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Financial Times - US homepage
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:58:30 GMT

http://www.ft.com/home/us

Jul 29, 2010 04:29AM

Peter Voser, chief executive, says deep-water drilling has ?important role to play in global energy supply?, as the Anglo-Dutch oil group announces a near-doubling in second-quarter profit to $4.53bn

Jul 29, 2010 06:18AM

Sanofi poised to make offer for Genzyme

Chris Viehbacher, left open the option of a $19bn takeover of US biotech company Genzyme as he unveiled second-quarter results for the French pharmaceutical group with earnings up nearly 8%

Jul 29, 2010 06:45AM

World stocks advance to 3-month high

Global Markets Overview: Risky assets are gaining as strong company earnings and some good news on the US jobs front counteract a cautious assessment of the economic recovery by the Federal Reserve

Jul 29, 2010 03:48AM

EU watchdogs push for market transparency

Push to boost transparency of regions? securities markets includes call for a ?consolidated tape? for pricing data to tackle lack of transparency as part of biggest regulatory overhaul in years

Jul 29, 2010 04:53AM

Karzai attacks ?shocking? leak of files

Afghanistan?s president says named individuals could be targeted by insurgents for working with US forces

Jul 29, 2010 06:13AM

Sales of Droid boost Motorola profits

Motorola, the US mobile phone handset maker, said profits surged in the second quarter, aided by the popularity of its popular Droid smartphone

Jul 28, 2010 12:59PM

Research says climate change undeniable

First major new piece of scientific research since the ?climategate? scandals

Jul 28, 2010 04:40PM

Amazon rolls out new version of e-reader

Amazon is aiming to take digital reading into the mainstream as it rolls out a new generation of its Kindle e-reader ahead of the crucial holiday shopping season

Jul 28, 2010 12:37PM

US judge loosens Arizona immigration law

A federal judge blocked the most controversial parts of Arizona?s proposed new immigration law, mere hours before it was due to take effect, handing a victory to the Obama administration and human rights groups

Jul 29, 2010 03:31AM

Gandhi pulls out of Cameron meeting

The UK prime minister will leave India without meeting Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress party, in a blow to his efforts to forge a ?special relationship? with New Delhi

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Financial Times - UK Homepage
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:00:29 GMT

http://www.ft.com/home/uk

Jul 29, 2010 03:31AM

Gandhi pulls out of Cameron meeting

The UK prime minister will leave India without meeting Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress party, in a blow to his efforts to forge a ?special relationship? with New Delhi

Jul 29, 2010 04:29AM

Shell chief defends deep-water drilling

Peter Voser, chief executive, says deep-water drilling has ?important role to play in global energy supply?, as the Anglo-Dutch oil group announces a near-doubling in second-quarter profit to $4.53bn

Jul 29, 2010 03:06AM

Default retirement age to be scrapped

Move delights pressure groups but dismays business organisations, which warn that the measure is being introduced too quickly

Jul 29, 2010 06:45AM

World stocks advance to 3-month high

Global Markets Overview: Risky assets are gaining as strong company earnings and some good news on the US jobs front counteract a cautious assessment of the economic recovery by the Federal Reserve

Jul 29, 2010 03:48AM

EU watchdogs push for market transparency

Push to boost transparency of regions? securities markets includes call for a ?consolidated tape? for pricing data to tackle lack of transparency as part of biggest regulatory overhaul in years

Jul 29, 2010 05:12AM

FSA unveils tough new pay code

The FSA is broadening the scope of its pay code to more than 2.500 financial services companies to comply with EU legislation that introduced some of the world?s toughest restrictions on bankers? bonuses

Jul 29, 2010 04:53AM

Karzai attacks ?shocking? leak of files

Afghanistan?s president says named individuals could be targeted by insurgents for working with US forces

Jul 29, 2010 04:27AM

PartyGaming and Bwin plan merger

Proposed deal would create world?s largest online gambling group, with 2009 pro-forma net gaming revenues of ?682m, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of ?196m

Jul 29, 2010 12:18AM

BT sees improvement at Global Services

The UK?s largest fixed-line phone company reports a sharp improvement in cash outflow at its problematic Global Services unit, which services governments and large companies, as it reports a 38% rise in first-quarter profit

Jul 29, 2010 04:08AM

Sharp fall in lending to UK financial sector

Bank lending to the industry is at its lowest for at least a year following a very sharp drop in June, data from the Bank of England show

