November 2011

Donald Cohen: Junk Food Companies Say Eating More Fruits and Vegetables Is a ‘Job Killer’

November 22, 2011

An effort to get American children to eat more fruits and vegetables should, even in hyper-polarized Washington, be a no-brainer. Last week, Congress declared pizza sauce to be a vegetable in school lunches. Now, major food manufacturers are escalating their attacks against healthy food, calling proposed food marketing guidelines “job killers” that will devastate the American economy. Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission, along with three other federal agencies (FDA, CDC and USDA), released a set of proposed voluntary guidelines for marketing food to children to reduce sugars, fats and salts and increase fruits, whole grains and vegetables in the diets of American youth. In 2008, led by Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Tom Harkin (D-IA), Congress asked for the recommendations to address the nations’ growing obesity crisis among our nation’s youth. Studies show that one-third of all children aged 10 to 17 are overweight or obese. In the past three decades rates have more than doubled among kids aged 2 to 5 and more than tripled among those ages 6 through 11. The incidence of “adult onset” diabetes in children and youth has more than doubled in the past decade. A coalition of major manufacturers of processed foods, fast-food chains and the media industry that depends on their advertising dollars are spending millions to derail the proposed guidelines. The FTC has already started to trim the proposal in response to the lobbying blitzkrieg but industry wants to go ever further. They want to use an industry-designed scheme that would declare Chocolate Lucky Charms, Marshmallow Pebbles and Cookie Crisp cereals as healthy. But despite industry claims these guidelines are not mandatory regulations; they are voluntary guidelines developed by an independent committee of nutrition experts about how we can improve children’s health. That hasn’t stopped industry predictions of economic disaster. According to comments filed by General Mills’ to Interagency Working Group “the economic consequences [of the guidelines] for American consumers and American agriculture would be devastating.” They also predict “severe” economic consequences for the media industry and their employees. They argue that the voluntary guidelines would cause consumers to eat more fruits and vegetables produced in other countries and therefore fewer grains grown in America. According to research funded by the Grocery Manufacturers of America, “demand for fruits and vegetables would increase by 1009 percent and 226 percent respectively” resulting in almost $500 billion more spent on imported food and $30 billion less on domestically grown grain. Even if the voluntary guidelines were that effective and their study was accurate, it’s an audacious marketing spin to turn an overwhelmingly positive victory for public health into a big government, job-killing attack on freedom. Another industry-funded study claimed that the voluntary guidelines would result in the loss of 74,000 jobs. An analysis by the Economic Policy Institute found the study riddled with “implausible” assumptions, historical inconsistencies and incomplete analyses of potential impacts to both the industry and economy as a whole. For example, the industry study assumes, without justification, a 20 percent decline in advertising and completely ignores the likely scenario in which companies shift advertising to other products or audiences. It also ignores the fact that there has been no negative economic impact since the industry adopted its own guidelines in 2006. In fact, EPI concludes that the guidelines could have no impact on jobs or could even lead to job growth in other parts of the economy. Finally, General Mills adds that the food companies’ $1.6 billion in advertising expenditures “would go up in smoke.” “$1.6 billion in economic activity cannot disappear without an impact on people’s jobs and livelihoods” they wrote. While it’s impossible to believe that food conglomerates wouldn’t redirect their advertising dollars, it’s even harder to think that media companies wouldn’t find other buyers. In fact, they’ve done it before. When Congress banned tobacco ads on TV and radio in 1970 media companies stood to lose $220 million in annual cigarette advertising. Like their counterparts today, the networks, and broadcasters associations lobbied hard alongside big tobacco against the ban. The media industry did fine. Total TV and radio advertising sales has increased every year before the ban and after. According to media analysts , in 1969 ad expenditures on TV and radio were $4.85 billion. In 1972, they were $5.7 billion. For decades, industries have opposed laws, rules and even basic consumer information that have made us all healthier. At every step they predict disaster but, in fact, they respond with new ideas and innovations, and we all benefit. These voluntary guidelines merely suggest a path that industry should embrace and applaud.

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Netflix Hits A New Low

November 22, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO — Netflix stock’s free fall accelerated Tuesday as the shares reached a 20-month low amid intensifying concerns about the video subscription service’s ability to overcome public relations problems and competitive pressures. The latest in a wave of share sell-offs followed Netflix Inc.’s decision to raise $400 million from investors by issuing debt and selling 2.86 million shares of its slumping stock. That served as a reminder that Netflix hasn’t been bringing in as much money as management anticipated from a price increase that triggered mass cancellations and damaged the company’s once-sterling brand. Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, who had predicted Netflix’s crash when it was still a hot commodity, interpreted the fundraising as a sign of more trouble ahead. He lowered his price target for the company’s stock from $82.50 to $45. In a Tuesday research note, Caris & Co. analyst David Miller described the fundraising as “a rhetorical signal” that the company is still struggling to retain subscribers after a mass exodus in summer and early fall. He dropped his price target from $77 to $59. Netflix, based in Los Gatos, Calif., described its fundraising as smart business. “It’s not that we need the money, but it’s always nice to have more money than you need,” Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey said Tuesday. The company ended September with $366 million in cash. Analysts also questioned the wisdom of selling 2.86 million shares of stock at $70 apiece to raise $200 million after spending nearly the same amount in the first nine months of the year to buy back nearly 900,000 shares at an average price of $218, The stock sale looks more favorable if it’s measured against all of the shares that Netflix has bought back during the past four years. Since 2007, Netflix has spent about $1 billion to buy back nearly 23 million shares at an average price of $45 apiece. Many investors appear to be losing faith in Netflix’s management team, which is led by company co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings. Netflix shares fell $4.02, or 5.4 percent, to close at $70.45 on Tuesday. The stock sagged to $69 earlier in the session, its lowest point since March 2010. Netflix market value has plunged by $12 billion, or 75 percent, since its stock peaked at nearly $305 a share in mid-July. That’s right around the time that the company announced plans to raise prices as much as 60 percent for U.S. subscribers to rent DVDs by mail and to stream video on devices connected to the Internet. The higher prices infuriated so many customers that Netflix lost 800,000 subscribers during the July-September period – by far the most the company has suffered since introducing its DVD-by-mail rental service in 1999. The backlash made it more difficult for Netflix to finance its expansion in Latin America and the U.K. while it also meets Hollywood’s demands for higher fees to license movies and TV shows for Internet streaming. Netflix expects those financial pressures will mean a loss next year. It would be the company’s first annual loss in a decade. At the same time, Netflix is trying to fend off threats from other Internet streaming services from competitors like online retailer Amazon.com Inc. and satellite TV provider Dish Network Corp. Technology Crossover Ventures, one of Netflix’s earlier backers and still a major shareholder, is standing behind Hastings and the company. The venture capital firm is buying $200 million in notes that won’t collect interest and can be converted into stock valued at $85.80 per share before they mature in December 2018. The $200 million in Netflix stock is being purchased my mutual funds and other accounts managed by T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. ___ AP Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay in New York contributed to this report.

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Jeff Rivera: Mark Cuban on ‘How to Win the Sport of Business’ (INTERVIEW)

November 22, 2011

The problem with most business books is that they take too damn long to read. They’re filled with fluff from people who really don’t know what they’re talking about or and who are only rich from selling books about well, how to be rich. What I really want (and what many really want when they look for a book that will inspire them and guide them in business) is advice from people who weren’t born into money but grew it and cultivated it from scratch. That’s what I was hoping to read when I ran across billionaire Mark Cuban’s How to Win at the Sport of Business . In short, it exceeded my expectations. In one sitting, I completely devoured the pages. Short chapters that got right to the point and were not filled with “stuffing.” That’s the beauty of today’s generation of eBooks — the page-count is not used as a justification for higher prices. Yet in Cuban’s book , you get way more than you paid for. He takes you through the emotional journey he went through — struggling to make it, sharing an apartment with six people, sleeping on the floor — to where he is today. He guides you by the hand through the rules he’s developed for himself over the years that have lead him to becoming one of the most successful men in the country. I was fortunate enough to have a short interview with Mr. Cuban about his experiences as he describes in his book and how he made it through the rough patches. There are many college students who are just beginning and can relate to you when you said you were sharing a small apartment with six people and sleeping on the floor. How can someone keep their eye on the prize when they’re living on Ramen noodles? Who cares how you are living today? I loved every minute of living in that dump. The low rent and utilities and eating Mac and Cheese all the time allowed me to afford the startup of my business. Instead of paying myself much, I could put it in to my business. One of my favorite parts of your book, How to Win at the Sport of Business , that completely broke my heart was when your ex-secretary robbed your first company of over $83,000, leaving you only $2,000 after a year of work. If someone has lost everything, what advice do you have for them to pick themselves back up? Keep working. Don’t feel sorry for yourself because it won’t do any good. One part in your book I loved and my heart sank at is when your fiance lost your $7,500 engagement ring. What’s your advice for those who are distracted by a relationship? How do you balance a real life with your dreams? I never was able to balance. Each person has to make their own decisions. But remember, your competitors aren’t sitting by idly waiting for you to have a nice dinner with your significant other. They are trying to kick your ass. So, choose wisely. There are many out there that dream of creating their own business but haven’t a clue where to start. What advice do you have for them? Find something you love to do, can do on your own and doesn’t require any more capital than you can afford to lose personally. The most valuable asset you have is your time, talents and ability to communicate. Focus on those strengths and what you can do rather than what you can’t do.

