Posts Tagged ‘Stocks’

10 items.

The C.E.O. Job

by Seraphine Khorana on December 17th, 2009
Posted In: Comics
The C.E.O. Job

Congratulations to Brian Moynihan, who will replace Ken Lewis as CEO of Bank of America on January 1st. BAC was unsuccessful in hiring a “star industry executive” for the top job because of pay restrictions imposed by the U.S. government.

The move draws to a close what is probably the executive search from hell. They needed to find someone to end the drama so that the bank can get back to regular business, but at the same time I am surprised by their choice. You will have a young and untested CEO running a major commercial bank in the U.S.
Quotation from Tony Plath, UNC/Charlotte

What you have is a payoff when there’s poor performance. But that’s the nature of contracts. There’s such a tremendous risk these days with being a CEO of a major corporation.
Quotation from Charles Peck

[It's surreal, however, when taxpayer monies are needed to complete the contract. Best Wishes, Mr. Moynihan ~Sera]

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Full Disclosure Up/side/Down

by Seraphine Khorana on August 25th, 2009
Posted In: Comics
Full Disclosure Up/side/Down

Everyone wants full disclosure. What everyone gets is indecipherable legalese and footnotes. The general rule is: The longer the disclosure, the riskier the thing being disclosed.

Seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised, or a little mistaken.
Quotation from Jane Austen

(To employ a return, models and other likely readers of Encore Seraphine (either casually, temporarily, permanently, blindly or on secondment) to carry out the object of the attraction upon such terms and conditions as they may from time to time consider desirable, or not, and to terminate such extension or harmony, and to unpay their interest, readership, right to post, gratitude or miscellaneous charges out of their rich uncle’s pocket and to confer upon any mark or substitute model so appointed the right to exercise without liability or severability any discretion or misconception which may be vested in the original comic therein without prior notification, including exclusions, or vice versa).

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Cash for Clunkers

by Seraphine Khorana on August 10th, 2009
Posted In: Comics
Cash for Clunkers

Cash for Clunkers is a government program offering “cash” towards the purchase of a new car in return for junking an older automobile. The purpose of the program is to stimulate the economy and to encourage the purchase of more fuel-efficient automobiles.

Some of the folks who drive a beater all the time are unlikely to get a new car loan.
Quotation from Art Spinella, CNW Research

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Fee-Fi-Fo-Fudder, I Smell the Blood of a Shareholder

by Seraphine Khorana on March 3rd, 2009
Posted In: Comics
Fee-Fi-Fo-Fudder, I Smell the Blood of a Shareholder

Jack the Giant Killer is my least favorite fairy tale. Jack climbed up the beanstalk and he stole gold coins from the Giant. He went back a second time and stole a hen that laid golden eggs. Lastly, greedy Jack stole a talking harp that cried out to the Giant for help. And for that, Jack is considered a HERO??? Jack probably grew up to be CEO at a major investment bank.

What about the poor Giant?
Fee! Fie! Foe! Fum!
I smell the blood of an Englishmun.
Be he ‘live, or be he dead,
I’ll grind his bones to make my bread.
~Quotation from the fairy tale, Jack and the Beanstalk
It’s rumored he became a hedge fund manager.

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Economists are calling it an Adverse Feedback Loop

by Seraphine Khorana on February 25th, 2009
Posted In: Comics
Economists are calling it an Adverse Feedback Loop

There is no substitute for a healthy diet and regular exercise. There are no shortcuts. Pills don’t work. Fad diets don’t work. Even having your stomach stapled doesn’t work if you don’t take care of yourself. It’s like that with the economy too.

P.S. I have the flu.

Twin Crises Feed the Spiral (The Wall Street Journal)

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The Devil Made Me Do It

by Seraphine Khorana on October 21st, 2008
Posted In: Comics
The Devil Made Me Do It

What tricks does the devil play on you?

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tunes without the words
And never stops at all.
Poem by Emily Dickinson, Hope is the Thing with Feathers

The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth (Church of Satan)

I hope I never get so old I get religious.
Quotation from Ingmar Bergman

If I’d had some set idea of a finish line, don’t you think I would have crossed it years ago?
Quotation from Bill Gates

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How Low Can They Go?

by Seraphine Khorana on October 18th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
How Low Can They Go?

TV.com: Do you ever watch the contestants and know they’re going to make a wrong choice or want to punch them to just take the deal?
Howie Mandel: That’s the toughest part of my job… to not throttle somebody and tell them to take the deal and get out of here now.
Quotation from Howie Mandel, regarding the television show Deal or No Deal

People come in and drink, they can afford beer, but can’t spoil themselves by having lunch.
Quotation from Kerry Hewitt, The Crown Pub, Southampton

Ask her to marry you when your face clears up.

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The Madness of Crowds

by Seraphine Khorana on October 15th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
The Madness of Crowds

When the IQ of a crowd reaches 38, I usually sell.
In financial terms, this is called a mental stop-loss.

What Comes After the Great Unwinding? (Reuters)

I would sell my life to avoid
the pain that begins in the crib
with its bars or perhaps
with your first breath
when the planets drill
your future into you.
Poem by Anne Sexton, The Big Boots of Pain

These I assume were words so deeply meant
They cut themselves in stone for permanent
Like trouble in the brow above the eyes:
TAKE CARE TO SELL YOUR HORSE BEFORE HE DIES
THE ART OF LIFE IS PASSING LOSSES ON.
Poem by Robert Frost, The Ingenuities of Debt

P.S. All bleeding eventually ends.

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Hey, Where’s MY Bailout?

by Seraphine Khorana on September 17th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
Hey, Where’s MY Bailout?

Oh oh.

“How do you know that the sky is falling?” asked Turkey Lurkey.
“I saw it with my eyes, I heard it with my ears, and a bit of it fell on my head,”
said Chicken Little.
Children’s fairy tale, The Sky Is Falling, adapted by Rick Walton.

Fed nears a deal to take over ailing AIG (MSNBC) Extraordinary move would give central bank 80% stake in insurance giant.
U.S. to Take Over AIG in $85 Billion Bailout; Central Banks Inject Cash as Credit Dries Up (Wall Street Journal)

Between the Hedges (Portfolio Manager’s commentary on investing and trading in the U.S. financial markets)

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The New Economy

by Seraphine Khorana on July 19th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
The New Economy

Merrill Lynch, one of the largest investment banks in the world, lost $4.9 billion this past quarter. Merrill has written down $40 billion since the credit crisis began a year ago. They are selling $8 billion in assets, including their stake in Bloomberg, to raise fresh capital. I expect thousands of additional job layoffs from Mother Merrill.
They’ve terminated talks with the Port Authority of New York over moving their headquarters to one of the new 71-story office towers planned on “ground zero.” The timely rebuilding of the World Trade Center site is now in jeopardy.

“I would love to kiss you.
The price of kissing is your life.
Now my loving is running toward my life shouting,
What a bargain, let’s buy it.”
Poem by Jelaluddin Rumi

“Dance, when you’re broken open.
Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you’re perfectly free.”
Another poem by Jelaluddin Rumi

The Marina Moon Fashion Show scheduled for 1:00pm today has been postponed due to unforseen circumstances. I’ll post the reschedule date asap. Thanks for understanding.

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