|
|
|
|
China Blames Investment Banks For Derivatives LossesCaveat emptor. Caveat emptor. Chinese official are blaming US banks for selling some of the country’s state-owned companies complex derivatives on which they lost money. The FT and other media report that “A senior Chinese official who oversees the country’s largest state-owned enterprises has publicly slammed western investment banks for “maliciously” peddling complicated derivative products that caused huge [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 4 Dec 2009 | 3:38 am Traders nervous ahead of US jobs dataGlobal Markets Overview: A bout of nervousness ahead of the crucial US non-farm payrolls data takes the edge off risk appetiteSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 4 Dec 2009 | 3:38 am UK banking bail-out 'justified'The Treasury was "justified" in using taxpayers' money, totalling £850bn, to bail out banks, an official report says.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 4 Dec 2009 | 3:37 am Pre-Budget Report: UK car industry calls on Darling to sustain helpThe Britsh car industry has called on Alistair Darling to sustain its support as fresh figures underline the help delivered by the car scrappage scheme.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 4 Dec 2009 | 3:31 am 2,000 jobs to go in Corus closureSteelmaker Corus confirms that it will close its Teesside Cast Products factory, putting 2,000 people out of work.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 4 Dec 2009 | 3:24 am Cautious U.K. builders see improving conditionsTwo U.K. builders report improving conditions in the housing market but are cautious due to high unemployment.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 4 Dec 2009 | 3:23 am World stocks mostly down ahead of key US jobs data (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 4 Dec 2009 | 3:20 am Goldman Sachs (GS) May Buckle To Pay Package PressureThe argument that Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) will pay its employees too much this year has always been a weak one. Some shareholders believe that more money should be going to them, perhaps in the form of a special dividend. Some members of Congress and the Administration simply object to high pay packages at any large American bank. [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 4 Dec 2009 | 3:18 am Tokyo stock exchange must pay 10.7bn yen for fat-finger errorThe Tokyo Stock Exchange is ordered to pay 10.7bn yen ($121m) in damages for failing to stop a trading error in 2005.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 4 Dec 2009 | 3:08 am Metals Stocks: Gold futures fall ahead of U.S. jobs dataGold futures fall by as much as $16 an ounce, as traders take some time to rethink the spectacular gains in the precious metal that have lifted prices for the December contract by $43 since the start of the month.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 4 Dec 2009 | 3:05 am London Markets: Banks under pressure in mildly lower LondonLondon shares weakened on Friday, with banks under pressure after the National Audit Office said that two lenders won’t meet business lending targets even after receiving enormous amount of taxpayer support.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 4 Dec 2009 | 3:04 am Survey: Holiday Spending Ticks Up And Soars At Amazon (AMZN)A new survey from ChangeWave shows that holiday spending has improved in 2009 compared with 2008 and purchasing activity at Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is soaring. The study of 2,954 consumers was completed on November 10. Of those surveyed, “A total of 9% say they’ll be `Spending More Money’ on holiday shopping this season while 32% say they’ll `Spend [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 4 Dec 2009 | 3:00 am GM says sells China car JV stake to SAIC for $85 mlnSHANGHAI/HONG KONG, Dec 4 (Reuters) - General Motors Co [GM.UL] will sell a 1 percent stake in its China car venture to partner SAIC Motor Corp for $85 million, Nick Reilly, GM's executive vice president...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 3:00 am Resource stocks drag Australia; JAL lifts NikkeiAsian markets end mixed Friday as resource stocks in Australia decline along with commodity prices, while a battle for a piece of Japan Airlines lifts the carrier's stock and pushes Japan's benchmark above the 10,000 mark.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:58 am GM, China partner take aim at booming India marketSHANGHAI/DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors and Chinese partner SAIC Motor Corp are to team up to make commercial vehicles in India, taking their successful Chinese partnership into one of the world's fastest growing auto markets.Source: Reuters: Business News | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:52 am GM, China partner take aim at booming India market (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:52 am Goldman likely to pay annual bonus in stock: report(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Chief Lloyd Blankfein is weighing plans to increase the share of compensation paid out in equity to executives in a bid to quell public anger over the probability of large pay-outs, the Financial Times said.Source: Reuters: Business News | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:51 am Talks between UK and France offA scheduled meeting between the UK and France, which may have addressed the EU banking regulation dispute, is off.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:49 am UPDATE 2-Amec to double EPS with acquisition drive* To focus acquisitions on Australasia, Brazil, Middle EastSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:46 am Best time to get a jobPutting your job hunt on the back burner until after New Year's? That could be a big mistake, according to some hiring managers.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:44 am Bernanke Will Get His Second TermSeveral Senators cuffed Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke around during hearings today. Chris Dodd, who runs the Senate Banking Committee in whose presence Bernanke appeared, gave the world assurances that the Fed chief would be reappointed for a second term. The unkindest comment about Mr. Bernanke’s tenure was made by Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky, a Republican. He said [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:39 am World stocks drop amid caution before US jobs dataGlobal stock markets were mostly lower Friday as investors tread carefully ahead of a U.S. jobs report that could help determine the durability of the U.S. economic recovery. Most...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:38 am WRAPUP 1-GM, China partner take aim at booming India market* SAIC expansion in line with China's global auto dreamsSource: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:38 am Winter's here, yet Illinois corn harvest drags onThe long, slow harvest of what is expected to be the second largest U.S. corn crop ever is winding down _ except in Illinois. Illinois is the country's second largest corn producer. But...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:37 am GM and SAIC team up to focus on IndiaGeneral Motors is to give up a crucial 1 per cent of its China passenger-car venture to its partner SAIC, the state-owned Chinese automaker, as part of a deal that will launch the two companies on a new...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:28 am Traders nervous ahead of US jobs data09:25 GMT. A bout of nervousness ahead of the crucial US non-farm payrolls data saw investors lose a touch of their risk appetite on Friday.London's FTSE 100 was down 0.5 per cent at 5,286.6, while the...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:26 am UK car sales up 57.6% in NovemberUK car sales rose by 57.6% in November compared with a year earlier, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:25 am Bing search site suffers outageMicrosoft has apologised for a brief outage which saw its search site Bing disappear from the internet.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:22 am Car sales soar 57% as scrappage fund runs downNew car registrations rose by 57.6 per cent in November compared with last year, as the motoring industry prepares for the end of the "cash-for-bangers" car scrappage scheme introduced in May this year. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:21 am Wall Street preps for jobs reportU.S. stocks were set for a cautiously higher open Friday, as investors awaited the release of the government's monthly jobs report.