Protecting Your Identity From Social Networking Shysters

On October 12, 2009

Protecting Your Identity From Social Networking Shysters

Social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn have entered the mainstream -- and fraudsters are taking notice. In recent months, Fox News Network, CNN Anchor Rick Sanchez, and even President Obama have suffered high-profile hacks of their Twitter accounts.
On October 12, 2009

General Dynamics To Build Extra Submarine Thanks To Congress

Both versions of spending bill for the Defense Department heading to conference between the House and Senate contain funding to maintain delivery of two Virginia class submarines in 2011. This is despite Navy wishes to delay this expansion of production.
On October 12, 2009

Are Foreign Share Listings an Expensive Luxury?

Companies used to accumulate foreign listings like boy scouts collect badges or travelers leave stickers on their luggage. But listings on overseas stock exchanges have fallen from favour because they are too complex and don't work. The Aviva insurance group is thus going against the trend in seeking a New York listing.  Aviva is the first UK business to list in New York since 2000. The traffic has been the other way, with companies such as Cable & Wireless scrapping their US share quotations for lack of use. But the big decider for many companies in cancelling their American listings was Sarbanes-Oxley, the draconian legislation introduced after Enron. The bureaurocracy made it too difficult to bother with (though it also...
On October 12, 2009

Weekend Round-Up

Sunday Times Hedge fund heroines outdo men in City Mina Gerowin and Leda Braga are two of a small group of women holding their own in this male-dominated area of investing. But it's an uphill struggle with many women finding it hard to flourish in this testosterone-fuelled arena. Speaking at an event held to celebrate women in hedge funds, one said: "Very few women have a charcter that sits well with the trading floor. I have to have a skin like a rhino." Oxford boffins in $1bn bonanza Geeks made good. Two scientists who set up internet security firm Sophos in a front room are set to become be worth £180m after the company's flotation next year. John Hruska and...
On October 11, 2009

Week in Renewables: Clean Energy Incentives and Brewing Political Storms

With the United States' two major CO2-penalizing bills limping through Senate, new legislation and programs aimed instead at rewarding clean energy are popping up everywhere. Earlier this week I mentioned the European Commission's idea to invest almost $100 billion over ten years to research renewables. That's not where the fun ended, though. California, looking for a better way to spur solar energy along, also used this week to set up a Euro-style feed-in tariff for solar power, guaranteeing producers a higher rate. The Department of Energy joined in too, setting up about $8 billion more in loan guarantees for renewable energy. And approvals for new projects continue apace. Maine, for one, chose this week to approve its first large wind...


On October 11, 2009

Right-Sizing The Physician Workforce

Primary care physicians may be overwhelmed by new patients under reform, but eventually, systemic restructuring will lead to an equilibrium between patients and doctors.


On October 11, 2009

Top 5 AU Management Books for September 2009

It's a clean sweep for September: readers are looking for "how to succeed" books that focus on showing specific examples of the "how". With the exception of Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, all of these books are new to the Top 5, and all show a keen interest in how to break free of these trying economic times: The Trusted Advisor by David Maister Networking is fine, but if you don't have the trust of your clients and associates, you're going nowhere. The Trusted Advisor provides anecdotes and real-world examples of how to gain that trust. Property is a Girl's Best Friend Put together by the folks behind the Propertywomen.com website, this guide provides tips for Australian...


On October 11, 2009

Occidental-Phibro, a Conservative Match Made in Heaven?

Occidental Petroleum's announcement to buy Phibro, the energy trading unit under Citigroup, left lots of analysts and industry-folk scratching their heads --- surprised the oil and gas company would part from its typically conservative path. Occidental said Friday it would pay $250 million-- or net asset value -- for Phibro, a successful and, more recently, controversial firm that primarily trades in oil and gas. Citigroup, which has received about $45 billion in government bailout money, was widely criticized over a $100 million compensation package that was expected to be paid this year to Andrew Hall, the trading phenom who heads Phibro. Occidental has largely shunned the practice of taking bets on commodities prices, an approach that has set it apart from majors like BP, which operate large speculative...


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