Financial Times - Asia homepage
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:59:16 GMT

http://www.ft.com/home/asia

Jul 29, 2010 03:31AM

Gandhi pulls out of Cameron meeting

The UK prime minister will leave India without meeting Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress party, in a blow to his efforts to forge a ?special relationship? with New Delhi

Jul 29, 2010 03:34AM

Panasonic targets green energy buy-outs

Japanese electronics group bets on the future of green energy by offering to buy out minority shareholders in two subsidiaries specialising in lithium-ion batteries, solar cells and other environmental technology

Jul 29, 2010 01:28AM

Sony raises full-year profit forecasts

The Japanese electronics and entertainment group lifts its annual forecast and beats expectations, as improved demand and aggressive cost cuts countered the impact of a stronger yen

Jul 28, 2010 10:37PM

Bangladesh lifts pay for garment workers

The country has approved an 80 per cent increase in the minimum wage for its garment industry in a bid to end months of unrest by workers who produce clothes for leading western brands

Jul 28, 2010 09:33AM

India warns on slowdown in capital flows

Growing risk aversion among investors is slowing foreign capital flows to emerging markets such as India, potentially choking inflows needed to fund the nation's widening current account deficit, India?s central bank said

Jul 28, 2010 10:43AM

ICBC in rights issue after heavy lending

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is planning to raise up to Rmb45bn in a rights issue in Hong Kong and Shanghai to shore up its capital base

Jul 28, 2010 10:06AM

Leaked US files burnish bin Laden mystique

US files published by WikiLeaks feature a series linking Osama bin Laden to suicide bombings, a plot to assassinate President Hamid Karzai and financial dealings with North Korea

Jul 28, 2010 09:50AM

China revs up renminbi expansion

The quest to turn the renminbi into an international reserve currency may take time, but Beijing is taking big steps in that direction.

Jul 28, 2010 12:37PM

Russia confirms $29bn asset sales

Officials have yet to approve a final list of which state assets will be sold, even though the programme was first announced close to a year ago

Jul 28, 2010 12:59PM

Research says climate change undeniable

First major new piece of scientific research since the ?climategate? scandals

Financial Times - Middle East Homepage
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:59:51 GMT

http://www.ft.com/home/middleeast

Jul 29, 2010 03:31AM

Gandhi pulls out of Cameron meeting

The UK prime minister will leave India without meeting Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress party, in a blow to his efforts to forge a ?special relationship? with New Delhi

Jul 29, 2010 04:29AM

Shell chief defends deep-water drilling

Peter Voser, chief executive, says deep-water drilling has ?important role to play in global energy supply?, as the Anglo-Dutch oil group announces a near-doubling in second-quarter profit to $4.53bn

Jul 29, 2010 04:53AM

Karzai attacks ?shocking? leak of files

Afghanistan?s president says named individuals could be targeted by insurgents for working with US forces

Jul 29, 2010 06:18AM

Sanofi poised to make offer for Genzyme

Chris Viehbacher, left open the option of a $19bn takeover of US biotech company Genzyme as he unveiled second-quarter results for the French pharmaceutical group with earnings up nearly 8%

Jul 29, 2010 06:45AM

World stocks advance to 3-month high

Global Markets Overview: Risky assets are gaining as strong company earnings and some good news on the US jobs front counteract a cautious assessment of the economic recovery by the Federal Reserve

Jul 29, 2010 03:48AM

EU watchdogs push for market transparency

Push to boost transparency of regions? securities markets includes call for a ?consolidated tape? for pricing data to tackle lack of transparency as part of biggest regulatory overhaul in years

Jul 28, 2010 12:59PM

Research says climate change undeniable

First major new piece of scientific research since the ?climategate? scandals

Jul 29, 2010 12:26AM

Siemens boosted by jump in new orders

Europe?s largest engineering company beats market estimates in its fiscal third quarter with a record operating profit, underlining the strength of the global industrial recovery

Jul 29, 2010 04:09AM

IMF approves $15bn loan to Ukraine

The International Monetary Fund approved a $15bn loan for cash-strapped Ukraine after the country demonstrated its commitment to austerity measures.