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:21 am UPDATE 1-BAIC obtains $2.9 bln credit line from Bank of China* BAIC has said might still be interested in Saab (Adds BAIC reaction, analyst comment, background)Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:21 am Jobs data to give steer on U.S. recovery (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:19 am Jobs data to give steer on U.S. recoveryLONDON (Reuters) - World stocks slipped slightly and the dollar was steady on Friday as investors waited for U.S. jobs data, the latest signal about how far the U.S. economy is recovering.Source: Reuters: Business News | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:19 am U.K. government bank rescue cost $1.4 trillionThe British government aid to banks totalled 850 billion pounds ($1.4 trillion), according to a report by the country’s National Audit Office released Friday.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:08 am Media Digest 12/4/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, BloombergReuters: Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) may make bonus payments in stock. Reuters: China is worried about sticking to dollar deposits. Reuters: A well-known economist says housing will continue to fall. Reuters: Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) sold more than $19 billion in stock. WSJ: Raj Rajaratnam of Galleon was investigated ten years ago. WSJ: Chavez may nationalize banks in Venezuela. WSJ: TARP cash may [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:04 am Toyota exec fears yen strength, not recall costThe big danger for Toyota isn't the cost for the massive U.S. recall to replace gas pedals, but instead shrinking income from the surging yen, a top executive said Friday. Toyota Motor...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:02 am GM, Chinese partner announce Indian ventureGeneral Motors Co. turned over majority ownership of its biggest China joint venture to its local partner on Friday and the two companies said they will collaborate to make and sell...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:01 am FTSE 100 falls at open (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 4 Dec 2009 | 2:00 am Oil skids to near $76 ahead of US jobs reportOil prices slipped to near $76 a barrel Friday in Asia ahead of U.S. unemployment figures that will provide an important guide to the strength of the economic recovery and demand for crude.Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:59 am EU OKs Watson Wyatt/Towers merger, with conditionBRUSSELS, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide gained conditional European Union regulatory approval on Friday to merge with rival Towers Perrin Forster & Crosby in an all-stock...Source: RSS feed - channel BNewsBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:58 am Banks continue to pressure FTSE 100London equities continued to fall in cautious trade on Friday, with analysis on banking stocks from JPMorgan at centre stage as traders awaited US jobs data. The FTSE 100 fell 15 points to 5,297,84, with...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:53 am Europe Markets: Europe stocks down before U.S. data; airlines riseEuropean shares edged lower on Friday, with banks under pressure, as investors wait for data that’s expected to show the U.S. economy is still shedding jobs.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:45 am Asia Markets And Europe Open (12/4/2009)Markets in Asia were mixed. The Nikkei was up .4% to 10,023. Honda (NYSE:HMC) and Sony (NYSE:SNE) rose but Toyota (NYSE:TM) dropped. The Hang Seng fell .3% to 22,495. Sinopec (NYSE:SNP) fell. The Shanghai Composite rose 1.6% to 3,317. At the open in Europe, The FTSE fell .4% to 5,294. The Dax dropped .5% to 5,740. Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:31 am Amec sets out plan to double earningsAmec, the engineering group that serves the oil, gas and power generation industries, is hoping to more than double its earnings per share to more than 100p in five years’ time, it said today, as part of a development strategy known as Vision 2015. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:23 am ANA, United, Continental eye ties under open skiesTOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's All Nippon Airways said it and fellow StarAlliance members United Airlines and Continental Airlines plan to apply for antitrust immunity to allow closer cooperation on transpacific routes.Source: Reuters: Business News | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:13 am Currencies: Dollar slightly up vs. most rivals in Asian tradeThe dollar makes modest gains against most major rivals in Asian trading Friday.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:06 am China sticking with the dollar, official saysChina hasn't changed the allocation of currencies that comprise its foreign exchange reserves, sticking with the U.S. dollar as the centerpiece of its $2.3 trillion stockpile, a senior forex official in reportedly says.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:01 am ABC closer to seating Stephanopoulos on 'Good Morning America'Network executives are said to be in talks with the former Clinton White House advisor. He would replace Diane Sawyer, who will inherit the 'World News' anchor desk from Charles Gibson. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:00 am Could Saab be saved by Nordic tribalism?Victor Muller, founder of Dutch carmaker Spyker, is putting in an offer to GM. 'I just felt like we have to stand together because . . . we have the same DNA.' ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:00 am Comcast-NBC deal raises concerns about media consolidationPoliticians and consumer activists call for intense scrutiny of the proposed $30-billion merger.The proposed marriage of Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable and broadband provider, with NBC Universal, a Hollywood powerhouse, presents the Obama administration with its first big chance to weigh in on the controversial issue of media consolidation.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:00 am Comcast to weigh revising Universal Pictures scriptThe studio is struggling to change course from a prolonged box-office slump, runaway production costs and turmoil in the executive suites.In acquiring legendary Universal Pictures, Comcast Corp. would make its Hollywood debut during a particularly turbulent time for the movie business. Not only are all studios grappling with declining DVD sales and shifting consumer habits in entertainment, but Universal is also struggling to correct course from a prolonged box-office slump, runaway production costs and turmoil in the executive suites.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:00 am Bank bailouts appear to be paying offThe U.S. gets billions back as Wall Street rebounds. But critics say the TARP fund will still end up in the red. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:00 am Comcast to buy control of NBC Universal in $30-billion transactionThe deal underscores how the high profit-margin business of cable TV has become the financial backbone of media conglomerates.In a momentous shift in the balance of power of the entertainment industry, cable television giant Comcast Corp. on Thursday made it official by announcing that it was buying control of NBC Universal from General Electric Co.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:00 am Initial claims for jobless benefits fallThe fifth straight decline bolsters expectations of fewer job losses in November. But drops in retail sales and the broader service sector point to a slow economic recovery. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:00 am Chain stores get 'big lump of coal'Sales inch down 0.3%, surprising those who thought this November would easily beat last year's.In an unexpected step backward, the nation's leading retailers suffered a sales slump in November -- a poor start to the holiday season and an ominous sign for the fragile economic recovery.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:00 am Chain stores get 'big lump of coal'Sales inch down 0.3%, surprising those who thought this November would easily beat last year's. In an unexpected...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:00 am Bernanke defends Federal Reserve to sharply critical senatorsThe chairman, expected to win a second term, tells the Banking Committee at his confirmation hearing that he 'acted promptly and forcefully to confront the financial crisis' and its consequences.Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke on Thursday defended the central bank's record and argued for preserving its regulatory powers, but lawmakers in both parties were unmoved as they lobbed sharp criticisms at him and the Fed for lapses that contributed to the financial crisis.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:00 am Rolling Stone to launch restaurant chain in L.A.The magazine steps into a tough industry next summer with a two-tiered location at Hollywood & Highland Center. