Henry Blodget on his long fall from grace and ultimate redemption; opens up about his “colossal mistake” as a writer; defends slideshow journalism: “It’s native digital storytelling”

Henry Blodget on his long fall from grace and ultimate redemption

BY ADAM L. PENENBERG 
ON NOVEMBER 14, 2013

Henry Blodget was flying from Houston at the onset of the tech bubble when he started crunching numbers. As an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., working in equity, he dashed off two reports on the plane. One was on an online retailer called Amazon, which was trading at $240, a price that many Wall Streeters in 1998 believed was way too high for a fast-growing yet money-losing startup. After running through the numbers Blodget came to the opposite conclusion, forecasted that the stock would trade at $400 a share, filed the report and didn’t think much of it. Read more of this post

Google’s trick for winning over Indians: Make them cry

Google’s trick for winning over Indians: Make them cry

By Mrigaa Sethi November 14, 2013

I was born of an improbable reunion between long-lost childhood friends. My Hindu grandfather Harish and his best friend Yash, a Sikh, were young boys together in Lahore, Pakistan, where their houses shared a common wall. They were parted suddenly in the terror and chaos of the partition of India in 1947, when both families were among the 14.5 million people displaced. Nearly 10 years later, my grandfather was overseeing box office sales at a cinema in a small Indian town near Agra. A hand came in through the window, asking for a ticket. My grandfather instantly recognized the voice. He grabbed the hand and said, “Stay where you are.” He ran outside and found himself face to face with Yash. When their families reunited, the elders arranged a marriage between my grandfather and Yash’s sister—my grandmother, Chandrakanta. Now Google’s India office has created a tear-jerker ad that is deeply resonant for Indians and Pakistanis with family stories like mine. It shows an aging Hindu Indian man waxing nostalgic to his granddaughter about his Muslim childhood friend in Lahore before the partition. The young woman then uses clues from the story to track down, via Google, her grandfather’s childhood friend in Pakistan. The ad culminates in a gut-wrenching reunion between two old men, more than 60 years after they were parted by history. A series of subsequent ads shows them re-establishing their friendship, finding shared cultural experiences, and trying to set their grandchildren up with each other. The ad, created by Ogilvy, has struck a particularly emotional chord by refusing to take India and Pakistan’s historically adversarial relationship as a given. Pushing social norms and emotional buttons is proving to be a recipe for viral advertising success in India. Earlier this month a norm-breaking jewellery ad depicted a single mother’s second marriage. With its latest ad, Google has managed to side-step politics. Media depictions of Indo-Pakistani relations tend to be fraught: Bollywood films often feature unlikeable Pakistani characters, and many Indian movies end up banned across the border. But by zeroing in on the issue of partition-era separations and reunions, Google has achieved the kind of powerful emotional response that most brands can only dream of.

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69-year old retiree can’t afford $154 vaccination in Singapore