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Brazil Says Chevron Oil Slick Has Shrunk

November 22, 2011

SAO PAULO — Brazil says the size of an oil slick at a well operated by Chevron Corp. off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state is more than 80 percent smaller than it was four days ago. Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency says in a statement posted Tuesday on its website that the oil slick on the water’s surface now covers 0.78 square miles (two square kilometers) compared to the 4.63 square miles (12 square kilometers) registered on Nov. 18. The agency also says the oil slick continues moving away from Brazil’s coastline. Rio de Janeiro state’s Environment Secretary Carlos Minc still warns the oil could reach beaches west of the city of Rio that are popular with tourists. The petroleum agency has said that up to 3,000 barrels of oil have spilled into the Atlantic Ocean. (This version CORRECTS APNewsNow. Corrects location of beaches in paragraph 5. LPA please translate)

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Max Fraad Wolff: Chill in the Air

November 22, 2011

For the second time this year we are about to be proudly and publicly failed by our leadership. The super committee, super in name only, is likely to be unable to deliver the results that we need and they were charged to provide. This recalls the fiasco surrounding the raising of the debt ceiling and S&P’s downgrade of US debt. With the Euro Zone in duress and Japan struggling to find her footing, we are poised to see 40+% of global GDP weakening into 2012. We find ourselves several years into a wheezing, anemic “recovery.” Public patience has been lost. Markets, protesters and the rise of extreme opinion remind us that time matters. Remaining opportunity and tax dollars are in short supply, as is patience. It has taken far too long for the ECB to respond to mounting attacks and crises in their zone. It has taken the American economy four years and counting to meaningfully display improvement. Markets and marchers are growing impatient. We have seen some improvement in numbers in the US macro economy. This is not to be ignored. Consumer confidence, leading economic indicators and GDP prints are being revised up. Fading tax incentives, falling imports, and stronger than feared export demand are helping. Likewise, the labor market seems to have stabilized, if at disappointing levels. Better, but far from good enough. We have taken to ignoring each of the 1,000 cuts to our status, wealth and stability. As colder winds and shorter days make themselves felt, there seems a tangible shiver running down the collective spine. Our long standing economic difficulties are being compounded by rising political uncertainties. As Europe struggles for solution and Washington grandstands, I have the sense I have seen this movie before. Sequels are rarely good. In this case the original was not very strong. Our general public is done waiting for jobs, opportunities, and promises to be kept. Are we about to see a repeat of the summer swoon, but early in 2012? I sure hope not — there are other paths forward. However, we seem stubbornly unwilling to get off the present course. This is true economically and politically. Let’s hope the rising tide of demonstrated — in every sense of the word — impatience helps nudge us off this crash course.

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Mayor Bloomberg’s Ex Sells NYC ‘Bachelorette Pad’

November 22, 2011

We know that Mayor Bloomberg lives in the lap of Old World luxury in his string of East Side townhouse, but his ex, Susan Bloomberg, has a roost rivaling the mayor’s Baroque maison, as well? Or at least she did.

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Former Dell Executive Joins Talent Management Solutions Provider PageUp People

November 22, 2011

Seasoned Financial Executive Mark Rice Assumes Key Role in Flourishing Organization

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Chuck Marr: A Vital Tax Table of the Holiday Season

November 22, 2011

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Congress has an important tax policy decision to make.  With the economy still struggling and one in eleven Americans out of work, January 1 would be an awful time to cut every paycheck in America.  But, every paycheck in America will shrink unless Congress acts to extend, and preferably expand, the payroll tax holiday by the end of the year. Up and down Wall Street, economists are warning about the severe consequences of inaction on payroll taxes and extended unemployment benefits.  Goldman Sachs estimates that expiration of the payroll tax cut would reduce growth by as much as two-thirds of a percentage point in early 2012.  Moody’s Mark Zandi adds that if Congress does not extend the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits for 2012, “there will be approximately one million fewer jobs by year’s end.” Failure to extend the payroll tax cut would hurt workers in nearly every job and income category.  For example, the nation’s 1.4 million truck drivers, whose salaries average $39,450, would pay $789 more in payroll taxes, on average. The nation’s 2.7 million nurses, whose salaries average $67,720, would lose $1,354, on average. The table below is one that every member of Congress should study: Related Posts: CBO Ranks “Repatriation Holiday” Dead Last in Job Creation Without the Safety Net, More Than a Quarter of Americans Would Have Been Poor Last Year Exploding, Once Again, the “Non-Payer” Tax Myth This post originally appeared on the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ blog, www.OfftheChartsBlog.org.

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Douglas L. McSwain: Health Care Reform Is Here!

November 22, 2011

The U.S. Supreme Court has accepted review of the Affordable Care Act — what opponents call “Obamacare” — America’s new health care reform law. It’s no surprise the Court accepted review. The lower courts split on its constitutionality, and the Supreme Court must weigh in to resolve the split. Before opponents start cheering — or proponents start fearing — that the Act will be entirely stricken, a close analysis of the issues the Supreme Court actually accepted for review is warranted. The Supreme Court declined certain constitutional attacks, and accepted review of only four issues. The key issue concerns the “individual mandate” as to which the Court allotted twice the usual amount of time for oral argument. The Court will reach this issue only if the Anti-Injunction Act does not bar review. The Anti-Injunction Act is a jurisdictional law that precludes judicial review of taxes, or fees similar to a tax, before they are collected. Any penalty fees generated from the “individual mandate” would not be collected before 2014 tax returns are filed, so if the Anti-injunction Act applies, judicial review of the Act would be postponed until 2015. The Court will also review the Act’s expansion of Medicaid to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. Numerous states attack this expansion as “coercive” since they are primary overseers of Medicaid with federal financial support. It is noteworthy that no lower court to date has agreed with the States’ attack on this issue. Finally, the Court will review whether the Act is “severable.” If it is “inseverable,” then it must be stricken in its entirety if any portion of it falls. The Court allowed 1.5 times the usual argument length for this issue. Altogether, 5.5 hours have been set aside to hear the issues involving the health reform Act. Tellingly, the Court rejected any challenge to what has been coined the “employer mandate” that requires large employers to obtain minimum health coverage for employees or pay a tax penalty. Specifically, the Court refused the States’ challenge to this mandate requiring them to provide minimum health coverage for State employees. That the Court refused to hear any attack on the employer mandate foreshadows the Act’s “individual mandate” could survive challenge as well, but even if not, that only a small portion of the Act is really at risk. The health reform Act has ten separate parts, called “Titles,” and the vast majority of its provisions within those Titles, are not subject to any legal challenge. Only two provisions out of these ten Titles are before the Court. In light of the Court’s narrow review, it seems safe to say that some form of health care reform is “here to stay.” Those waiting for a ruling telling them whether the law is really here or not before taking steps to get ready for what it requires may want to reconsider. The Supreme Court selected for review only Title I’s “individual mandate” and Title II’s Medicaid expansion. No other provision will be heard, and that means eight Titles are not at risk unless the entire Act is found “inseverable.” Even though the Court agreed to consider “severability,” the Court’s refusal to entertain the employer mandate suggests the Court already views the Act as severable. Only four Justices are needed to accept review of any issue, but not even four were interested in the employer mandate. That means fewer than four have any concern at all with the constitutionality of the employer mandate and the Court is perfectly willing to review the Act on an issue-by-issue basis, suggesting further that it may be poised to view the Act as severable. Courts are reluctant to interpret statutes as “inseverable,” especially when their scope is as comprehensive as this one. The Act’s ten Titles address numerous subjects and topics. Title I expands private health insurance coverage abolishing discriminatory exclusions like preexisting conditions, but also establishes insurance “exchanges,” among other provisions. Only a portion of Title I concerns the “individual mandate.” The Obama administration takes the position nothing in Title I except its expanded health coverage is so tied to the “individual mandate” that the entire Act must be stricken; indeed, the balance of the entire Act stands easily without the mandate. Likewise, Title II deals with much more than Medicaid expansion; Title II improves, simplifies and coordinates both Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and importantly, enhances the quality of health services provided in these programs. Striking the entire Act based on an alleged “coercive” expansion in Medicaid would frustrate other unrelated improvements to such programs. Given the Supreme Court will review only two issues out of ten Titles, it seems highly unlikely the Court will strike the entire Act as “inseverable.” More likely, if any constitutional infirmity is found at all, the Court will follow the administration’s lead and excise only those portions directly tied to what is unconstitutional. To date, the lone circuit court of appeals to strike down the “individual mandate” expressly rejected any attempt to strike the entire Act, and for good reason. Titles III and IV have nothing to do with the “individual mandate” or Medicaid expansion, but were intended to enhance the quality and efficiency of America’s health care delivery system, to prevent disease and promote public health. Titles V and VI provide incentives and other support to America’s health care workforce, and require greater integrity and transparency in public health programs. Titles VII and VIII improve access to innovative medical therapies and to long term care. Titles IX and X contain revenue provisions and other amendments to strengthen the Act. Nothing in these other provisions or Titles need be stricken just because the “individual mandate” or Medicaid expansion could fall. A court exercising judicial restraint will find it difficult to interpret the Act’s intent behind these divergent provisions to require they all be stricken based solely on infirmity with the “individual mandate” or Medicaid expansion. For this reason, employers and health care providers would be well advised not to put on “hold” any plans for coming into compliance with other provisions of the health care reform law. Hesitation may mean missed opportunities. The Act employs free-market tools to accomplish many of its reforms. Indeed, the Hon. Laurence Silberman, a conservative Judge appointed by Pres. Ronald Reagan, observed in his recent D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision upholding the Act: “The theory of the individual mandate… is that private entities will do better than government in providing certain social insurance… Privatized social services combined with mandatory-purchase requirements… partially privatize the social safety net… and move, at least to some degree, away from the tax-and-government-benefit model that is common now.” This Judge expressly recognized one of the market-oriented concepts found in the Act. There are numerous others that affect businesses and health care providers. Waiting to see if the Supreme Court strikes the entire Act could sacrifice strategic positioning in an evolving marketplace as business competitors and other care providers start movement to comply with the Act. While the Supreme Court will soon decide whether the “individual mandate” and Medicaid expansion are constitutional, the Court’s decision will not likely reverse the many reforms scheduled to occur over the next two years. Large employers should start considering how best to provide employees with affordable minimum health coverage which they must have in place by 2014 or pay tax penalties. Small businesses may want to start considering how health insurance shopping in the soon-to-be-established “insurance exchanges” affects their employee benefit plans. Medical providers such as hospitals and physicians must start considering the strategic impact that change from a “fee-for-service” to a “fee-for-value” payment system means for their organization and collaborations with other health care providers. Regardless how the Supreme Court rules on the two provisions of the Affordable Care Act now before it, prudence dictates that businesses and providers start considering health care reform as “here”!

