Category: Preliminary Analytics

• Tyco to Buy Brink’s Home Security for $2 Billion – “Tyco International Ltd. announced plans to buy Brink’s Home Security Holdings Inc., also known as Broadview Security, for $2 billion, the first major acquisition for Tyco in eight years since the company was rocked by scandal and split into several pieces.” [WSJ]
• Sitting Is a Silent Killer, Swedish Medics Warn Couch Potatoes – Desk jockeys too. [Bloomberg]
• Who Would Miss the Big Four? – “Hardly anyone, says Jim Peterson.” [CPA Trendlines]
• Special tax breaks proposed for Haitian earthquake relief donations – “Under a bipartisan House bill, if you contributed money to nonprofits providing relief to the stricken island nation, you would be able to deduct those donations on your 2009 tax return.” [Don’t Mess With Taxes]
• More Men Marrying Wealthier Wives – This doesn’t mean that you get to stay home glued to the Playstation. [NYT]
• Citigroup Loses $7.6 Billion on Costs to Repay Bailout Funds – The streak of three “profitable” quarters ends. [Bloomberg]

• Defending Koss And Their Auditors: Just Loopy Distorted Feedback – Francine’s take on the Koss fraud. [Re: The Auditors]
• Koss Corp. Fraud: Defending Grant Thornton? No. &ndsah; Tracey Coenen says Koss’ incestuous management deserves the blame regardless of GT’s obvious BFMs. [Fraud Files Blog]
• Creditors put Dubai World debt up for sale – Some aren’t crazy about the whole Dubai World debt restructuring and are looking to dump the credit for “70 per cent of face value.” [FT]
• Now and in the Future – Are people changing their maxed out credit card ways for good? [Financial Armageddon]
• Wired on Wall Street: Trader Betrays a Friend – David Slaine is a mole for the Feds that “has provided leads on possible insider trading by others not yet implicated in a sprawling case involving hedge fund Galleon Group, people familiar with the matter say.” And he’ll definitely nail you if you don’t like to share: “In 1993, he triggered a fist-fight with a colleague on the trading floor after needling him because he wouldn’t share his french fries.” [WSJ]
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – We assume most of you are working but If you’re not, go volunteer. It won’t kill you. [MLKDay.gov]

• Taxman misses 44 million calls – The British version anyway. That makes the IRS look like rock stars by comparison. [Accountancy Age]
• Annals of Public Relations – Fortunately for us, Patrick Byrne doesn’t keep PR by his side at all times. [Gary Weiss]
• If California Owes You, It Would Like to Pay You – “Across the state, 89,000 residents and businesses — including 2,315 here in San Francisco alone — are sitting on some $50 million in uncashed i.o.u.’s from the state, a souvenir of California’s most recent, but by no means its last, budget crisis.” [NYT]
• Verizon Lowers Wireless Pricing Plans – “Verizon Wireless introduced lower wireless-pricing plans Friday, a move that’s likely to force rival AT&T Inc. to follow and could pressure margins on the carriers’ high-end business.” [WSJ]
• GM Daewoo finance chief Mark James named Opel CFO – Missed opportunity, people. [Reuters]
• Prince Tells Pandit ‘It’s Time to Deliver’ – No pressure. [DealBook]

• Rep. Rangel “Unsure” if Congress Will Retroactively Reinstate Estate Tax – It seems that dying early in 2010 may still pay off. [TaxProf Blog]
• E&Y best gay employer in accountancy – According to Stonewall, the gay advocacy group in the UK. [Accountancy Age]
• Questions From A Future Blogger – Prof Albrecht answers them. [The Summa]
• You Lose If You Don’t Snooze; Lost Sleep Can’t Be Recovered – You can’t argue with science people, get your billable hours and go home. Or, if you must, bring a sleeping bag to work. [Bloomberg]
• Obama’s Bank Tax Seeks $90 Billion to Repay Bailout – “The tax on banks, insurance companies and brokerages with more than $50 billion in assets would start after June 30 and seek to collect $90 billion over 10 years”. [NYT]

