More Under Armour Red Flags...
November 20, 2009
Stock Jocks Punish Under Armour's Mathletes | www.cnbc.com
Under Armour's most recent 10K contains a number of financial reporting "red flags" that reflect a cavalier attitude toward financial reporting transparency.
What the Former SEC Chairmen Missed...
November 19, 2009
Don't Let Banks Hide Bad Assets | online.wsj.com
Conceptually, the arguments favoring fair value accounting are sound and quite appealing. Unquestionably, financial statement users will benefit from data about how a company’s assets and liabilities change in value during a reporting period. However, there are two major issues associated with fair value reporting that accountants, investors, legislators, and regulators need to address in the wake of our most recent financial crisis.
What Have the Accountants Done For Us Lately?
November 19, 2009
Systemic risk legislation threatens FASB’s independence | www.accountingweb.com
Debates about the causes of the recent financial crisis have yet to focus on the inability of financial institution independent auditors to provide adequate oversight over management’s valuations of financial instruments.
Network and Tower Operations Center (NTOC) – An Optimizer for Network Opex
November 19, 2009
The Operations of Telecom Networks and Data Centers Need a Paradigm Shift to Become Green, Reduce Global Warming and Optimize Total Cost of Operations (TCO) | councils.glgroup.com
Telecom network operations are most opex intensive. Some innovative steps taken to optimize these costs are to share network infrastructure between multiple operators and managed services of network operations. However, with the emergence of tower companies who create and maintain the passive infrastructure in which even active network elements reside, there is a possibility of achieving greater synergy for the NOC and field operations thereby further reducing the costs.
Abu Dhabi looks to build its petchem activities
November 18, 2009
IPIC Mulls Bayer Joint Venture, Not Acquisition, Chairman Says | www.bloomberg.com
The Middle East is continuing to grow its role in petrochemicals. The latest move is by Abu Dhabi, to access technology for its ambitious new multi-$bn Chemaweyaat project.
Chemical Companies remain Cautious on the Outlook
October 31, 2009
Looking at the world from a stable but low level of activity | www.icis.com
The chemical industry is a leading indicator for the global economy. The recent company results season gives no support for the idea that earnings are about to stage a major recovery.
Improvements to CV risk factors, but magnitude very low
October 27, 2009
Arena: 2nd weight loss trial shows cardiac benefit | www.reuters.com
Arena presented data on lorcaserin at a series of presentations this week at the 2009 meeting of The Obesity Society in Washington DC. Data from both the BLOOM and BLOSSOM Phase III studies were presented, although BLOOM data had been released for some time already.
Chemical Companies face Bumpy Road in 2010
October 17, 2009
10,000: Then and Now | www.nytimes.com
2010 should be a better year for the chemical industry, as demand grows in line with a recovery in global GDP. But a quick V-shaped return to the 2003-7 Boom years in terms of volumes/margins seems unlikely.
Any Risks for GM Patents in Russia?
October 3, 2009
GAZ to Get Desired GM Technology in Opel Deal | www.themoscowtimes.com
Though a number of concerns have been raised following the sale of a stake in Opel to an alliance of Magna and Sberbank, it is unlikely that this will lead to any misuse of GM patents in Russia.
Unclear how orlistat's mechanism can lead to liver damage. Likely a non-issue.
August 28, 2009
FDA Investigating Reports of Liver Injury in Patients Using Weight Loss Drug Orlistat | www.webmd.com
Orlistat is designed to act peripherally in the GI tract and studies have demonstrated negligible systemic absorption of orlistat. Patients suffering from liver damage are either hypersensitive to orlistat or have taken too much of the drug. It is likely that these cases of liver injury are unrelated to orlistat, since obesity predisposes patients for liver damage. But overall cases of liver damage are small compared to the total number of patients who have taken the drug over the years.
Who is kidding who regarding a recovery in commercial real estate
October 18, 2009
U.S. Helps Commercial Real Real Estate Lenders Pretend and Extend
October 15, 2009
The Jury Is Still Out On General Growth
October 8, 2009
FDIC to create value "mark" by selling Corus portfolio
September 24, 2009
The Condo-Hotel Gone Bad: A Particular Corner of Hell
August 24, 2009