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:00 am L.A. venture capitalist pleads guiltyElliott Broidy paid $1 million in gifts to N.Y. pension fund officials to win business for his Century City firm, Markstone Capital Partners.Los Angeles venture capitalist and philanthropist Elliott Broidy pleaded guilty Thursday to charges that he paid $1 million in gifts to New York public pension officials to win $250 million in investment capital for his private equity fund.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:00 am Bernanke defends Federal Reserve to sharply critical senatorsThe chairman, expected to win a second term, tells the Banking Committee at his confirmation hearing that he 'acted promptly and forcefully to confront the financial crisis' and its consequences. ...Source: RSS feed - channel BNPaperBusiness | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:00 am Rolling Stone to launch restaurant chain in L.A.The magazine steps into a tough industry next summer with a two-tiered location at Hollywood & Highland Center.Rolling Stone is about to take a leap into the entertainment industry, starting with a large-scale restaurant and nightclub in Hollywood.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:00 am Bank bailouts appear to be paying offThe U.S. gets billions back as Wall Street rebounds. But critics say the TARP fund will still end up in the red.The government's bailout of the banking system is turning out to be far from the fiscal sinkhole so many had feared.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:00 am Could Saab be saved by Nordic tribalism?Victor Muller, founder of Dutch carmaker Spyker, is putting in an offer to GM. 'I just felt like we have to stand together because . . . we have the same DNA.'Victor Muller wants to do something for his people. You know, tall, blond, Nordic types.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 4 Dec 2009 | 1:00 am BofA board to meet on CEO search next week: report (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 4 Dec 2009 | 12:55 am BofA board to meet on CEO search next week: report(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp's board is set to meet next Tuesday and is expected to discuss the appointment of a new chief executive, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation.Source: Reuters: Business News | 4 Dec 2009 | 12:55 am Financial crisis: Should we really be gunning for bankers?They make an easy target, but where would we be without them, asks Jeremy Warner.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 4 Dec 2009 | 12:52 am Ex-Bank of England deputy governor Sir John Gieve joins hedge fund GLGSir John Gieve, a former deputy governor of the Bank of England, is to join GLG, one of the most prominent hedge funds, it was reported.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 4 Dec 2009 | 12:45 am NZ market down but property trusts strongThe float of DNZ Property Fund has been pulled but the property trusts already listed on the New Zealand sharemarket performed strongly today.AMP Office rose 3c to 78, ING Property rose 4c to 79, Kiwi Income Property Trust rose...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 4 Dec 2009 | 12:45 am Taylor Wimpey chairman to step down in 2010Norman Askew, the chairman of Taylor Wimpey, the UK housebuilder, confirmed this morning that he would step down before the end of next year. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 4 Dec 2009 | 12:40 am Taylor Wimpey chairman to step down in 2010Norman Askew, the chairman of Taylor Wimpey, the UK housebuilder, confirmed this morning that he will step down before the end of next year. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 4 Dec 2009 | 12:40 am GM, Suzuki to dissolve Canadian joint ventureGeneral Motors of Canada Limited will buy the half of Canadian manufacturer Cami Automotive Inc. it doesn’t already own from its joint venture partner, Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 4 Dec 2009 | 12:33 am Pre-Budget Report: Alistair Darling to defer tough measures to cut deficit, report saysAlistair Darling has decided it's too soon to announce plans for a substantial fiscal tightening in next week's pre-Budget Report without jeopardising a recovery, it has been reported.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:52 pm Comcast lands NBC in deal that reshapes media (Reuters)Reuters - Comcast Corp struck a deal to buy a majority stake in NBC Universal from General Electric Co, creating a media superpower that would control not just how television shows and movies are made, but how they are delivered to the home.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:50 pm Comcast lands NBC in deal that reshapes mediaNEW YORK (Reuters) - Comcast Corp struck a deal to buy a majority stake in NBC Universal from General Electric Co, creating a media superpower that would control not just how television shows and movies are made, but how they are delivered to the home.Source: Reuters: Business News | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:50 pm China official: Big banks cap ratio to rise to 11%A senior Chinese bank regulator is reportedly calling on large lenders to raise their capital adequacy ratio to 11%, a hike of one percentage point from the current requirement, though whether this will be mandatory remains unclear.
Source: MarketWatch.com - Top Stories | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:33 pm RBS and Lloyds will miss lending targets this year, NAO report revealsBritain's state-owned banks will fail to meet their targets for lending to small businesses this year, the NAO report revealsSource: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:18 pm Grab top-rate pension tax relief while you canNext Wednesday's pre-Budget report will be bad news for high earners.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:12 pm Prosecutors investigated Rajaratnam a decade ago: report(Reuters) - Federal prosecutors investigated Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam on suspicions of insider trading more than a decade before he was charged with securities fraud, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing legal filings.Source: Reuters: Business News | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:06 pm Prosecutors investigated Rajaratnam a decade ago: report (Reuters)Reuters - Federal prosecutors investigated Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam on suspicions of insider trading more than a decade before he was charged with securities fraud, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing legal filings.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:06 pm China hints sticking to dollar despite worriesBEIJING (Reuters) - China has maintained a consistent allocation of its foreign exchange reserves across different currencies, a senior official said on Friday, suggesting that any diversification away from the dollar has been gradual.Source: Reuters: Business News | 3 Dec 2009 | 10:52 pm China secures PNG gas supplyChina's second largest oil and gas company signs a deal for a 20-year gas supply from Papua New Guinea.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 3 Dec 2009 | 10:47 pm NZ dollar settles, investors await US dataThe New Zealand dollar market settled down ahead of the release of United States monthly jobs data for November later today.A higher than expected number was seen as a potential trigger for buying in higher-yielding currencies...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 3 Dec 2009 | 10:28 pm Recession will be felt 'for some time' says EnglishThe latest Crown accounts show the impact of the recession will be felt for some time, Finance Minister Bill English says.Released today, the accounts show the Government is continuing to pull in less tax than it forecast in this...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:30 pm Heritage Gold gets mining permit for Talisman mineHeritage Gold has been granted a 25-year permit to mine for gold and silver in the area of the historic Talisman mine, near Paeroa.The company today said the permit was the first in 18 years for gold mining in the North Island...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:09 pm Bernanke: Overseas bubbles not fault of low U.S. ratesWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Thursday rejected the idea that low U.S. interest rates were helping to fuel speculation overseas and potentially inflating dangerous new asset bubbles.Source: Reuters: Business News | 3 Dec 2009 | 7:20 pm CommComm pushes ahead on mobile termination ratesThe Commerce Commission is looking to push ahead on recommendations for mobile termination rates, after an attempt to get Telecom, Vodafone and 2degrees to reach an acceptable agreement among themselves failed.Mobile termination...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 3 Dec 2009 | 7:00 pm Bernanke defends record in bid for second termWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, making his case for a second term, defended his record on Thursday before a skeptical Senate that criticized the central bank for failing to prevent the financial crisis.Source: Reuters: Business News | 3 Dec 2009 | 6:51 pm BofA prices offering for bailout paybackBank of America said it has priced its stock offering which it plans to use to pay back the government's bailout money.