| Online Trading Firms to Swap Fraud Tips
Representatives from some of the nation's top online stock trading firms will meet with federal law enforcement officials on Friday to discuss ways they can work together to combat Internet fraud. Security experts from E*Trade, Fidelity, TD Ameritrade and Scottrade and other trading firms will meet with agents from the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the U.S. Postal Service. The meeting will be held in Pittsburgh at the offices of the National Cyber Forensics Training Alliance (NCFTA), a public-private partnership whose members collaborate on anti-fraud efforts. .
Charlotte's RolloverSystem's appoints new CEO
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - RolloverSystems, a developer of a platform that allows workers to select a new 401k plan when changing jobs, announced that it has appointed J. Spencer Williams as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective in mid-April. Williams most recently served as Senior Vice President of the Income Management Group at MassMutual. Williams succeeds Lisa Pickrum, Chief Operating Officer of The RLJ Companies, one of the investors of RolloverSystems, and a member of the RolloverSystems Board of Directors. "The members of the board are looking for a CEO who understands the need for the company to drive towards an industry standard that takes into account the complexities of the rollover services market, including the varied stakeholders who touch the end participant in the process," said Robert Johnson, CEO and Chairman of The RLJ Companies and majority owner of the NBA Charlotte Bobcats.
Best Buy Outshines Circuit City in Q4
Best Buy reported an 18.5 percent increase in profit to $763 million for the fourth quarter that ended in early March. Meanwhile, Circuit City reported a loss of $12.2 million in the quarter, compared with a profit of $141 million in the year-ago period. For Circuit City, online sales represented one of the few bright spots. Free White Paper: E-business Strategy and Readiness - Top 10 QuestionsMaximize customer and partner sales. eBusiness guidelines that executives should consider for optimizing end-to-end order management processes. Get a copy of "Executive Guide to Enterprise eBusiness Success." .
Do movie critics actually know better than moviegoers?
Two weeks ago, just as I had returned from the nice Spring Break vacation I told you about last time, there was this interesting article in Variety linked through the Drudge Report. It talked about how critics and moviegoers apparently disagree with what's actually good over at the local multiplex.
The author, Peter Bart, comments on how recent box office leaders, such as 300, Ghost Rider, Wild Hogs and Norbit, were panned by most critics, but widely enjoyed by the average moviegoer.
"The situation underscores yet again the disconnect between the cinematic appetites of critics vs. those of the popcorn crowd. The kids who storm their multiplexes to catch the opening of Night at the Museum don't give a damn what the critics think," said Bart.
I think I mentioned once that my father and I often pick which movies will top the box offices every week.
Financial Tips by Carl Mook
A: A home equity line of credit can be put to good use as a convenient source of cash for things such as home improvements, a child's college education or even the rare emergency. As with any major financial decisions, it is important to consider the advantages as well as the disadvantages before moving forward.One of the major advantages is that homeowners are generally free to use the home equity line of credit for anything they wish. Another nice characteristic is that interest is not usually charged until the line of credit is actually used. Also, in order to minimize the homeowner's initial cash outlay, the financing costs associated with the line of credit may actually be built into the line of credit. Two of the greatest benefits of the home equity line of credit are that interest is generally tax deductible up to a certain point, making other debt that would have no tax deductible interest become deductible if the line of credit was used to pay off this other debt.
Business Briefs
Employers ramped up hiring in March, driving the unemployment rate down to 4.4 percent, matching a five-year low. It was a surprisingly strong performance in an economy that has otherwise shown signs of sluggishness. The snapshot, released by the Labor Department on Friday, also showed that employers boosted their payrolls by a strong 180,000 in March, the most since December. Worker's also saw their paychecks get bigger. The fresh figures suggested that companies are not feeling a need to dramatically clamp down on hiring in the face of slower overall economic activity and the deep housing slump. SWEETENERS Splenda, Equal go to court Splenda and Equal are going to court in a fight that is distinctly not sweet. Merisant, the maker of artifical sweetener Equal, contends that Splenda's claims to be natural and made of sugar are misleading.
Simulations Plus Reports Second Quarter FY2007 Financial Results
Simulations Plus, Inc. (AMEX:SLP), a leading provider of simulation and modeling software for pharmaceutical discovery and development, today reported preliminary financial results for the second quarter of its 2007 fiscal year (2Q07) ended February 28, 2007. Ms. Momoko Beran, chief financial officer of Simulations Plus, stated: "Consolidated revenues for 2Q07 set a new record for any quarter at $2,534,000, an increase of 71% from $1,482,000 in the second quarter of fiscal year 2006 (2Q06). The previous quarterly record (4Q03) of about $2,100,000 included a 3-year contract for $1,200,000 that was booked up front. We now book revenues ratably over the life of the license/contract by billing our customers annually, so 2Q07 revenues are based only on revenues earned within 12 months.
Jim Cramer: What he's good for and what he isn't
Monday's New York Times discussed the anger of investors who have burned by following Jim Cramer's tips. In particular, his sell call on Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN) came back to haunt him quickly. A joke about the movie The Fugitive also caused many critics to question whether he had any idea what he was talking about. Cramer said that the joke was misunderstood, and that he really had researched Dendreon. In light of this, and recent controversy surrounding remarks he made about illegal trading activity at his hedge fund, I thought I would give my take on "What Cramer's good for, and what he isn't." Mad Money's primary attraction is that it's the most entertaining of the investment shows. Granted, praising a show for being more entertaining than PBS's Nightly Business Report is damning with faint praise to say the least.
30 easy ways to save energy
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that the real estate management industry can reduce energy usage by up to 30 percent simply by improving building operating standards. If a 1 million-square-foot portfolio can reduce its energy consumption by just 10 percent, it would be the environmental equivalent of removing almost 5,000 cars off the road for one year. .
Interview With Structured Products Expert Moorad Choudhry
Professor Moorad Choudhry is one of the industry experts when it comes to structured products, and has worked over 18 years in investment banking including experience at ABN Amro Bank NV and JPMorgan Chase Bank.He has written the following books: (1) The Bond and Money Markets: Strategy, Trading, Analysis, Butterworth-Heinemann 2001 (2) Handbook of European Fixed Income Securities (editor, with Frank Fabozzi), John Wiley 2004 (3) Analyzing and Interpreting the Yield Curve , John Wiley 2003 (4) Structured Credit Products, John Wiley 2004 (5) The Repo Handbook , Butterworth Heinemann 2002 (6) Capital Market Instruments: Analysis and Valuation , 2nd Edition, Palgrave MacMillan 2005 and (7) The Credit Default Swap Basis, Bloomberg Press 2006. For more of his excellent writings, please visit this linkMoorad talked to me in his capacity as Visiting Professor at the Department of Economics, London Metropolitan University.
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