Thursday, August 29, 2013

Monday, August 26, 2013

The Truth About Marissa Mayer: An Unauthorised Biography | Business Insider Australia

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/marissa-mayer-biography-2013-8

The Truth About Marissa Mayer: An Unauthorised Biography

On the morning of Thursday, July 12, 2012, Yahoo's interim CEO, Ross Levinsohn, still believed he was going to be named permanent CEO of the company.
He had just one meeting to go.

Bo Xilai trial transcripts expose a privileged world of wealth

Bo Xilai trial transcripts expose a privileged world of wealth
http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-china-bo-wealth-20130824,0,2013100.story

Saturday, August 24, 2013

That horned sea monster? It's 'definitely a shark skeleton'

That horned sea monster? It's 'definitely a shark skeleton'
http://www.nbcnews.com/science/horned-sea-monster-its-definitely-shark-skeleton-6C10971972

Numbers Don't Lie: Tesla Is Beginning To Put The Hurt On The Competition

Numbers Don't Lie: Tesla Is Beginning To Put The Hurt On The Competition
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markrogowsky/2013/08/24/numbers-dont-lie-tesla-is-beginning-to-put-the-hurt-on-the-competition/

The Devil’s Drug: The True Story of Meth in New Mexico

The Devil's Drug: The True Story of Meth in New Mexico
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/24/the-devil-s-drug-the-true-story-of-meth-in-new-mexico.html

Friday, August 23, 2013

Is the mobile messaging space ripe for consolidation?

Is the mobile messaging space ripe for consolidation?
http://gigaom.com/2013/08/23/is-the-mobile-messaging-space-ripe-for-consolidation/

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to step down within a year

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to step down within a year
http://gigaom.com/2013/08/23/microsoft-ceo-steve-ballmer-to-step-down-within-a-year/

Yay!!

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Article: To Cut Fees, Public Funds Seek to Take Charge of Investing

To Cut Fees, Public Funds Seek to Take Charge of Investing
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/to-cut-fees-public-funds-seek-to-take-charge-of-investing-2/

Sent from my iPad

JPMorgan Gave the Children of Chinese Officials Sweet Jobs

JPMorgan Gave the Children of Chinese Officials Sweet Jobs
http://gawker.com/jpmorgan-gave-the-children-of-chinese-officials-sweet-j-1162444089

1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spider sells for incredible $27.5 million

1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spider sells for incredible $27.5 million
http://www.autoblog.com/2013/08/18/1967-ferrari-275-gtb-4-nart-spider-sells-incredible-27-5-million-monterey-2013/

Ibiza: 'Nothing is innocent and dealing is normal'

Ibiza: 'Nothing is innocent and dealing is normal'
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/17/ibiza-drugs-dark-side

You Can Get Paid To Travel The World. Seriously.

You Can Get Paid To Travel The World. Seriously.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/18/get-paid-to-travel_n_3757774.html

The iPhone 5C Is All About Building Share For 16:9 Screen

The iPhone 5C Is All About Building Share For 16:9 Screen
http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2013/08/17/the-iphone-5c-is-all-about-building-share-for-169-screen/

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

China wins a deal for one of the world’s biggest solar power plants, and it’s in the US

http://qz.com/114770/china-wins-deal-for-one-of-the-worlds-biggest-solar-power-plants-and-its-in-the-us/

Winners and losers in China’s next decade | McKinsey & Company

Winners and losers in China's next decade

It is not enough for global businesses to know that in coming years China's economy will move away from an overreliance on investment and toward more consumption. They also must know that the potential costs and benefits of rebalancing the world's second-largest economy are high and will affect industries not only domestically but also around the world. The degree of impact depends largely on the policies that Beijing chooses to implement. While China's leadership—under both President Xi Jinping and his predecessor, Hu Jintao—has made it clear

Managing the people side of risk | McKinsey & Company

Managing the people side of risk

Most executives take managing risk quite seriously, the better to avoid the kinds of crises that can destroy value, ruin reputations, and even bring a company down. Especially in the wake of the global financial crisis, many have strived to put in place more thorough risk-related processes and oversight structures in order to detect and correct fraud, safety breaches, operational errors, and overleveraging long before they become full-blown disasters.
Yet processes and oversight structures, albeit essential, are only part of the story. Some organizations have found that crises can continue to emerge when they neglect to manage the frontline attitudes and behaviors that are their first line of defense against risk. This so-called risk culture¹ is the milieu within

Due diligence in China: Art, science, and self-defense | McKinsey & Company

Due diligence in China: Art, science, and self-defense

It's not often that the credibility of an entire class of companies is called into question at once. The aggregate market capitalization of US-listed Chinese companies¹ fell in 2011 and 2012 by 72 percent—and around one in five was delisted² —even as the Nasdaq rose by 12 percent (exhibit). Nor is delisting of Chinese companies purely a US phenomenon: since 2008, around one in ten Chinese companies listed in Singapore has also been delisted or suspended.

Exhibit

In recent years, the aggregate market capitalization of US-listed Chinese companies has fallen dramatically.

Why bad multiples happen to good companies

Earnings multiples, particularly the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, are a common shorthand for summarizing how the stock market values a company. The media often use them for quick comparisons between companies. Investors and analysts use them when talking about how they value companies.
That there are generally more detailed models behind the shorthand seldom makes the headlines, and this contributes to a problem: executives who worry that their multiple should be higher than the one the market currently awards them. "We have great growth plans," they say, or "We're the best company in the industry, so we should have a substantially higher earnings multiple." Their logic isn't necessarily wrong. Finance theory does suggest that companies with higher expected growth and returns on capital should have higher multiples. And the theory held true when we analyzed large samples of companies across the economy.

Who's afraid of variable earnings?

It is increasingly obvious that the market's obsession with short-term earnings has pushed many companies into unwise or cosmetic business practices. Tactics such as accelerating revenue recognition and managing accounting reserves to smooth earnings are based on the assumption that investors will pay a premium for steady and predictable earnings growth. As confirmation, some point to Jack Welch, whose management of GE's accounting reportedly smoothed the company's earnings and earned its stock a so-called Jack Welch premium.¹ Executives today regularly cite stable earnings growth as a reason for strategic actions. For example, the CEO of Conoco justified its pending merger with Phillips Petroleum in part by asserting that the merger would offer greater earnings stability throughout the commodity price cycle.²

Three steps to a more productive earnings call

As every earnings season comes to an end, it is striking how often executives and investors alike complain that earnings calls are a colossal waste of time. It's no wonder. Even a determined listener would be tested by an executive reading highly scripted texts of revenue, margin, and earnings data that would be better presented in tables. And few analysts or investors work up much enthusiasm for earnings-per-share (EPS)¹ data that heed the generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP)—data that say little about value creation. Clearly, the quarterly earnings call needs an overhaul.
Short of eliminating them entirely—a step many managers are unwilling to contemplate—what's a CFO to do? There's plenty of room for experimentation with more insightful formats. Beyond the formal and legally required 10-K forms, managers are free to innovate their quarterly (or semiannual) interactions—around both the format and the content of their calls. Most stakeholders would likely be delighted. Three ideas could greatly improve the dialogue.