Business

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Sam Bankman-Fried’s Hocus Pocus Crypto

November 13, 2022 — Business, People, Technology

How’s this for a modern-day version of the sitcom hit “Friends?”: A group of tech nerds are given $2 billion by some of the smartest people in Silicon Valley and Wall Street to create a crypto exchange. Instead of living in a Manhattan apartment they live in a $30 million, five-bedroom penthouse in a luxury residential complex in the Bahamas. To spice things up, some of these friends formerly dated each other.

A far-fetched plot? This is just a smattering of the real-life story about the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried. Here’s the FTX scandal explained for those who don’t understand cryptocurrency and some info on critical people the media has so far ignored or glossed over.

Rest assured, this will make one heck of a Hollywood movie.

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Karma Bites Back Elon Musk with a Vengeance

November 7, 2022 — Business, People, Technology

I’ve tired of Elon Musk, and I suspect I’m not alone in my weariness. While I’d never bet against the Chief Twit, he would be wise to watch himself. The universe is sending him a message.

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Cerberus’ Fleecing of Albertsons and America

November 6, 2022 — Business, People, Politics

This will come as a shock to the media, but most Americans, particularly those with families to feed, couldn’t care one iota about what Elon Musk charges for his blue Twitter checkmarks. A story of greater importance is Kroger’s acquisition of Albertsons, which will likely increase already soaring food prices.

The takeover has a private equity wrinkle that even by that industry’s immoral and unscrupulous practices is obscene. Fortunately, a half dozen attorneys general are fighting the good fight to prevent a $4 billion smash and grab.

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La expansión de Ford en México

November 1, 2022 — Business, Politics

“Just look around and you’ll see an amazing story. … Companies are choosing to build new factories here, when just a few years ago, they would have built them overseas,” President Biden crowed in his State of the Union address earlier this year.

This morning I looked around and was greeted with this Reuters headline: “U.S. automaker Ford opens $260 million campus in Mexico.”

The opening, coming just one week before the election, makes clear that Ford CEO Jim Farley has the same low regard for Biden as he does for Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who Ford has previously played for a fool, among other Michigan leaders. The announcement also underscores how Ford is singing a very different tune with Biden running than country than when Donald Trump was in charge.

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Ford’s $105M Patent Spanking Is a Very Big Deal

October 28, 2022 — Business

Ford Motor Co. for decades has demonstrated a hearty appetite for litigation risk, which explains the more than 50 safety recalls the company has issued this year. Investors would be wise to take note of two significant legal defeats that recently resulted when two of America’s top litigation lawyers chose to take Ford on.

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The man runs to the office: he is late and loses the contents of his briefcase. In case thermos, doughnuts and napkins.

Barron’s & the Sorry State of General Motors

October 26, 2022 — Business, Technology

If electric vehicles are the future of automotive, General Motors CEO Mary Barra continues to suffer major missteps, admitting this week that her ambitious EV sales promises will be delayed another year. As well, Barra has issued yet another recall for her monster Hummer pickup, this one for a faulty battery seal allowing water to seep in.

One upon a time, Barron’s would be the publication sounding the alarm and warning investors about Barra’s track record of broken promises and GM’s history of shoddy manufacturing. Now it’s just another voice in the legacy media’s EV choir.

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Mark Solheim: The Dale Carnegie of ESG Investing

October 18, 2022 — Business, Media, Politics

I’ve long opposed ESG, or so-called socially responsible investing, because it legitimizes the activities of some companies that do very bad things. So when I retrieved the November issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance this past weekend and found the publication touting ESG on its cover, my instinct was to toss it in the garbage and cancel my subscription. Reading editor Mark Solheim’s justification for the cover story decision didn’t change my views on ESG, but he made me feel good about subscribing to Kiplinger’s.

Solheim is the rare journalist who knows how to win friends and influence people. His column is a masterful example of engagement. Corporate governance commentator Nell Minow and Toronto Globe and Mail reporter Rita Trichur would be wise to read it.

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When Advertising Was Brilliant and Evocative

October 15, 2022 — Business

The launch of Michigan’s Corewell Health last week and its tag line, “Together, we are now” marked a new low in American advertising and marketing. The earth rumblings you possibly felt was David Ogilvy rolling in his grave.

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Bloomberg Exposes Self-Driving Tech “Scam”

October 7, 2022 — Business, People, Technology

Bloomberg today published an expose on self-driving vehicles that confirmed my worst fears and doubts about executives who champion the technology and Wall Street money managers duped by the hype.

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