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Greek Workers Plan General Strike To Protest Austerity Budget

November 22, 2011

ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s two largest labor unions will hold a 24-hour general strike to protest next year’s austerity budget – the first major walkout since the appointment of an interim coalition government earlier this month. The GSEE union, which represents mainly private sector workers, and the civil servants’ union ADEDY announced the strike for Dec. 1 to protest the 2012 budget, which lawmakers are to begin debating a few days later. The unions last held a general strike in October, shutting down services across the country for two days. Greeks have held dozens of strikes and demonstrations over the past two years as their country has been gripped by a severe financial crisis that saw the government impose repeated rounds of salary cuts and tax hikes and left the country reliant on international rescue loans. “The government has changed but the unjust and ineffective policy hasn’t changed at all,” GSEE head Yiannis Panagopoulos said in a statement. “For as long as this policy, which leaves social corpses in its wake, continues, we will stand firm against it … and oppose it with any means.” Workers at the capital’s subway, tram and electric rail network held a four-hour work stoppage Tuesday to protest measures that include the suspension on partial pay of about 30,000 civil servants. Separately, members of the electricity company’s workers’ union demonstrated outside the company’s bill-issuing building in continued protests over a new property tax that has been added to consumers’ power bills. Greece’s new government, appointed earlier this month after political turmoil led to the resignation of the Socialist prime minister and his replacement with a technocrat, is negotiating the details of a second bailout, worth euro130 billion ($175 billion). It includes provisions for banks and other private holders of Greek bonds to write off 50 percent of their Greek debt holdings – potentially cutting the country’s debt by euro100 billion. The country is also desperately in need of a vital euro8 billion installment from its initial bailout agreed on in May 2010. Without it, Greece will default before Christmas and be unable to pay salaries and pensions. European leaders have insisted they receive written commitments from the government and heads of the main parties in the coalition – the majority socialists and the conservatives – before they agree to release the funds. Conservative party leader Antonis Samaras has insisted his support for the interim government and the new debt deal should be enough. Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, a former central banker and deputy head of the European Central Bank, was to head to Frankfurt later Tuesday to meet with European Central Bank head Mario Draghi, after talks with eurozone head Jean-Claude Juncker in Luxembourg. Juncker said the disbursement of the next installment – the sixth from the initial bailout – would be discussed at the next meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Nov. 29, at which the ministers could decide to release the funds. “We have expressed the view … that (we) will be given a letter from the new Greek prime minister assuring us that all the commitments will be respected,” Juncker said. He said eurozone officials want to be sure that Greece’s main political leaders back the government in its deal with international rescue creditors. “I do think that from now to next Tuesday this will happen … and that we will be able to take a decision on the sixth disbursement.” European leaders began asking for written commitments amid anger over a sudden decision by Papademos’ predecessor, George Papandreou, to put Greece’s new debt deal to a referendum. Faced with a backlash both abroad and at home, where many of his own socialist lawmakers rebelled, Papandreou withdrew the plan and eventually stepped down after agreeing with Samaras on forming a unity government. Samaras has long opposed many aspects of Greece’s austerity program, including that of taxation. He has advocated cutting taxes instead of increasing them, saying this would help stimulate growth to pull the country out of recession. He accepted to cooperate with the socialists in a joint government, but has insisted its mandate run only to February before elections are held. Juncker said there would be “a written commitment by the Greek government before the next meeting of the eurogroup.” “It’s up to the Greece government and to the leaders of the different political parties inside Greece to give us the possibility to check if yes or no there is a cross party agreement in Greece,” he said. ____ Sylvain Plazy in Luxembourg contributed.

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Preeti Vissa: Little Help for Homeowners, Big Bonuses at Fannie and Freddie

November 22, 2011

Why are top executives at government-backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac getting millions in bonuses while struggling homeowners get little or no help? I’ve written before about the need for principal reduction to help homeowners fighting to keep their homes. Not only would this aid millions of Americans caught in difficult circumstances they didn’t create, it would shore up the weak housing market and boost the whole economy. I’m hardly alone: a large collection of financial experts and officials, including California Attorney General Kamala Harris and a large group of members of Congress have called for principal reduction. Fannie and Freddie — bailed out by taxpayers to the tune of $169 billion — back a large percentage of those troubled mortgages and would need to sign off. But the federal agency that oversees them, the Federal Housing Finance Administration, has refused to go along. This festering problem got renewed attention recently when the House Financial Services Committee approved a bill by a vote of 52 to 4 that would cap executive pay at Fannie and Freddie — a rare bit of bipartisan agreement on Capitol Hill. How big are the paychecks going to top Fannie and Freddie executives? Big. Really, really big . Since the agencies went into conservatorship, Fannie and Freddie’s top six executives have received $35 million in compensation, including millions in bonuses, even as borrowers struggled to keep their homes and got no meaningful relief. At the Financial Services Committee hearing, acting FHFA honcho Edward DeMarco stoutly defended both the seven-figure executive pay and his agency’s refusal to recognize financial reality and write down the principal of troubled loans to values that are realistic. Amazingly, he did this just days after Fannie and Freddie asked for another $7.8 billion from taxpayers to cover last quarter’s losses. A message to Director Ed DeMarco: look out your window. This is exactly the sort of thing the Occupy Wall Street protesters are upset about, and they’re right. That’s why Kamala Harris recently called for DeMarco to “step aside” if he refuses to rethink his policies, saying, “It has become clear to me that the only way to keep distressed California homeowners in their homes is through meaningful principal reduction.” What Harris said applies in every state where recession-battered homeowners, many of whom owe more than they will ever be able to sell their homes for, are trying to keep a roof over their heads. We know what needs to be done, and FHFA should lead, follow, or at least get out of the way. And, if only for PR purposes, they might want to rethink those salaries and bonuses before the full Congress does it for them.

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Steve Blank: The Sucess Of Start-ups: An Unexpected Consequence Of The Recession

November 22, 2011

“When it’s darkest men see the stars” — Ralph Waldo Emerson This Thanksgiving season, it might seem there’s less to be thankful for. One out of 11 of Americans is out of work. The common wisdom says that the chickens have all come home to roost from a disastrous series of economic decisions including outsourcing the manufacturing of America’s physical goods. The United States is now a debtor nation to China and the bill is about to come due. The pundits say the American dream is dead and this next decade will see the further decline and fall of the West and in particular of the United States. It may be that all the doomsayers are right. But I don’t think so. Let me offer my prediction: the second decade of the 21st century may well turn out to be the West’s, and in particular the United States’, finest hour. I believe we will look back at this decade as the beginning of an economic revolution as important as the scientific revolution in the 16th century and the industrial revolution in the 18th. We’re standing at the beginning of the entrepreneurial revolution that will permanently reshape business as we know it and more importantly, change the quality of life across the entire planet for all who come after us. The Barriers to Entrepreneurship While start-ups continued to innovate in each new wave of technology, the rate of innovation was constrained by limitations we only now can understand. Start-ups were once constrained by: long technology development cycles (how long it takes from idea to product); the high cost of getting to first customers (dollars to build the product); the structure of the venture capital industry (a limited number of VC firms); the expertise about how to build start-ups (clustered in specific regions like Silicon Valley); the failure rate of new ventures (start-ups were a hit-or-miss proposition); the slow adoption rate of new technologies by the government and large companies. The Democratization of Entrepreneurship What’s happening is something more profound than a change in technology. What’s happening is that all the things that have been limits to start-ups and innovation are being removed. At once. Starting now. Compressing the Product Development Cycle In the past, the time to build a first product release was measured in months or even years as start-ups executed the founder’s vision of what customers wanted. Today start-ups have begun to build products differently. Instead of building the maximum number of features, they look to deliver a minimum feature set in the shortest period of time. For products that are simply “bits” delivered over the Web, a first product can be shipped in weeks rather than years. Start-ups Built for Thousands Rather Than Millions of Dollars Start-ups traditionally required millions of dollars of funding just to get their first product to customers. Today open source software has slashed the cost of software development from millions of dollars to thousands. The cost of getting the first product out the door for an Internet commerce start-up has dropped by a factor of a ten or more in the last decade. The New Structure of the Venture Capital industry The plummeting cost of getting a first product to market (particularly for Internet start-ups) has shaken up the venture capital industry. New groups of VC’s, super angels, smaller than the traditional large VC fund, can make small investments necessary to get a consumer Internet start-up launched. They make lots of early bets and double-down when early results appear. (And the results do appear years earlier.) In addition to super angels, incubators like Y Combinator , TechStars and 200-plus others like them worldwide have begun to formalize seed-investing. They pay expenses in a formal three-month program while a start-up builds something impressive enough to raise money on a larger scale. Finally, venture capital and angel investing is no longer a U.S. or Euro-centric phenomenon. Risk capital has emerged in China, India, and other countries where risk taking, innovation and liquidity is encouraged, on a scale previously only seen in the U.S. In sum, the worldwide pool of potential start-ups has increased at least 10-fold since the turn of this century. Entrepreneurship as Its Own Management Science Over the last 10 years, entrepreneurs began to understand that start-ups were not simply smaller versions of large companies. While companies execute business models, start-ups search for a business model. Instead of adopting the management techniques of large companies, which too often stifle innovation in a young start up, entrepreneurs began to develop their own management tools. Using the business model/customer development/agile development solution stack, entrepreneurs first map their assumptions (their business model) and then test these hypotheses with customers outside in the field (customer development) and use an iterative and incremental development methodology (agile development) to build the product. When founders discover their assumptions are wrong, as they inevitably will, the result isn’t a crisis, it’s a learning event called a pivot — and an opportunity to change the business model. The result: start-ups now have tools that speed up the search for customers, reduce time to market and slash the cost of development. When It’s Darkest Men See the Stars The economic downturn in the United States has had an unexpected consequence for start-ups — it has created more of them. Young and old, innovators who are unemployed or underemployed now face less risk in starting a company. It’s possible that we’ll look back to this decade as the beginning of our own revolution. It may even be the dawn of a new era for a new American economy built on entrepreneurship and innovation. One our children will look back on and marvel that when it was the darkest, we saw the stars. Excerpted from a Thanksgiving 2010 message on Steve Blank’s Website and Blog .

