Description: Merrill Lynch & Co. units now owned by Bank of America Corp. won dismissal of claims in a lawsuit filed by MBIA Inc. last year over protection sold against mortgage-debt defaults. Source: Bloomberg.com Date: 04/10/2010 Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601208&sid=ac_igSnXiHDw Questions for discussion: What is the significance of the judge’s decision in this case? What are the… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Management Issues
Innovation, by Order of the Kremlin
Description: AROUND the time that Apple Computer was making it big in California, Andrey Shtorkh was getting a first-hand look at the Soviet approach to high tech: he guarded the fence keeping scientists inside Sverdlovsk-45, one of the country’s secret scientific cities, deep in the Ural Mountains. Source: NYTimes.com Date: 04/10/2010 Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/business/global/11russia.html?ref=business Questions for… Read more »
More anger expected to color annual meeting season
Description: Emerging standard calls for directors to win backing of a majority of investors Source: Marketwatch.com Date: 04/02/2010 Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/more-anger-expected-to-color-annual-meeting-season-2010-04-02?siteid=nwtwk Questions for discussion: Do you think retail shareholders are more likely to exercise their voting power in the future? How can corporate financial managers be expected to react?
Why a $14/hour employee costs $20
Description: You probably cost your boss a lot more than you think you do. Source:Â CNNMoney.com Date: 03/26/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/26/smallbusiness/employee_costs/index.htm Questions for discussion: In general, do you think these taxes (costs) are fair to employers and employees? Why would any exemptions for employment taxes be considered an unfair competitive subsidy by other businesses who must… Read more »
Dodd calls for Lehman Bros. investigation
Description: A year and a half after Lehman Brothers’ collapse, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., is calling for a federal investigation into the “Lehman situation” and other companies that may have fudged their balance sheets, contributing to the financial crisis. Source: CNNMoney.com  Date: 03/20/2010  Link: http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/19/news/economy/lehman_brothers_chris_dodd/index.htm Questions for discussion: Do you believe… Read more »
Lehman’s $642 million bankruptcy
Description: Councils, advisors, consultants, even an art auctioneer get hefty compensation for cleaning up the firm’s books. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report  Date: 03/12/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/fortune/2010/03/12/f_sl_lehman_fees.fortune/ Questions for discussion: Summarize the possible claims against Lehman. Explain why criminal proceedings against individuals or organizations might be in order? Explain the lessons learned by the failure… Read more »
$642 million to clean up Lehman — and counting
Description: Unraveling the biggest-ever U.S. bankruptcy case isn’t cheap. A report released Thursday by the examiner in the Lehman Brothers Chapter 11 case exposed the games the defunct investment bank’s executives played to stay in Wall Street’s good graces Source: CNNMoney.com  Date: 03/12/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/12/news/companies/lehman.fees.fortune/?section=magazines_fortune Questions for discussion: How does the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which… Read more »
Tom Friedman on bank reform
Description: Author and New York Times columnist Tom Friedman dissects problems in financial regulatory reform. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report  Date: 02/25/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/02/24/n_tom_friedman_regulation_reform.cnnmoney/ Questions for discussion: Summarize the arguments presented by Tom Friedman. Do you agree that there is an imbalance in the financing of “good riskâ€? How can more financing be directed… Read more »
Buffett’s $50 million credit card blunder
Description: Peddling credit cards isn’t so easy that a caveman can do it. That seems to be the conclusion Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA, Fortune 500) chief executive Warren Buffett reluctantly reached last year, when he shut down a money-losing credit card business he had dreamed up for Berkshire’s Geico car-insurance unit. Source: CNNMoney.com  Date: 02/27/2010… Read more »
GM’s chief gets $9 million
Description: General Motors chairman and chief executive, Ed Whitacre, Jr. will receive a compensation package worth $9 million, the automaker said Friday. Source: CNNMoney.com Date: 02/19/2010 Link: http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/19/news/companies/GM_salary/index.htm Questions for discussion: Do you believe this compensation is appropriate in light of GM’s history and connection to TARP? Do you believe there can be negative reaction… Read more »
