Shareholders – 1; Corporations – 0; SEC – Tie Breaker

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This year’s proxy season is showing signs of greater activism by shareholders. The proxy advisory service Institutional Shareholder Services is projecting that there could be as many as 17 contests for the election of directors, which is slightly up from last year. The difference is that the contests are much bigger and include six at… Read more »

Martha Stewart- Wildcard, Visionary, but Not a CEO

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There are very few corporate leaders whose interests are more closely aligned with their shareholders’ than the homemaking icon, Martha Stewart. She owns 26 million shares and controls nearly 90 percent of the voting rights of her company Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. While the company lost $50.7 million dollars in the most recent quarter, this… Read more »

The Business Model of Overstating Benefits: How Harmful or Ethical?

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It is estimated that between 50,000 to 100,000 patients died or had a heart attack as a result of taking the drug Advandia. For seven years, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) failed to report data that indicated Advandia increases the risk of heart attack by 40%. As we reported back in July, in the biggest health care fraud… Read more »

Tornado Costs

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The tornado that tore through Joplin, Missouri about a year ago ranks not only as the most deadly twister in six decades, but now has been declared the most costly since at least 1950. Questions: 1. What percentage of the costs are insurance policies expected to cover and what percentage will likely be covered by… Read more »

Copyright Infringement?

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On Wednesday, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court’s decision to throw out a five-year old lawsuit asking for $1 billion and filed against YouTube by Viacom, as well as other media companies. This copyright infringement suit has become a symbol of the clash between media companies and those competing with them,… Read more »

Embrace Change

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Kodak, the 131-year-old film pioneer, filed for bankruptcy protection last month. News got worse this week when the company announced they would stop doing what they were the first to ever do – manufacture digital cameras. Then on Feb. 15, Apple asked a bankruptcy court for permission to sue Kodak for patent infringement, resulting from… Read more »

Coinstar and Self-Service Retailing

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Coinstar is a company that was founded just over two decades ago by Jens Molbak, who as a Stanford University graduate student, realized there wasn’t an easy way to spend the spare change piled up in a jar on top of his dresser. Since that time the company has become known for its Redbox kiosks,… Read more »

Pressure Packages

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Pressure from financial  institutions and Treasury officials undermined an effort to  limit executive pay at seven companies rescued with taxpayer  money, a new government audit showed on Tuesday.  The official overseeing executive pay for bailout firms  limited cash compensation and made some reductions in pay, but  still approved compensation packages in the millions, the TARP … Read more »

Do you think they will notice if we understate the numbers a little?

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The Securities and Exchange Commission capped a three-year investigation into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Friday, filing securities fraud charges against six former executives at the government-sponsored mortgage giants. The SEC claims that the execs failed to disclose the full extent of their companies’ subprime loan exposure. However, the outcome of the cases could… Read more »

Tickets, Anyone?

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Ticketmaster’s various fees and surcharges, which sometimes add 40 percent or more to the cost of a ticket, have long infuriated its customers. But next year, thanks to a recent class-action settlement, many of those fans will be able to get some money back. Questions: 1. According to the article, what are the two types… Read more »