Jul 29, 2010 02:58AM

Santander held back by Spain weakness

Santander unveils a slight year-on-year fall in first-half net profits, as bad-loan provisions and a poor domestic market offset solid growth across much of Spain?s largest banking group

Knowledge@Wharton -- Real Estate
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:02 EST

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/

Jul 14, 2010 12:26PM

Real Estate's Future: 'It Depends on What Degree of Risk You Are Looking For'

With the financial crisis wiping out trillions of dollars in property values worldwide, the challenges facing the global real estate industry are greater than they have been in decades. Within the turmoil, however, are opportunities for players in both the commercial and residential real estate markets, a point made by members of a panel at the recent Wharton Global Alumni Forum in Madrid called, "Real Estate: Exploring the Road to Recovery."

Mar 31, 2010 12:51PM

Drowning or Hedging? The Risks and Rewards of Owning a Home

Nearly 11 million homeowners -- or about one-fifth of those paying mortgages -- are now considered "underwater" because they owe more on their houses than they are worth. But while sharp declines in prices might be enough to make even the most cavalier consumer think twice before buying a home, new Wharton research suggests that homeownership is less risky than might be expected. Indeed, it can effectively hedge against volatile prices for shelter, including rental rates, if a buyer does not take on excessive debt to make the purchase.

Jan 20, 2010 02:35PM

Global Real Estate: Ready for a Rebound?

The global real estate community is breathing easier than it was a year ago, judging by the sentiments of participants at a recent Knowledge@Wharton global real estate forum titled, "The Road to Recovery: Investing in the Global Real Estate Rebound." Held at the New York Stock Exchange on December 11, in conjunction with Interconnect Events, the forum focused on the developed world's challenges in freeing up private capital and finding opportunities in distressed real estate assets, among other topics. According to some speakers and panelists, opportunities that receded in the West in the wake of the financial crisis can still be found in emerging markets, although the barriers to entry remain high.

Nov 24, 2009 02:13PM

Tentatively and Sporadically, Real Estate Investing Makes a Comeback

Real estate is showing some early signs of recovery as an attractive investment, at least compared to some other opportunities like corporate debt. But capital markets must open further to revive normal deal flows, said panelists at the recent Zell Lurie Real Estate Center conference. And while glimmers of confidence are returning to some sectors, the positive signs are distributed unevenly. Panelists also discussed lessons learned from regulatory lapses, ways to fix them and growth drivers that might stimulate the economy.

Aug 19, 2009 07:11PM

Peter Linneman on Real Estate: The Storm Is Over, the Wreckage Remains

Although some upbeat economic news in recent weeks might indicate the beginning of the end of the recession, there's still plenty of "wreckage" to deal with, says Wharton real estate professor Peter D. Linneman. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the housing and commercial property sectors, which have taken one of their worst beatings ever. In an interview with Knowledge@Wharton, Linneman draws on policy missteps of the past to caution the Obama administration to tread carefully and avoid "trying to cure things they can't cure," while contending that the U.S. might have more in common with countries like Venezuela, Russia and Japan than most observers think.

Jul 22, 2009 01:41PM

On Shaky Ground: Commercial Real Estate Faces Financial Tremors

As the global recession drags on, new concerns are rising about commercial real estate. Loans taken out during the boom years are coming due, but commercial property owners are contending with higher vacancy rates, lower rents and a less-than-receptive environment for refinancing their obligations. Industry analysts and politicians suggest that commercial real estate is about to become the next high-profile casualty in the ongoing economic meltdown. "The shoe has already dropped," says one Wharton real estate professor.

Jun 10, 2009 03:08PM

So You Think Owning a Home Will Make You Happy? Don't Be Too Sure

Owning a home has long been viewed as the cornerstone of the American Dream, the foundation for a happy family life and long-term financial security. Now, a new research paper challenges that conventional wisdom. Wharton's Grace Wong Bucchianeri, a professor of real estate, says her research shows that while homeowners experience significant joy, they also face more aggravation, spend less time with friends, and are even heavier than renters living in comparable homes.

Apr 20, 2009 07:39PM

Risky Business: An Entrepreneur's Perspective on the Brazilian Housing Market

Rafael became an entrepreneur when he moved to Brazil about a year ago to work in the country's nascent housing market. Before that, he was a successful portfolio manager at a hedge fund in London where he had been saving his bonuses and waiting for the right moment to strike out on his own. That moment came -- in the real estate industry. But it was followed by what turned out to be a devastating blow -- the global financial crisis.

