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	Phillies pitcher loses everything in Stanford scandal
	Problems mount for Rupert Murdoch
	The 401(k) skimming scam
	Can OPEC stop the oil price slide?
	UBS makes a $31 billion order error
	Picks and pans: Apple faces technical resistance, Immucor is a recession-resistant buy

DailyFinance today: Phillies pitcher loses everything in Stanford scandal, Rupert Murdoch problems, 401(k) skimming, OPEC and the price slide originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Feb 2009 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Management, Ford Motor (F), Employees

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) CEO Alan Mulally indicated this week that he will bow to a 30% pay cut in 2009 while the troubled automaker’s salaried workers will forgo all bonuses. Not only that, but the UAW approved buyout concessions targeted for a March 9 strike date for other workers. Although Ford has not yet taken federal buyout funds like other Detroit automakers, the company still has massive financial hurdles to overcome. Read the rest of this entry »

Once again, there’s been little change in the slump that’s plagued the U.S. housing sector and economy for more than two years.

Home prices in the United States in 20 cities declined at the fastest pace ever in the past year, weighed down by foreclosures, and bank efforts to unload that housing.

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Filed under: Goldman Sachs Group (GS)

A few weeks ago I appeared on CNBC’s Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo to discuss executive pay. One interesting point in the interview was when Ms. Bartiromo argued that it would be difficult to get good people to run big banks if their pay was limited because Wall Streeters are motivated primarily by money. I suggested that if that were true, then you would never see a former CEO of Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) take the enormous pay cut required to become Treasury Secretary.

I am not sure what motivates Wall Streeters to take those pay cuts. But today, another prominent one — Steve Rattner with whom I worked in the 2004 presidential campaign — announced he is leaving his private equity firm, Quadrangle Group, and shipping off to Washington to work as Counselor to the Secretary (of the Treasury).

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Filed under: Citigroup Inc. (C), Bank of America (BAC)

There were news reports that the government might take as much as 40% of Citigroup (NYSE:C) in exchange for a massive infusion of capital. Will the same thing happen to Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) which many analysts believe has problems as bad or worse than Citi’s?

In all probability, the Citi precedent would expand to one or two other large banks as the federal government attempts to cut off panics about their futures which have driven their shares to multi-year lows. Several months ago, Paulson forced several financial firms to take TARP money, even though it it possible that all of them did not need it. He wanted to send the message that the financial system was being recapitalized. In BAC’s case, the stock market is indicating that it cannot survive without a lifeline, and the new Administration may want to act on that before the weight of the company’s liabilities completely destroys confidence in the institution.

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Filed under: International markets, Bad news, Recession, Financial Crisis

If you are sitting in your office or at home thinking: “What am I going to do next? The economy is getting worse by the day,” you are not alone. For the first time in a generation real fear has gripped the nation. This was reflected in the action of the markets since the beginning of the month.

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Filed under: Earnings reports, Internet, Expedia Inc (EXPE)

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Filed under: Scandals, Business of sports

With Stanford Financial in limbo as regulators pounce and assets are frozen, at least two Major League Baseball stars are facing some serious financial problems.

FoxSports’ Ken Rosenthal reports that Yankees center fielder Johnny Damon doesn’t have enough money to pay his trainer and Mets star Xavier Nady hasn’t been able to purchase an apartment in New York. Apparently their money is tied up in the Stanford mess, and they don’t have access to it — at least for now.

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Filed under: Analyst reports, Starbucks (SBUX), Kraft Foods’A’ (KFT), Commodities

Coffee is set to be “one of the most promising commodities of 2009,” according to a leading Swiss commodities analyst, who predicts coffee prices will rise, likely squeezing the already-decaffeinated profits at Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) and Kraft (NYSE: KFT), maker of Maxwell House, among other major coffee retailers. Current prices are $1.1305 a pound, only up a 0.9% on the year, but experts predict greatly increasing costs due to declining production in Brazil and Colombia. Coffee futures are currently at $1.20 per pound for December 2009 contracts, and $1.227 per pound for March 2010 contracts.

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Filed under: Earnings reports, Whole Foods Market (WFMI)

Time was, we all felt rich. And we all felt entitled to spend money on ridiculous items at chocolate stores like Godiva, coffee shops like Starbucks (NYSE: SBUX) and, yes, upscale supermarkets like Whole Foods (NASDAQ:WFMI).

Those days are long gone, and even today’s reduced expectations for this extremely well-run company are possibly too optimistic. EPS for 2008 were down 20% and company shares, floating in the $7-$10 range, are well off of 52-week highs.

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