Greece Teeters as Talks Fail [WSJ]
After a week of fruitless negotiations, Greece's political parties couldn't agree on a governing coalition, leaving the country in political limbo until new elections next month. The delay could deprive Athens of badly needed international aid and deepen Greece's economic depression. In a potent sign of Greeks' rising anxiety, depositors withdrew €700 million ($898 million) from local banks on Monday alone, according to the country's national bank—a significant escalation in capital flight from the country.
Facebook Increases IPO Shares [WSJ]
In case you still plan to get in on this.
In case you still plan to get in on this.
Facebook’s Anti-Groupon Accounting [CNBC]
Facebook’s payment network is its largest source of revenue after advertising. Primarily through selling credits for virtual goods for use in social games like Farmville, Facebook earned $557 million last year through its payments network. What’s most surprising to a cynic like me is how honestly Facebook accounts for revenues from the payment network. There’s no accounting trickery going on in that $557 million figure.
Facebook’s payment network is its largest source of revenue after advertising. Primarily through selling credits for virtual goods for use in social games like Farmville, Facebook earned $557 million last year through its payments network. What’s most surprising to a cynic like me is how honestly Facebook accounts for revenues from the payment network. There’s no accounting trickery going on in that $557 million figure.
Grant Thornton expands footprint in Western Canada with addition of Winnipeg-based BCCA LLP [GT]
FYI.
FYI.
SEC Recommends Changes in Accounting for Derivatives [AT]
In a letter dated May 11 to Dan Palomaki, chairman of the Accounting Policy Committee at the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, SEC chief accountant James Kroeker said the SEC has asked FASB to examine making changes in some of the standards. “We have requested that the FASB consider the accounting for a change in counterparties when a derivative contract is designated as a hedging instrument in a hedge relationship as a part of their existing project on financial instruments,” he wrote. He CC’ed FASB chair Leslie Seidman in the letter, along with Public Company Accounting Oversight Board chairman James Doty.
Ernst & Young gets new Memphis partner [MDN]
Glenn Mitchell is taking over as the managing partner of Ernst & Young’s Memphis office from retiring partner Bill Drummond, effective July 1.
Glenn Mitchell is taking over as the managing partner of Ernst & Young’s Memphis office from retiring partner Bill Drummond, effective July 1.
Meet the Meeting Killers [WSJ]
When it comes time for a meeting, co-workers can be deadly. Discussions get hijacked. Bad ideas fall like blunt objects. Long-winded colleagues consume all available oxygen, killing good ideas by asphyxiation. […] [One exec] sometimes puts an Elmo doll in the center of the meeting table and tells participants, "Anytime anybody in the session thinks we're getting off track, pick up the Elmo doll." This allows co-workers to express frustration without interrupting, she says.
When it comes time for a meeting, co-workers can be deadly. Discussions get hijacked. Bad ideas fall like blunt objects. Long-winded colleagues consume all available oxygen, killing good ideas by asphyxiation. […] [One exec] sometimes puts an Elmo doll in the center of the meeting table and tells participants, "Anytime anybody in the session thinks we're getting off track, pick up the Elmo doll." This allows co-workers to express frustration without interrupting, she says.
Why Wrigley Field Must Be Destroyed [WSJ]
Okay, North Siders, try to keep it civil: "Having not won a World Series since 1908, and having last appeared on that stage in 1945—a war year in which the professional leagues were still populated by has-beens and freaks—the Chicago Cubs must contemplate the only solution that might restore the team to glory: Tear down Wrigley Field. Destroy it. Annihilate it. Collapse it with the sort of charges that put the Sands Hotel out of its misery in Vegas. Implosion or explosion, get rid of it. That pile of quaintness has to go. Not merely the structure, but the ground on which it stands."
Okay, North Siders, try to keep it civil: "Having not won a World Series since 1908, and having last appeared on that stage in 1945—a war year in which the professional leagues were still populated by has-beens and freaks—the Chicago Cubs must contemplate the only solution that might restore the team to glory: Tear down Wrigley Field. Destroy it. Annihilate it. Collapse it with the sort of charges that put the Sands Hotel out of its misery in Vegas. Implosion or explosion, get rid of it. That pile of quaintness has to go. Not merely the structure, but the ground on which it stands."
