Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Pfizer Broke Law by Promoting Drugs for Wrong Uses In Violation of Pledge Prosecutor Michael Loucks remembers clearly when lawyers for Pfizer Inc., the world’s largest drug company, looked across the table and promised it wouldn’t break the law again.


• Record Bonuses Return to Wall Street as Big Three May Award $29.7 Billion Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s investment bank, survivors of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, are set to pay record bonuses this year.


• Leipzig Becomes Most Modern Making BMWs in Back to Future Since Wall Fell Leipzig was the scene of protests that spread to Berlin and toppled communist East Germany in 1989. Since then, it has added jobs faster than any German city, east or west, as governments and companies led by Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Amazon.com Inc. and Deutsche Post AG invested more than $17.8 billion.


• Tishman BlackRock Near Restructuring or Sale of New York's Stuyvesant Town Tishman Speyer Properties LP and BlackRock Realty, the owners of Manhattan’s Stuyvesant Town- Peter Cooper Village, moved closer to restructuring $3 billion in debt on the apartment complex as the property verges on default, Fitch Ratings said.


• Olympics Sponsors Beat S&P 500, MSCI World Before Vancouver: Chart of Day Stocks of Olympics sponsors are winning medals for investors even before the Vancouver Winter Games begin.


• Value Line Settlement May Prompt Split as Jean Bernhard Buttner Reign Ends Jean Bernhard Buttner never had much tolerance for people who broke her rules, says Jack Dempsey, who worked for her investment advisory firm Value Line Inc. until 2005.


• NBC Loss With Jay Leno Nobody's Gain as 1.7 Million 10 p.m. Viewers Vanish NBC’s exit from scripted series to air “The Jay Leno Show” weeknights at 10 p.m. has left 1.82 million young viewers up for grabs, and CBS and ABC have let most of them slip away six weeks into the television season.

Bllomberg Daily News 10th November 2009

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Pfizer Broke Law by Promoting Drugs for Wrong Uses In Violation of Pledge Prosecutor Michael Loucks remembers clearly when lawyers for Pfizer Inc., the world’s largest drug company, looked across the table and promised it wouldn’t break the law again.


• Record Bonuses Return to Wall Street as Big Three May Award $29.7 Billion Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s investment bank, survivors of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, are set to pay record bonuses this year.


• Cristiano Ronaldo Fails to Match Beckham Soccer Sales Boom for Real Madrid Cristiano Ronaldo, soccer’s most expensive player, can’t match the sales boom David Beckham triggered at Real Madrid.


• Disney's Shanghai Theme Park Won't Help Access to China's Media Industry Walt Disney Co.’s planned theme park in Shanghai will do little to help open China’s media industry to overseas companies as the communist government restricts films, television and the Internet, analysts said.


• Buffett's `Wake-Up Call' to Berkshire Managers May Signal More Cost Cuts Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s managers may deliver more cost cuts to Chief Executive Officer Warren Buffett after the billionaire replaced Richard Santulli as the head of a money-losing plane-leasing unit.


• Dimon's Dad Quits Merrill to Work for Son's Brokerage, Brings Along Team If Jamie Dimon ever needs fatherly advice, he can turn to his newest employee: Dad.


• Banks Thwarting Feinberg Pay Reductions by Changing Their Bonus Formulas Global leaders and regulators trying to rein in banker pay are proposing everything from clamping down on guaranteed bonuses to recouping compensation from prior years if losses mount. Largely unaddressed is the topic that stirs the most public ire: How much money is too much?

Bllomberg Daily News 9th November 2009

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Banks Thwarting Feinberg Pay Reductions by Changing Their Bonus Formulas Global leaders and regulators trying to rein in banker pay are proposing everything from clamping down on guaranteed bonuses to recouping compensation from prior years if losses mount. Largely unaddressed is the topic that stirs the most public ire: How much money is too much?


• McDonald's Shaves Seconds Off Big Mac Orders to Hold On to Market Share At a McDonald’s Corp. test kitchen in an unmarked Illinois warehouse, next year’s menu plan for the U.K. has hit a snag. When the visiting British team adds wrap sandwiches, service slows.