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Sarah Damaske: Mom Is Buying and Making Thanksgiving Turkey This Year

November 22, 2011

As the holidays approach, more moms than ever are both buying and making the turkey that will be on the table Thanksgiving day. Last week, the Census published a report showing that 73% of new mothers aged 20 and older (and 76% of those 22 and older) worked during their pregnancies. Of those working, 80 percent returned to work within a year after giving birth. Not only are more moms working during pregnancy and soon after their first birth, but they are also increasingly returning to work once their children are school-aged. Preliminary results from a study I am conducting with Professor Adrianne Frech at the University of Akron suggests that only 10% of mothers remain out of the workforce until their youngest is 12, according to data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. As the holidays approach, it is often speculated that working brings moms guilt about whether they will have time to do it all — manage work, family and all of the holiday events. But my research suggests that working may mean something else to moms and their families: greater consumer confidence at the holidays . In my study of 80 randomly sampled women from New York City, I found that working increased women’s confidence about their family’s financial situation, regardless of their class position. While working and earning an income certainly increased the family’s overall economic well-being, it also increased the women’s sense of the family’s financial security. Women who worked explained that it gave them an increased sense of self-reliance and independence. We’ve known for a while that women are the main consumers in the family. But women who work may feel more comfortable in that role, as my respondents did. Irene explained, “When you go out to make a salary, you can go out and buy whatever [you] want, because [you] earned it.” Angela worked part-time and she concurred, telling me, “Not that I treat myself all the time but it makes me feel a little more at ease to say that we could. I could do some extra stuff and not feel like I’m just taking my husband’s money.” Even women who worked for low-wages explained that working gave them the ability to spring for the occasional pizza or child’s toy, because of the greater sense of economic security that came with paid employment. Maritza, a mom who worked full-time making $20,000 annually, said, “My first paycheck — I said, ‘Wow.’ It felt good.” All due respect to Norman Rockwell , but it’s time to repaint the portrait of America and show an accurate picture of family and holidays. Mothers are more likely than not to be earning part of the family income this year. And our best shot to improve our economy around the holidays (and throughout the year) may be to promote programs that support women’s continued employment. Greater access to paid maternity leave (the Census reported that only 50% of moms have this) and universal childcare for pre-school age children would be a step in the right direction. This holiday, let’s be thankful for our mothers and our fathers and all they do to raise the children of this country. And let’s take our thanks a step further by recognizing that American parents feel squeezed at work and at home and by developing federal and workplace policies that address the challenges parents face now that most adults in families are working.

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Deborah Frett: What You Need To Know About Gen Y Women & The Workplace

November 22, 2011

The key to recruiting, supporting and retaining Gen Y workers may require unlearning what we “know” about this cohort and relearning the importance of flexibility, equality and inclusivity for business success. Last week, Business and Professional Women’s Foundation (BPW) Foundation released findings from our national survey on Gen Y women’s workplace expectations and experiences. The responses from more than 660 women across the United States identified important challenges related to gender discrimination, work-life balance, and intergenerational workplace dynamics that employers cannot afford to ignore. Here are our top four reality checks on popular literature. 1. Popular Literature Says : Gen Y women do not believe gender discrimination is a problem in today’s workplace. BPW Survey Says : Where do those women live and work? Over 75 percent of Gen Y women in our survey identified gender discrimination as a moderate or severe problem in today’s workplace. And almost 50 percent of Gen Y women had observed or experienced gender discrimination in the workplace. There is a difference between what Gen Y women believe about gender — that equality should be the norm — and how organizations and colleagues practice gender. Gen Y women experience stereotyping, unequal compensation, inequality of opportunities, different standards and sexual harassment. The discrimination and inequalities young working women face are rooted in the ways in which organizations, supervisors and colleagues understand what it means to be a man or a woman. Employers should identify and address the sources of discrimination and inequality in their organizations — perceptions, policies and practices. 2. Popular Literature Says: Employers should design programs to meet Gen Y women’s work-life balance demands. BPW Survey Says: Programming alone won’t address Gen Y women’s demands. They are looking for a holistic approach to work-life balance that will require employers to rethink the “ideal worker.” The ideal worker is often an employee who demonstrates devotion and commitment through time — being available any time and for however long an employer needs. Work is important to Gen Y women but is not the only sphere of life. Gen Y women also identified family, friends, hobbies, exercise and volunteering as important aspects of life. These women are not interested in mistaking their jobs for their life. Tackling work-life issues requires a critical examination of the “ideal worker” and how employers measure and evaluate an employee’s commitment. 3. Popular Literature Says: Identify Gen Y values and then design workplace programs around their values. BPW Survey Says: Good luck with that. Gen Y women hold disparate values. Top career values varied by occupation, type of employer and the presence of children. For example, women in management valued achievement most while women in administrative capacities valued creativity and women in sales/marketing valued compensation most. Our survey results contain two messages for employers. First, it’s really difficult to determine key work values for Gen Y women because values are mediated by social difference (e.g. gender, race, occupation and education). Second, you don’t need to determine values in order to offer the benefits Gen Y women need and create enabling environments for success. Gen Y women’s workplace values did not impact their perspectives on employer benefits. Overall, Gen Y women want their basic needs met. Two of the three most important benefits reported were: healthcare insurance and retirement plans. And, regardless of what Gen Y women expect to achieve through their work, five features enable them to do their best at work: understanding goals and expectations; having open communication channels; receiving encouragement from co-workers and supervisors; having their voice heard and understanding their role and responsibilities. 4. Popular Literature Says: If you want to improve inter-generational workplace dynamics, focus on increasing awareness of generational differences. BPW Foundation Says: Yes, but that’s not all. BPW Foundation asked about generational conflict, but Gen Y women identified age bias as a more pressing workplace issue. Survey results indicate that Gen Y women experience a double jeopardy — gender and age. Gen Y women who had experienced gender discrimination were more likely to report generational conflict or discrimination than those who had not. Fifty-one percent of Gen Y women who observed or experienced gender discrimination also reported generational discrimination. The types of generational or age discrimination reported included being perceived as incompetent or inexperienced because of age; name calling such as “kid” and girl”; being passed over for promotions because of age and being held to different standards because of age. Identifying and addressing age and gender discrimination may be an important strategy for improving inter-generational workplace dynamics. The full report, From Gen Y Women to Employers: What They Want In The Workplace And Why It Matters is available for download at Business and Professional Women’s Foundation.