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 3 Dec 2009 | 5:56 pm Investors cheer BofA capital raisingBank of America completed the sale of its $19.3bn equity sale on Thursday at $15 a share, a 4 per cent discount from Wednesday’s closeSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 3 Dec 2009 | 5:42 pm Savings are 'static in downturn'The amount people save has remained relatively static despite the changing economic picture, a survey finds.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 3 Dec 2009 | 5:41 pm Bernanke fights for Fed powersBen Bernanke warned lawmakers not to strip the US Federal Reserve of the powers and independence it needs to promote growth and price stability during his confirmation hearing in the SenateSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 3 Dec 2009 | 5:32 pm Lawmakers warn on Comcast bidUS lawmakers warned they would closely scrutinise Comcast’s bid for control of NBC Universal, as the cable company sought to ease regulatory and shareholder concernsSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 3 Dec 2009 | 5:19 pm Bernanke defends his Fed recordFed chairman Ben Bernanke, in Senate hearings to consider his reappointment, defends his response to the global crisis.Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 3 Dec 2009 | 5:12 pm Markets reportHow much longer will the global stocks rally last?Source: BBC News | Business | World Edition | 3 Dec 2009 | 5:04 pm Former Deputy Governor of the Bank, Sir John Gieve, joins hedge fundSir John Gieve, the former government mandarin who was in charge of financial stability at the Bank of England, is joining GLG, the hedge fund, The Times has learnt. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 3 Dec 2009 | 5:01 pm Take climate seriously. Make a joke of itWe are expecting a lot from the climate change conference in Copenhagen: emissions targets, a new concord between developed and developing worlds, a plan to save the world. And we can probably expect hot air, diplomatic failures and stirring speeches too. What we don’t expect is any gags. Not even a sneaky one about polar bears. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 3 Dec 2009 | 5:01 pm Business big shot: Osman Shahenshah, AfrenThe oil industry is well-known for its contact with top movers and shakers — Sir Bill Gammell, the chief executive of Cairn Energy, was a schoolfriend of George W Bush — but Osman Shahenshah was connected with the great and good even before he was born. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 3 Dec 2009 | 5:01 pm AstraZeneca buys into experimental antidepressant for up to $1.2bn in quest for next blockbuster drug$AstraZeneca, the British drugs company, is to pay up to $1.24 billion ($£748 million) for access to an experimental antidepressant that it hopes could be its next blockbuster drug. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 3 Dec 2009 | 5:01 pm Siemens warns of sales fall as it unveils €1bn lossSiemens, the German engineering group, painted a grim picture of falling profits and revenues next year as the company yesterday declared a net loss of €1 billion (£909 million) in its fourth quarter, mainly because of a big writedown on its joint-venture investment with Nokia in telephone networks. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 3 Dec 2009 | 5:01 pm Bank starts selling corporate bonds as ECB calls time on liquidity measuresThe Bank of England signalled yesterday that it would sell some of the assets purchased as part of its multibillion-pound scheme of quantitative easing as the European Central Bank said that the region was set to start its exit strategy from special liquidity measures. Source: Latest Business News from Times Online | 3 Dec 2009 | 5:01 pm Pilots taking Air NZ to Employment CourtA personal grievance case brought by eight Air New Zealand pilots, removed from captaining Boeing 747-400s after their 60th birthdays, will be heard in the Employment Court.The pilots had sought leave to skip a hearing before...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 3 Dec 2009 | 5:00 pm Retail spending edges up in NovemberNew Zealand retail spending climbed 1.2 per cent in November from the same month of 2008, according to Paymark, which processes more than 75 per cent of the nation's electronic transactions at retailers.The modest year-on-year...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 3 Dec 2009 | 5:00 pm Goldman looks to quell anger on bonusesTop Goldman Sachs executives are likely to receive their annual bonus in stock this year rather than cash as part of a pay review that could affect thousands of the Wall Street bank’s rank-and-file employeesSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 3 Dec 2009 | 5:00 pm Late-day slide hits stocks ahead of jobs report (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 3 Dec 2009 | 4:38 pm Lombard investors to get payment this month, says receiverLombard Finance receiver PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says investors will receive a repayment later this month of 6.5 cents for every dollar invested. The distribution was earlier than expected after the Inland Revenue Department...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 3 Dec 2009 | 4:30 pm Treasury's role to 'shake the debate', says WhiteheadThe way John Whitehead tells it, New Zealand came uncomfortably close last year to earning the title "Iceland of the South Pacific"."There was a period there where it wasn't clear that we could continue to raise the finance we...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 3 Dec 2009 | 4:30 pm Ulta Salon 3rd-qtr profit rises 69 percent (AP)AP - Beauty supplies retailer Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. said Thursday its profit rose 69 percent in the third quarter as sales rose by a double-digit percentage.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 3 Dec 2009 | 4:25 pm How the major stock indexes fared on Thursday (AP)AP - Investors grew nervous about the shape of the economy Thursday, dumping stocks at the last minute ahead of a key government report on unemployment. After a sleepy day of small back-and-forth trades, stocks began sliding in the last half-hour. The index ended off its lows but still posted a loss of 87 points. The wave of selling swept through the market like a brush fire and revealed how skittish investors remain.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 3 Dec 2009 | 4:17 pm Stocks slide on ISM services data, jobs anxiety (Reuters)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 3 Dec 2009 | 4:13 pm Write-Offs: 12.03.09$$$ Sandy Weill thinks Tim Geithner needs a massage [NYM] $$$ How To Catch High-Flyers [FT] $$$ Tiger's New Sponsors [CNBC] $$$ Bernie Sanders is not threatening the Federal Reserve's 'independence' [WaPo] 
 Source: Dealbreaker | 3 Dec 2009 | 4:08 pm ACC, Super Fund prop up Govt books as tax take dwindlesThe investment portfolios of ACC and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund continued to prop up the government's books as corporate and personal tax revenues dwindled, according to the Treasury.The Crown operating balance, including...Source: nzherald.co.nz - Business | 3 Dec 2009 | 4:00 pm Best of the L.A. Auto ShowFuel economy is the name of the game in Southern California.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 3 Dec 2009 | 3:58 pm Whistleblower challenges US court rulingThe whistleblower central to the US government’s drive to crack down on tax evasion in Switzerland has launched a challenge to have his prison sentence overturnedSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 3 Dec 2009 | 3:50 pm Bailing out the banks cost £5,500 per familyThe Government spent £117 billion buying shares in banks and lending directly to financial institutions, official audit finds.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 3 Dec 2009 | 3:20 pm Sen. Bunning Calls Bernanke's Fed "The Creature From Jekyll Island"By Caitlin Kenney Adam and Chana will have a fun play-by-play of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's confirmation hearing on Friday's Morning Edition. In the meantime, here's one of our favorite exchanges. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 3 Dec 2009 | 3:15 pm Wells Fargo Will Repay Asinine TARP Money One Day
They'll pay their TARP money back whenever they goddamn well please. They didn't want it in the first place, so they're going to take their sweet time, being careful to wrap each of the 25 billion dollar bills in canine excrement before stuffing them in a Hallmark card and mailing them to Tim Geithner's unsold New York home. But enough about Wells Fargo. Let's get to the real issue: Ken Lewis.