• Latvia Spares Currency, Devalues Economy to Save Path to Euro Membership Electronics and clothing stores at the Galerijas Centrs in Riga’s old town fly banners offering discounts of as much as 50 percent.


• Shanghai Farmers Lose Fields as Disney Kingdom Creates `Crazy' Home Prices Walt Disney Co.’s newest castle may rise from the Shanghai fields where retired farmer Jin Xinmei and her husband grow Chinese cabbage, potatoes and strawberries to supplement their $103 monthly pension.


• Ropes & Gray's Cutillo, Patent Lawyer, Accused of Fueling Insider Trading When Bain Capital LLC said it would buy 3Com Corp. for 44 percent more than the stock price, one unexpected beneficiary was Arthur Cutillo, an associate at the Ropes & Gray LLP law firm advising the private-equity company, according to the FBI.


• Energy-Trading Group Proposes Disclosures to Improve EU Electricity Market The European Federation of Energy Traders, the lobby group with members including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and E.ON AG, proposed rules for power-plant data to make buying and selling wholesale electricity more fair.


• Tyranny of Distance Curbs Australian Hedge Fund Revival in Post-Madoff Era After a decade running Sydney-based hedge fund Commodity Strategies Ltd., founder Rob Holroyd is planning a move to New York or Switzerland in search of cash.


• Buffett's Burlington Buy Includes CEO Who Engineered Top Railroad in U.S. Warren Buffett didn’t just buy a railroad when he announced his purchase of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. He hired the engineer, too.


• Sarkozy's `Grand Loan' Pits EADS Against Peugeot, Safran in Fight for Cash President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to spend between 25 billion euros ($37.3 billion) and 50 billion euros to reverse France’s declining industrial index.

Bloomberg Daily News 6th November 2009

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Buffett's Burlington Buy Includes CEO Who Engineered Top Railroad in U.S. Warren Buffett didn’t just buy a railroad when he announced his purchase of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. He hired the engineer, too.


• Sarkozy's `Grand Loan' Pits EADS Against Peugeot, Safran in Fight for Cash President Nicolas Sarkozy’s plan to spend at least 30 billion euros ($44 billion) to reverse France’s declining industrial competitiveness has triggered a scramble for a piece of the pie.


• Reclamation, Zimbabwe Plan to Mine Diamonds at Site of Human Rights Abuses New Reclamation Group Ltd. plans to form a venture with Zimbabwe to mine diamonds from a deposit that human rights groups have said has been the site of military atrocities, a copy of the agreement shows.


• Tyranny of Distance Curbs Australian Hedge Fund Revival in Post-Madoff Era After a decade running Sydney-based hedge fund Commodity Strategies Ltd., founder Rob Holroyd is planning a move to New York or Switzerland in search of cash.


• Spain Beating Europe in Stock Market With 40% of Profit From Latin America Spain, suffering from the highest unemployment rate in Europe, is producing the best stock returns among countries in the region with shrinking economies as sales to Latin America grow.


• Rogoff, Johnson, Rajan Say G-20 and IMF May Fail to Curb Global Imbalances The Group of 20’s effort to shift the global economy away from dependence on U.S. spending and Chinese savings may fail because the International Monetary Fund lacks the power to enforce its policy prescriptions, the IMF’s past three chief economists said.


• Marsh & McLennan Chances for Deals Rise in Weak Economy, Duperreault Says Marsh & McLennan Cos., the second- biggest insurance broker, is capitalizing on the recession by buying companies that would have been out of reach in better times, Chief Executive Officer Brian Duperreault said.


• Allstate Sells Munis as CEO Wilson Says Governments `Not in Great Shape' Allstate Corp., the largest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer, is paring its municipal-bond holdings because state and local governments are “not in great shape,” Chief Executive Officer Thomas Wilson said.


• JPMorgan Deal Arranging Alabama Swap Supplied Rolex, Shoes to Politicians JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Charles LeCroy explained to a colleague in 2003 how he planned to keep his job as the chief bond banker to Jefferson County, Alabama.