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Nearly Half Of All Households Lack Basic Economic Security

November 22, 2011

There are certain basic costs that every household runs up — food costs, medical expenses, utility bills. And almost half of all Americans are in danger of not being able to afford these things . A recent study from the nonprofit Wider Opportunties for Women finds that 45 percent of all Americans — men, women and children — live in households that lack economic security, defined as the ability to pay for basic needs like food, transportation and medical care, while setting aside a modest amount of money for emergency and retirement savings. The WOW report is only the latest indication that for a vast number of people in the U.S., the poor health of the economy is not a distant or abstract concern, but a problem that affects day-to-day decisions about how money can be spent. Thirty-nine percent of all adults in the country, and 55 percent of all children, live in households that lack economic security, the report finds. The problem is worse for women than for men — 74 percent of single mothers are economically insecure, compared with just 49 percent of single fathers — and worse for people of color than for whites, with just 20 percent of white two-worker households below the economic security line, versus 29 percent for blacks and 43 percent for Hispanics. These discrepancies across racial and gender lines are likely related to various wage gaps that put white people, especially white men, at an earnings advantage. In 2010, black men earned only 74.5 percent of a typical white man’s wage , and women earned 78 cents for every dollar earned by men . The unemployment crisis is also hitting men and women differently, with the vast majority of jobs created in the past two years going to male workers . In terms of race, the unemployment rate for blacks nationwide is twice that of whites , and the Hispanic rate is almost half again as high as that of whites. Workers nationwide are also suffering from stagnant wages that, for fully half of the country’s workforce, clock in at less than $27,000 . People’s ability to afford food was recently found to be near a three-year low , and their ability to cover the basic costs of living is currently worse than at any time since the start of 2008 . All of this is taking place against a backdrop of rising economic inequality, as the country’s highest earners continue to draw bigger and bigger paychecks and wealth becomes ever more concentrated among the wealthy.

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National MS Society Chapter Elects New Trustees

November 22, 2011

PHILADELPHIA, PA–(Marketwire – Nov 22, 2011) – The Greater Delaware Valley of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society is pleased to announce the appointment of four new members to its Board of Trustees. The candidates were unanimously voted in by its membership at the Chapter’s Annual Meeting and Research Update on November 17.

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Anna Cuevas: Independent Foreclosure Review: Is It the Real Deal?

November 22, 2011

On November 1, 2011, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency began a new initiative, requiring a review by an independent consultant to determine if errors or misrepresentations made by banks might have caused financial harm to homeowners. Is this the real deal? I’ve assisted thousands of homeowners who are facing foreclosure, and I have personally witnessed untold amounts of bank errors, misrepresentations, miscalculations, and even unfamiliarity with the foreclosure process. Each of these has, no doubt, resulted in some measure of financial injury or harm to the homeowner, whether they received a loan modification and saved their home or lost their home to foreclosure. If it’s the real deal, it’s huge. Four and a half million homeowners could be affected, as long as their mortgage was serviced by one of the 14 largest services (named below). Other criteria requires that the house was the homeowner’s primary residence and that the foreclosure took place between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2010. The government said that they’ve already begun sending out notification letters to potentially eligible homeowners — that process is to be completed by December 31, 2011. If you receive a notification that your foreclosure fits the initial criteria for an independent review, you must complete and return a Request for Review Form, which must be postmarked no later than April 30, 2012. While I applaud the efforts to recognize that banks do err, resulting in great financial injury and the loss of a home to its customers, I also welcome these efforts with an ounce of caution. Simply put, I’ve learned that even the best intentions, coupled with stringent guidelines and government bureaucracy, can create additional problems. As I’ve said many times before, question authority. If you believe you meet the eligibility requirements and were financially injured due to a wrongful foreclosure or bank error, misrepresentation, etc., that resulted in foreclosure, it’s important that you follow the guidelines in your notification letter. But be aware of the potential for several problems: 1. You don’t receive a notification letter, even though your loan was serviced by one of the 14 servicers subject to review. (In this case, you can call 1-888-952-9105 or visit www.independentforeclosurereview.com  to find out if you should have been included.) 2. If you don’t receive a letter, question why not. The addresses provided to the government for potentially eligible homeowners are provided by none other than their lenders. Does your lender know your current address, or are they sending your notification to your last-known address… the address for the home which was foreclosed on? Again, question authority. 3. If you don’t receive a letter, what criteria and parameters are being used? Does the government have the final determination over who receives an independent foreclosure review, or does the lender? Whose figures will they use in determining error or financial loss? These questions alone prompt further investigation. 4. I should point out that the independent foreclosure reviews are not being done by the government — the government is only requiring them to be completed. So who is performing the reviews? “Independent” reviewers who are hired by your mortgage servicer will be reviewing your foreclosure to see if the bank who hired them made a mistake. This raises red flags and the potential for possible conflicts of interest and bias on the part of the reviewer. 5. As with any government incentive, too little is known about the independent foreclosure review process. There is only a smattering of examples of what and who qualifies, with very little offered to define “financial injury” or how people will be compensated for it. While some may get nothing, others may get a mere few dollars for overpayment of fees. Will those who are entitled to larger compensations be justly awarded the full amount of the loss they suffered due to bank error? After all, these are the same banks that made the mistake in the first place — the possibility for more mistakes certainly exists today. And what about those who suffered the greatest loss — the loss of their home? How will they be compensated? 6. Among the foreclosed homeowners who will receive financial compensation for their losses, how and when will they be paid? How long does the process take, and will it be fair to all involved? While I agree wholeheartedly with an independent review of foreclosures in an effort to right the wrongs that may have been committed by lenders, I also am skeptical. There are too many gray areas which can affect homeowners, and I can see room for even more error. This might be the real deal, but it might also require diligence, perseverance, and a little determination and sweat equity on your part to find out if it is. You, not the government, the bank, or an independent reviewer, will always be your own best advocate. Trust no one, do your own homework and research and question authority. *The 14 lenders subject to the independent foreclosure review regulation are (in alphabetical order): Ally’s GMAC Mortgage, Aurora Bank, Bank of America, Citibank, EverBank, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife, OneWest, PNC, Sovereign Bank, SunTrust, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo.  If you believe that you are eligible for an independent review, visit the government’s website at www.independentforeclosurereview.com or call 1-888-952-9105. Make sure you receive a letter and a request for a review and follow the guidelines and timelines as stated.

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Bill George: A Fateful Weekend for U.S. Fiscal Stability

November 22, 2011

The fate of the fiscal stability of the United States was sealed on the weekend of December 4-5, 2010. The previous Thursday President Obama received the long-awaited report of his National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, co-chaired by Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican Alan Simpson. The report of the commission received a favorable vote with an 11-7 majority, but fell short of the 14 votes required for a mandatory “up-or-down” vote by Congress. The commissioners delivered a balanced report that reduced U.S. deficits by $4 trillion over ten years – $3 trillion from spending cuts and $1 trillion from revenue increases. It received favorable consideration from both Republicans and Democrats on the commission. President Obama had the perfect opportunity to restore stability to U.S. finances by endorsing the plan and sending it to Congress. For the President it was the perfect political setup, complete with “air cover.” He appointed a bipartisan commission. It had delivered a bipartisan proposal. Surely, he could rally the country behind it by going directly to the American people. While the deficit reduction plan would have faced opposition from the extreme right and extreme left, President Obama had the opportunity to demonstrate his leadership and garner the support of fiscal conservatives, moderates and independents around the country. What did the President do? Nothing. The silence from the White House was deafening. The President ignored the commission’s report entirely. He chose the politically expedient route and, in so doing, failed to lead the country by improving its long-run fiscal health. Actually, what he did was worse than nothing. Over that weekend, the President negotiated with Republican congressional leaders a $4 trillion increase in the nation’s deficits over ten years ($858 billion for the first two years, with the remaining $3.2 trillion projected over the next eight years). The added deficits came from a combination of tax cuts and spending increases – just the opposite of what the Bowles-Simpson commission recommended. This new deal was passed by Congress over the objections of Democratic congressional leaders, who felt left out in the cold. On December 18, 2010 the President signed the deal into law, thereby killing any hope of deficit reductions coming from the Bowles-Simpson recommendations. In one weekend our nation’s leaders swung from a plan to reduce the deficit $4 trillion to actions that increased it $4 trillion – an $8 trillion unfavorable swing. This proves the old political adage that it is easier to cut taxes and raise spending that it is to demonstrate fiscal responsibility, as long as you’ve got a plan to get out of town before the sheriff comes. The sheriff didn’t take long to arrive. Realizing this President wasn’t prepared to take tough fiscal actions, Republican leaders next played brinksmanship with appropriations. That brought the federal government to the verge of shutting down at midnight on April 8, 2011. A last minute deal to cut the budget by $38 billion averted the shutdown. President Obama hailed the agreement as “the biggest annual spending cut in history.” Hmmm. Seems pretty paltry compared to $4 trillion over ten years. Republican leaders, seeing blood in the water, attacked again like sharks on a rampage in August, 2011. Demanding more spending cuts with no revenue increases, Republicans held the line against raising the debt ceiling until the August 1st deadline. A last-minute compromise reflected the agreement to disagree. At the 11th hour, the President and congressional leaders passed the Budget Control Act, appointing a Congressional “super committee” with the requirement to reduce the deficit by $1.2 trillion by November 23, 2011. Concerned by feckless political behavior, Standard & Poor’s took the historic step of reducing the U.S. sovereign debt rating from AAA to AA+. “The political brinksmanship of recent months,” the company said, “highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed.” This paved the way for the super-committee’s failure on Monday. If committee members were ever serious about compromise, it wasn’t evident. Republicans refused to agree to any revenue increases, causing Democrats to back away from spending and entitlement cuts they had offered. Now $1.2 trillion in automatic cuts go into effect next September. Speaking on CNN, political commentator David Gergen called the move “an irresponsible, reckless gamble.” The consequence of this gridlock? The financial troubles of the U.S. get worse, the country’s competitiveness continues to slip, and the prospect of a future deal is even further away. And it all started with an $8 trillion reversal one weekend last December.

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Venture Capital Still A White Boys’ Club

November 22, 2011

The venture capital industry remains dominated by white men, according to a new demographics survey released today by the National Venture Capital Association and Dow Jones.