Mar 18, 2009 02:34PM

Don't Write off the Malls Just Yet, Says Real Estate Magnate David Simon

Despite press reports to the contrary, shopping malls are here to stay, at least according to David Simon, chairman and CEO of Simon Property Group, owner of more than 350 malls, outlet centers and other retail-oriented properties in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Indeed, Simon said during a recent Wharton Leadership Lecture, his firm might consider making acquisitions again given that prices have recently fallen to levels last seen in 2002.

Mar 11, 2009 02:25PM

A 'Downward Spiral': Gulf Region Real Estate in the Era of Cheap Oil

In 2002, oil prices in the nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) stood at $25 a barrel. By July 2008, that number had jumped to $147. The increase enabled the GCC's six member countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) to almost triple their gross domestic product -- from $350 billion to more than $1 trillion. Now oil prices have fallen again -- this time to below $40 a barrel -- and the oil boom and bust have come at a steep price, especially for Dubai.

Knowledge@Wharton -- Insurance and Pensions
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:02 EST

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/

May 26, 2010 02:26PM

Needed, Now: New Approaches to Financing Old Age

Following the global financial crisis, troubled retirement systems around the world face new challenges that may result in sharply reduced income for retirees -- as well as the possibility that younger workers will need to work much longer, according to Wharton insurance and risk management professor Olivia Mitchell. In a recent paper titled, "Implications of the Financial Crisis for Long Run Retirement Security," Mitchell argues that current and future generations must "build new frameworks [with] public and private partnerships to better educate people about the risks they face, to help them work longer ... and to better regulate products and markets for an aging world."

Sep 30, 2009 03:48PM

Micro Insurance: A Safety Net With Too Many Holes?

Unlike micro lending -- the better-known side of micro finance -- micro insurance has been a hard sell among the world's poor. The reasons why include a lack of understanding of how insurance products work, a general reticence on the part of poor populations to part with their meager financial resources, badly designed products and a shortage of localized risk management knowledge among providers. What needs to happen for micro insurance to prove that it can be both socially beneficial and economically viable?

Apr 01, 2009 03:13PM

Not So Golden: Employees -- and Employers -- Feel the Pinch from Shortfalls in Retirement Funding

The golden years for most Americans appear increasingly threatened by the global financial crisis. Retirement accounts have lost from $2 trillion to $4 trillion as stocks have tumbled nearly 50% from their peak in 2007. Pension funds -- which typically invest between 60% and 70% in equities -- are also finding their accounts billions of dollars below minimum requirements. For Americans facing retirement, the details of how these plans work may be fuzzy, but the big picture is clear: Whatever comfortable cushion retirees may have had is now gone, and the process of building it back up will be arduous and long.

Sep 17, 2008 06:25PM

AIG Rescued: Was an $85 Billion Loan the Right Answer?

After refusing to bail out Lehman Brothers, the government agreed to an $85 billion loan to insurance giant AIG, effectively taking over the company. Knowledge@Wharton talked to Wharton insurance professors Olivia Mitchell and Kent Smetters to find out how the world's largest insurer got into this situation and how it can be prevented from happening again.

Jun 13, 2007 12:33PM

You've Worked Hard, Saved and Just Retired: How Do You Manage Your Finances Now?

As baby boomers retire and start spending their nest eggs, they will need new financial products to make their money last, according to speakers at a recent Wharton Impact Conference titled, "Managing Retirement Payouts: Positioning, Investing and Spending Assets." The conference explored emerging patterns in spending during retirement and debated new ideas to help retirees manage their finances after leaving the workforce.

Feb 07, 2007 01:59PM

Fantasy Sports: The Players, the Platforms and the Profits

According to some industry estimates, fantasy sports is now a $4 billion industry and growing quickly. What is fantasy sports, who provides fantasy sports platforms, what are the most popular fantasy sports, and -- coming off the Indianapolis Colts' recent Super Bowl win -- can we assume there will be a Super Bowl for fantasy football, or for baseball, basketball or hockey? Knowledge@Wharton asked Kent Smetters, professor of insurance and risk management, to bring us up to speed on the future of this industry.

Oct 18, 2006 02:48PM

How Can Employers Improve Defined Contribution Plans?

If 401(k)s and similar plans are the main way Americans invest for retirement, how can employers improve them? By making enrollment automatic, minimizing the use of the employer's stock, expanding the role of annuities and improving employees' financial knowledge, according to a set of recommendations issued by the Financial Economists Roundtable, a group of about 50 prominent economists, including several Wharton faculty members.