• Two Days of Talks Said to Sway General Motors Board, Chief on Opel's Value General Motors Co.’s board began a meeting poised to sell most of Opel to Magna International Inc. and scrapped the deal after concluding that the money-losing unit could be saved, people familiar with the matter said.

Bloomberg Daily News 5th November 2009

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Standard Chartered 79% Return Overtakes HSBC With Asian Investment Rebound Standard Chartered Plc, the third- largest bank in the United Kingdom by market value, wants to do business almost exclusively in Asia and emerging markets. Any executive of the lender who dares to depart from that strategy risks the wrath of Mike Rees, the chief executive officer for corporate banking.


• Profit `Not Satanic' Barclays Chief Says After Goldman Sachs Invokes Jesus Barclays Plc Chief Executive Officer John Varley stood at the wooden lectern in St. Martin-in-the- Fields on London’s Trafalgar Square last night and told the packed pews of the church that “profit is not satanic.”


• IPOs Unravel as Aviv Follows AEI in Pulling Sales Amid Record Low Returns Aviv REIT Inc. became the second company in less than a week to postpone its U.S. initial public offering as the busiest period for new listings in two years leaves investors with the worst returns on record.


• Nokia Siemens Said to Be Mulling Bid for Nortel Assets, Challenging Ciena Nokia Siemens Networks may bid for Nortel Networks Corp.’s optical-networking business, challenging Ciena Corp. for the unit of the insolvent communications equipment maker, said two people familiar with the matter.


• Bin Laden's Money Welcome as Desperate Independent Filmmakers Seek Funding Todd Solondz, the U.S. director whose movie “Happiness” was nominated for a Golden Globe award in 1999, knows how desperate raising funds for a film has become.


• Poland Mulls Lifting Debt Rules, Skrzypek Says, Raising Investor Concerns Polish central bank Governor Slawomir Skrzypek said a temporary lifting of rules capping public debt may be warranted even as the government scrambles for ways of containing the swelling budget deficit.


• DSG to Deliver Washing Machines Free to Fight Back Against Supermarkets DSG International Plc, Europe’s second-largest electronics retailer, will start free delivery of televisions and washing machines as part of a service-led counterattack against supermarkets and online retailers.


• Banks Find Consumer Protection Too Big to Fail as Congress Writes New Law During one of his first meetings about overhauling U.S. financial regulations in February, President Barack Obama had a question for his economic advisers, who included Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers.


• Bank of America's Next Chief May Call New York Home Instead of Charlotte Bank of America Corp. broadened its search for a chief executive officer to include candidates who want to live in New York, acknowledging the bank’s biggest units are no longer based in its home of Charlotte, North Carolina, people familiar with the matter said.


• Mulally Adds $2,700 More Revenue Per New Vehicle to Drive Ford's Growth Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally, after cutting nearly half the automaker’s North American employees, is commanding $2,700 more revenue per vehicle as he looks to put the company on a path to growth.

Bloomberg Daily News 4th November 2009

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Secret Atlanta Bond Deal Led IRS to Middleman Rubin Financing in the Dark At the end of a March 6, 2000, conference call with the financial adviser David Rubin, city of Atlanta officials disqualified the winning bid for a $453.3 million investment-management contract.


• Smiley Doing Financing in Dark Focus of IRS Probe of New Mexico Tax Abuses Vincent “Smiley” Gallegos, who ran a state housing agency out of an office next to a used-car lot in Albuquerque, New Mexico, should have known better when he borrowed $27.7 million, the Internal Revenue Service said.


• West Bank Peace Signaling 7% Growth as Israel Increases Roadblock Removals Nablus Soap & Detergents Co. says its revenue has grown as much as 20 percent since Israel removed three major roadblocks in the area, making it easier for merchants from other parts of the West Bank to visit.


