Message to Paul Reynolds (CEO of Canaccord Adams)

(careful how you iron those shirt collars next time, Paul)

Dear Mr. Reynolds,

I know you're not the numero uno specialist for all things South American, what with your more European flavoured CV background, and that's cool by me. But being the toppy top of Canaccord you gotta be the dude that counts on these matters, so here goes.

You, or your team, or whoever might have noticed that recently your LatAm desks have become a lot sharper in their analyses of companies and political goings-on in the South America region. This is very cool, of course, because in that way you get to provide a better service to your customers, but perhaps you were wondering how this sudden uptick in local understanding has come about.

Allow me to enlighten. Last weekend I changed my site stats manger to www.sitemeter.com (very good, by the way), and I've now noticed just how many hits this silly little blog of mine has been getting from (presumably) your employees (oops...I think they call them 'team members' these days). I'd never have thought that my random musings on a freely available blog would be so important to a bigboy brokerage like you guys. I mean...it seems like your dudes just keep coming back and back.

So here's the plan, Paul; It's pretty clear that you have a gap in your intel armoury here, so send me a mail and we can talk about how I can make your company more efficient. All we do is cut out those highly paid middle men and you pay me to provide the fresh juice to you. You know it makes sense. Either that or send a few of your guys for Spanish lessons, yeah?

Best wishes,

Otto