69-year old retiree can’t afford $154 vaccination

November 14th, 2013 |  Author: Contributions

I am a 69-year-old retiree who recently had to walk away from medical treatment at a polyclinic because I simply could not afford the fee. It was a Hepatitis A vaccination that was recommended by an SGH doctor (I honestly don’t know why SGH couldn’t do it!) I found that it cost $77 per dose, and they had to administer two doses, amounting to $154. There was no subsidy, said the nurse. Not even for senior citizens. Not even for someone holding an MSW (Medical Social Worker) letter. Even the doctor, who was at first hesitant because he was merely responding to a brief note from the SGH physician, asking him to administer the shot, nodded to show empathy for the circumstances I was in and cognizance of Singapore’s high cost of living. And to think citizens are allowed the use of Medisave for Hepatitis B vaccination, but not A. Sadly, I walked away, wondering why Singaporeans — especially the elderly lot — had to be subjected to such deprivation of basic medical assistance when our Medifund kitty had a surplus of more than $600 million, according to statistics revealed by our trusted Mr Leong Tze Hian, an auditor, Wharton Fellow and alumnus of Harvard University and the United Nations University International Leadership Academy, in TRE pages recently. Even the MSW letter I was holding entitles me to waiver of only some of the drugs prescribed by the doctor, not all. And even then, the waiver is granted only after Medisave deduction. In other words, the 100% waiver indicated in the letter is a big ruse. Why, in heavens name, must they always resort to non-transparency in many things they do involving our own true-blue citizens? Even untruthfulness, indifference and apathy? Why can’t they come clean and say why, for instance, medicines must cost so much. If it is true that medicines are so expensive, why is it cheaper across the Causeway? Last year, I was at one stage suffering from flu. And despite four medical consultations — including one where I paid $40, I was still feeling lousy. So I went to see a private clinic doctor in JB. The female Muslim doctor (she was wearing a hijab by the way, which I’m 100% fine) asked me my age and occupation. And when she found I was a retiree, she charged me only RM10 ($4) for consultation and five different medications. Amazing, I thought! And believe you me, it took me only one week to recover, thanks to that JB doctor, who charged me $4!

Sad and bewildered

This Map Shows How America Is Divided Into 11 Nations

This Map Shows How America Is Divided Into 11 Nations

ROB WILE NOV. 12, 2013, 1:37 PM 80,598 111

Remember when that crazy Russian professor said America would break up into several different nations? He may not have been totally far off. In a new article in Tufts Magazine, Colin Woodard, author of “American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America”, argues that the U.S. has long been divided into several different cultural entities that, with only a couple of notable exceptions, have somehow been able to coexist alongside one another. He writes: “The original North American colonies were settled by people from distinct regions of the British Isles—and from France, the Netherlands, and Spain—each with its own religious, political, and ethnographic traits. For generations, these Euro-American cultures developed in isolation from one another, consolidating their cherished religious and political principles and fundamental values, and expanding across the eastern half of the continent in nearly exclusive settlement bands. Throughout the colonial period and the Early Republic, they saw themselves as competitors—for land, capital, and other settlers—and even as enemies, taking opposing sides in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War. There’s never been an America, but rather several Americas—each a distinct nation. There are eleven nations today.

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Deals that snowballed: 10 classic Aussie Rich Lister side bets that made them millions

James Thomson Editor

Deals that snowballed: 10 classic Rich Lister side bets that made them millions

Published 15 November 2013 07:40, Updated 15 November 2013 10:39

When you join the exclusive club that is the Rich 200, you can expect three groups to knock on your door: the Australian Taxation Office, charities and entrepreneurs looking for capital to fund their dream. While many Rich 200 members are famous for their laser-like focus on their own sector and their own business, most have an insatiable curiosity to keep looking for the next opportunity. Many of these side bets come to nothing. But in some cases, the little business ideas that Rich Listers support can blossom into assets worth millions of dollars and, in some very rare instances, become the most valuable part of their empire. Below you’ll find 10 examples of Rich 200 members who looked outside their main business and turned a spark of a business into a major asset. What unites these entrepreneurs is vision – and an ability to see how industries will change, or how economic cycles will take a business to a new level. It’s not easy to do, of course, but these Rich Listers show it pays to be always on the lookout for the next big thing. Read more of this post

The Five Traps of High-Stakes Decision Making

The Five Traps of High-Stakes Decision Making

by Michael C. Mankins  |   10:00 AM November 14, 2013

At some point most executive teams will make a bet-the-company decision.  Sometimes they’ll make the right one and will be handsomely rewarded.  Southwest’s decision in 2007 to hedge against increases in the price of jet fuel proved remarkably prescient. But sometimes the big decision will go horribly wrong. In 2007 AOL and Time Warner finally pulled the plug on the $350 billion 2001 merger that Time Warner chiefs Jeff Bewkes and Gerald Levin later called “the biggest mistake in corporate history.” Read more of this post

Mid-market: are you getting in the way of your company’s innovators?

