Heres a interesting graph showing the effect the economy has had on the 12 days of Christmas (You know, the song..) Take a look and see what shape we are in heading into the final days of the holiday season. (click the image below for a larger version)
Todays article goes to show that in these tough economic times even the elite schools are having trouble copeing. On Thursday Harvard announced it would suspend construction on a high tech
complex because of “money issues.”
FTA: “The altered financial landscape of the university, and of the wider world, necessitates a shift away from rapid development in Allston,” Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard’s president, wrote in a letter released Thursday.
As part of a larger long-term expansion into Allston — a pet project of Lawrence H. Summers, Dr. Faust’s predecessor at Harvard and now President Obama’s chief economic adviser — the university also bought a string of buildings there over the last 20 years. But many have remained vacant, to the chagrin of Allston residents who have accused the university of buying land and holding onto it, a practice known as land banking.
Continue reading ‘Slowing Expansion, Harvard Suspends Work on Tower’
Check out the latest Digg Dialogg with the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Julius Genachowski, appointed under Obama’s administration in June 2009. Prior to his appointment, he spent ten years in the technology industry, working as both an executive and an entrepreneur. Genachowski has a history of public service, serving previously at the FCC as well as clerking for the U.S. Supreme Court for two years. He received a JD from Harvard where he was co-Notes editor of the Harvard Law Review, and has a BA from Columbia University.
Click here to view the latest vid
Dubai. The land of wonders, mystery, and 30% of the entire worlds crane supply. As some of you may know, Dubai had been on an economic boom over the course of 10 years, quickly becoming the “hot spot” when it came to almost anything in the world. Development grew at a staggering rate and international investors jumped on any opportunity they could to get a piece of the action. As a frequent visitor to Dubai and someone who owns property in the area, I have been closely following the recent events surrounding Dubai’s economic crisis and the huge effect it has on the rest of the world. Massive amounts of international investments lost, property on a decline, but who will come to the rescue? Heres an interesting article from todays MarketWatch:
Continue reading ‘Dubai crisis is the Arab economy’s opportunity’
(Bloomberg) — Business activity in the U.S. unexpectedly accelerated in November as orders climbed, signaling the economic recovery will carry through into 2010.
The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago Inc. said today its barometer rose to 56.1, the highest level since August 2008, from 54.2 the prior month. Readings above 50 signal expansion. Milwaukee and Texas also showed gains in manufacturing, other reports showed.
Continue reading ‘Business Activity in U.S. Unexpectedly Accelerated’
Heres my top story of the day. Bernie Madoff – the mastermind behind the largest scam in US history, stole nearly $65 billion from unsuspecting and hard-working people. Now that hes behind bars, it’s no surprise that the victims want their money back, and they’ll take it any way possible. That being said, an auction has started in the US selling off Madoffs “luxury” items to help raise funds to repay those at loss.
So far a few items have sold for more than expected, with boats going for a cool $1 million a piece and a custom-made jacket for $14,000, 20X the predicted sale price. This may seem like a smart way to gain some of the funds back, but how many boats, jewels, and cars need to be sold to make up for the total $65 billion? The chart below puts it in perspective and gives a clear picture of just how much money this SOB stole. (pardon my French, but what else do you call such a human?)
-Bilal Asgher
Click on the image to view a larger version
How much would need to be sold to pay all the victims back?
Madoff is currently serving a 150 year sentence. Details of his prison life were made public last month when it was revealed he shares his cell with a 21-year-old convicted drug offender, and “eats pizza cooked by an inmate convicted of child molestation.”
Take a look at the auction:
President Obama said before going to China this week that Asia can no longer live by shipping goods to Americans already in debt to their ears
With once being thought of as an engine of growth to help the exhausted West, China is now making matters worse. Its policies are reeking havoc on global trade and bring about the risk of tipping the world into a second leg of the great recession. What is causing this? Why can’t we stop it before it happens? Click below to continue reading.
- Bilal Asgher
Continue reading ‘China has now become the biggest risk to the world economy’
It seems were not the only ones to think that Wall Street pays their top dogs much more than they ”earn.” On Wednesday Bill Gates said he believes Wall Street pay is “often too high” and
that the US governments ownership of AIG Inc worries him because of devaluation of the giant insurer.
Microsofts founder and billionaire, who in 2008 steped down from his main role at Microsoft to focus on his philanthropy work, blames a US law created in 1993 that capped the salaries of executives at $1 million and warned that any further attempts to try and limit Wall Street pay could also potentialy backfire.
“It was a bad milestone in controlling executive salaries when that $1 million cap went on,” Gates told a discussion on philanthropy in New York.
