Can you hear us now?

It was reported Friday, that ex-Federal Reserve Chairman, one of the most powerful men at one time on the planet, “the Grand Puppeteer and Poo-bah,” Ben Bernanke was denied a home refinance loan.

I know, can you believe it?

When examined, the reason was the same as for all of us; he is now self-employed and he recently switched jobs. This puts a flag on the loan. If it wasn’t so sad, it would actually be hilarious. It is what every person in America has been saying for 6 years, whether you are looking to buy a house and get a mortgage, car, credit card limit increase, or anything–the rates might be at all-time historic lows, but it’s all worthless unless the banks are willing to give credit. It means nothing!

We have been saying it Ben, but you just haven’t been listening.

And for those companies looking to get capital, it isn’t any different. We constantly get asked why the great projects like what Grace Century brings to its members, need individual “angels” to consider funding. “Why not just go to a bank?” people ask. The fact of the matter is that regardless of any company, technology, or process, if the entity looking for funding is under two years old (and the real number is closer to 5 years), it simply gets kicked out of the pile.

At the height of the financial crisis, I was speaking with a representative at a major Midwest bank in the United States. I was trying to help a medical diagnostic firm obtain funding for machines that cost $20,000 each. This equipment had people waiting out the door to be utilized and if used, generated $1,000/day. Think about that. One machine, at a cost of $20,000 could generate $350,000/year; a no brainer right? The representative said regardless of anything, she had a sheet in front of her that had literally one thousand industries (not companies) on it and if the loan request came from any of the industries, she couldn’t make the transaction. It didn’t matter about credit scores or relationship (FULL STOP).

By the way, I don’t think the healthcare industry is a fringe sector, do you?

Like blood in the body, capital and the movement of it, will regulate how the economy is doing. Why can’t these politicians realize this? Some of the smartest and most educated people in the world are pulling the strings and not until after it hits them personally, over the head, do they get it! Bernanke remarked, “I think it’s entirely possible that lenders may have gone a little bit too far on mortgage credit conditions.”  He acknowledged that the first-time home buyer market is not where it should be as the economy continues to strengthen overall.  “The housing area is one area where regulation has not yet got it right.”

Ya think?

So in here lies an opportunity to analyze and find the good companies to invest in–in what would have been normally gobbled up by what banks used to do. This is now the function of a Private Equity Angel Entrepreneur and the time has never been better to get involved.