Medicare Bills Rise as Records Turn Electronic

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Description:  When the federal government began providing billions of dollars in incentives to push hospitals and physicians to use electronic medical and billing records, the goal was not only to improve efficiency and patient safety, but also to reduce health care costs. Source: NYTimes.com Date: Sep 21, 2012 Link:  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/22/business/medicare-billing-rises-at-hospitals-with-electronic-records.html?_r=1&hp Questions for Discussions: What are… Read more »

Bankers, Expect Your 2012 Bonus to be Down 30%

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Description: As investment bank bonus pools continue to shrink, banks are expected to continue to layoff staff. The WSJ’s Deborah Kan speaks to Christian Brun from executive search firm Wellesley Partners about just how bad it’s about to get. Source: Moneywatch.com – video report Date: Sep 07, 2012 Link: http://on.wsj.com/Qi5MdW Questions for Discussions: According to… Read more »

No Joke: Jay Leno Took Pay Cut of 50%

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Description: Late-night talk show host Jay Leno took a 50% pay cut as part of NBC’s budget-chopping effort last month at “The Tonight Show,” the network said, detailing the scope of the changes for the first time as well as the reasoning behind them. Christopher Stewart has details on Lunch Break. Photo: Getty Images. Source:… Read more »

Are the Big Banks Keeping Their Commitment to Small Businesses?

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Description:   Last September in Cleveland, 13 of the nation’s largest banks stood beside Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Karen Mills, chief of the Small Business Administration, and announced a commitment to increase small-business lending by $20 billion over the following three years. Source: NYTimes.com Date:  Sep 06, 2012 Link:  http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/06/are-the-big-banks-keeping-their-commitment-to-small-businesses/?ref=smallbusiness Questions for Discussions: … Read more »

Dallas Cowboys Lead NFL With $2.1 Billion Valuation

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Description:  The most famous quote attributed to legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi is “winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” But if Lombardi had coached in this era instead of the 1960s he may have substituted the word “marketing” for “winning.” Source: Forbes.com Date: Sep 05, 2012 Link:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2012/09/05/dallas-cowboys-lead-nfl-with-2-1-billion-valuation/ Questions for Discussions: What… Read more »

Small Business Still Credit-Crunched, New York Fed Poll Says

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Description: Small businesses in metro New York are still having trouble borrowing, according to a new poll released today by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Source: Businessweek.com Date: Aug 15, 2012 Link: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-08-14/small-biz-still-credit-crunched-new-york-fed-poll-says#r=nav-img Questions for Discussions: What does this report say about the state of small business borrowing? Can you offer additional explanations… Read more »

Happy Fifth Birthday, Financial Crisis

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Description: WSJ’s Matt Phillips stops by Mean Street to mark five years since the global credit crunch which sent the global economy into a tailspin. (Photo: Reuters) Source: Marketwatch.com – video report Date: Aug 09, 2012 Link: http://live.wsj.com/video/happy-fifth-birthday-financial-crisis/2F60CB68-CE72-4D21-B7AF-099008A6D84C.html Questions for Discussions: Summarize the history of the financial crisis as reported. What do you think was… Read more »

Police Chief’s $204,000 Pension Shows How Cities Crashed

Posted by & filed under Financial analysis, Financial Planning, Governments & Regulators.

Description:  Stockton, California, Police Chief Tom Morris was supposed to bring stability to law enforcement when he was appointed to the job four years ago. Source: Bloomberg.com Date: July 31, 2012 Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-01/police-chief-s-204-000-pension-shows-how-cities-crashed.html Questions for Discussions: Explain the crisis facing these cities in terms of financial mismanagement of budgets and cash flow estimations? Is there… Read more »

Bank bailout failed homeowners

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Description: Former TARP Inspector General Neil Barofsky says the program failed to protect Main Street from Wall Street. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: July 25, 2012 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2012/07/25/n-Barofsky-TARP.cnnmoney/ Questions for Discussions: Summarize commentary in this report about the failure to manage TARP. Do you believe the criticism is fair? What are the economic prospects… Read more »

Your credit card costs small biz thousands

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Description: Retail merchants get charged a fee when you use plastic and recent reforms don’t seem to be reducing the burden on small businesses. Source: CNNMoney.com – video report Date: July 20, 2012 Link: http://money.cnn.com/video/smallbusiness/2012/07/19/sbiz-credit-card-costs.cnnmoney/ Questions for Discussions: Describe how cash, credit and debit card processing affect the financial operations of retailers. Do you think… Read more »