Sep 27, 2006 04:51PM

Strategies for Dealing with the Risks of 9/11, Katrina and Other Disasters: A Conversation with Wharton Experts

In the five years since the attacks on September 11, 2001, Howard Kunreuther, Wharton professor of operations and information management, has collaborated with members of the private and public sectors to determine how individuals and firms can be motivated to enhance security in our interconnected world. In a new book titled, Seeds of Disaster, Roots of Response: How Private Action Can Reduce Public Vulnerability, Kunreuther and other contributors argue that the United States will continue to be at risk for low-probability, high-consequence events like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina until the private sector and public leadership develop strategies to persuade individuals and firms to invest in cost-effective protective measures. The book is edited by Erwann Michel-Kerjan, managing director of Wharton's Center for Risk Management and Decision Processes, and three others.

Jul 26, 2006 10:03AM

Longer Lives and the 'Lump-Sum Illusion' Are Just Two of the Challenges Retiring Baby-Boomers Face

In the United States alone, an unprecedented 77 million baby-boomers will be living the next 20 to 30 years in retirement. With long lives ahead of them -- and without adequate planning -- what are the risks they are facing? According to Olivia Mitchell, Wharton professor of insurance and risk management, and Christopher "Kip" Condron, president and CEO of AXA Financial, the world's largest financial services firm, the rising tide of boomers in the U.S. and around the world needs to meet challenges that previous generations never faced, including changes to key retirement institutions, as well as medical-care cost inflation and the "lump-sum illusion." Knowledge@Wharton spoke with Mitchell and Condron about how the financial services industry is working to meet the needs of this next wave of retirees.

Mar 08, 2006 02:27PM

Hands-off: Holders of 401(k) Retirement Accounts Are Not Your Typical Investors

With $2.5 trillion invested in 401(k) retirement accounts, 60 million Americans control a powerful chunk of cash. So how much attention do investors pay to this vast pool of savings? Not much. According to a new Wharton analysis of retirement accounts managed by The Vanguard Group in 2003 and 2004, participants in 401(k) plans made little effort to tend their defined-contribution plans once they were set up. Even among those who did trade regularly, turnover rates were one-third those of professional money managers. Olivia S. Mitchell, executive director of Wharton's Pension Research Council, Stephen P. Utkus, principal, Vanguard Center for Retirement Research, and researchers Gary Mottola and Takeshi Yamaguchi present their findings in a paper entitled, "The Inattentive Participant: Portfolio Trading Behavior in 401(k) Plans."

Knowledge@Wharton -- Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:02 EST

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/

Jul 14, 2010 12:24PM

'Being Cautious Is to Stop Moving': How Innovation and Entrepreneurship Can Bring Societal Change

New technologies and a growing capacity for innovation are playing fundamental roles in the search for answers to the current economic downturn. At the Wharton Global Alumni Forum in Madrid, speakers from Spain, Rwanda and Nairobi took part in a panel that looked at the social and economic applications of technology and innovation, and how support for entrepreneurship can help raise the standard of living for those in developing countries.

May 26, 2010 11:57AM

Electric Literature Founders Andy Hunger and Scott Lindenbaum: 'Agitating' for Fiction

Plenty of people in the publishing world fear that new media and the Internet will kill interest in reading literary fiction. Andy Hunter and Scott Lindenbaum, however, think of Twitter, YouTube and the iPad as opportunities to introduce new audiences to the art of the short story -- and to tell stories in unique ways. They are the founders of Electric Literature, a quarterly literary magazine that publishes using a print-on-demand model and enhances its stories through collaborations between authors and animators, filmmakers and musicians.

May 12, 2010 01:14PM

Wharton's 2010 Business Plan Competition: Health Care Innovations Dominate the 'Great Eight'

Ever since the dot.com bubble burst a decade ago, many students in Wharton's Business Plan Competition have turned their attention away from the Internet to other fields. This year was no exception, with six of the eight finalists presenting plans related to health care and the other two related to retail. The ideas included a cervical cancer screening device, an antibiotic to treat infections caused by drug-resistant bacteria, a private sales club for students and a healthy beverage for bottom of the pyramid markets, among others.