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Japan’s exports fall for first time in 3 months

November 22, 2011

(MENAFN – Saudi Press Agency) Japan’s exports fell for the first time in three months in October, eroded by a strong yen and a sputtering global economy. Exports declined 3.7 percent from a year …

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Japan shares hit 31 Month low

November 22, 2011

(MENAFN – Saudi Press Agency) Japanese stocks fell 0.3 per cent on Monday to their lowest levels in two-and-a-half years, according to a report of the German Press Agency ‘DPA’. The benchmark …

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Japan OKs 3rd extra budget for Tsunami recovery

November 22, 2011

(MENAFN – Saudi Press Agency) Japan has approved a 12 trillion yen ($156 billion) extra budget to fund reconstruction after the March 11 disasters and nuclear crisis. The upper house president …

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Merkel opposes Euro bonds, But will study proposal of EC cheif Barroso

November 22, 2011

(MENAFN – Saudi Press Agency) German Chancellor Angela Merkel continues to oppose joint bond issues by the eurozone governments, but will study a proposal for bonds from European Commission …

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Sundance Resources Limited (ASX:SDL) Moves Closer to Confirming Mbalam Iron Ore Project Convention and Congo Mining Permit

November 22, 2011

http://www.abnnewswire.net/rss2/menafn/abn_menafn_en.asp Sundance Resources Limited (ASX:SDL) provides the following update on its activities to progress development of the Mbalam Iron Ore Project …

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Decline in New Zealand’s inflation-expectations during the fourth quarter

November 22, 2011

The inflation expectations for 2 years retreated in New Zealand for the fourth quarter of 2011, indicating that New Zealand is not facing inflation risks; also New-Zealand’s exports were declined …

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Janet Tavakoli: MF Global Revelations Keep Getting Worse

November 22, 2011

• Shortfall estimated at $1.2 billion or more (up from $600 million) • “Repo-to-Maturity” is a “Total Return Swap-to-Maturity,” a Type of Credit Derivative • Probable Shortfalls Throughout 2011 • Regulators Waive Required Tests for Jon Corzine • Questions About How MF Global Became a Primary Dealer • MF Global Wrote Rubber Checks for some Electronic Checks for Others • Tip-Offs for Some Customers? • CFTC’s Gary Gensler Didn’t Act • MF Global Debacle Damages a Key Global Market When MF Global collapsed on October 21, it was the biggest financial firm to collapse since Lehman in September 2008. Then Chairman and CEO Jon Corzine is connected to the head of one of his key regulators, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), through his former protégé at Goldman Sachs, Gary Gensler. He also knows the Fed’s William Dudley, a key member of the Fed’s Open Market Committee, from their days at Goldman Sachs. The Fed approved MF Global’s status as a primary dealer, a participant in the Fed’s Open Market Operations, just before Jon Corzine took its helm and beached it on a reef called leveraged credit risk. MF Global’s officers admitted to federal regulators that before the collapse, the firm diverted cash from customers’ accounts that were supposed to be segregated : MF Global Holdings LTD. “violated requirements that it keep clients’ collateral separate from its own accounts…Craig Donohue, CME Group’s chief executive officer, said on a conference call with analysts today that MF Global isn’t in compliance with the rules of the exchange and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.” ” MF Global Probe May Involve Hundreds of Millions in Funds ,” Bloomberg News – November 1, 2001 by Silia Brush and Matthew Leising Cash in customers’ accounts may be invested in allowable transactions, and MF was allowed to make extra revenue from the income. But what isn’t allowed, and what MF Global apparently admitted to doing, is to commingle customers’ money with its own and take money from customers’ accounts to meet margin calls on MF Global’s own allowable transactions. Even if all of the money is eventually clawed back and recovered, this remains an impermissible act. Moreover, full recovery–even if it is possible–is not the same as restitution. People have been denied access to their money, and businesses and reputations have been tarnished. In layman’s terms, you may buy a Rolls Royce with customers’ excess cash, sell it at a profit, and pocket part of the profits. You may buy a Rolls Royce and try to resell it at a profit with your firm’s cash. But you aren’t allowed to take customers’ money to make the car payments on your firm’s Rolls Royce. If one engages in this impermissible activity, it becomes almost impossible to cover up if you have an accident driving your Rolls Royce. Implausible Denial and an Ugly Surprise On November 1, Kenneth Ziman, a lawyer for MF Global, relayed information from MF Global to U.S. Bankruptcy judge Martin Glenn in Manhattan: “To the best knowledge of management, there is no shortfall. ” If that sounded like a cover-up, it was, unless of course you prefer to believe that the “best knowledge” of management is actually no knowledge at all. How long does it take to find more than $600 million to $1.2 billion of customers’ money? MF Global’s books seem so messed up that one person couldn’t have created this chaos alone. A lot of people had to agree to throw away controls, standards, and procedures. I doubt this happened just in the final week or two before MF Global blew itself up. “According to a U.S. official, MF Global admitted to federal regulators early Monday [October 31, 2011] that money was missing from customer accounts. MF Global acknowledged a shortfall in a phone call amid mounting questions from regulators as they went through the firm’s books.” ” MF Global’s Collapse Draws FBI Interest, ” by Devlin Barrett, Scott Patterson, and Mike Spector, WSJ , November 2, 2011 The initial bankruptcy estimate was a shortfall of around $600 million. As of Monday November 21, MF Global’s liquidating trustee believes the shortfall may be as much as $1.2 billion and possibly even more. “Repo-to-Maturity” is a “Total Return Swap-to-Maturity,” A Type of Credit Derivative If you call a total return swap-to-maturity a “repo-to-maturity,” you are much less likely to freak out regulators. Many regulators still remember that Long Term Capital Management (LTCM) used total return swaps (among other things). Jon Corzine should remember, too, since he was closely involved with LTCM when he headed Goldman Sachs. In September of 2011, FINRA seemed to catch on that MF Global’s transactions were riskier than it previously thought and asked for more capital against these trades. Part of AIG’s acute distress in 2008 was due to credit default swaps, another type of credit derivative, linked to the risk of shady overrated collateralized debt obligations. The basic problem was risk on fixed income assets that could only go down in value combined with lots of leverage. I’d like to interject a side note. I understand that some pundits tried to say that the New York Times’s Gretchen Morgenson was incorrect when she wrote MF Global was felled by derivative bets . She is correct. The pundits leaped to the conclusion that when she referred to credit derivatives and “swaps” that she meant credit default swaps, but she was referring to total return swaps, a type of credit derivative. (Later in the article she discussed a different topic, lack of transparency in credit default swaps, another type of credit derivative.) MF Global’s problematic trades were different from AIG’s, but they were also derivatives, in fact, they were a form of credit derivative. The “repo-to-maturity” transaction was just a form over substance gimmick to disguise this fact. Specifically the transactions are total return swaps, a type of credit derivative, and the chief purpose of these transactions is leverage. A total return swap-to-maturity includes a type of credit derivative. It allows you to sell a bond you own and get off-balance sheet financing in the form of a total return swap. Alternatively, you can get off-balance sheet financing on a bond with risk you want (but do not currently own so there is no need to sell anything) and take the risk of the default and price risk. (Price risk can be due both to credit risk and/or interest rate risk.) This is an off-balance sheet transaction in which the total return receiver (MF Global) has both the price risk and the default risk of the reference bonds. In this case, MF Global had the price risk and the default risk of $6.3 billion of the sovereign debt of Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland. As it happened, the price fluctuations of this debt in 2011 weren’t due to a general rise in interest rates, they were due to a general increase in the perceived credit risk of this debt. Repo transactions are on balance sheet transactions, but they don’t draw as much scrutiny from regulators. There was just one little problem. MF Global wanted the off-balance sheet treatment of a derivative, a total return swap, but it didn’t want to call it a total return swap, so it used smoke and mirrors. Even if MF Global engaged in a wash trade at the end (if there is no default in the meantime) to buy back the bonds, MF Global would receive par on the bonds from the maturing bonds. The repurchase trade at maturity is a formality with no real (or material) economic consequence. In other words, the “repo-to-maturity” exploits a form-over-substance trick to avoid calling this transaction a total return swap. Accountants paid by the form-over-substance seekers and asleep-at-the-switch regulators will sometimes, at least temporarily, go along with this sort of relabeling. The fact that MF Global was exposed in a leveraged way to default risk and liquidity risk because of these transactions and that the risk was- linked to European sovereign debt was disclosed in MF Global’s 10K for the year ending March 31, 2011, a required financial statement filed with the SEC. The CFTC and other regulators had the information right under their noses, but it appears they didn’t understand that they were looking at a leveraged credit derivative transaction that could lead to margin calls that MF Global would be unable to meet. See Also: ” Credit Derivatives and Leverage Sank Jon Corzine’s MF Global, ” by Janet Tavkaoli, Huffington Post, November 4, 2011, The result is that yet another large financial institution has been felled when it couldn’t meet margin calls due to the credit risk of fixed income assets combined with high leverage in an off-balance sheet transaction. The ugliest part of this story, however, isn’t that MF Global got in over its head, it’s that the bankruptcy trustee estimates customers’ money to the tune of $1.2 billion or more is still missing. Probable Shortfalls Throughout 2011 MF Global reportedly employed 35:1 leverage–some reports are 40:1–against a portfolio comprised around 20% of European Sovereign risks including Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland. MF Global would have had several trading days in 2011 with moves of 5% to 10% on this sovereign risk. MF Global was so thinly capitalized that this trade alone could eat up half of its capital. Any of MF Global’s other asset positions moving the same way in 2011′s highly correlated markets would have put MF Global in a position of negative equity. From a risk management point of view, examiners have to consider the very strong possibility that MF Global had several negative equity days throughout 2011. How did MF Global meet margin calls throughout 2011? It seems an investigation into money flows throughout 2011 is in order. By the end of October, the combination of a $90 million August legal settlement against MF Global coming due, increased capital calls by FINRA, and margin hikes from counterparties worried about MF Global’s credit made it impossible for MF Global to cover up its shortfall. Regulators Waive Required Tests for Jon Corzine Jon Corzine resigned as Chairman and CEO of MF Global on November 4, just days after the October 31 bankruptcy announcement. As a matter of corporate governance, holding the position of Chairman nad CEO meant that Corzine had a lot of concentrated power with little oversight. Many question the wisdom of a corporate structure that allows officers to hold this dual position. (Ken Lewis, the former Chairman and CEO that merged Bank of America into the poorhouse held this dual role, too. Lewis defended this practice at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Bank Structure Conference in 2003.) Corzine was the former governor of New Jersey and had been out of the active markets for twelve years. Prior to that, until 1999 he had been the CEO of Goldman Sachs. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA) gave Jon Corzine a waiver from his Series 7 and Series 24 exams when he took the helm of MF Global in March 2010. The former is required for anyone involved in the investment banking or securities business including supervision, solicitation, or training of persons associated with MF Global, and that included Corzine. As an officer of MF Global the latter was required for Corzine, since he had been out of the business for around 12 years or more than six times the 2 year expiration date for reactivating these qualifications. Jon Corzine to Credit Derivatives Head: Next Time “Double Up” (See note below) The test waiver by regulators seems to be blatant cronyism, because Corzine not only hadn’t been involved in the day-to-day markets for more than a decade, his responsibilities at MF Global included active decision making. The waiver wasn’t justified. Corzine reportedly authored the strategy for the MF Global killing trades, and he also had authority on the trading floor. Jon Corzine pushed traders to increase their risk. According to an MF Global employee, Corzine knelt down beside Jim Parascandola, head of credit derivatives trading, and told him that next time he should “double up” on his winning protection bets on brokerages. Traders loved Corzine, because he pushed them to increase risk. Now the traders aren’t lifting offers, they’re pounding the pavement. Update : Subsequent to this report Jim Parascandola told me that he was never told to increase the size of any position, albeit his trades were profitable. MF Global Becomes a Primary Dealer Unregulated by the Fed: How Did That Happen? MF Global’s financials were shaky ever since Man Group spun it off in 2005 and saddled it with a lot of debt. Yet MF Global was added to the Fed’s list of 22 primary dealers in February 2011, just before former Goldman CEO Jon Corzine officially came on board. Primary dealers buy and sell U.S. treasuries at auction and are a counterparty to the Fed’s Open Market operations. William C. Dudley is the president and chief executive officer of the FRBNY. He is also vice chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) and VP of the Markets Group, which oversees open market and foreign exchange trading operations and provisions of account services to foreign central banks and manages the System Open Market Account. Dudley is a former partner at Goldman Sachs (1986-2007), and he was Goldman’s chief economist. David Kotok of Cumberland Advisors has raised important questions about the fact that the Fed has dropped its role of surveillance of primary dealers, and his commentaries are available here . Besides trading treasuries, the big benefit to primary dealers is the perception that the Fed will provide funding to primary dealers during a systemic liquidity crunch. Just before Bear Stearns imploded, the Fed changed the rules so that non-U.S. banks, along with brokers that were primary dealers (as MF Global later became), were allowed to borrow through a program called a Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF) to finance mortgage backed securities, asset backed securities, and more. TSLF’s start date was too late to help Bear Stearns, and the program has now been discontinued, but the perception of a Fed safety net has precedence. Why did the Fed award prestigious primary dealer status to a shaky operation like MF Global, an entity it does not regulate? MF Global Stalled and Wrote Rubber Checks: Did Some Customers Get Better Treatment? The week before the bankruptcy, when customers asked for excess cash from their accounts, MF Global stalled. According to a commodity fund manager I spoke with, MF Global’s first stall tactic was to claim it lost wire transfer instructions. Instead of issuing an electronic check or sending an overnight check, MF Global sent paper checks via snail mail, including checks for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The checks bounced. After the checks bounced, the amounts were still debited from customer accounts, and no one at MF Global could or would reverse the check entries. The manager has had to intervene to get MF Global to correct this, and still hasn’t gotten the entries corrected. Reuters’s Matthew Goldstein reported more in ” MF Global and the Rubber Check. ” I thought that was bad enough, but on November 10 I was a guest on Stocks & Jocks, a Chicago radio show, when Jon Najarian said that a large broker he knows got a $400,000 electronic check from MF Global the Friday before that bankruptcy, and the check cleared. If that’s accurate, MF Global treated some customers differently than others. Tip-Offs for Some Customers? In August, customers started pulling billions of dollars out of their segregated accounts with MF Global. It was the biggest outflow of funds since January 2009 . The bankruptcy trustee may clawback transfers of funds from MF Global as it was teetering, because it is likely that employees within MF Global were well aware of the problems and tipped off key customers. Yet Gary Gensler, head of the CFTC, did not investigate or begin transferring accounts out of MF Global before the bankruptcy, and that is unprecedented for the CFTC. Given that Gary Gensler was a protégé of Jon Corzine at Goldman Sachs, one should question why Gary Gensler didn’t act and why he should be allowed to remain head of the CFTC. CFTC’s Gary Gensler Didn’t Act Gary Gensler, Jon Corzine’s former Goldman Sachs colleague and current head of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), had reason to be concerned about MF Global’s risk management. In early 2008, a rogue trader racked up $141.5 million in losses in unauthorized trades that exceeded his trading limits. It seems he accomplished this in under seven hours. In August of this year, MF Global and the underwriters of its 2007 initial public stock offering (IPO) agreed to pay around $90 million to settle claims by investors that they were misled about MF Global’s risk management prior to the rogue trader’s actions. Since 2008, MF Global’s financial condition has been nothing to brag about. Now the settlement is in jeopardy due to the bankruptcy. [Michael Stockman, the chief risk officer of MF Global as of January 2011 (after the previous mentioned incident) was in my Liar's Poker training class lampooned by another classmate, Michael Lewis.] In the past, the exchanges and CFTC “always” moved customer positions before a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) declared bankruptcy. The CFTC had ample reason to have contingency plans for MF Global based on publicly available information. Yet the Gensler-led CFTC hasn’t followed this historical precedent when an FCM led by his former Goldman colleague teetered on the edge of bankruptcy. Gensler has recused himself from the CFTC’s probe of MF Global. The exchange-traded futures markets have been shaken to the core. The Bankruptcy Code apparently conflicts with the Commodity Exchange Act, so customers of MF Global have less protection than one might expect. The Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) is not the FDIC. Account holders have no idea how long it will take to get back all of their money, if it is there to be recovered, and right now, it appears a lot of it cannot be found. This is why many traders sweep all of the excess cash out of their accounts each day, and only put in cash when required. MF Global Debacle Damages a Key Global Market The “risk wizards” of Goldman Sachs once again look like market wrecking balls. The futures market is a globally connected market and it is a key mechanism for farmers, metals miners, and metals fabricators (among others) to hedge their risk. Confidence in the futures market has been shaken. No one knows if their money is safe, but what is more disturbing is the appearance of crony capitalism once again giving favored treatment, lax regulation, and absent oversight to a crony capitalist that abused all of these perks to blow up a large financial firm and damage a key global market. This commentary is available in pdf form by clicking this link .

