Carl Icahn Unleashed: Wall Street's Richest Man Is On The Attack -- Just Ask Michael Dell - Forbes


Carl Icahn Unleashed: Wall Street's Richest Man Is On The Attack -- Just Ask Michael Dell - Forbes:

Forbes has a fascinating article on a fascinating man: Carl Icahn.


"He used to make runs at companies via junk bonds and other tools of leverage. Then he figured out how to use other people’s money via a hedge fund structure. Now, though, it’s all Carl–with a net worth that FORBES estimates at

Why Do Firms Pay Stock Dividends: Is it Just a Stock Split? by Xi He, Mingsheng Li, Jing Shi, Garry Twite :: SSRN


Why Do Firms Pay Stock Dividends: Is it Just a Stock Split? by Xi He, Mingsheng Li, Jing Shi, Garry Twite :: SSRN:

Abstract:

"This paper examines why firms choose to pay stock dividends. Using a sample of listed Chinese firms, we find that younger, more profitable firms, with lower leverage, high levels of retained earnings, private ownership prior to listing, investing more in fixed

Deregulation of Bank Entry and Bank Failures by Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Ajay Yadav :: SSRN


Deregulation of Bank Entry and Bank Failures by Krishnamurthy Subramanian, Ajay Yadav :: SSRN:

Short version: after deregulation there are fewer bank failures. 

From the paper:


"we find that deregulation of bank entry enhances bank stability by lowering instances of bank failures. Consistent with the effects being strongest in environments where the structure of banking markets changed the

Earthquakes and the Mind-Bending Laws of Markets - Bloomberg


To summarize: markets (and earthquakes) are not "normal".

Earthquakes and the Mind-Bending Laws of Markets - Bloomberg:


"Unfortunately, centuries of science and mathematics tradition, focusing on the normal statistics of things like weights, heights, and test scores, has taught us to see the world incorrectly. It was a telling moment on April 27, 2010, when Goldman Sachs Chief Financial

Spreadsheet for calculating interest payments



My MBA 604 class was asking about this, so I figured I would share it with everyone.  It is simple but shows how early payments go primarily to paying off interest. 

California Schools Finance Upgrades by Making the Next Generation Pay - NYTimes.com


California Schools Finance Upgrades by Making the Next Generation Pay - NYTimes.com:

This past week I was at a conference where one of the presentations was on these Capital Appreciation Bonds.  Essentially while these look like zero coupon bonds to investors, they take advantage of accounting loopholes that allow the price appreciation to be catergorized at deferred interest. And hence only

How Pervasive is Corporate Fraud? by I.J. Dyck, Adair Morse, Luigi Zingales :: SSRN

How Pervasive is Corporate Fraud? by I.J. Dyck, Adair Morse, Luigi Zingales :: SSRN:

Abstract:
"We estimate what percentage of firms engage in fraud and the economic cost of fraud. Our estimates are based on detected frauds, and frauds that we infer are started but are not caught. To identify the ‘iceberg’ of undetected fraud we take advantage of an exogenous shock to the incentives for fraud

Swiss vote for tough curbs on executive pay - Europe - Al Jazeera English


Swiss vote for tough curbs on executive pay - Europe - Al Jazeera English:

Shareholder voting on pay that matters?  This will be interesting to watch.  


"Swiss citizens voted to impose some of the world's strictest controls on executive pay, forcing public companies to give shareholders a binding vote on compensation, initial result projections showed.

Claude Longchamp, of pollsters Gfs

SEC Speech: Harnessing Tomorrow’s Technology for Today’s Investors and Markets, by Chairman Elisse Walter, on February 19, 2013


High Frequency trading has been in the news (and in class) quite a bit lately.  While high frequency trading seems to have peaked, it is still in the news (For example Warren Buffett sort of talked about it, regulators in the US and Germany are looking into it).   So a short "lesson"

So from Wikipedia:

"High-frequency trading (HFT) is the use of sophisticated technological tools and computer

China's real estate bubble - 60 Minutes - CBS News

China's real estate bubble - 60 Minutes - CBS News

Heinz CEO Johnson Would Get $200 Million in Post-Berkshire Exit - Yahoo! Finance


Heinz CEO Johnson Would Get $200 Million in Post-Berkshire Exit - Yahoo! Finance:


"H.J. Heinz Co. (HNZ) Chief Executive Officer Bill Johnson could receive more than $200 million should he exit after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) and Jorge Paulo Lemann's 3G Capital Inc. buy the ketchup maker.

Johnson, 64, would get "Golden Parachute Compensation" including $56 million in

To Limit Corporate Tax Avoidance, Tax Investors - Bloomberg




Income Tax rates by Country based on OECD 2005 data. "OECD Tax Database". Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development . . Retrieved 2007-01-30 . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To Limit Corporate Tax Avoidance, Tax Investors - Bloomberg:

Thoughts?  

"International companies have so much discretion in allocating costs and revenues across their dispersed units that the corporate tax