• Diageo Chief Walsh Sees a `Slow' Recovery as U.S., Europe Sales Trail Asia Diageo Plc Chief Executive Officer Paul Walsh said the world’s largest liquor maker will see a “long and slow” recovery from recession in its biggest markets, and plans to compensate by expanding in emerging economies.


• Private Equity IPOs Slump as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Can't Sell AEI Shares Investors suffering the worst returns on initial public offerings in at least 14 years are shunning companies laden with debt, forcing bankers to pull one sale and cut the price of others.


• K1's Kiener Said to Seek $23 Million for Six-Bedroom Florida Beach Home Helmut Kiener, the K1 Group hedge- fund founder under arrest in Germany on suspicion of fraud, is seeking to sell his oceanfront home in Delray Beach, Florida, for $23 million to repay investors, people briefed on the matter said.


• Ticketmaster Client AEG Said to Explore Switch in Fallout From Music Deal Anschutz Entertainment Group, owner of Staples Center in Los Angeles and London’s O2 arena, is exploring ticket partners to replace Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc., which is merging with competing promoter Live Nation Inc.


• Wilbur Ross Sees `Huge' Commercial Property Crash Ahead for U.S. Assets Billionaire investor Wilbur L. Ross Jr., said today the U.S. is in the beginning of a “huge crash in commercial real estate.”


• Fed Summons CEOs of Biggest Banks to Meet With Regulators on Pay Practices The chief executive officers of 28 of the largest U.S. banks have been summoned to meet with supervisors at Federal Reserve banks to discuss new rules on compensation, said a person familiar with the matter.


• New York Eclipses London as Best Financial Center in Global Bloomberg Poll New York has withstood the worst economic crisis in seven decades and remains the leading global financial center, followed by Singapore, which topped London as investors’ preferred place for doing business, according to Bloomberg Global Poll.

Bloomberg Daily News

Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Secret Atlanta Bond Deal Led IRS to Middleman Rubin Financing in the Dark At the end of a March 6, 2000, conference call with the financial adviser David Rubin, city of Atlanta officials disqualified the winning bid for a $453.3 million investment-management contract.


• West Bank Peace Signaling 7% Growth as Israel Increases Roadblock Removals Nablus Soap and Detergents Company says its revenue has grown as much as 20 percent since Israel removed three major roadblocks in the area, making it easier for merchants from other parts of the West Bank to visit.


• Diageo Chief Walsh Sees a `Slow' Recovery as U.S., Europe Sales Trail Asia Diageo Plc Chief Executive Officer Paul Walsh said the world’s largest liquor maker will see a “long and slow” recovery from recession in its biggest markets, and plans to compensate by expanding in emerging economies.


• Kate Moss No Guarantee Topshop Billionaire Beats U.S. Hex on U.K. Chains Philip Green has a problem with four purple crushed-velvet dresses hanging from a display stand.


• Private Equity IPOs Slump as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Can't Sell AEI Shares Investors suffering the worst returns on initial public offerings in at least 14 years are shunning companies laden with debt, forcing bankers to pull one sale and cut the price of others.


• K1's Kiener Said to Seek $23 Million for Six-Bedroom Florida Beach Home Helmut Kiener, the K1 Group hedge- fund founder under arrest in Germany on suspicion of fraud, is seeking to sell his oceanfront home in Delray Beach, Florida, for $23 million to repay investors, people briefed on the matter said.


• Wilbur Ross Sees `Huge' Commercial Property Crash Ahead for U.S. Assets Billionaire investor Wilbur L. Ross Jr., said today the U.S. is in the beginning of a “huge crash in commercial real estate.”


• Fed Summons CEOs of Biggest Banks to Meet With Regulators on Pay Practices The chief executive officers of 28 of the largest U.S. banks have been summoned to meet with supervisors at Federal Reserve banks to discuss new rules on compensation, said a person familiar with the matter.


• New York Eclipses London as Best Financial Center in Global Bloomberg Poll New York has withstood the worst economic crisis in seven decades and remains the leading global financial center, followed by Singapore, which topped London as investors’ preferred place for doing business, according to Bloomberg Global Poll.

Bloomberg Daily News 2nd November 2009