Bamboo Innovator

Erdogan Eye on ‘Crazy Projects’ Links Turkey Scandal to Builders

Erdogan Eye on ‘Crazy Projects’ Links Turkey Scandal to Builders

A tiny fishing village called Garipce holds a clue to understanding the largest corruption scandal in Turkish history. An hour’s drive north of Istanbul, two giant concrete towers straddle the Bosporus, one foot in Asia, the other in Europe. By 2015, a $2.5 billion suspension bridge will hang between the 322 meter (1,056 feet)-high towers. Nearby, a swath of forest the size of Manhattan is being readied for a $14 billion airport. Read more of this post

Don’t Play Politics With Unemployment Benefits

Don’t Play Politics With Unemployment Benefits

President Barack Obama and Republican legislators are signaling that they might after all make a deal to extend federal support for the long-term unemployed. An extension makes such good sense that there shouldn’t be much to discuss, but never mind. If a deal is done, it would be petty to complain about the delay. Read more of this post

Creditors of Distressed Companies Seek Disclosures

Creditors of Distressed Companies Seek Disclosures

EMILY GLAZER

Jan. 5, 2014 6:42 p.m. ET

Creditors of distressed companies have taken on a new role: transparency advocates. Bondholders and other creditors of companies close to bankruptcy are pushing the firms to disclose heaps of information after confidential talks with the distressed outfits stall or end. Their goal: to be able to trade free from accusations that they are using inside information not accessible to others. Read more of this post

Concerns grow for future of Tel Aviv exchange

Last updated: January 6, 2014 5:12 pm

Concerns grow for future of Tel Aviv exchange

By John Reed in Jerusalem

Plans by Israel’s Delek Group to list shares abroad have added to longstanding concerns for the future of the Tel Aviv stock exchange, following similar moves by other companies. Read more of this post

Companies on Guard for New Legal Pitfalls; Cybercrime, Labor Rules, Financial Penalties Add to General Counsels’ Concerns

Companies on Guard for New Legal Pitfalls

Cybercrime, Labor Rules, Financial Penalties Add to General Counsels’ Concerns

JENNIFER SMITH

Jan. 5, 2014 8:17 p.m. ET

Top legal officers at many large companies are preparing for stepped-up scrutiny of their operations by both regulators and private litigants as they head into 2014. Among their concerns: staying up to speed on wage-and-hour rules and anticorruption laws, while guarding against possible data-security breaches. Read more of this post

Central Banks Split on Stimulus in 2014 as Fed Tapers

Central Banks Split on Stimulus in 2014 as Fed Tapers

The united stimulus front of central banks is starting to splinter as 2014 dawns. The Federal Reserve — soon to be led by Janet Yellen, who is poised for confirmation by the Senate today — begins pulling back on its quantitative easing amid stronger U.S. growth, and the Bank of England is trying to cool its housing market. The European Central Bank and Bank of Japan lean toward more monetary action to fight weak inflation. The ECB and BOE both hold policy meetings this week. Read more of this post

The world’s biggest economies will need to refinance $7.43 trillion of sovereign debt in 2014 as bond yields begin to climb from record lows, threatening to raise borrowing costs while nations struggle to bring down elevated budget deficits.

Bond Tab for Biggest Economies Seen at $7.43 Trillion for 2014

The world’s biggest economies will need to refinance $7.43 trillion of sovereign debt in 2014 as bond yields begin to climb from record lows, threatening to raise borrowing costs while nations struggle to bring down elevated budget deficits. Read more of this post

Berkshire Stakes Name on Realty Business Buffett Barely Noticed

Berkshire Stakes Name on Realty Business Buffett Barely Noticed

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A)’s foray into the home-brokerage arena 14 years ago was almost an afterthought. Today, Warren Buffett’s company is staking its name on the business. Read more of this post

Bankers Pitching Avoidance Advice as Activists Amass Record Cash

Bankers Pitching Avoidance Advice as Activists Amass Record Cash

Activist investors determined to shake up the way companies do business are amassing record cash for their campaigns. Now investment banks are advising clients how to anticipate and thwart such vocal investors before they even show up. Read more of this post

