Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Why the Hot Money's on Cheaper Oil

After months of betting on an increase in oil prices, some speculators now see a new downward trend

read more | digg story

The panic about the dollar

A full-blown dollar collapse would be disastrous. Thankfully, it need not happen

read more | digg story

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Financial Statements for Senior Management !

What should senior management know about financial statements? This may seem a simple question that many of us may look at it as an issue that is not of a great importance. However, I believe that our economies and businesses suffer daily due to many decision makers' misconceptions of this issue.

I believe that a corporate decision maker should have the minimum required knowledge that enable him understands the mechanism of the financial statements contents and dynamics. Yet, they should have the adequate skills to appreciate the prospective impact of their daily decisions on their corporate financial health. The latest innovations in the relevant information technology have a lot to help in this direction.

Can you really ignore this fact any longer?

In 1993, I became almost professional in applying the excel functions to my then daily auditing activities. I was a semi senior auditor (public accountant) in Qatar. However my audit manager( partner), who was hesitant (afraid) to learn excel or even face the PC screen, has never ever reviewed any of my audit working papers that has any relationship with excel files (soft or hard). In a retrospective assessment of my experience in that environment, I cannot imagine how gross negligent my audit manager was.

I hope that your current manager is not similar to my then one. Otherwise, you have two alternatives: change your manager or change your job! I hope you will not change both.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Knowledge Management


The wise man will never imagine or believe that knowledge is limited or can be hidden from others.
What you know today will or may be obsolete immediately!

Saturday, October 13, 2007


INTERNAL CONTROL


It is the new old field that no entity can live and achieve its dreams (goals) without it. Unfortunately, too many business decision makers, educators and even practicing professionals in related fields do not appreciate its importance and even do not seek to understand why most of the catastrophes they face in conducting their duties is directly or indirectly has a relationship with the status of their company’s internal control systems. Transparency, corporate governance, risk management, to name a few of these illuminating and currently used concepts rely to a great extent of the design and the operating effectiveness of the internal controls.

Is not it the time to shake up the dust and start an immediate act that let us be proud about our starting point to look seriously into this issue!

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

جمعية مدققي الحسابات القانونيين الفلسطينية

This is part of the training course we conducted in Jenin for the PACPA for the period from July 31 to August 2, 2007. I think we can do more and more to improve the environment of auditing profession in Palestine.
جمعية مدققي الحسابات القانونيين الفلسطينية

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Do Universities Provide the Market With What Market Needs ?

Last August, I visited Palestine and spent an unprecedented time away from the chaos of daily routine business affairs. In fact, I was surprised from the improvement in the real estate industry in most of the cities I visited such as Jenin and Ramallah. However, I was wandering whether there was a real improvement in the educational process in our universities.

The product of any university is those students equipped with the appropriate knowledge and skills they got during the 4-5 years they spent in the school. I hope that one day we will have a collaborative effort among all who are concerned to provide the market place with what it needs and stop the push approach where the status quo says it sarcastically " these are the students I graduate, take them or leave them"

My immediate and urgent problem is where to leave them?

Monday, September 24, 2007

The Real Investment in Palestine

I visited Palestine late July early August of this year (2007) and spent 22 days in Jenin and Ramallah among my family and my friends. This is the first time I spend more than 5 consecutive days in Jenin since 1981. To my surprise, I discovered and realized that I do not know Jenin. Additionally, Ramallah shocked me with its expansion in every and each direction. The last time I was in Ramallah was in October 1998.

This vacation I spent in Palestine changed my perception towards my country; where I always belong. The question I face since I left Palestine in August is: Was there enough investment in people as it was in land ( real estate) ? If the answer is no, then why?