“The compensation problem is a very interesting problem. I do think compensation is often too high, but it’s a very tough problem to solve,” said Gates, who was recently ranked by Forbes as the tenth most powerful man in the world.
“What happened was a surprise to people and it comes from everybody being so optimistic and over ebullient and having a view of risk and price appreciation that was completely out of kilter. I do worry that when the government owns an entity like AIG that you can greatly devalue that entity by having it essentially have to behave as though it part of the government,”
“It’s an unnatural situation when the government owns a lot of a private company. Unfortunately there is a view that that should exist for a long term. There’s some devaluation of what that asset would have been worth if it hadn’t had to go through that kind of management structure. It’s unavoidable,” he said
- Bilal Asgher
When I read the title to this article I had the same reaction as I’m sure your having now: what? Billionaire Rupert Murdoch says he will remove stories from Googles search index, in an attempt to get people to pay for content online. My opinion? The words crazy and absurd come to mind.
The mogul said, in an interview with Sky News Australia, that newspapers in his media empire – including the Sun, the Times and the Wall Street Journal – would consider blocking Google entirely, after enacting plans to charge people for reading their stories via their websites. This is ridiculous. In the day and age that we live, with the internet at many of our fingertips every second of the day and the endless amount of sources out there, it’s an impossible task. Not to mention one that most definitely will result in a mass boycott of some sort. Web users will not stand for this and for Mr Murdoch to think otherwise is crazy. Trying to step in and change the dynamic by which people obtain their news and information and slapping a price tag to read news online? Please. They, like myself, will find another of the 100000000 FREE sites that provide the same quality information as those owned by the mogul. The days of charging for “news” and information on the web are long over.
- Bilal Asgher
Steve Jobs; CEO of the Decade
In my top story of the day we take a look at, some say, the most powerful man in “technological trend setting.” Steve Jobs is no stranger to prestigious titles or awards. At the young age of 30, he won the First National Medal of Technology. Hes been named most admired entrepeneur among teenagers and is respected around the world as a leader in his industry. After reviving Apple from near bankruptcy in 1997 to becoming the leader and benchmark that most companies try to aspire to, its no wonder that Fortune Magazine has named him CEO of the decade. Click below to read the article and leave any comments you may have. Do you agree? Is there someone else you feel deserves this accolade more than the “king” of Mac?
- Bilal Asgher
Continue reading ‘Steve Jobs named “CEO of the Decade” by Fortune’
Found this a few days ago on digg.com and thought Id share it with everyone. Ever wonder how countries spend their money? How much goes in to military, health care, and education? This interactive map shows the total amount of money allocated to these various sectors and shows a great overview comparison throughout the world. Click below to view the high res map.
After all the strategies to bring a change in the automobile industry, Ford Motor Company has become a turnaround story. The once damaged and financially unstable company has manged to report a nearly $1 billion profit for the third quarter on Nov 2nd, adding profits to gains in market share and improvements in quality since CEO Alan Mulally took over in September 2006. The company also gained 1$ billion in cash and paid off $2 billion in previous debt.
“Ford is making tremendous progress,” Mulally said on a conference call. “Our transformation is
working.”
It’s not all good news for the company, as they still have a big debt load, something that GM and Crysler were able to greatly reduce in bankruptcy. The long-term debt has dropped to $23 billion, but adding in short-term debt and various obligations to the UAWs retiree health care trust, the estimated total debt is around $38 billion. It’s a disadvantage, but Barclays Capital analyst Brian Johnson says Ford should have enough cash to meet its needs.
- Bilal Asgher
In what is being described as an “all-in wager on the economic future of the United States,” Warren 
Buffetts Berkshire Hathway Inc has agreed to buy railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.
This is the largest purchase ever for Berkshire and will cost the company $26 billion for the 77.4% of the railroad it doesnt already own. Once his previous debt assumption and investment is factored in, the deal is valued at $44 billion.
“It is Warren being Warren, taking advantage of a market that is soft at a time when the possibility for competitive bids is relatively low,” said Tom Russo, a partner at Gardner Russo & Gardner, which holds Berkshire shares. “He looks at this as a business that has advantages against other forms of transportation.”
- Bilal Asgher
Amusing story coming out of The Atlantic Business Watch today, showing Clorox’s profits up 23% in the third quarter. Wondering what this has to do with H1N1? Read on…
“The bleach maker said profit was aided by sales of disinfectant wipes to combat the worldwide H1N1 flu virus, shipments of Hidden Valley salad dressing, and lower costs. These gains were offset by soft demand for Glad trash bags and promotional spending.”