• SEC to Name Investigative Chiefs – Robert Khuzami will name the five new members of the dream team are expected to be named at a press conference today. [WSJ]
• California Creditors See IOUs With Schwarzenegger Missing Obama – Those ‘skinny legs’ and ‘scrawny little arms’ comments are really working so well for Arnie. [Bloomberg]
• Panel Seeks ‘Accountability’ In Financial Crisis – Once Phil Angelides (and others) get to the bottom of this, “There’s a need for accountability and responsibility” said Angelides, the blame will be official. That will be comforting for everyone. [NPR]
• Questions for the Big Bankers – From some experts the NYT picked. The word “bonus” or “bonuses” appears ten times. [NYT]
• Google Threat Jolts Chinese Internet Industry – Google has had it up to here (hand to forehead at least) with the censorship and is threatening to pull the plug altogether. [WSJ]

• Financier Pang’s Death Ruled a Suicide – The cause was ‘combined intoxication’ according to the OC coroner said. Seven drugs were found in Pang’s system including: xycodone, hydrocodone, drugs for anxiety and depression and traces of THC. [WSJ]
• Obama Plans to Raise $120 Billion From Banking Fees – Here’s the good news: “Tax experts, who discussed the possibilities before the president’s plan was disclosed, say all of the administration’s structural options, which include an income surtax, an excise tax, or a fee pegged on the value of assets or some other measure, are likely to be so porous that financial institutions would be able to sidestep most of them.” [Bloomberg]
• The IRS Is Auditing Harvard – One of forty that is part of the tax-exempt status review. [TaxProf Blog]
• Guest bloggers needed – Blogging Suits is looking for a few good ones. Not the one where you talk about how smart your toddler is either. [Blogging Suits]
• Google’s investment arm to grow partner ranks – The investment arm is “bringing more partners onboard as the $100 million fund seeks to build upon the eight investments it has made in companies since its launch last spring.” [Reuters]
• SEC order helps maintain AIG bailout mystery – Mark your calendars for November 25, 2018. Then we’ll know everything. If anyone cares by then. [Reuters]

• Geithner Had No AIG Role, Says Official – Said official is Tom Baxter, General Counsel of the New York Fed. TB says that the situation ‘did not warrant the attention’ of TG. End of story. Darrell Issa isn’t buying what Bax is selling and has invited him to speak on the Hill about it later this month. Set the DVR. [WSJ]
• Geithner Has Support of Obama, Democratic Lawmakers, Aides Say – Until he doesn’t have it, which could be any day now. [Bloomberg]
• Banks Brace for Bonus Fury – “Critics of Wall Street firms are grumbling that this year’s bonuses are far too generous. But some recipients are none too happy, either: They’re complaining too much of the payout is coming in stock instead of cash.” [WSJ]
• Investor Alwaleed says Citigroup “on right path” – As long as his highness is convinced, there’s no reason the rest of us shouldn’t feel better. [Reuters]
• Did you donate for tax breaks? IRS wants proof – Such a bunch of sticklers. [CT]

• Order for UBS to release client data judged unlawful – Swiss Bank secrecy law were broken says a court in neutral (still, right?) land. [Reuters]
• Sarkozy proposes ad tax on Google – What happened to taxing the stupid? [FT]
• Fully Played Out? – “Can we assume that the downturn is fully played out, especially in light of reports and other evidence that people are (still) altering their behavior (e.g., spending less and saving more) in response to what’s going on around them?” [Financial Armageddon]
• Overstock.com Staves Off Bankruptcy With ‘Hillary Clinton Nutcracker’ – For $37, they’ll throw in a Bill Clinton corkscrew. [Gary Weiss]
• Good News for the Young and Unemployed &ndsah; Your Moms still love you! Plus the job market might be turning around. [The Atlantic]