Source: Dealbreaker | 3 Dec 2009 | 3:12 pm Washington Post… The Last Stable Paper Company (WPO, BRK-A)Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO) has to be thankful that it is not just a newspaper company as most tend to think of it. Today, came an analyst rating action that was actually in favor of the newspaper, education, and media company. Standard & Poor’s raised its outlook on the company. How often do you [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 3 Dec 2009 | 3:09 pm Jim Bunning Wants To Send Ben Bernanke Back To Princeton
If you'd like to read along, the full statement, courtesy of the Journal, is after the jump. Think you could do a better job? Record yourself using the camera you already have set up and send it over. Earlier: What Are Senator Jim Bunning's Thoughts On Ben Bernanke?
Source: Dealbreaker | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:38 pm Bonanza for City lawyers, accountants and advisers as Treasury pays for crisis adviceThe biggest financial crisis in modern British history heralded an unprecedented bonanza in fees for City lawyers, accountants and advisers, a new report shows.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:36 pm Take-Two’s (TTWO) Well-Paid Management, Awful EarningsIt is time for the board of Take-Two (NASDAQ:TTWO) to see if it can renegotiate its contract with Zelnick Media, which runs the video game company. The current arrangement calls for Zelnick to get $2.5 million a year and bonuses up to another $2.5 million. The agreement also gives Zelnick favorable stock grants. Take-Two shares dropped [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:35 pm Comcast, Bank of America, TJX are big movers (AP)AP - The following stocks were among those that moved substantially or traded heavily Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market:Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:29 pm Charles Randell: admired and envied, Slaughter & May's £33m manIn the classic 1972 film The Godfather, Don Corleone said: "A lawyer with his briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns." For many, Charles Randell, a Slaughter & May partner, is the real-life version of the bounty winner that the gangster wistfully imagined.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:29 pm Schaeffer on Equities, Cutler on Biotechnology: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:22 pm Someone Might Actually Want To Work For Bank Of America Now?
*Who hopefully won't have a problem with Dick Bové sending notes about how they'll never live up to Ken Lewis with the words written in letters cut out of magazine clippings and blood)?
Source: Dealbreaker | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:21 pm Barone Sees Drop-off in Suburban Support for Democrats: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:20 pm GE's slimmer, trimmer futureGeneral Electric -- the last of the giant diversified conglomerates -- has adopted a strategy that was once unthinkable: narrowing its focus. It's a risky move for a company that had counted on its diversity as a hedging tool. But it's also one that may pay off in spades.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:15 pm Bernanke faces fire at confirmation hearingFederal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke got a rough going over from both his supporters and detractors at his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:05 pm Obama open to every good idea to stop job lossesWASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama kicked off a White House jobs forum on Thursday by saying he's "open to every demonstrably good idea" to reverse the worst job losses in decades. But Obama said the government's resources are limited and that growth ultimately must come from the private sector.
Source: L.A. Times - Business | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:05 pm Hammering out a golden opportunity for celebrity endorsementHaving filed for bankruptcy in the mid-1990s, cheesy rapper MC Hammer isn't exactly famed for his business acumen.Source: Finance and Business. Latest breaking news, stocks and shares from the UK and world | 3 Dec 2009 | 2:01 pm Why Wells Fargo hasn't paid U.S. backThe Wells Fargo stagecoach doesn't look ready to roll out of TARP town just yet.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 3 Dec 2009 | 1:54 pm Smithers Discusses His New Book `Wall Street Revalued': AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 3 Dec 2009 | 1:44 pm Eminent Domain Backlash?By Daniel Costello A New York Appelate court struck down the state's controversial 2008 use of eminent domain allowing Columbia University to buy a 17-acre site in West Harlem it wants for expansion. In a 3-2 decision, the Appelate Division of the State Supreme Court called the state's controversial 2008 decision to take the property on behalf of Columbia "unconstitutional." Columbia wants to expand north of its upper Manhattan campus and has bought most of the land it needs. But a warehouse and gas station owner challenged the state's finding that the neighborhood is blighted and able to be condemned for sale. The topic of eminent domain, and its use to clear blighted areas for economic development, is increasingly playing out in courts. Four years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court decided 5-4 in Kelo v. New London that New London, Connecticut could condemn and acquire 26 acres of a neighborhood to build hotels, condos, and a Pfizer research center. Soon after the ruling, New London spent nearly $80 million preparing the land but the redevelopment never got off the ground Last month, Pfizer dealt a final blow to the project and the struggling seaport city by announcing that 1,400 jobs would leave the area as the pharmaceutical giant scales back amid tepid sales and a lack of new drugs in its pipeline. The move will vacate a 750,000 square foot complex built in 2001 and nothing is planned in its place. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 3 Dec 2009 | 1:24 pm China eyes industrial bases in AfricaLower-value manufacturing facilities could be moved out of China to developing countriesSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 3 Dec 2009 | 1:07 pm What We Shouldn't Expect From The White House Jobs SummitBy Caitlin Kenney We spoke to economist Russ Roberts today about how his views on economics have changed over time. Roberts told us he longer believes that we can find policy answers in empirical data and offered today's jobs summit as an example: We have to be honest we don't really have a good idea of what creates jobs in this particular set of circumstances we're in. We have some past experiences, but even those which are inevitably what we use to base our studies on, those may not apply in this situation. This particular recession may be unusual it may have assets and aspects that don't replicate what happened before and therefore the policy answers are not likely to repeat themselves. So I think the whole idea of suggesting that we can a la physics or a la engineering, figure out the solution to the job creation problem, it's not just we're going to be off -- it's that whole enterprise is intellectually bankrupt. It is the difference between economics and biology. In biology, a biologist doesn't pretend to know how many frogs there are at a particular point in time in the rain forest. He may have an estimate but if you ask him well "how many will there be in six months?", he can't give an honest answer about that. He can't even give you an honest answer and he won't pretend to give you an honest answer if you ask him well "what will happen in six months if something changes in the rain forest to the frog population?" That's what we expect of economists and that's wrong. We're not good at that. We'll have our full interview with Russ Roberts on an upcoming podcast. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 3 Dec 2009 | 1:06 pm Morgan Stanley Stakes Claim As Worst Real-Estate Investor Ever
It may have been all of those things. It may also have had something to do with those hedge funds getting a look at Morgan's priceless real-estate portfolio. Just a couple of weeks ago, Morgan turned over a real-estate company to its lenders and the guy it paid $6.5 billion for the properties, simply to keep its write-downs on the disaster under $1 billion. Now, it's trying to restructure mortgage-backed securities totaling more than half the value of one of its real-estate funds.
