Archive for June, 2008

American Express won’t leave home without its $4 billion settlement

by Ryan Caione, June 30, 2008, 7:00 am

The American Express card has always seemed to possess an aura of exclusivity. The perception was fomented by the credit card’s ties to its parent company’s jet-setting travel business, as well as a long-standing requirement (since loosened, but still offered) that cardholders pay off …

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The rap on Novellus: A casebook on management missteps

by Jeff Dorsch, June 27, 2008, 7:00 am

News item: Novellus Systems agreed to pay $168,000 to an African-American assembly technician who claimed he was fired after he repeatedly complained to management about a Vietnamese-American co-worker. The co-worker played rap music on the factory floor and rapped along with the music’s …

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Increased lobbying efforts pay off for drug companies

by Anne Law, June 26, 2008, 7:00 am

The numbers are in and it’s official — pharmaceutical firms outspent everyone, including themselves, on lobbying US senators and representatives in 2007. Pharma companies shelled out $168 million last year, a 32% increase over 2006, to influence politicians to take their side on issues including prescription drug …

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Einhorn vs. Lehman — David vs. Goliath, but which one’s Goliath?

by Patrice Sarath, June 25, 2008, 7:00 am

Remember what your mother always said? “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all?”

Short sellers live to mock that quaint old adage.

It’s no wonder that they dredge up all sorts of emotions. CEOs loathe them, whether they have been targeted by short sellers or …

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China looks to take on US generic drug market

by Kristi Park, June 24, 2008, 7:00 am

Like the Britney Spears of the business world, the Chinese drugmaking industry seems to be in the news quite a bit, but rarely for anything good. The country’s domestic prescription drug market has had numerous issues with counterfeit products, and the government executed its pharmaceutical …

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Paramount and DreamWorks hit the skids

by Larry Bills, June 23, 2008, 7:00 am

There really is no such thing as a long-term marriage in Hollywood, even at the corporate level. It’s expected that the pair-up of Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks will soon go the way of Jen …

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Post(it) Note: Kraft selling breakfast cereals to Ralcorp

by Barbara Murray, June 20, 2008, 8:52 am

With apologies to 3M and any fans thereof reading this missive, it has nothing to do with the maker of those ubiquitous, pale yellow squarettes we stick to every possible surface in our cubicles. This is about breakfast, the most important meal … …

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Feds indict former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers Cioffi and Tannin for fraud

by Patrice Sarath, June 19, 2008, 10:26 am

Despite having laid low since his hedge funds went bust last year, Ralph Cioffi and Bear Stearns colleague Matthew Tannin were indicted yesterday by federal prosecutors. According to the Wall Street Journal, charges will likely include securities-, wire-, and mail-fraud and have to …

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The yin and Yang of Yahoo!

by Jeff Dorsch, June 19, 2008, 7:00 am

Since we last visited this subject, Yahoo! stopped talking to Microsoft, a deal was reached to place Google ads alongside Yahoo! search results (a move that has even Carl Icahn expressing cautious approval), and …

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Crude Oil, Trances, and Healthy Hair

by Stuart Hampton, June 18, 2008, 7:00 am

High gas prices have you pulling your hair out?

Let me take you back to a simpler time, when abundant crude oil and good hair went together. A time when the murky (Pennsylvania Crude Oil) and the quirky (the prophecies of Edgar Cayce) held …

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