Mid-market: are you getting in the way of your company’s innovators?

Published 15 November 2013 11:44, Updated 15 November 2013 12:41

Kath Walters

Without leadership, innovation will falter and die. But sometimes, leaders can stifle innovation even when they have the best intentions. Leaders provide the essential framework for innovation, says Stuart Elliott, the managing director of Planet Innovation, a consultancy that helps clients build and commercialise new and improved products and services. Here are five ways that leaders can get in the way of their company’s innovative efforts. Read more of this post

An Icelandic entrepreneur says his company may have a novel solution to the world’s water shortages: Transport the North Atlantic island’s abundant supplies in supertankers to where they’re needed

Iceland Entrepreneur Has Novel Water Remedy: Fill Ships

An Icelandic entrepreneur says his company may have a novel solution to the world’s water shortages: Transport the North Atlantic island’s abundant supplies in supertankers to where they’re needed. Aqua Omnis ehf, a Reykjavik-based company, plans to ship water from aquifers beneath Iceland to sell to drier lands as well as in Europe, Managing Director Thorsteinn Gudnason said in an interview. Iceland has vast amounts of spring water naturally filtered by mountains and lava terrain for hundreds of years that otherwise goes to waste, he said. Read more of this post

Auschwitz Survivor’s Daughter Becomes Billionaire

Auschwitz Survivor’s Daughter Becomes Billionaire

Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -– Vera Guerin, whose late father Nathan Shapell survived two Nazi concentration camps and became one of California’s largest property developers, emerged as a billionaire last week after Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL) agreed to buy her family’s Shapell Industries Inc.’s homebuilding business for $1.6 billion. Toll, the largest U.S. luxury-home builder, will pay cash for Beverly Hills-based Shapell, the companies said in a Nov. 6 statement. The deal will more than double the number of California lots controlled by Toll to about 9,200, with most in coastal markets where vacant land is hard to come by. Read more of this post

Lauder Granddaughters Become Billionaires on Beauty Boom

Lauder Granddaughters Become Billionaires on Beauty Boom

Aerin and Jane Lauder, the granddaughters of Estee Lauder, the late founder of the beauty products company that bears her name, have become billionaires amid a bull market for cosmetics companies. The sisters, who are among the youngest female billionaires in the world, each control more than 17 million shares of Estee Lauder Cos., according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The stock, which they own directly and through family trusts, is valued at about $2.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Read more of this post

Real-Life ‘Gravity’ Space Debris Spells Business for Astrium

Real-Life ‘Gravity’ Space Debris Spells Business for Astrium

“Gravity,” in which satellite debris sets astronauts Sandra Bullock and George Clooney adrift in space, turned into a blockbuster for Warner Bros. Astrium wants real-life spatial waste to do the same for the company. The European satellite and rocket maker can — together with the region’s space agencies — help clean up the cosmos, Herve Gilibert, chief technical officer of Astrium Space Transportation, said in an interview in Les Mureaux, near Paris, where the unit of Airbus-parent European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. assembles the lower stage of its Ariane 5 launcher. Read more of this post

Business leaders must take a stand on mental health

November 14, 2013 7:11 pm

Business leaders must take a stand on mental health

By Dennis Stevenson

Leaders need to take a stand on a growing problem, writes Dennis Stevenson

The fact that we only talk about workplace stress when there is a high-profile case of mental ill-health is a problem. Such cases seem to be occurring more frequently, or at least more publicly. Sir Hector Sants, for example, the former head of the UK financial regulator, has stepped down from a senior role at Barclays after last month’s announcement that he was taking leave because of “exhaustion and stress”. António Horta-Osório, chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, two years ago took a leave of absence on doctors’ advice, returning in early 2012. Carsten Schloter, chief executive of Swisscom, Switzerland’s biggest telecoms company, is presumed to have committed suicide in July, having talked publicly about the relentless demands of the job. The following month, Pierre Wauthier, chief financial officer of Zurich Insurance, committed suicide, blaming a difficult work relationship. Read more of this post