May 12, 2010 01:14PM

How Group Dynamics May Be Killing Innovation

To come up with the next iPad or Amazon, the pacesetters of the future need solitary brainstorming time, according to new Wharton research. In a paper titled, "Idea Generation and the Quality of the Best Idea," Wharton professors Christian Terwiesch and Karl Ulrich argue that group dynamics are the enemy of businesses trying to develop one-of-a-kind new products, unique ways to save money or distinctive marketing strategies.

Apr 28, 2010 12:56PM

What Does the Drooping Book Business Need? How About a Jolt of Espresso?

What if you could print a perfect-bound volume for as little time as it takes to brew a cup of coffee? That is the premise behind the Espresso book machine, which turns digital PDF files into paperbacks in minutes. Jason Epstein and Dane Neller, chairman and CEO respectively of On Demand Books in New York, the company behind the Espresso book machine, believe their technology has the potential to transform book publishing. Epstein, who was editorial director of Random House for 40 years, recently wrote a widely read essay in The New York Review of Books about the impact of digital technology on publishing. In an interview with Knowledge@Wharton and Stephen J. Kobrin, editor of Wharton School Publishing, Epstein and Neller discuss their views on where the publishing business is headed.

Apr 14, 2010 09:36AM

Steve Wilson of FastPencil: Why the Next Chapter of Book Publishing Is 'Going to Be Monumental'

High-tech e-book gadgets are one thing that is revolutionizing publishing. If companies like Silicon Valley startup FastPencil get their way, social-networking-based self-publishing services will be another. FastPencil is what CEO Steve Wilson calls a "next-gen" publisher, which uses social networking and an arsenal of widgets to take authors through their book projects from the drawing board to the bookshelf, potentially for as little as $10. In a recent interview with Knowledge@Wharton, Wilson discussed how FastPencil's motto -- "Write once, publish anywhere" -- is turning traditional book publishing on its head.

Mar 17, 2010 03:58PM

Getting Stuck in the Grass (and Elsewhere): Women Entrepreneurs Say Flexibility Is Key to Success

Inflexibility toward change can trap a business in a web of inertia. During a panel discussion at the recent Wharton Women Business Conference, four female entrepreneurs -- heads of companies that include a designer dress rental service and a fundraising project to promote AIDs treatment and research -- said compromise and a willingness to listen to critics are critical for long-term, positive growth.

Mar 17, 2010 03:58PM

'Tarzan Economics': If Music Is Free, How Do Artists Get Paid?

Over the past decade, the music industry launched hundreds of lawsuits against consumers in an attempt to halt illegal downloads of digital content. Although many in the industry have backed off from that approach, the challenge remains to find a business model that generates sufficient revenue for musicians and record label companies. Jim Griffin, working as an advisor to Warner Music Group, is partnering with a number of universities to experiment with business models that could provide an answer. At the recent Supernova conference in San Francisco, Knowledge@Wharton spoke with Griffin about his plans for changing the way music is distributed and monetized.

Mar 02, 2010 07:37PM

How Entrepreneurs Can Create Effective Business Plans

When an entrepreneur has identified a potential business opportunity, the next step is developing a business plan for the new venture. What exactly should the new plan contain? How can the entrepreneur ensure it has the substance to find interest among would-be investors? In this installment of a series of podcasts for the Wharton-CERT Business Plan Competition, Wharton management professor Ian MacMillan explains that business plans must contain several crucial elements: They must articulate a market need; identify products or services to fill that need; assess the resources required to produce those products or services; address the risks involved in the venture; and estimate the potential revenues and profits.

Mar 02, 2010 07:37PM

Basics of Entrepreneurship: Why Start-ups Fail at Marketing -- and Possible Solutions

Why do more than half of all start-ups fail? Because they bungle their marketing, according to Leonard Lodish, a professor of marketing at Wharton and co-author of two books, Entrepreneurial Marketing and Marketing That Works. "The dogs won't eat the dog food is the way venture capitalists describe it," Lodish says. The key lies in how a marketing plan is crafted. In this installment of the podcast series for the Wharton-CERT Business Plan Competition, Lodish explains that marketing plans must take into account three critical strategic and tactical factors: positioning, targeting and pricing.

Knowledge@Wharton -- Finance and Investment
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:02 EST

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/

Jul 21, 2010 01:16PM

Mid-life Crisis? Venture Capital Acts Its Age

The venture capital community is showing signs of middle age -- moving more slowly and cautiously than before, and hitting fewer home runs than it did in younger, leaner days. As a result, experts say, the sector is having trouble producing the robust performance long associated with it. This means investors need to look at venture capital, and its impact on their portfolios, in a new way.