• Geithner’s New York Fed Told AIG to Limit Swaps Disclosure – “AIG said in a draft of a regulatory filing that the insurer paid banks, which included Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Societe Generale SA, 100 cents on the dollar for credit-default swaps they bought from the firm. The New York Fed crossed out the reference, according to the e-mails, and AIG excluded the language when the filing was made public on Dec. 24, 2008.” [Bloomberg]
• Climbing the Finance Ladder: Landing a Promotion [FINS]
• Canadian Police Seek Man Accused of Ponzi Scheme – According to the SEC, the self-dubbed, “Chinese Warren Buffet” sent a letter to investors admitting that he was running a Ponzi scheme. That was easy. [AP via NYT]
• Economic Consequences and the Political Nature of Accounting Standard Setting – “For decades it has been taught in every graduate accounting program in the country that accounting standards have economic consequences. As a result, I contend it is natural and predictable that competing economic interest attempt a political solution to proposed accounting standards.” [The Summa]
• Accounting rules over M&A spread confusion – IFRS 3 is disappointing many. [FT]

• Galleon’s Rajaratnam Paid Tipster, Filing Says – Raj’s total haul is now $36 mil with the new allegations. [WSJ]
• Buffett Hits Kraft on Cadbury – You know it’s serious when the WB manages to avoid any metaphors that mention hookers, ED meds, or just copulation in general. [WSJ]
• Bad Tax Prep Is A Symptom, Not the Disease – “[C]racking down on those seasonal shysters who abuse the system is only attacking a symptom of the real disease, which is our insanely complex tax code.” [Tax Vox]
• The shortlist for worst takeover of the century – The Telegraph isn’t going to let Gerald Levin just claim this without throwing a few more options out there. [Telegraph]
• Global Financial Regulation Overhaul Seen In 2010 – Got show some results, it’s an election year and all. [Reuters via NYT]
• UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld deserves statue on Wall Street, not prison sentence – The man is a national treasure. [NYDN]
• Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd won’t seek reelection, will retire at end of term – New blood! [WaPo]

• Carlo di Florio Named Director of SEC Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations – Somewhere a CPA wrangler is bellyaching. [SEC Press Release]
• Domino’s CEO to Step Down – David Brandon is stepping down in 30 minutes or less to become athletic director at Michigan. [WSJ]
• Dozens of Names Shifted to No-Fly List – Including everyone with the surname “Smyth”. If there’s no “i”, you can’t be trusted. [WSJ]
• IMF study links lobbying by US banks to high-risk lending – “Powerful American banks spending lavishly on lobbying are more likely to engage in high-risk lending and their shares have performed less well than others, a groundbreaking study by the International Monetary Fund has found.” [Guardian]
• Moving on Up: Getting a Raise – No one wants a repeat of last year. [FINS]
• Kraft sweetens Cadbury offer as Nestle drops out – The $16 bllion being offered for cream eggs is deemed as ‘derisory’ by the Brits. Apparently they’re looking for something in the nabe of a gazillion. [Reuters]

• Fed Chief Edges Closer to Using Rates to Pop Bubbles – However, don’t even think that the low interest rates were the cause of the housing bubble, that was due lax regulation, thankyouverymuch. [WSJ]
• Auditors Missing in the Financial Crisis — Readers Offer their Thoughts – “It’s not just that the Big Four tetrapoly fail the essential tests of insurability, although they do – because of sector concentration, unpredictability of losses and inability to quantify exposures. It’s also that if any such ‘super-audits’ actually existed, the auditors would surely be performing them already.” [Re: Balance]
• Tax Person of the Year – How Charlie Rangel was even a nominee, we’ll never know. [TaxProf Blog]
• Family Business Challenge: Attitude of Entitlement – “Someday all this will be yours” could have unintended consequences, like the kids screw up your life’s work. [The Exuberant Accountant]
• Small Biz Exemptions from IFRS? – A la SOx. [The Summa]
• Dubai’s “superscraper” makes history in hard times – After a couple of delays Burj Dubai is finally opening today and despite all the trubs in the Dubai lately, “experts” are saying that all 1,100 units are sold. [Reuters]