 on December 19, 2007.  Mr. Herald has 7 positions on Crude Oil and 2 positions on heating oil that will expire in March 2008.

Jorge Blair from Texas invested $10,000. Currently he has 20 contracts on Crude Oil and $10,000 sitting on his account. He received a check for $5,000.00 and wired it back into his account.

Christopher Norby from Indiana, a married man of the age of 43, with a net worth of $5,000.000 Invested $50,000 and holds over 120 positions. He is currently working with Cindy. He has $46,000 sitting on his account.

As of December 23rd 2007 Sofia has $ 109,356.13 sitting on the sidelines. This money belongs to her customer. She is waiting for an opportunity to place them back into the market.

As of December 23rd 2007 Sofia returned $ 81,419 to her customers.

 

Chapter  1  http://miltonlaenearaujo.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-commodity-broker-chapter-1.html

Chapter 2  http://miltonlaenearaujo.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-commodity-broker-chapter-2.html






 

 

The Commodity Broker Chapter 5


The Commodity Broker Chapter 5 By Milton Laene Araujo


Chapter 5- November 2007 

Paul started the Meeting at 8:30 Am

“We had a very nice October. We opened 50 new accounts and we did over 750 trades…I am very pleased with everyone’s performance. I want you all to put your hands together for Nikisha who just passed the test…clap, clap, clap… and for Cindy, who besides her great job making money for all of you is responsible in helping you with the material for the exam. Clap, clap, clap, ….Nikisha, I want you to spend the day watching everyone. I want Chad to stay with you the entire time helping you with your calls… It’s very important that you know what we call… INTEGRAL to success… You must dress for success…Look at Victor! He looks very sharp today…We only work five days per week and only two evenings…Tuesday and Thursday evenings we just work for three hours. Arriving on time is key and you must have at least two solid fronts per day…WITHOUT EXCUSES!! What I mean by front is complete information of the prospect, from suitability to financial information. I don’t want you to copy from the lead and pretend to be your front! Keep sick days to one per month average…MAX. Make your personal appointments during non-office hours. Maintain a quota on new business – ASK your employer their expectation. Treat your fellow employees with respect…Treat clients with respect, honesty and integrity…”

And Paul goes on…

 “Now… I want to talk about Bad Ideas for Success in Sales… Lack of focus – Do what you are being trained to do. First be successful, and then you may try to innovate or create a plan…Like I said…Lateness or Absences –Sure fire away to fail in Sales! Excuses…there is NO EXCUSE. EVER! Everything is ALWAYS your fault…missing training meetings – You can never learn enough…Social Selling –The clients are not our friends. The brokers around you are NOT your friends. You are there to make money. There is no place to act like a clown, horseplay or practical jokes…”

And Paul goes on…

“Pay attention to where you work…The place you chose to work is the most important decision you will make in your sales career. Once you make the decision to work in a particular place you should commit 100%. Shopping deals, nosing around your industry and keeping “FRIENDS” at other competing firms will make you an outsider and keep you there. Mercenaries (a slang term for a hired gun broker) are only as good as their last month commission and rarely up the food chain…

Paul spits his chewing gum in the trash and takes a zip of water… He goes on.

“Like I said…A Mercenary Broker is a personal opportunist that will change firms, steal brokers and otherwise conduct underhanded actions for personal benefits. Mercenary brokers are easily spotted. They have a lot of “friends” at other firms and try to force relationships with entry level brokers everywhere. They always have a joke or anecdotal comment for various aspects of the business. They “share secrets” and otherwise try to get others to believe that they are inside. They have the “illusion: of wealth (maybe a leased Mercedes or BMW) and a lot of industry experience, but no significant net worth commensurate with their time in the industry.”

Paul takes a break, looks around the room to see who is missing…Looks at Jose Roberto…who reads his mind and gesticulates that the person in question is using the telephone. He goes on…

“Like I said…The firm had better have the money to pay you on pay day or all your hard work was for nothing. It’s extremely and unfortunate common for brokers to get screwed out of their paychecks. Get this straight.”…Another zip of water…”Get this straight right now; there is no story or excuse for you not getting your pay check. If the boss breaks his leg on his way to the office on payday he should crawl to the office and hand out the checks. There is no excuse in the world that excuses no CHECKS. If you ever don’t get a check (a check you actually deserve) you should run and get another job.”

Only 12 minutes have passed. Paul walks around the room while talking.

“Of equal importance is professionalism. The firm for which you work will be a reflection of the owners and managers. If they act like slobs, you can expect to become a slob. If they underhand things to others, they are already doing it to you. You may not realize it yet, but you will eventually. Observe this…Like I said… here a dead tips offs for unprofessional firms to avid…Owners and managers talk negatively about each other; Owner family members’ all over the firm in various positions; Management uses the firm as a Dating Pool; married owners or managers who lie or cheat on their spouses; secretive managers or owners; firms with large turnover rates; Dirty Firms, or Un kept firms…Make sure you clean your desk with Windex every-day before you leave!”

Paul stops talking and a tall man walks in the office.

