Category: Preliminary Analytics

• Deloitte appoints new climate change chief – Kiwi Nick Main is the new HMFIC. [Accountancy Age]
• Loopholes Lurk in Bank Bill – “Referring to USAA, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) said the House has ‘been supportive of them and the US military. There’s no remote prospect of them being a problem.’ Lawmakers wouldn’t identify the lawmaker who requested the exemption.” [WSJ]
• Boeing says Dreamliner could fly on Dec 15 – Just feeling it out. No word on the debut with crying babies and obese passengers. [Reuters]
• Craigslist Founder Says eBay Reneged on Promises – Specifically you, Meg Whitman. [AP via NYT]

• Help, I Want to Fire a Family Member from the Business – What to do when you when that idiot relative has to go. [The Exuberant Accountant]
• Blogs We Like – Blogging Suits likes us. And our contributors. Thanks to Tracy Coenen for including us! [Blogging Suits]
• They Weren’t There: Auditors And The Financial Crisis – If you’ve been waiting to read a post from Francine that is complitmentary to the Big 4, you’ll have to keep waiting. [Re: The Auditors]
• Dubai “needs more time”; investor confidence hit – As the past has shown us, if Moody’s gets to the point where it actually has to downgrade you, that’s not a good sign. [Reuters]
• Non-Reform of Rating Agencies – Speaking of Moody’s. Were they involved in this whole meltdown? [Naked Capitalism]
• Green Mountain Wins Diedrich Coffee – Green Mountain out-charmed Peet’s Coffee & Tea in this particular love triangle. [DealBook]

• Taking Tiger By the Tax Tale – Two things are for sure, Elin will come out of this thing just fine and Uncle Sam will certainly be looking for his cut. [Tax Girl]
• Fresh Pay Skirmish Erupts at AIG – Pseudo-government employees continue to threaten to jump ship if their civic-duty comp is cut too much by the pay master. [WSJ]
• Going to School on Revenue Recognition – Tom Selling digs into Apollo Group, Inc.’s (parent of University of Phoenix) SEC filings to try and figure out what the Commish might be interested in. [The Accounting Onion]
• Bloomberg eyes more acquisitions – In its quest for world domination of financial information, the ‘Berg is “planning a further year of aggressive investment and may make more acquisitions”. [FT]

• Be fair to Bernanke – Steve Rattner, former car czar, makes the case for the Beard. [WP]
• New Jersey Losing $22,000-a-Day With Swap for Bonds Never Sold – The Garden State owes the Bank of Montreal $23.5 million: “The sum, about the same as the salaries for 113 teachers over three years, will allow it to avoid a $50 million penalty for canceling the contract, which was tied to planned sales of school-construction bonds.” [Bloomberg]
• Chávez Spurs Bank Fears – The next big mess? ‘It’s going to blow…It’s just a matter of time.’ [WSJ]
• Petters Plans Appeal of $3.5B Fraud Conviction – “Efforts to recover money to compensate victims will likely net only pennies on the dollar, and prosecutors have not ruled out new charges against others.” [AP via NYT]
• The PCAOB Wants an Increase in Its Allowance – JDA, always wanting to be helpful, has some suggestions for the PCAOB. [JDA]

• Estate Tax Debate to Begin in U.S. House Amid Clash on Limits – Can this get sorted out in four weeks? “Unless Congress acts, the estate tax would be replaced in 2010 by a capital gains tax on all but the first $1.3 million in inherited assets including homes, stock certificates, stamp collections and livestock.” [Bloomberg]
• Goldman Takes Offensive on Pay – Explaining why the Almighty’s foot soldiers are worth every penny to investors should be a snap. [WSJ]
• Tax Cut-Off for Deductible Donations – “Few things upset a year end donor more than being told his gift will not count as a current year contribution and thus not be a current year IRS tax deduction.” [Aronson Nonprofit Report]
• The NBC Universal Sale, by the Numbers – This is what it’s all about, isn’t it? [DealBook]
• Comcast Readies Itself for Long Regulatory Fight – Oh right, there is the small matter of convincing the Feds that this is good for everyone. [Media Decoder/NYT]