Activist Investors Gain in M&A Push; Shareholders Make Their Power Felt; Firms Review Operations, Make Pre-Emptive Moves

Activist Investors Gain in M&A Push

Shareholders Make Their Power Felt; Firms Review Operations, Make Pre-Emptive Moves

DANA MATTIOLI and DANA CIMILLUCA 

Updated Jan. 5, 2014 8:57 p.m. ET

In a lackluster spell for mergers and acquisitions, activist investors have been a rare bright spot.Aggressive investors including Elliott Management and Barington Capital Group LP were a driving force behind a number of deals at big companies in 2013. According to FactSet SharkWatch, there were 10 instances in 2013 in which a U.S. company agreed to break itself up or sell or exit businesses after an investor pushed it to make such changes, even if the moves didn’t always satisfy the activist. Read more of this post

50 Years Later, War on Poverty Is a Mixed Bag

January 4, 2014

50 Years Later, War on Poverty Is a Mixed Bag

By ANNIE LOWREY

WASHINGTON — To many Americans, the war on poverty declared 50 years ago by President Lyndon B. Johnson has largely failed. The poverty rate has fallen only to 15 percent from 19 percent in two generations, and 46 million Americans live in households where the government considers their income scarcely adequate. Read more of this post

Bitcoin Tops $1,000 Again on Adoption by Zynga

Bitcoin Tops $1,000 Again on Adoption by Zynga

The price of Bitcoin surpassed $1,000 again on the Mt.Gox exchange, after Zynga Inc. (ZNGA) said it would start accepting the virtual currency for some of its online social games as the digital money becomes more widely used. Read more of this post

Why Following the Winners Is for Losers; Last year’s top performers will likely lag behind the market in 2014.

Why Following the Winners Is for Losers

Last year’s top performers will likely lag behind the market in 2014.

MARK HULBERT

Updated Jan. 3, 2014 4:26 p.m. ET

“Past performance is no guarantee of future results.”

This phrase, ubiquitous in the small print of financial products, often falls on deaf ears, according to Adam Reed, a finance professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “Investors have a tendency to rush into those funds that are at the top of the previous year’s performance rankings,” he says, citing numerous studies. Read more of this post

Ascent of the Fallen Stars: Barron’s looks at the comeback of funds run by star managers who had stellar runs and then imploded. They discuss their strategies

SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 2014

Ascent of the Fallen Stars

By LESLIE P. NORTON | MORE ARTICLES BY AUTHOR

Barron’s looks at the comeback of funds run by star managers who had stellar runs and then imploded. They discuss their strategies.

A surprising byproduct of this year’s rally was the comeback of the star manager: investors with long spells of brilliant performance, whose funds then spectacularly imploded. Consider Bill Miller, whose Legg Mason Opportunity Trus t (ticker: LMOPX) is staging a revival. Finally approaching the levels of 2007, Miller’s fund is up 67%, more than double the S&P 500’s gain. Miller is by no means alone: The same could be said of Ken Heebner’s CGM Focus fund (CGMFX) fund and Bruce Berkowitz’sFairholme fund (FAIRX), both of which are outpacing the index. Read more of this post

Sports Direct: the rise of Britain’s craziest retailer

Sports Direct: the rise of Britain’s craziest retailer

It may not be the prettiest retailer to look at, by Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct is in the FTSE 100 and worth more than £4bn

Mike Ashley still controls more than 60pc of Sports Direct and serves as executive deputy chairman Photo: Action Images

By Graham Ruddick

7:11PM GMT 02 Jan 2014

Sports Direct may well be the craziest business on the high street. Not only is it run by Mike Ashley, a pantomime villain in Newcastle, but it has publicly fallen out with one of its two biggest suppliers, employs the vast majority of its workers on zero-hour contracts and has stores that resemble a jumble sale. Read more of this post

How to win, lose and use money in a novel way

January 3, 2014 4:40 pm

How to win, lose and use money in a novel way

By John Sutherland

Golden-age writers offer enduring insights on unfairness, writes John Sutherland

Money – and the unfairness of its distribution – is much on our minds at the moment. Particularly, it boils the minds of the “sod politics” generation of those aged 20 to 30– the pinched generation, as David Willetts, the universities minister, has called it. Read more of this post