Jul 21, 2010 01:16PM

ABC's IPO Underscores the ABCs of Banking in China

With the world record-breaking $22 billion IPO of Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) on July 15, Beijing relinquished another small part of its hold on the country's financial services sector. But the process of modernizing the country's banks is far from over, say experts in China and beyond. As ABC and its local rivals struggle to shed their legacy as state-directed "policy banks," many observers still question the central government's willingness to cede control over the balance sheets of what have become some of the world's largest lenders.

Jul 21, 2010 01:16PM

Shooting the Messenger: Quarterly Earnings and Short-term Pressure to Perform

While most experts agree that a single-minded focus on the short term can cause negative consequences for companies, they also suggest that blaming quarterly earnings reports, and the pressure to meet analysts' targets or company guidance, is like shooting the messenger. Although the system of quarterly earnings might be broken, fixing it is no easy matter and might create even more pressure to produce immediate results.

Jul 21, 2010 01:16PM

Will the Economic Recovery Run Out of Steam?

After a year of solid gains, the economic recovery is beginning to slow. Demand is trailing off as inventory levels have been restored and emergency stimulus measures withdrawn. Continued high unemployment and a downtick in housing are weighing on consumer confidence and spending. Add unexpected shocks from Europe and a slowdown in China, and forecasters are now ratcheting down their expectations for growth over the next year. While many still expect economic expansion to continue in the longer term, "we have definitely hit a soft patch," one Wharton faculty member notes.

Jul 14, 2010 12:26PM

From Recession to Recovery: A Focus on Higher Productivity, New Partnerships, Cost Competitiveness

At the opening session of the Global Alumni Forum in Madrid, Sebastián Escarrer, vice chairman of Sol Meliá SA, Wharton dean Thomas S. Robertson and Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel each offered different observations about the state of the global markets, the outlook for reform, and the roles that companies, governments and business schools must play in a newly reconfigured economic environment.

Jul 14, 2010 12:25PM

Private Equity: 'Is the Golden Age Behind Us?'

Before introducing the panelists taking part in a session during the recent Wharton Global Alumni Forum in Madrid called "Relaunching Private Equity," moderator Raffi Amit summarized the challenges that both venture capital and private equity face at a time when investors have become more conservative, returns are down, and transactions have declined in both volume and value. Panelists offered their views on the new investment climate, and suggested strategies for coping with today's tough economic environment.

Jul 14, 2010 12:24PM

Ushering in a 'New Financial World' While Avoiding the Excesses of the Old

A panel at the recent Wharton Global Alumni Forum in Madrid was titled, "The New Financial World." "So, one might ask, what happened to the old financial world?" was the question posed to Forum participants by Wharton finance professor Richard Marston, who led the discussion. Marston asked his panelists to discuss the causes of the economic crisis, the ways in which increased market volatility should be managed, and how the world can address credibility issues related to global imbalances.

Jul 07, 2010 12:14PM

How the Public and Private Sector Could Work Together to Thaw a Future Credit Freeze

Financial institutions add to their woes during an economic downturn, experts say, by refusing to provide capital to worthy businesses because they fear other lenders will also cut back. In the end, banks create a credit shortage that does even more to extend the crisis and delay recovery. In a new paper, Wharton professor Itay Goldstein examines different approaches to halt an over-reaching credit crunch and concludes that the private and public sectors should work together to direct money toward viable businesses.

Jul 07, 2010 12:14PM

China's Renminbi Revaluation: Small Step, Big Impact?

China's announcement in June that it will abandon the peg tying the renminbi (RMB) to the U.S. dollar and gradually let its currency appreciate was widely applauded in international business and economic circles. The decision is important, experts say, not only in debates about the future clout of the dollar and the RMB in global trade and politics, but also for correcting global economic imbalances. Yet now many observers are wondering what impact the revaluation will have on jobs and prices for the average person -- whether in Boston, Beijing or anywhere in between.

Jul 07, 2010 12:14PM

Why It Pays to Link Executive Compensation with Corporate Debt

The recent financial crisis, triggered primarily by bad bets in the financial sector, has added momentum to the idea that executive compensation should be tied more closely to corporate debt rather than equity. Last month, for example, American International Group (AIG) announced that it will link incentive pay to the value of the troubled insurer's bonds. In a new paper, Wharton finance professor Alex Edmans and doctoral student Qi Liu argue that these types of incentives protect bondholders' interests and the value of the firm, particularly when a company's solvency is in question.

