Description:Â Kraft Foods (KFT.N) is preparing to sweeten its hostile 10 billion pound ($15.9 billion) takeover bid for British confectionery maker Cadbury (CBRY.L), reported the Sunday Times. Source: Reuters.com Date: 01/03/2010 Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE60207X20100103 Questions for discussion: Do you believe the bid is overpriced? Explain your thinking. How would you assess the bidding process thus far… Read more »
Posts By: Brahm Canzer
Bernanke Says Low Rates Didn’t Cause Housing Bubble
Description: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank’s low interest rates didn’t cause the past decade’s housing bubble and that better regulation would have been more effective in limiting the boom. Source: Bloomberg.com Date: 01/03/2010 Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=auCLZh_HZf9E&pos=1 Questions for discussion: Do you agree with Ben Bernanke’s views about the cause of the… Read more »
Investors Hope the ’10s Beat the ’00s
Description: The U.S. stock market is wrapping up what is likely to be its worst decade ever. In nearly 200 years of recorded stock-market history, no calendar decade has seen such a dismal performance as the 2000s. Source: WSJ.com Date: 12/20/2009 Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704786204574607993448916718.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read Questions for discussion:Â Summarize the highlights of the story. Do you think… Read more »
How the financial system fell apart
Description: PIMCO CEO Mohamed El-Erian explains how collapse of Lehman Brothers destroyed confidence in the economy. Source: CNNMoney – video report  Date: 12/10/2009 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/fortune/2009/12/08/f_cs_pimco_food.fortune/ Questions for discussion: Summarize the reasons given for the financial crisis. Do you believe the fear expressed by El-Erian was experienced by everyone? Explain your answer. How do you… Read more »
Pay czar issues salary caps for execs
Description: Kenneth Feinberg limits pay to 500,000 for hundreds of employees at AIG, General Motors, Citigroup and GMAC. Source: CNNMoney.com Date: 12/11/2009 Link:Â http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/11/news/companies/feinberg_compensation/index.htm Questions for discussion: What are the arguments put forward that favour limiting the pay of executives at these firms? Do you agree with these arguments? What are possible consequences of this… Read more »
IPOVIEW-Faulty week does not signal end of IPO boom
Description:Â There is nothing wrong with the IPO market that a few quality companies could not cure. That is what analysts insisted after a week of disappointing offerings that seemed to deflate a budding recovery in the market. Source: Reuters.com Date: 12/11/2009 Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1126572920091212 Questions for discussion: Summarize the arguments given for the weak response… Read more »
Goldman Trades Shouldn’t Get U.S. Aid, Volcker Says
Description: Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which took $10 billion in U.S. bailout funds last year, shouldn’t get taxpayer support if the firm focuses on trading over banking, according to former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. Source: Bloomberg.com Date: 12/12/2009 Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a.O8G_pyd5ZE Questions for discussion: Summarize the highlights of the story. How might this impact the… Read more »
Comcast’s big gamble with NBC
Description: Fortune’s Andy Serwer is skeptical that the proposed Comcast-NBCU deal will work better than previous media mergers. Source: CNNMoney – video report  Date: 12/02/2009 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/fortune/2009/12/02/f_sl_nbc_comcast.fortune/ Questions for discussion: Summarize the reasons given for the acquisition of NBC by Comcast. Do you believe this was a good financial deal? Explain your answer.
Dubai not a canary but another miner needing oxygen
Description: Taken all in all, Dubai’s debt crisis is the most significant financial development of 2007. Here in late 2009 it amounts to far less. Source: Reuters.com Date: 12/01/2009 Link:Â http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN3058513220091201 Questions for discussion: Summarize the opinions presented in this article. Do you agree with these views? Explain your thinking.
European Banks Growing Bigger ‘Sowing the Seeds’ of Next Crisis
Description: European banks are emerging from the credit crisis bigger than before, posing more risk to their national economies. Source: Bloomberg.com Date: 12/02/2009 Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aRDrzOAWRekc Questions for discussion: Summarize the arguments given for concern? Do you share those concerns? Explain your answer. Should the banks be regulated more? Explain your thinking.
