Description: Johnson & Johnson plans to cut up to 7 percent of its workforce in order to generate cost savings needed to finance increasingly costly drug research and to weather future challenges, the diversified healthcare company said on Tuesday.

Source: Reuters.com

Date: 11/03/2009

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5A229D20091103

Questions for discussion:

• Summarize the reasons for the cost cutting measures?
• Do you believe these decisions will result in long-term profitability? Explain your thinking.

Description: Stanley Works agreed to purchase Black & Decker Corp. yesterday for $3.5 billion in stock after on-and-off talks that spanned almost three decades.

Source: Bloomberg.com

Date: 11/03/2009

Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ai7WJ.67rcVE

Questions for discussion: 

• Summarize the financial reasons that motivate this merger.
• Why do you think a merger was agreed to at this time, after so many years of discussions?

Description: When night falls in remote parts of Africa and the Indian subcontinent, hundreds of millions of people without access to electricity turn to candles or flammable and polluting kerosene lamps for illumination. Slowly through small loans for solar powered devices, microfinance is bringing light to these rural regions where a lack of electricity has stymied economic development, literacy rates and health.

Source: Reuters.com

Date: 10/27/2009

Link:  http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GreenBusiness/idUSTRE59Q01J20091027

Questions for discussion:

• What are the benefits of microfinancing of electricity?
•  Is microfinancing a viable alternative to large-scale government capital budgeting projects? Explain your answer.
• What are the economic ramifications for economic development if microfinancing grows in popularity?

Description: Dutch bancassurer ING will split in two, transforming itself into a smaller European lender in the most striking example yet of the deep changes that EU policymakers want to force on banks that received state aid.

Source: Reuters.com

Date: 10/26/2009

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/innovationNews/idUSTRE59P0U020091026

Questions for discussion:

• Summarize the financial structural changes coming to ING.
• Do you think the bank was responsible for its own financial weakness or was it simply another victim of the credit crunch? Explain your answer.
• Has the treatment of U.S. banks by regulatory authorities been similar or different?
• How has ING stock performed recently?

Description:  Sergei Brin and Larry Page share the No. 1 spot on Fortune’s list of top young businesspeople.

Source: CNNMoney – video report
 
Date: 10/21/2009

Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/fortune/2009/10/21/f_40_under_40_overview.fortune/

Questions for discussion: 

• Is there a common denominator that connects these business people?
• Do you think being young has contributed to their business insight and success? Explain your thinking.

Description: Stock soars 10% after the software giant’s earnings and revenue beat analysts’ forecast. Sales fell 14% to $12.9 billion, declining for the third quarter in a row.

Source: CNNMoney.com

Date: 10/23/2009

Link:  http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/23/technology/microsoft_earnings/index.htm?postversion=2009102311

Questions for discussion:

• Explain why Microsoft’s cash flow and other financial metrics are expected to improve?
• Do you believe Microsoft stock values are likely to be higher over the next year? Explain your answer.

 Description: Potash Corp of Saskatchewan (POT.N) (POT.TO) said on Thursday quarterly profit fell 80 percent as fertilizer demand and pricing weakened, prompting it to dim its outlook for the sector and sending shares lower.

Source: Reuters.com

Date: 10/22/2009

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/basicMaterialsSector/idUSN2250573820091022

Questions for discussion:

• As a financial manager of a commodity firm, would you wait until demand picks up again in 2010, as suggested in the article, or would you cut price to boost sales? Explain your thinking.
• Why has the stock price not collapsed given the poor financial situation?
• Would you be looking at mergers and acquisitions of other potash miners? Explain your thinking.

Description: President Barack Obama called small businesses the “engine” of the U.S. economy and said too many are still struggling to get the credit they need to operate.

Source: Bloomberg.com

Date: 10/24/2009

Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a7zcW8m3pMH0

Questions for discussion: 

• Why would banks be slow to provide more credit to small businesses at this time? Explain your answer.
• Do you think banks are being prudent in their caution to lend to small businesses? 
• What do small businesses typically finance through bank loans?
• How can government encourage greater borrowing by small businesses?