Source: Dealbreaker | 3 Dec 2009 | 12:59 pm Did Obama Warn on Friday’s Unemployment Data?There have been at least two occasions where President Obama referred to the direction of the unemployment and non-farm payrolls data before the key report due Friday. Once was just a month ago, but it seems that the third telegraph was just made today. A personal perspective here today is that President Obama was still more [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 3 Dec 2009 | 12:37 pm Rates on 30-year mortgages set new record low (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 3 Dec 2009 | 12:36 pm Chinese official slams banks over derivativesSenior Chinese official attacks western banks for ‘maliciously’ peddling complicated derivative products that caused huge losses for state companiesSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 3 Dec 2009 | 12:07 pm Superfluous CDS Clearinghouse Earns Wall Street's Pity, Handful Of TradesIn early October of 2008, Ken Griffin and his partners-in-crime at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange had a dream. It was a dream of bringing "stability and transparency" to the credit-default swap market in such a way that would "reduce much of the systematic risk inherent" in those crazy derivatives. That December, the CMDX clearinghouse/trading platform got the go ahead from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. In March of this year, it received its final regulatory approvals. And, if it's lucky, for Hannukah, it may actually get to clear a trade or two.
Source: Dealbreaker | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:55 am Presented By:Source: Dealbreaker | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:55 am Asking for charity for the first timeSherman Wilburn of Minneapolis has often given his time and money to others in need. Now he finds himself asking for help. He talks with Kai Ryssdal about the difficult times facing him and his family.Source: Marketplace | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:53 am Beware of charities' 'donor illusion'Donors to charities get satisfaction from thinking their money is going to a particular person or project with which they then have a special relationship. But those relationships sometimes aren't so special. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.Source: Marketplace | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:53 am Credit Suisse Employee Forgets To Turn Off Portable Heater Over ThanksgivingSee if you can guess what happens next.
Source: Dealbreaker | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:53 am Too much technology too fastDouglas Coupland's first novel, "Generation X," got him credit for naming a whole generation. His new novel, "Generation A," comes full circle, taking readers through a world where interpersonal communication is a dying art. He talks with Kai Ryssdal.Source: Marketplace | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:52 am Advertising heats up for climate summitNobody really expects a binding treaty to come out of the U.N. Climate Change Conference that begins next week in Copenhagen, but that hasn't stopped advertisers from trying to sell the idea of one. Sarah Gardner reports.Source: Marketplace | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:52 am How B of A made quick fix from bailoutBank of America says it's finally able to pay back the $45 billion bailout it got from taxpayers last fall. Seeing as how it wasn't all that long ago that the company was on the ropes, we asked reporter Steve Henn to explain the turnaround.Source: Marketplace | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:52 am Ideas but no fixes for creating jobsAs President Obama convened his "jobs summit" with business and labor leaders there was plenty of news about the conundrum he's facing -- a decline in the service sector and retail sales. So Bob Moon asked economic experts how we might jump-start the economy.Source: Marketplace | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:52 am Comcast deal will help GE with core bizMuch has been written and said about Comcast's plan to buy a controlling chunk of NBC Universal from General Electric and what it will mean for NBC. But what about the impact on GE? Jeremy Hobson has that story.Source: Marketplace | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:52 am IDC: 300,000 iPhone apps before 2011Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:41 am Jobs Summit: Public Benefit or Public Relations?By Daniel Costello When he announced a White House jobs summit last month, Mr. Obama said he was determined to meet the "great challenge" of unemployment. And what a challenge it is: the unemployment rate is at 10.2 percent -- a 26-year high and rising. Eight million jobs have been eliminated so far in two years of recession. And yet it's hard to know exactly what will come from today's summit. Critics have complained it's more a glorified public-relations stunt and they may have a point. While a slew of the country's best and brightest executives, financiers, small business owners and labor leaders are in Washington to discuss how to create jobs, even Press Secretary Robert Gibbs acknowledged yesterday that the government alone cannot repair economic damage this severe on its own. Translation: the White House was downplaying today's results before the start. The reality is that the Administration, packed with some of the best known economists alive, already knows what tools it could use to help stem unemployment. Among them: extending unemployment benefits and subsidies for COBRA health benefits; more fiscal relief for cash-strapped states; new funds for direct job creation, especially for young people under 25 years old, who have a 19 percent unemployment rate, and African-American and Hispanic men who are facing joblessness at 34.5 percent. Previous stimulus funds have helped. Just this week, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the stimulus generated up to 1.6 million jobs during the fourth quarter, far exceeding even the administration's claims that it had saved or created 640,000 jobs. The Labor Department surprised everyone this morning by reporting that first-time unemployment claims fell to their lowest level in a year last week. Still, the real results will come in the next few weeks when the Administration decides if it really wants to spend the political and deficit capital to pump up more jobs -- and if Congress goes along if it does. At the end of the day, that's likely alot more important to watch than what's going on today. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:20 am A look at economic developments around the globe (AP)AP - A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Thursday:Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:10 am Getting a Mortgage in 2010: 10 Things to Know (U.S. News & World Report)
Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:05 am Who Does Shop At Home Think They’re Fooling?
