5 things to do in a downturn
If you find yourself out of a job or worrying that you’re about to be, you have better things to do with your time than fret. Reflect, rebalance and branch out instead.
Bank plan buys time, but that’s all
A nearly painless, win-win solution for Wall Street and taxpayers? Don’t believe it for a minute. But the hoopla gives investors a chance to profit in the short term.
Dow jumps 175; Nasdaq is ahead for 2009
The Nasdaq sees its best close since January as techs surge. An issue of 7-year Treasury notes sells easily a day after another sale didn’t go well. The final report on fourth-quarter GDP isn’t quite as bad as expected. Best Buy earnings cheer investors.
Secrets of successful savers
Lots of people who manage to stash away cash feel tempted not to. Here are their strategies for keeping their spendthrift selves in check.
Kill ‘bad GM’ so ‘good GM’ can live?
A proposal to split the automaker in two could save brands such as Cadillac and Chevrolet while letting a bankruptcy court liquidate Hummer, Saturn and other assets.
Managerial Incentives and Corporate Fraud: The Sources of Incentives Matter
Operating performance and stock return results imply that managers who commit fraud anticipate large stock price declines if they were to report truthfully, which would cause greater losses for managerial stockholdings than for options because of differences in convexity. Fraud firms have significantly greater incentives from unrestricted stockholdings than control firms do, and unrestricted stockholdings are their largest incentive source. Our results emphasize the importance of the shape and vesting status of incentive payoffs in providing incentives to commit fraud. Fraud firms also have characteristics that suggest a lower likelihood of fraud detection, which implies lower expected costs of fraud.
Bulls beat bears; Dow finally closes up 90
The market recovers from a sell-off started by a disappointing Treasury auction. IBM slips on a report that it will move a large number of jobs to India. Durable goods orders increase for the first time in 7 months; new-home sales also show a surprising gain.
A 30-day challenge: Don’t spend
Start by cutting out the luxuries. Don’t eat out. Drive less. The benefits can include more savings, less debt and a bigger emergency fund. Hey, it’s only for a month, right?
Ford, GM to cover payments for jobless
The automakers are trying to reassure worried consumers who have put off buying new cars because of the threat of unemployment.
Shareholder Rights, Boards, and CEO Compensation
I analyze the role of executive compensation in corporate governance. As proxies for corporate governance, I use board size, board independence, CEO-chair duality, institutional ownership concentration, CEO tenure, and an index of shareholder rights. The results from a broad cross-section of large U.S. public firms are inconsistent with recent claims that entrenched managers design their own compensation contracts. The interactions of the corporate governance mechanisms with total pay-for-performance and excess compensation can be explained by governance substitution. If a firm has generally weaker governance, the compensation contract helps better align the interests of shareholders and the CEO.
Secretary Leavitt’s Webcast Now Available
HHS Encourages Technology Transfer to Combat Bird Flu
HHS Releases Pandemic Planning Update V Report
HHS Releases Pandemic Planning Update V Report
Archive of December 17, 2008 Webcast on antiviral drug use and employer stockpiling now available
The archive of the December 17, 2008 Webcast on antiviral drug use and employer stockpiling now available. You can also access archives of the entire PlanFirst Webcast series at: http://pandemicflu.gov/news/panflu_webinar.html
Human-to-Human Transmission Likely in Pakistan Outbreak
Two additional H5N1 cases were confirmed by serological testing, thus providing final H5N1 infection test results on a previously reported family cluster in Peshawar.
Secretary Leavitt Writes About Pandemic Exercise With Bloggers
We routinely hold readiness exercises at HHS on various emergency scenarios. Typically, people from various parts of the emergency management community sit around a square table, and a moderator paints a picture of a disaster unfolding. It is like a reader’s theater. As events are described, each actor assumes their part, describing what they are thinking and doing to respond.