August 2009

Disgraced former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski is taking another shot at freedom. Kozlowski is serving a minimum of 8  1/3rd years (and a maximum of 25 yrs) in state prison near Utica, NY for grand larceny and stealing more than 100 million dollars from the company he used to lead. He was convicted on charges he took the money in the form of bonuses.  The prosecution relied on testimony from ... read more

Using his daughters as an example of why newspapers will most likely die a prolonged but definite death, billionaire financier Wilbur Ross told me today he probably won't be doing any distressed investing in beaten-down newspaper companies. In a FOX Business exclusive today, Ross and I talked about some major market issues including whether the FDIC has relaxed the rules enough to make ... read more

Terry Duffy, Executive Chairman of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, told me yesterday on Fox Business that the CME doesn't need any more regulation.  C'mon, Gary Gensler, back down!  That was the message I got from Duffy when I brought up that the the new head of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission is pushing to add regulation to the panoply of rules to which the CME already ... read more

That's what John Douglas, former general counsel for the FDIC told me today on Countdown to the Closing Bell. In a Fox Business Exclusive, Douglas, now a partner at Davis Polk, said that while the FDIC has handled things rather well, they're putting up roadblocks when it comes to helping struggling banks get back on their feet. Douglas was at the FDIC during the Savings and Loan Crisis when ... read more

As the healthcare debate rages, there is one major group that to me is more important than the bureaucrats, politicians and insurance giants: THE DOCTORS. Today on Countdown to the Closing Bell, we did just that. Dr. David Torchiana, Chairman and CEO of Massachusetts General Physicians Organization is in charge of a huge group of doctors. He feels the Massachusetts reform that came about in ... read more

There will *never* be another Google. Just ask Bill Hambrecht of WR Hambrecht, the investment bank that helped bring the internet search engine that's now a part of just about everyone's lives to market. 5 years ago, Google [GOOG] went public. Bill convinced Google, already a very creative and individualistic company, to use an internet-based auction for its IPO, vs. the more traditional ... read more

Gang, Mark Greene, CEO of FICO [FICO] told me First on Fox Business on Countdown to the Closing Bell yesterday that his company will be changing the formula of FICO scores.  But he also gave some advice on how to keep your score pristine, or at least above water so that if you need to borrow money, lease a car or take out a second mortgage, you won't be stopped by the concrete wall that ... read more

Sugar "crisis"? That's what we're hearing from commodity traders and the headlines. The price of sugar is up .70+ cents a pound over the last 6 months. Major warnings of "unprecedented  shortages" are getting louder. What's going on? Weather problems in India and diversion of a big portion of the Brazilian sugar crop for ethanol production are just two of the issues forcing sugar prices ... read more

  Jean-Marie Eveillard is easily one of the most successful value investors of our time.  Senior Advisor to the First Eagle Funds, Eveillard ran the fund starting in 1979.  His record is pretty spectacular. He beat the S&P every year of the last decade, **including last year**--- a year where even the best and brightest had investments struggles. Eveillard was my guest exclusively on Fox ... read more

I'm not saying it's going to be horrible. In fact, we've seen relatively steady improvement in the Non-farm Payrolls report.  At its worst levels during the crisis, we were shedding around 700,000 jobs.  We've seen that cut nearly in half.  What' I want to stress is that while tomorrow's number is very important, watch out for *revisions* of previous months. Folks, we have lost a MILLION ... read more