Journal of Financial Econometrics - current issue
Jul 18, 2010 08:19PM

http://jfec.oxfordjournals.org

Kane, A., KIM, T.-H., White, H. on Jun 11, 2010 09:51PM

Forecast Precision and Portfolio Performance

This paper investigates the connection between the forecast precision of security analysts and the superior performance of portfolios constructed optimally on the basis of their predictions. In particular, we are interested in the threshold of predictive power that makes for a positive economic contribution of security analysts. Results can be viewed as good news for security analysts. A correlation coefficient between forecast and realized abnormal returns as low as 0.032 will render a security analyst valuable. JEL: C110, C150, G110, G140

Aiolfi, M., Rodriguez, M., Timmermann, A. on Jun 11, 2010 09:51PM

Understanding Analysts' Earnings Expectations: Biases, Nonlinearities, and Predictability

This paper studies the asymmetric behavior of negative and positive values of analysts’ earnings revisions and links it to the conservatism principle of accounting. Using a new three-state mixture of lognormal models that accounts for differences in the magnitude and persistence of positive, negative, and zero revisions, we find evidence that revisions to analysts’ earnings expectations can be predicted using publicly available information such as lagged interest rates and past revisions. We also find that our forecasts of revisions to analysts’ earnings estimates help to predict the actual earnings figure beyond the information contained in analysts’ earnings expectations.

Czado, C., Haug, S. on Jun 11, 2010 09:51PM

An ACD-ECOGARCH(1,1) Model

In this paper we introduce an ACD-ECOGARCH(1,1) model. An exponential autoregressive conditional duration model is used to describe the dependence structure in durations of ultra-high-frequency financial data. The innovation process of the ACD model then defines the interarrival times of a compound Poisson process. We use this compound Poisson process as the background driving Lévy process of an exponential continuous time GARCH(1,1) process. The dynamics of the random time transformed log-price process are then described by the latter process. To estimate its parameters we construct a quasi maximum likelihood estimator under the assumption that all jumps of the log-price process are observable. Finally, the model is fitted for illustrative purpose to General Motors tick-by-tick data of the New York Stock Exchange.

Chen, Y.-T., Hsieh, C.-S. on Jun 11, 2010 09:51PM

Generalized Moment Tests for Autoregressive Conditional Duration Models

Autoregressive conditional duration (ACD) models have been shown to be important for several applications in empirical finance. In this paper, we consider a set of generalized moment tests for the conditional mean specifications, the IIDness assumption of the error terms, and the distribution assumptions of the error terms in the context of ACD models. These generalized tests are also applicable to other multiplicative error models. We demonstrate that these tests are useful for unifying existing parametric tests, correcting the estimation effect ignored by some popular tests, and generating new tests for ACD models. Therefore, they can be applied to evaluate ACD models in a more complete way. This study also includes a Monte Carlo simulation and an empirical example to assess the performance of these tests. (JEL: C52, G15)

Weber, E. on Jun 11, 2010 09:51PM

Structural Conditional Correlation

A small strand of recent literature is occupied with identifying simultaneity in multiple equation systems through autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity. Since this approach assumes that the structural innovations are uncorrelated, any contemporaneous connection of the endogenous variables needs to be exclusively explained by mutual spillover effects. In contrast, this paper allows for instantaneous covariances, which become identifiable by imposing the constraint of structural constant/dynamic conditional correlation (SCCC/SDCC). In this, common driving forces can be modeled in addition to simultaneous transmission effects. The methodology is applied to the Dow Jones and Nasdaq Composite indexes, illuminating scope and functioning of the new models.

FRB: Press Release - All Releases
Jul 28, 2010 09:00AM

http://www.federalreserve.gov/feeds/default.htm

Jul 28, 2010 09:00AM

Agencies issue final rules to implement requirements for registration of mortgage loan originators

Jul 28, 2010 08:00AM

Written agreement with Metro North Bancshares

Jul 28, 2010 08:00AM

Written agreement with Farmers State Bank

Jul 28, 2010 08:00AM

Written agreement with BOV Holding Company and Bank of Versailles

Jul 26, 2010 09:00AM

Board seeks nominations for appointments to Consumer Advisory Council