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Asian Activities Report for November 23, 2011: Air Liquide (EPA:AI) and Sinopec (SHA:600028) Form Joint Venture for a Refinery Expansion Project in China

November 22, 2011

http://www.abnnewswire.net/rss2/menafn/abn_menafn_en.asp Air Liquide (EPA:AI), the world leading industrial gas supplier, has formed a 50/50 joint venture with China Petroleum and Chemical …

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Blackham Resources Limited (ASX:BLK) Finalised the Acquisition of Matilda Gold Project

November 22, 2011

http://www.abnnewswire.net/rss2/menafn/abn_menafn_en.asp Blackham Resources Limited (ASX:BLK) is pleased to announce it has acquired 100% of the Wiluna South and Williamson Gold Mines and the …

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Sundance Resources Limited (ASX:SDL): Cameroon Government Declares Mbalam Rail Corridor

November 22, 2011

http://www.abnnewswire.net/rss2/menafn/abn_menafn_en.asp Sundance Resources Limited (ASX:SDL) is pleased to announce that its plan to develop the world’s next major iron ore province has progressed …

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HK’s Oct consumer prices grow by 5.8%

November 22, 2011

(MENAFN) Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics Department said that last month, the city’s consumer prices grew by 5.8 percent over 2010′s same period, reported Xinhua News. The agency added that the …

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China’s 2011 economy to soften to 9.1%: WB

November 22, 2011

(MENAFN) The World Bank (WB) said that since external demand for China’s products would continue to weaken, the country’s economic growth would be expected to soften to 9.1 percent in the current …

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MobileIron announces Australian datacenter for MobileIron Connected Cloud(TM)

November 22, 2011

(MENAFN – Asia Pulse) MobileIron (http://www.mobileiron.com), the innovator in enterprise management and security for mobile devices and apps, has launched its Australian datacenter for the …