Source: Business Pundit | 3 Dec 2009 | 11:04 am Analysts see need for UAE banking aidThe United Arab Emirates may have to do more to support its banks and prevent the woes of a leading Dubai-owned conglomerate from causing losses and derailing a tentative economic recovery, say bankers and analystsSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 3 Dec 2009 | 10:52 am Interview: “Simply Effective” Author Ron Ashkenas Discusses How to Simplify Your Organization
Have you ever been in an over-complicated work situation, the kind where you’re amazed anything gets done at all? You spend hours in unproductive meetings. Communication between teams is convoluted. Decisionmakers stall until the last second. Your elaborate product line defies definition. Oh, and you receive at least five urgent, irrelevant emails a day. Complexity like this is common, according to Ron Ashkenas, a longtime Fortune 500 consultant and international speaker. During his years of consulting, Ashkenas figured out the causes, effects, and remedies for organizational complexity. In his new book, “Simply Effective: How to Cut Through Complexity in Your Organization and Get Things Done,” Ashkenas reveals the four major causes of complexity (hint: you’re probably one of them), how they affect your company, and how to resolve them. The book, which comes out December 8, is an engaging read with useful case studies and how-tos. While some books only provide the background on an issue, Ashkenas’ book value-adds by providing you with tools to solve the problem. Managers, C-level executives, and consultants will find this book most useful, though as a small business owner and student of business practices in general, I enjoyed it, too. I interviewed Ashkenas to learn more about his book, the concept of simplicity, and who can benefit from reducing complexity. BP: How do you define simplicity in an organization? RA: It’s the ability to get things done with the least amount of wasted motion, in a way that will satisfy both your customers and the people doing the work. Workers feel like there’s a direct line of sight to what they’re contributing and to what customers are receiving. Customers have a direct line of sight to what they’re getting, and what the value is. When you start adding all that up, it also means reducing costs, reducing inefficiency and non-value-added stuff that gets built in, and reducing lots of frustration. BP: Why do people tend to make organizations complex? RA: First of all, nobody wakes up in the morning and says “I’m going to try to make my organization more complex today.” Some of it happens just by natural forces of business and competition, technology and regulation. All the environmental stuff that’s continually bombarding organizations creates a level of complexity. My point in the book is that managers unintentionally and unconsciously contribute to and compound that complexity. Sometimes it’s in the way that they organize the organization. Sometimes it’s in the way that they manage processes or their portfolio of products. Sometimes it’s in their own managerial behaviors. I go into all those four categories in the book. None of it is intentional or conscious. Nobody’s thinking “how can I make it really tough for people to get things done?” BP: What are a couple of the most common sources of complexity that you have seen people create within an organization? RA: I’ll just pick a couple. One is what I call product proliferation. We try to please our customers by continually either looking for new products, new services, new variations on the products or services, but rarely eliminate the old ones. We don’t have sunset laws on products or services. So we’re always adding more. Every time you add a new product or service, it creates a cascade of work down through the rest of the organization. Second, there’s the sheer weight of the portfolio of things to manage. In the book, there’s a case on Herman Miller, which was a great example. There was a notion over the last couple of years of mass customization, that we should do everything possible to customize our products for our customers. Herman Miller was following that trend with the Aeron chair. The company created all these different customization possibilities within numerous categories that customers could select to create their own unique, perfect Aeron chair. When the product manager went back and looked at this, she realized that there were about 140 million different customization options being offered. The enormity of being able to manage that and be geared up to produce any of those 140 million custom configurations was putting a huge amount of extra cost into the supply chain, and into the whole value chain. In reality, customers don’t want that much choice. Out of the 140 million possibilities, only about 4,000 had ever been ordered. Of those, only hundreds were high-frequency orders. By paring that way back, it was possible to both reduce costs and please the customers. There’s a grocery store that’s one of the most profitable, successful, and popular grocery chains in Germany (ed.: Aldi). They have a rule in their stores that they carry no more than 700 products. Instead of 20 choices of orange juice or yogurt or toilet paper, you get two. Customers flock to that store partially because they don’t want to be inundated with all those choices. It makes their lives more complex. On a more personal level, there are lots of things that managers do in their own behaviors, unintentionally and unconsciously. It’s really useful to step back and say “am I creating complexity unintentionally?” For example, every time you use the “reply all” button, you’re possibly sending emails to hundreds of people about things that are irrelevant to them. Or managers send various versions of documents around to people, and after a while, it’s hard to tell what’s the source document and what’s the most current document. Or presentations. I’m sure you’ve been in various meetings with PowerPoint presentations that were actually long reports made into presentations. There are all these things that we do unintentionally that create complexity. One is product complexity. Institution after institution created products that were so complex that even Warren Buffett said that he didn’t understand them. There were CDOs-squared and CDOs-cubed, and you go on and on with these things. Companies lost the line of sight between the real asset and what the product actually meant. I think that’s one area of complexity that if we had been more attuned to the way that complexity was starting to take hold there, it would have made a difference. The second was the regulatory structure, which is still highly fragmented and highly complex. There are different regulators for all the different parts of the financial industry. There are insurance parts, investment banking parts, it goes on and on. Then, there are parts of the industry that don’t have any regulation, like hedge funds. All of these regulators aren’t necessarily talking to each other. We’ve got a fragmented, complex regulatory structure against a backdrop of institutions that are creating incredibly complex products. No surprise that when you put that together, it’s sort of a toxic stew of not enough and poor regulation over things that we don’t fully understand. I’m sure there were many other causes, money and social policies and all kinds of things, greed, incentives. I could go on. But those are two of the major simplicity issues that I think could have made a major difference. RA: If you’re the CEO or the head of a large division, and you can create a simplification effort in a whole area, it really needs to be a business imperative. For example, there are lots of companies that somewhere in their mission statement or values it says simplicity. That goes back thousands of years. It has to be a business imperative that’s actually going to make a difference in your business. On the other hand, if you’re a manager at any other level, it’s also important to think about the business imperative part of it. At the same time, think of what is it going to do to help you get you and your team’s work done more effectively. That’s the starting point. Ron talks more about simplification and the financial industry at Harvard Business Publishing. Full disclosure: We were sent a free copy of the book to review.
Source: Business Pundit | 3 Dec 2009 | 10:34 am Robert Merry Says President Polk Had Iron-Clad Will: VideoSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 3 Dec 2009 | 10:32 am The Wall Street Journal Can Blow Eliot Spitzer
"I don't think The Wall Street Journal has the foggiest idea of what capitalism is all about. They don't understand what markets are and how they work. I believe that for markets to work, you need a government that brings enforcement actions and sets parameters the way we were trying to when I was AG. It was part of a much more nuanced argument that I was trying to make when I was governor about what government should do. But populism, which is driven by anger, isn't going to get us to the point where we actually create jobs or wealth for people. It's a visceral response. What we need is a more sophisticated understanding of how the economy really works-and the caricature that's put forth on The Wall Street Journal's editorial page is just as wrong as the one put forth by the angry populists." Eliot Spitzer: 'I Don't Think The Wall Street Journal Has the Foggiest Idea of What Capitalism Is All About' [Daily Intel]
Source: Dealbreaker | 3 Dec 2009 | 10:31 am AvalonBay Raised to `Neutral' at Goldman Sachs: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 3 Dec 2009 | 10:30 am U.S. Rep. Wolf Sees $1 Trillion Deficit for Next Decade: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 3 Dec 2009 | 10:27 am Brusuelas Sees Unemployment Peaking at 11%: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 3 Dec 2009 | 10:26 am Viacom + Time Warner = Next Big Media MergerNo one would be surprised to see Sumner Redstone, the 86-year-old head of Viacom (NYSE:VIA), and Jeff Bewkes, CEO of Time Warner (NYSE:TWX), wearing disguises to their private meetings in coffee shops around Manhattan. The “merger” of GE’s (NYSE:GE) NBCU with the content assets of Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is likely to have investment bankers looking at the logical [...][[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Source: 24/7 Wall St. | 3 Dec 2009 | 10:20 am In uranium we trustWith just one more permit from the State of Colorado, Energy Fuels Resources Corporation founder and CEO George Glasier can break ground for the first new U.S. uranium mill since the Cold War.Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 3 Dec 2009 | 10:11 am UK Police Shut Down 1,200+ Websites Selling Cheap Designer Goods
Customers who buy from the sites either receive nothing, counterfeit goods, or have their credit card details stolen. Criminal gangs in Asia are believed to make millions of pounds from the fraud. Officers from the Met’s central e-crime unit, working with the body responsible for domain names in the UK, Nominet, removed the websites, which included Australiaugg4shop.co.uk, hotlinksshop.co.uk and etiffany-shop.co.uk Central e-crime unit head Det Supt Charlie McMurdie said: “This is the biggest operation of its kind in the UK. Where people are placing their credit card details onto an internet site and that site is being controlled outside of the UK by criminal networks, then there’s the obvious potential those details will be used for other fraudulent activity.” The criminal gangs try to make the sites look as legitimate as possible by registering a domain name with “.co.uk” at the end. They use false details or hide behind anonymous e-mail addresses when signing up, and are almost impossible to trace. The scammers were targeting Christmas shoppers, according to the Financial Times, which also says Internet fraud is estimated to be worth $50 billion a year globally.