“I want to introduce to you a good friend of mine. His name is Santé di Franky. He will share some valued information with you…”

“Hi, Everyone…Paul and I go a long way. We used to work together before we became good friends… But what I want to talk about is Leads…when I was in the business I heard it every day: The leads are weak; the leads are weak? You are weak! …It’s not me… it’s the leads…they suck! If the leads were better, then I could open accounts; nobody can make money with these leads; Look, I am a great broker, so when I have no accounts then you know it’s the leads…and so forth and so on…Here is the deal, most good companies get the same leads. In fact they get the same leads from the same places, purchased or generated from the same people. Think about it, if ABC Company found some new and exciting way of generating these amazing leads that “Virtually closed themselves”…wouldn’t everybody just copy it?...A good lead is the one where you get the prospect to listen. The more carefully they listen the better the broker…Now imagine you found a phone number on the floor in the deli while were buying lunch. You called it. A man picked up the phone and answered hello and you just started by saying… Hi, this is Santé at ABC Company. Who am I speaking with?” He responds with the name Bill. Bill I am glad I got a hold of you today. The reason for my call is… Now imagine that guy made a monster purchase or opened a huge account with you. Wasn’t that a great lead? This happened with me! Remember, you are in a sales business where leads are provided to you! You see different names every day! Be assured you are getting a quality lead. Since you should expect to make 150 to 250 dials per day you will need about 35 leads per day…due to call backs, left messages and no answers which need to be recalled at later times.

“Clap, clap, clap…”

Paul returns to the floor.

“We have a program that states how many calls each one of you made from the telephone that you are using…every day! I posted it on the board along with your name…you can check this after 3:00 PM…But I see here that Diva only made 52 calls yesterday while Milton made 107 calls yesterday… Cindy made exactly 150 and Victor made the most…200 calls. I know who is working and who is not working!...Also on the same board you can see the number of accounts opened and each respective broker…Milton opened seven accounts last Month…If he keeps up he will have a great paycheck next week…I want to take this last minute to call to the floor Peter …who made $65000 for himself last month and give him this gold Rolex watch for his services. Peter we appreciate you! The meeting is adjourned.”

At this time everyone returns to their post.

“Hey Sofia, I need to speak with you.” Diva said to Sofia.

“Hi Diva,…sure. Can we leave here today at 3PM and skip gym? Would you come to the bank with me? They have an agency in Boca Raton. I need to make this deposit yesterday”.

“How much is your paycheck Sofia”

“Mine is $3700 this week and yours Diva?”

“Mine is $6400…it could have been $12,000 but I had to split with Peter. Well, Peter is very nice actually, because I wouldn’t have made anything by myself…He is the one who got the client to send an extra $50,000…I thought you would make one million by now…”

“Maybe next week it will be better for me. I just put Mr. Jenkins in the market yesterday.”

“Yesterday? Why? You opened his account last month Sofi. Maybe you should ask Peter to help you.”

“That’s what Paul tells me, but I am reluctant…I will think about it…See you later.”

 

… ((A CALL HOLDING ON LINE 2, SOFIA HAS A CALL HOLDING ON LINE 2))

“Damn speakers!”

“Good morning, this is Sofia”

“Good Morning Sofia, Bob Bowen here”

“Bob!!! How is Indiana this morning?

“It is in the same place Sofia”

“Bob, we have a birthday coming, don’t we?”

“Not for a couple of weeks Sofia…how do you remember?”

“I have it written here on my calendar. Plus I have a sister born on the same date. No brainer.”

“The reason I am calling is that I don’t know how to answer on question on my application.” Bob said to Sofia.

“What application bob”…don’t tell me that you are going to be my client?”

 “Off course Sofia….Who wouldn’t? I mean, you explained the risk more than the profits. I decided to gamble, and you are my casino.”

“Very funny! What is the question Bob?”

“On the individual information form… middle of the page…What is your investment purpose in opening the account? I am not sure if the answer is Speculation or Hedging.”

“It’s Speculation Bob.”

“OK. I get it. What is your expected trading pattern? Here it says, Futures, Options or Both”

“The answer for that one is Options, Bob.”

“Got it…Why can’t a put both?”

“Because you are opening an account with an Introducing Broker (IB), which is my firm. An IB  is an individual or organization that solicits or accepts orders to buy or sell options,  but does not accept money or other assets from customers to support such orders. As you can see your money is not coming to my company, or under my company’s name. It is directed to the FCM who is above us. I will carry your account with a FCM on a fully disclosed basis… they are our guarantor.

“OK. Whatever.”

“This is actually for your protection Bob. In case something happens to our company, you have your asset with a larger company that operates like a bank. I am working in your behalf with such a company. There are others FCM’s out there. I call them mother companies! Some FCM just like to deal with a few commodities, while larger FCM’s deal with other or even all commodities. As your Broker I will use a different FCM only if we decide to invest into something our FCM of use doesn’t carry. It sounds complicated, but it is just that small firms cannot be receiving checks from clients… This is serious business Bob.”

“I get it Sofia. Is there anything you don’t know?”

“Is that a compliment Bob?”