• SEC Steps Up Insider-Trading Probes – Healthcare and retail mergers from the last three years are getting the scope. [WSJ]
• Why accountants need to be bloggers – Tracy Coenen makes the convincing argument. [Blogging Suits]
• Catholic Archdiocese to Pay $14.4 million in Taxes to City of San Francisco – Too bad The money is already spent. [JDA]
• Wells Fargo to shut 122 branches in California – Mostly Wachovia branches that are too close to existing stagecoach branches. [Los Angeles Times]
• Whisky Makers Spend $800 Million to Age Scotch for China, India – Apparently, the Chinese and Indians are into the Glens. [Bloomberg]

• Arming Goldman With Pistols Against Public: Alice Schroeder – Team Jehovah is packing. [Bloomberg]
• Federal Estate Tax Bill Up for A Vote – Four weeks to go until the estate tax is repealed and now Congress is trying to vote on legislation to extend it. The original repeal passed in 2001. Our representatives at work. [Tax Girl]
• Grant Thornton LLP launches Aerospace and Defense industry group – Forget the “Global 6” thing, this will make GT an intergalactic firm. [Press Release]
• Ensuring Integrity: 4th Annual Audit Conference – Short on CPE? Get seven hours over at Baruch tomorrow for $345. Jim Peterson of Re: Balance will be on one of the panels and the keynote will be given by Robert Kueppers, Deputy CEO of Deloitte. [Baruch College]
• GE, Vivendi Forge Tentative Deal on NBC Stake – How does Jack Donaghy feel about this? [WSJ]
• Rothstein surrenders himself to the FBI – “Rather than a formal indictment, federal authorities will file what is known as ‘an information’ that would suggest that Rothstein has already agreed to eventually plead guilty.” [Miami Herald]

• Michigan Coach Rodriguez and the Tax Man – UM is paying $2.5 million of Rich Rod’s buyout obligation. The IRS might want to call that income. [TaxProf Blog]
• Why Accounting Matters – It matter. Why else would so many people (read: government bureaucracies) covet the oversight of it? [FEI Financial Reporting Blog]
• Suing Audit Firms re: Madoff: The Iguana In The Room – “Issues of control and the issues of the ‘agency’ relationship between the auditors’ international umbrella ‘coordinating’ firms and their member firms figure prominently in the Madoff feeder funds filings that include the international firms as defendants.” [Re: The Auditors]
• Jr Deputy Accountant Interviewed by Liberty Pulse’s the Pulse – Topics include Tim Geithner’s uncanny resemblance to Beavis. [JDA]
• Buyers Take a Pass on Some Failed Banks – Banks that seemingly have leprosy. [WSJ]

• Have a wonderful Buy Nothing Day friends. We’ll check on you gluttons for punishment (i.e. those of you working) later today.
• I’m a celebrity, get me out of Dubai! – Including you-know-who. [FT Alphaville]
• India Mahindra Satyam hit by new charges; outlook uncertain – Apparently this fraud could be way larger than the $1.5 initially reported. [Reuters]
• Open Letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (Part 4): Patrick Byrne Ignores Real Issues As He Vilifies Grant Thornton – “I am not surprised by Patrick Byrne’s desperate lies given that every single financial report issued by the company since its inception has at least initially failed to comply with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and SEC disclosure rules.” [Sam Antar/White Collar Fraud]
• You Lie! No, You Lie! – In case you can’t get enough of Patrick Byrne [Floyd Norris/NYT]

• Sixty-Five Percent of Nevada Homeowners Underwater – That’s a lot. [The Atlantic]
• Tax Burdens, Around the World – If you like to complain about taxes, move to Denmark. [Economix/NYT]
• From the Hospital to Bankruptcy Court – “Last summer, Harvard researchers published a headline-grabbing paper that concluded that illness or medical bills contributed to 62 percent of bankruptcies in 2007, up from about half in 2001. More than three-fourths of those with medical debt had health insurance.” [NYT]
• Microsoft CFO to leave, look for bigger job – Team Jehovah must need someone. [Reuters]
• Diners Club franchise sold – The Citigroup garage sale continues. [CT]
• Leadership: A Guest Post from Tenacious Truman [RTA]