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US birthrate falls 3% in 2010

November 22, 2011

(MENAFN) US birthrate witnessed for the third straight year, as women delayed having children amid weak economy uncertainties, Bloomberg reported. According to the Centers for Disease Control and …

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S. Korea govt passes FTA deal with US

November 22, 2011

(MENAFN) South Korea’s ruling Grand National Party passed a free-trade agreement with US over the objections of opposition lawmakers, Bloomberg reported. South Korea’s Finance Ministry said that …

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UK’s budget deficit falls in October

November 22, 2011

(MENAFN) UK’s Office for National Statistics said that the country’s budget deficit declined in October, following spending cut at government departments, Bloomberg reported. The data showed that …

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S&P will not downgrade US credit rating

November 22, 2011

(MENAFN) Standard & Poor’s said that although a Congressional committee failed to introduce a plan to reduce the country’s deficits by USD1.2 trillion over the coming ten years, the agency wouldn’t …

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Vietnam gets USD9b Russian loan for nuclear plant

November 22, 2011

(MENAFN) Russia awarded Vietnam aUSD9 billion loan to finance it first nuclear power plant, Bloomberg reported. Vietnam last year unveiled plans to set up 13 nuclear power stations with a total …

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Mike Ragogna: myLocal Heroes: An Interview With Fairfield’s Scott Morris

November 22, 2011

photo courtesy of Scott Morris Out of a little known corner in Iowa, tucked away in the peculiar and extraordinary town of Fairfield, comes this story of a new kind of community empowerment program that could hold the key to a more transparent, more life-supporting, more humanitarian money supply and system of incentives. Since 2009, a core of social entrepreneurs has been crafting and proving out a new model of wealth generation centered on social and economic equity, the spirit of harmony found in volunteerism, and respect for individual sovereignty. The group piloted their now flagship “Hero Rewards” program from April to July of 2011, cataloging their experience of empowering local charities in engaging the community, rewarding local volunteers for being proactive in community building, and bringing stimulus to the local economy all at once with something no more complex than a coupon. With the pilot concluded, a group of civic-minded community members invited the Hero Rewards team to present their findings and on how they intended to perpetuate the model to the benefit of both Fairfield and beyond. ” my Local Cooperative” emerged as the parent, administering organization that oversees the Hero Rewards, while it also provides a “Community Operating System” App for web and mobile along with a slew of relevant online marketing services to its merchant members. The Community Operating System provides: a unified community calendar, where the cornerstone entities of the community can unify their event listings alongside local schools, venues, and charities, and where individuals can customize their personal feed according to their own interests; a new platform for exchange called ” my Local Marketplace” which allows local trade to occur in a plethora of media from purely time-based “timebanking” to business-to-business barter while also featuring job listings, daily deals, and more; and finally, a new authority to the individual through ” my Local Voice”, an online town-hall environment where people can express and discuss ideas, identify priorities, and see action taken on agreed-upon solutions. It brings all this to life in a rich maps-layer where people can interact with their locale and enjoy local wealth experiences in ways unlike ever before. photo courtesy of Scott Morris A Conversation with my Local’s Steve Morris Mike Ragogna : So Scott, tell me a bit about how my Local came to be. Scott Morris : We started as a round table that was exploring alternative methods for local economic development. We wanted to create an program for Fairfield that had the benefits of a complimentary currency, but would not be perceived as one. We wanted to create a program that would help boost resilience and self-reliance while also activating latent resources in the community. What we ended up with was a program called “Hometown Hero Rewards” which we piloted to explore whether rewarding volunteerism and other socially progressive activities with local merchant promotions and deals would be something that people would appreciate. What we actually created was something much more, something that everybody in the community could get behind, and in fact DID. MR : How did the Hero Rewards pilot turn out? SM : It actually turned out a lot better than any of us expected. The Civic Organizations loved the extra coverage and promotion of their events, Volunteers were thrilled to receive the Hero Rewards–actually called “Merits”–and participating Merchants recognized the value of pledging their “off hours” capacity to those who’ve gone and bettered the community. It was a win-win-win, and like we said, everybody got behind the idea. The data we collected speaks to what this program can do for local economies. MR : You’re running a crowd-funding campaign right now, tell me a little bit about that. SM : We’re raising $25,000 to kick-start the development of our “Community Operating System” App. The campaign can be found via the link: www.mylocal.coop/thiswayup and will certainly inspire pledges from readers who like the idea of generating an abundance of jobs, creating a brighter future for our children, and helping “local” to become the next cool and convenient thing to do. It ends on midnight on Thanksgiving Day, so the heat is on for us to get this link out there and around networks who will respond positively to our message. If you have networks you think will appreciate real solutions for local communities, than please share the link with them. We’re counting on grassroots support, and we invite your readers to take a closer look. MR : Do you think you’ll actually get the money? SM : The early-adopter wave of support we have seen is HUGE for campaigns of this type, and yes, we do intend on hitting our goal of $25,000 before November 24th. We’re committed and we wouldn’t waste our time unless we could actually pull it off. I mean, there’s a whole field of possibilities out there, and with your help, the help of your readers, and the larger network of concerned and intelligent people out there, we think success is well within reach. MR : What’s the Community Operating System? SM : It’s a web and mobile app that puts the power of “local” into the palm of your hand. It combines the Hero Rewards program with mobile payments and a whole suite of other community services. For merchants, it lowers the cost of doing business with smartphone users and increases security and convenience for everyone. The user interface is maps and calendar-based for navigating local events, deals and promotions, and opportunities to engage in achieving the greater good through social engagement. MR : How will it make life easier, can you give me some examples? SM : (1) I’ve got kids in school, and I want to stay on top of related events. my Local Calendar gives me the controls to subscribe to events that are school-related, receive updates via email, and have one-click access to details and directions if I need them. (2) I’m in college, I need to find ways reduce financial pressure. The COS allows me to explore opportunities to qualify for Hero Rewards, publish my skills in my Local Marketplace for others to search and hire, and find deals that help me get more from the dollars I have in addition to generally expanding the bandwidth of what I can trade for goods and services around town. (3) I’m a massage therapist, and the Community Operating System allows me to be found by people who are interested in supporting the local economy. I can barter my services with local businesses, easily trade hour-for-hour with other people who have skills to offer, and I can attract new customers by participating in Hero Rewards. photo courtesy of Scott Morris

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Brazil to fine Chevron USD28m for oil spill

November 22, 2011

(MENAFN) Brazil’s Environment Minister, Izabella Teixeira, said that as a result of an ongoing oil spill off the Rio de Janeiro coast, the ministry would fine Chevron Corp. around USD28 million for …

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USD/CAD Classical Technical Report 11.22

November 22, 2011

USD/CAD: Our constructive outlook remains intact with the market well supported in the 0.9900 ahead of the latest bounce. Look for the formation of a fresh higher low ahead of the next major …

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NZD/USD Classical Technical Report 11.22

November 22, 2011

NZD/USD: Of all the major currency pairs, this is the first one to officially negate the October price action, with the market reversing sharply in November and taking out the critical early …

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AUD/USD Classical Technical Report 11.22

November 22, 2011

AUD/USD: The latest break and close back below parity further solidifies our core bearish outlook and now opens the door for an acceleration of declines. From here wee see risks for a complete …

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USD/CHF Classical Technical Report 11.22

November 22, 2011

USD/CHF: The pair looks like it is in the process of carving a major base ahead of some significant upside over the coming weeks and months. The latest rally seems to be gaining momentum, and we …

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GBP/USD Classical Technical Report 11.22

November 22, 2011

GBP/USD: The latest daily close below 1.5870 confirms our bearish outlook and should now open the door for a bearish resumption back towards the key October lows at 1.5270 over the coming days. …

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USD/JPY Classical Technical Report 11.22

November 22, 2011

USD/JPY:Although the market has come back under pressure following the recent surge to 79.55, we retain a constructive outlook with the price still holding above the bottom of the daily Ichimoku …

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EUR/USD Classical Technical Report 11.22

November 22, 2011

EUR/USD: The latest break below 1.3480 should now open a fresh downside extension which ultimately exposes a retest of the key lows from October at 1.3145. Look for any rallies to be well capped …

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EURUSD: Stay Short Aiming for October Low

November 22, 2011

Strategy: Short at 1.3526, Targeting 1.3144 Floating Profit / Loss: +4 pips We sold EURUSD at 1.3526 as prices completeda Head and Shoulders top bearish reversal chart pattern following a retest …

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HP Q4 net income plunges 91%

November 22, 2011

(MENAFN) Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) said that as a result of higher restructuring charges, during the fourth quarter, the company’s profit dropped 91 percent reaching USD239 million, compared with …

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Cal eConnect Appoints Robert M. Cothren as Chief Technology Officer

November 22, 2011

EMERYVILLE, CA–(Marketwire – Nov 21, 2011) – Robert M. (“Rim”) Cothren, PhD, has been appointed chief technology officer for Cal eConnect. Cal eConnect is executing on the $38.8 million federal grant California received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to implement health information exchange (HIE) services and policies. Cothren will serve as principal for all the organization’s health information technology and exchange projects, effective November 15, 2011.

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Canada joins international sanctions on Iran

November 22, 2011

(MENAFN) Canadian government said it will ban the exports of all goods used in the petrochemical, oil and gas industry from Iran, Reuters reported. Canada’s Foreign Minister John Baird said the …

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