Source: Business Pundit | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:48 am How To Turn $7.5 Billion Into $966 Million
Because of an investment deal struck two years ago, early in the financial crisis, the United Arab Emirates' sovereign fund will soon start purchasing $7.5 billion in Citigroup shares at $31.83 apiece, even though the New York bank's stock closed at $4.10. Abu Dhabi's Citigroup Investment Turns Costly [WSJ]
Source: Dealbreaker | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:42 am SEC pushes to reform mutual fund fees (Reuters)Reuters - The top U.S. securities regulator pushed on Thursday to reform mutual fund fees that traditionally used to stimulate fund growth and help cut shareholder expenses.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:41 am SEC pushes to reform mutual fund fees (Reuters)Reuters - The top U.S. securities regulator pushed on Thursday to reform mutual fund fees that traditionally used to stimulate fund growth and help cut shareholder expenses.Source: Yahoo! News: Business | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:41 am Comcast Buys 51% Stake in NBC Universal for $6.5 Billion Cash
The Comcast-NBC Universal joint venture was finalized today, with Comcast agreeing to pay $6.5 billion cash for a 51% stake in NBCU. The New York Times has more: The agreement will create a joint venture, with Comcast owning 51 percent and G.E. owning 49 percent. Comcast will contribute to the joint venture its stable of cable channels, which includes Versus, the Golf Channel and E Entertainment, worth about $7.25 billion, and will pay G.E. about $6.5 billion in cash, for a total of $13.75 billion. For now, the network will remain NBC Universal, but ultimately Comcast could decide to change the name. The deal could take up to 18 months to pass regulatory muster. The deal valued NBC Universal at about $30 billion. Most of NBC’s value is in its lucrative cable channels — USA, Bravo, SyFy, CNBC and MSNBC. The NBC network and Universal Studios will comprise only a small portion of the joint venture’s cash flow. Prepare to wait a long time before regulators decide what to do with this merger.
Source: Business Pundit | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:15 am Letter: A New Holiday TraditionGeorge B. writes: I had never heard of Joel Waldfogel, but I thought he had some great things to say in the interview. So, I wanted to tell you about a Christmas tradition in my family. A few years ago, many of the folks in my family on my wife's side were getting a bit stressed with all the Christmas shopping, planning, traveling and everything that we feel obligated to do. We discussed several gift exchange ideas to simplify things, and then someone had the idea to just give cash, but with a fun twist. Each year, when we get together for Thanksgiving, we bring cash for each person in the family. My mother-in-law brings an envelope for each person with our names on them. We all put cash into each person's envelope. You can give as much or as little as you like, and no one really knows who gave what. Then we each secretly go buy gifts for ourselves, wrap them ourselves, and bring them when we get together for Christmas. As we go around the circle opening gifts everyone is surprised by what each person gets except the receiver. Everyone gets exactly what they wanted, and we have a lot of fun seeing what each person picked out for themselves. I should mention that we only do this for the adults in the family. We all still have fun buying toys for the kids, and they're generally easier to shop for anyway (not to mention that they will tell you exactly what they want if you need ideas). We've followed this tradition for several years now, and it really has been great. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:10 am US retailers report tough NovemberLeading US retailers reported November sales that were broadly lower than expected, as a post-Thanksgiving rush failed to offset earlier weak demandSource: Financial Times - US homepage | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:09 am Sanford's Moffett Sees `Regulatory Hell' for Comcast: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:04 am Axiom's Dalton Says Gold Price Expectations Too Low: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:03 am Gamco's Haverty Discusses Comcast, NBC Deal: AudioSource: Bloomberg - All Podcasts | 3 Dec 2009 | 9:02 am Luxury makes a comebackHere's what the financial crisis sounds like at the top of the income ladder: When asked how the recession had impacted her life, one banker's wife said, "The waiting list for a Birkin bag is a lot shorter."Source: Business and financial news - CNNMoney.com | 3 Dec 2009 | 8:21 am Jobless Claims Fall To One-Year LowBy Daniel Costello The number of people filing for new unemployment claims unexpectedly fell to a year low last week in another sign the lagging labor market is gaining momentum. Initial jobless claims declined by 5,000 to 457,000 in the week that ended Nov. 28, the fewest since September 2008, a Labor Department report showed. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 3 Dec 2009 | 7:59 am European stocks rise as Dubai concerns ease (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 3 Dec 2009 | 7:06 am Filing: Fired CEO claims NC security co. broke law (AP)AP - The fired former chief executive of Law Enforcement Associates, a maker of security gear for police and military customers worldwide, has claimed the Raleigh-based company violated U.S. export and insider trading laws, the company disclosed in an SEC filing.Source: Yahoo! News: Stock Markets News | 3 Dec 2009 | 6:09 am Morning Report: Comcast Seals The Deal; Wall Street Cuts Holiday PartiesBy Daniel Costello In a deal nicely explained by Andrew Ross Sorkin in the New York Times today, Comcast Corp. announced Thursday it plans to buy a majority stake in NBC Universal for $13.75 billion, giving the nation's largest cable TV operator control of the Peacock network, a stable of cable channels and a major movie studio. Comcast's new heft, perhaps rivaled only by Disney - which Comcast CEO Brian Roberts already tried to buy - means movies may reach cable stations more quickly after leaving theaters, and TV shows could appear faster on cell phones and other devices. Meanwhile, troubled Bank of America Corp. announced some good news late Wednesday. It will repay $45 billion it got from the government after raising $18.8 billion selling new shares. As for the rest of the funds? The bank says it will use $26.2 billion in excess liquidity, such as cash and other holdings that can be sold quickly, over the coming months or years. The remaining $18.8 billion will be raised by selling new stock. And at least Wall Street is killing some compensation this year: the holiday Christmas party. Investment banks Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Citigroup all said they do not plan on hosting any company-sponsored holiday events this year. A Morgan Stanley spokesperson said the company plans on giving the money that would have been allocated for a party to a yet-to-be-determined charity. » E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us Source: NPR Blogs: Planet Money | 3 Dec 2009 | 4:59 am Piglet and the Swine Flu
Source: Business Pundit | 3 Dec 2009 | 4:23 am
|
