Study Finds CEOs Lack Faith in Their Deals [WSJ]
Those M&A consultants talked them into it!: "A study in the latest issue of the Academy of Management Journal found that chief executives are 28% more likely to exercise stock options and 23.5% more likely to sell company stock in quarters following an acquisition announcement, versus after quarters without one. The sales show that CEOs often lack confidence in the long-term value of deals they engineer, says Cynthia E. Devers, a professor at Michigan State University's Broad Graduate School of Management and author of the study. 'They never come out and say "I'm not really sure how it's going to work," ' says Ms. Devers. 'At the same time, they're unloading their equity-based pay.' "
NY accountant's lawyer seeks speedy Madoff trial to cope with fading memories of witnesses [AP]
Paul Konigsberg, the accountant in question, is no spring chicken, either. He's 77. I wonder what he actually remembers.
Dog bites man.
Breaking: Bank fined $10 billion for stealing $100 billion. Will receive tax credit.
— William K. Wolfrum (@Wolfrum) December 4, 2013
IRS nominee gets hearing next week [OTM/The Hill]
John Koskinen will be taking questions from a bunch of huffy old white men (and maybe a woman or two) next Tuesday during his nomination hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee.
NFL Players Call Personal Tax Foul on Cleveland [AWEB]
An interesting story — albeit slightly old — about a couple of former NFL players try to squeeze a few thousand dollars out of the City of Cleveland.
Reward Offered in Kentucky Case of Missing Bourbon [AP]
Someone missess Pappy! "Sheriff Pat Melton in Kentucky's Franklin County dangled a $10,000 reward on Monday for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever stole the hard-to-get Pappy Van Winkle bourbon and rye whiskey. The whiskey was taken from the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort in mid-October. The heist netted 195 bottles of 20-year-old Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve bourbon and 27 bottles of 13-year-old Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye. The missing whiskey has a retail value of about $26,000. 'We're just trying to bring Pappy home,' Melton said."