The Madoff scandal is really an astonishing news. Perhaps the current financial crisis contributed to the immense attention given to the scandal by the media. As the Ponzi scheme has been exposed just now – while it has been allegedly running since 1999 – in the midst of a crippling financial crisis, it is really expected that the media hype brought by the scandal will be huge. With banks teetering on collapse and other industries also on the brink of falling down, such a news will surely grab the media’s, and the people’s, attention. But what if there is no financial crisis, will the Ponzi scheme be exposed? Will the media attention on the issue be as intense as it is right now? And most importantly, will the government act right away? These questions just popped out of my mind as I got curious on the Madoff scandal’s level of exposure in the media right now.
Posted by Jones on January 12th, 2009 :: Filed under
SIMPLY SCANDALOUS
In a new and bold move aimed at saving money, cellphone manufacturer Motorola said it will suspend its share on the 401(k) employee retirement benefit plan monthly contributions. This is to achieve its earlier announcement of saving $800 million. Freezing the pension plan is one of the steps needed by the company to boost its savings program.
Two points on this. First, suspending the pension contributions should not be an option. The employee benefits should not be made as sacrificial lamb in the company’s effort to save money. Second, if the firm really wants some savings, the managers’ and executives’ hefty pays should be reduced and not the benefits due to the ordinary employees. While it is true that Motorola is experiencing a slow down in its sales performance, it is not the employee’s fault but largely by the “strategists” in the company – the executives and managers. Therefore, the employee benefits should not be sacrificed.
Posted by Jones on January 11th, 2009 :: Filed under
$$$ CRISIS,
SIMPLY SCANDALOUS
It appears that the world is so concerned about the impending collapse of GM and Chrysler and how the U.S. government will act on the matter. Last week, when officials of the federal government said the collapse of the Big 3 is investibale, a mixed reaction came up. Auto makers Toyota and Honda do not favor a Big 3 falldown. Several experts also agreed with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that bankruptcy might be the solution.
However, when the government announced that it will shell out some money ($17.4 billion) to save the GM and Chrysler, most of the stock markets today in Asia dipped. It seems that this bailout is not effective anyway in easing the already turbulent global situation. But what is apparent is that the auto industry bailout is not actually what makes the world worry. How the ongoing financial crisis will be solved is the most troubling issue. In fact, how will the U.S. economy recover is the main cause of concern among the businessmen.
Posted by Jones on January 5th, 2009 :: Filed under
$$$ COMPANIES,
$$$ CRISIS,
SIMPLY SCANDALOUS
About 63 labor cases against Wal-Mart were finally settled when the retail giant agreed to pay its employees around $352 million to $640 million. The company might have realized that it is better to settle the long-running case to prevent further damages in the future, financially and morally. These cases have been running for decades and Wal-Mart officials finally realized that it would be better to pay the agreed sum than pay potentially higher damages that could be imposed by the courts. Apart from that, the legal battle might affect the company’s reputation, especially now that Wal-Mart is remodeling itself.
That is a good idea by the Wal-Mart officials. Besides, the $352-$640 million settlement agreement is only a penny compared to what the company is earning out of the labor done its employees. What is $640 million if the company’s reputation will be destroyed? On that note, Wal-Mart deserves to be applauded. However, there are still a number of unsettled labor disputes faced by the retail chain. The company ought to settled those cases as well.
Posted by Jones on January 2nd, 2009 :: Filed under
EVERYDAY MONEY STUFF,
SIMPLY SCANDALOUS
The Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate cut, which effectively made interest rates to zero, is quite tricky. At the outset, the zero interest rate seems enticing to the borrowers. Getting a loan with very low interests is certainly appealing to the public. But the question is, who would want to loan now? And the more painful question is, can the banks afford to lend out money at this time? With the ongoing financial turmoil, the banks’ priority is to clean out their balance sheets first, that is to say they’ve got to collect the money they previously released to the borrowers. So, definitely, lending out money would be least on their priorities. That is the painful reality. Therefore, the Fed’s interest rate cut appears to be of no substantial effect at this time.
Posted by Jones on December 31st, 2008 :: Filed under
$$$ CRISIS,
EVERYDAY MONEY STUFF,
SIMPLY SCANDALOUS
The world’s second biggest economy is into deep trouble. Japan’s exports have plummetted to a record 27% from last year. This means that Japanese production slowed down significantly. Either that or demand for Japanese products really dropped. But one thing is for sure, Japan, which is in recession, is likely to experience more economic inactivity as production facilities are being closed and workers are being laid off. Sounds very familiar with the situation back in the United States. It then appears that the world’s largest economies are failing. However, there is a wide belief that after this crisis the economies of the industrialized countries will revive. That is, the current economic failures shall serve to fix the current complexities in the world market. After the dusts have settled, a new world economic order will definitely surface.
Posted by Jones on December 29th, 2008 :: Filed under
$$$ CRISIS,
SIMPLY SCANDALOUS,
Uncategorized
General Motors is to announce the release of tis redesigned Chevrolet Equinox. The 2010 Equinox will debut at the North American International Auto Show next month. Well, nothing is quite intriguing about this new product. It just means that GM is still in the business. However, this will certainly give rise to the question, is GM really troubled? The company has been asking for financial aid from the government. The automaker said its financial chest is drained out. But with the release of the new and redesigned Equuinox, GM seems to be still on the right track. So, would it really need financial help from the government? is it really worth to shell out taxpayers’ money to this company?
Posted by Jones on December 26th, 2008 :: Filed under
$$$ COMPANIES,
$$$ CRISIS,
SIMPLY SCANDALOUS
The United States may slightly miss its target production of biofuels by 2022. According to government estimates, the country’s total biofuel production by 2022 may reach only 30 billion barrels, 6 billion barrels short of the mandated objective. Government officials said the the current technologies for biofuel production is not enough to meet the mandated target.
Not a great news. If such thing is true, that means the country will still rely on crude oil. The environment is already reeling on the effects of climate change brought by the use of oil and other pollutants. The government ought to speed up biofuel production and double its efforts towards innovating new technological advancements so that the environment-friendly biofuels can replace oil. The pressure will be on the government.
Posted by Jones on December 25th, 2008 :: Filed under
$$$ CRISIS,
SIMPLY SCANDALOUS
An allegedly long-running pyramiding scheme run by investment strategist Bernard Mardoff has rocked the entire financial and business world. The scheme, popularly called as the Ponzi scheme, has taken the government by surprise and left many investors shocked most particularly those investments affected in the scandal.
This case is really aweful. It is surprising that the government has not detected the scheme, which has been said to have been running since 1999! What has the government been doing? Are the officials sleeping on their jobs? The current financial crisis is already crippling the economy, and the addition of scandals such as this is really unbearable. This could aggravate the the already volatile condition of the financial market. The scandal is a real pain in the neck.
Posted by Jones on December 23rd, 2008 :: Filed under
$$$ CRISIS,
SIMPLY SCANDALOUS
The world’s largest cartel, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), has announced that they will reduce their oil production by 4.2 million barrels per day. The oil production cut was a result of the decline in oil consumption around the world. Well, it is only right to reduce oil production since consumption has slowed down.
However, this announcement is suspicious. When the oil prices went soaring this year, the cartel was slow to move to avert the situation. But now that the prices of crude oil is stabilizing, and may have been going down, the OPEC’s reaction is quick by immediately announcing a production cut. Does this mean the cartel is cooking up on something?
Posted by Jones on December 22nd, 2008 :: Filed under
SIMPLY SCANDALOUS