As Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, Sheryl Sandberg knows a few things about succeeding in a male-dominated industry. (Anyone seen the genius-male to lame-female ratio in The Social Network? Hmm?)
But in this awesome TED Talk, Sheryl gives us reason to believe that women can choose to sit at the desks in the corner offices if they just remember three things.
“TOKYO — Kenichi Horie was a promising auto engineer, exactly the sort of youthful talent Japan needs to maintain its edge over hungry Korean and Chinese rivals. As a worker in his early 30s at a major carmaker, Mr. Horie won praise for his design work on advanced biofuel systems.
But like many young Japanese, he was a so-called irregular worker, kept on a temporary staff contract with little of the job security and half the salary of the “regular” employees, most of them workers in their late 40s or older. After more than a decade of trying to gain regular status, Mr. Horie finally quit — not just the temporary jobs, but Japan altogether.
He moved to Taiwan two years ago to study Chinese.”
credit: Tom_El_Runi
The people have taken over the streets in Egypt and demanded change… but the change they’re getting is a military presence and a complete shutdown of Internet and mobile networks. What will all of this mean for the country’s economy?
Did you know there were so many American companies with offices in Egypt? Do you think businesses have an obligation to stick around in countries where they earn money?
Net worth is a way of describing the overall monetary value of a person or a company. You can calculate your net worth by subtracting the money you owe from the money you have.
To put it in business terms, let’s talk about assets and liabilities. Liabilities are monetary obligations like debts, fees, or loans. Assets represent everything a company owns, including cash, investment, properties, and equipment. So if you run a cupcake cart that has $5,000 in assets (including cash, cupcake supplies, and the cart itself), but you have to pay your grandmother back the $1,000 she lent you to get started, your cupcake cart’s net worth would be $4,000.
“McDonald’s has continued to lead the fast-food industry in its recovery from the recession. It’s outpacing its rivals, such as Burger King, which was taken private in a buyout last year, andWendy’s/Arby’s Group Inc., which announced last week it is considering a sale for its lagging Arby’s chain. The fast-food giant reported a profit of $1.24 billion, or $1.16 a share, up from $1.22 billion, or $1.11 a share, a year earlier.”
Would you buy something (like a special molded-meat sandwich that only comes out a few times a year at select locations) just because it was rare?
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Businesses need experienced leaders to succeed. Businesses need young talent to succeed. So what happens when there’s only room for one CEO?
“Larry’s style is going to be different [than Mr. Schmidt's], but he has amazing instincts around developing products and is a tireless champion for improving users’ experience.” – David Scacco, Chief Revenue Officer, MyLikes, former Google employee
Do you think you could do a better job than your boss or parents? Is a new CEO enough to make an established company compete with new successes like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr?
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How is THAT possible? Well, the news won’t tell you everything about a company’s health. For that, we turn to our old friend the earnings report…
“It’s still the cheapest of the large-cap diversified (oilfield service) companies.” – Kurt Hallead, Analyst at RBC Capital Markets
What would your earnings report look like for the last quarter 2010? Would it reflect financial disasters (or successes!) from earlier in the year?
“On Monday J.C. Penney said it would add Mr. Roth and hedge fund manager William Ackman to its board, news that sent its stock up 7%. The pair, who have a track record of buying big stakes in companies and then pressing them to make strategic changes, surprised markets and Mr. Ullman Oct. 8 by saying they had amassed a 27% holding in the retailer.”
When you think of activism, is corporate strategy the first thing that comes to mind? Would you be willing to invest in a company that has taken a step toward major changes in the way it operates?
credit: Toni Birrer
Stock market investors have been enjoying the biggest rally in five years – except for investors in banks. Bank stock prices – already stuck at 2009 levels – took hits as reported earnings from last year for big banks like Citi and Goldman Sachs failed to wow.
“What everyone is waiting for is a sign that the companies are really back, that they’re really on their feet again and can survive without continued government support and subsidy.” – John Carey, Money Manager at Pioneer Investments
Do these low prices make you want to invest in a bank right now? What would you need to find out before deciding? Answering these questions can help you figure out your risk tolerance, which is essential for any young investor. This will help, too.
“LONDON — A former senior Swiss bank executive said on Monday that he had given the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, details of more than 2,000 prominent individuals and companies that he contends engaged in tax evasion and other possible criminal activity… ‘The man in the street needs to know how this system works,’ he said, referring to the offshore trusts that many ‘high net worth individuals’ around the world use to evade taxes.”
Is public humiliation an appropriate way to deal with tax evaders? Do you think people should have a right to absolute financial privacy, even if that helps them get away with illegal activities?