“Yeah, I mean…Here I am filling out papers and I do not see your company’s name on this form, but a TRUSTCOM something…”

“Right, this is our FCM, and you will receive your statements under that name.”

“Why am I going through you then?”

“A FCM doesn’t deal with clients directly. They deal with IB firms like mine. So, one FCM could serve all IB’s in one state. I however deal with you directly and I am under the FCM”

“What does it stand for?”

“Now you are pushing it Bob...Just kidding. It means Futures Commissions Merchant. ..Remember when we talked about futures and the difference with Options, being that futures have unlimited loss potential, while with options you only can lose what you invest? Well, my firm deals with options because we do not want to be calling you to make a deposit every time the price takes a turn against what we aimed. It is safer to know that you can lose only what you have invested, but I recommend that you read about futures to see if it is something you would like to do in the future.”

“I have to go Sofia. FedEx is coming here in half an hour and I want to have this envelop signed sealed delivered…I am yours!”

“Great Bob…  How much are you sending?”

“I was going to send $15,000 to start, but I changed my mind and made the check for $5,000.”

“Should I send more?”

“NO PLEASE! Let’s do baby steps Bob. If I am good I will make $5,000 for you this month, and I want to send it back to you! I feel better to play with the profit you made. Imagine you spending $5,000 and receiving it back and still have $5,000. This way if I tell you to buy sugar options instead of cotton, you will listen to me.”

“Can you just like… do whatever you want with my money and call me to tell me what I have?

“Yes Bob. I can, but only two years from tomorrow. You see…this is the dream of everyone who has money to play. They have money but they do not have time or the desire to be in front of a computer screen all day checking if it is the right time to get out of the market or re-enter. This is my job…I am your ears and eyes with the market, and two years from now I will obtain a power of attorney from you giving me this right. You need to get to know me better…any broker for that matter…”

“Oh, like my stock broker?”

“No. Your stock broker calls you when he makes change to your account or moves you to a different market as well. You don’t hear from him very much because you must be involved in mutual funds, retirement accounts. It is less risky Bob. What we are doing now, I mean, what we are going to do is very risky. Your money can go away the day after, but if the market bounces back and rallies you are back in the game, yet, you won’t lose more than what you invested.”

“That is fair.”

“Bob, I have another call on hold. I will call you tomorrow to
let you know whether I received your application or not.”

“Thanks Sofia. Good bye.”

“You are welcome, Bob. Good bye.”

“Click.”

“Hi, this is Sofia”

“Hi Sofia this is Bob Jenkins”

“Hi Mr. Jenkins, I see you are up early today”.

“I got a message to contact you.”

“Yes, you did. I asked Marta to call you for me, but I did not expect her to call you while I was on the other line.”

“She didn’t. She located me and asked me if I was going to stay around in the next fifteen minutes or so. I wanted to know what is going on and I didn’t want to wait.”

“Good. I see here that your 10 positions on Crude Oil are with a profit around 35% and I want to get rid of it and enter right back in with another 10 positions.”

“Why not 14?”

“Mr. Jenkins, I want to leave the remaining on your account to try a different market later. I have a feeling that sugar is going up in the next week or so. I was reading an article that coca cola is going au natural. I also read an article about an increase of ethanol in our gasoline, which means price of corn also going up, as well as sugar. Russia makes ethanol with beets, but Brazil makes ethanol with sugar cane. The price of sugar will go up if we have a hurricane in the Caribe…”

“OK”

“Mr. Jenkins, I am going to transfer you to (compliances) and they will record your voice. You will authorize the sale of 10 Contracts. Hang in there please…Ah, and within 30 minutes I am going to spend all the remaining of your investment into other commodities, I am not sure yet, but I will call you to let you know.”

“OK.”

“Click.”

“Hi this is Sofia”

“Sofia! Jonathan Rolls here”

“Hi my friend from Missouri. How is the weather there?”

“It is insane Sofia. We had a tornado last week. Thank God, we are fine, but the city is not so well.”

“I guess, you’re going to work even harder to fix the power lines and the electrical damages.”

“I am.”

“Good. More money for us to invest… So, how may I help you Jonathan?”

“I have mailed to you my account information yesterday. I have the FedEx tracking number right here, would you like it?”

“We got it delivered to us fifteen minutes ago”

“Oh, Good…  I have signed a transfer authorization form for you to handle my positions with a different firm. I have 27 contracts on orange juice, and the guy said that it is deteriorating…I think I am going to lose it all”.

“Whose idea was to get into OJ?”

“His idea and it sounded good…I had heating oil and crude oil, but he sold it three days later with profit. And now I only have OJ with them. I prefer to transfer to you because the guy is an asshole and he wants more money from me.”

“How much money are you sending to me Jonathan?”

“I can only send $10,000. I’ve sent him $20.000”


 

Chapter  1  http://miltonlaenearaujo.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-commodity-broker-chapter-1.html

Chapter 2  http://miltonlaenearaujo.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-commodity-broker-chapter-2.html






 

“That is good, but you should‘ve sent me $5,000. I will not re- invest your profit… we will play with your $10,000 until the end. If we get out with profit, we will put it aside. Understand?”

“Click”