How Lance Armstrong took us all for a ride

How Lance Armstrong took us all for a ride

PUBLISHED: 1 HOUR 43 MINUTES AGO | UPDATE: 0 HOUR 8 MINUTES AGO

Somehow, Lance Armstrong’s achievements had caused a strange suspension of disbelief, despite years of rumours that his feats on the bike had been assisted by performance­ enhancing drugs. Photo: Wolfgang Rattay

JAMES EYERS

On a stupendous European summer morning in July 2009, I was perched on the side of a mountain in the Pyrenees, watching the Tour de France peloton climb from Barcelona to Andorra, hoping for a glimpse of Lance Armstrong. Read more of this post

Generation next: Meet the probables, possibles and potentials for next year’s Aussie Rich 200

Generation next: Meet the probables, possibles and potentials for next year’s Rich 200

Published 13 November 2013 11:12, Updated 14 November 2013 00:44

Michael Bailey and Caitlin Fitzsimmons

As BRW moves towards a digital future, its greatest institution, the Rich 200 list, is also primed for change. So we’re taking this chance to present some probable new inclusions on the Rich list, as well as some possibles and a few that we’d just love to see on the 2014 edition. We welcome your feedback and suggestions for other contenders.

PROBABLES

CHRIS MACKAY

MAGELLAN FINANCIAL GROUP

Step aside, mining magnates, funds management appears to be taking over as the most common route for entry to BRW’s Rich 200. Chris Mackay, co-founder of the Magellan Financial Group, has a very good chance of debuting on the 2014 list based on his 12.64 per cent holding in the global equities funds manager. His 19.7 million shares are worth $220 million, just $15 million shy of the Rich 200’s 2013 cut-off, and that’s before we talk about the Sydney-based financier’s property assets. Read more of this post

During a children’s segment in a late night talk show in the United States, a child proposed to wipe out the Chinese as a solution to the US$1.3 trillion debt to China. The Chinese were not amused

Updated: Friday November 15, 2013 MYT 8:21:20 AM

Kids say the darndest things

BY THO XIN YI

During a children’s segment in a late night talk show in the United States, a child proposed to wipe out the Chinese as a solution to the US$1.3 trillion (RM4.17 trillion) debt to China. The Chinese were not amused.

A POPULAR Chinese idiom, Tong yan wu ji, loosely translated means that one should not take offence at what a child says. The phrase is used to show that a child should not be taken seriously when he or she utters something improper or inauspicious, especially in an unacceptable manner. It implies that kids say the darndest things, which are candid and laughable at times. But when a child proposed to wipe out the Chinese during the Jimmy Kimmel Live show as a solution to the US$1.3 trillion (RM4.17 trillion) debt to China, the Chinese were not amused. Read more of this post

Don’t touch it too much: Phone games blamed for erectile dysfunction

Don’t touch it too much: Phone games blamed for erectile dysfunction

Staff Reporter

2013-11-13

Taiwanese men are finding that gaming on a smartphone through the night is an offputting habit for their partners for more than one reason, reports our Chinese-language sister paper China Times. Those paying visits to the urologist are usually middle-aged or older men, but now men in their 20s are populating the waiting rooms in Taiwan. A couple under 30 who went to a doctor at Kaohsiung Medical Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital in southern Taiwan complained of “poor bedroom performance.” Read more of this post

The JFK fascination

The JFK fascination

By Robert J. Samuelson, Published: November 11

It’s not about him. It’s about us.

As the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination approaches, we’ve been deluged with essays, books, Web sites, videos and a new movie marking the event. The fascination with the Kennedys endures, though it’s probably on its last lap. After all, about three-quarters of Americans either weren’t born when Kennedy was shot or were too young (under 5) to grasp what happened. It’s a distant and disconnected event to them. Read more of this post