Fall 2011 potpourri (archives). Privately operated commodity giant Cargill...Looking at the Wal-Mart of the future...Big EU summit this week...Better than expected Black Friday retail sales...US debt supercommittee on verge of failure...Crude oil reclaims $100/barrel...Will the ECB crank up the printing press?...Turmoil increasing in Italy...The next EU hotspot looks to be Italy...Greece unexpectedly seeks referendum on last week's bailout plan...Last week's EU summit plan lacks detail...Greece partially defaults on debt to (once again) buy more time...Should the EU dissolve, does chance of war increase?...New Boeing plane completes first commercial flight...US student loan debt exceeds credit card debt...Treasury Dept considering floating rate bonds...Apple iPhone sales come up short...Dexia and other Euro banks being nationalized...Sharp cookie Kyle Bass on the Greece/EU situation...ECRI'S recession call...Greece will miss year end 'austerity' targets...Are railroads cartels or free market sucesses?...Power struggle for Wyoming's wind...Chipotle's growth machine...Apple's operations whiz...UCLA b-school seeks to privatize...End of the dollar carry trade?...Big EU debt positions...EU considers $1+ trillion bond purchase to stave off financial contagion...The durability of McDonald's business model...Evaluating the new GM...History of Dunkin Donuts...Running out of bandwidth capacity for mobile devices...Novel hospital layouts to improve health care quality and cost...Election defeat casts doubt on German-led bailout of EU countries...Chiquita may leave Cincinnati...Greece has about one month's worth of cash remaining...Lawmakers seek to streamline Patent Office...High court upholds legality of German participation in EU bailouts...Financial markets and 9/11...DOJ moves to block AT&T/T-Mobile merger...Bulldozing homes to boost the housing market?...At Jackson Hole, Fed chair does not signal more Fed-induced stimulus...Moody's downgrades Japan's credit rating...Delta to buy 100 Boeing 737s...Is QE3 around the corner?...The fate of the EU may rest on German shoulders...Performance at Hewlett Packard appears to be weakening...Coke to spend $4 billion to expand Chinese operations...US units of European banks coming under Federal Reserve scrutiny.

Summer 2011 potpourri (archives).   Sovereign debt defaults more likely as country populations age...Duke to close New Richmond power plant...Gold hits another record high above $1600/oz...Irish debt downgraded to junk status...Consumers have generally not participated in current 'economic recovery'...Interesting data on web browser market share...Now it's Italy's turn...Moodys downgrades Portuguese debt to junk status...Local Chinese governments understating debt burden...GDP as a largely useless measure...Large local government debt in China...Greek government gets short term confidence vote, but some see default as likely...Credit Suisse cuts outlook for Chinese GDP, banks...Potential for Greek debt contagion...Market participants say QE3 program is unlikely...Chinese bureaucrats trying to curtail rising prices...The US debt problem...Economic hardship as not being 'insulated' from market forces...Historic 163 year old Cincinnati riverfront picture restored for public viewing (entire panorama here)...Germany may support another round of EU bailouts...Slowing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in the Eurozone...Credit spreads in Greece, Spain, Italy continue to widen on debt concerns...Exxon's lagging bet on natural gas.

Spring 2011 potpourri (archives).  US credit put on negative outlook...B-school students exhibit relatively weak study habits and knowledge base...The plight of the working class...Strengthening local leadership teams in a global world...Some indicators suggest weak economic recovery...Japan quake costliest natural disaster ever...Scrapping just-in-time in favor of 'just-in-case' policies?...North African interventions and oil prices...Comparing inflation versus hyperinflation...Initial impact of earthquake on Japan's financial markets...Post credit collapse update from Ireland...Fed's cheap credit not reaching Main Street...Small US banks in worse shape than large banks...Real estate market still in rough shape...Results from recent consumer confidence surveys...Crude oil hits two year high on Middle East unrest...Analyzing the recent unemployment report...US carmakers back in driver's seat?...Egypt's influence on financial markets...Is inflation under reported?...Positive job outlook for a change?...World food prices marking record highs...Impact of $100 oil on consumers...Does higher holiday spending signal economic recovery?...Crude oil and natural gas prices heading in opposite directions.

Fall 2010 potpourri (archives).  Is government intervention creating an assymetric economy?...Bank deposits surge...Ireland receives the latest EU bailout...The world is past 'peak oil'...Using debt ratio to assess capital trends and company value...Try your hand at fixing the deficit...Empty container city...Do markets really hate uncertainty?..China's economy could surpass US in two years...Is returning to a gold standard in the cards?..Relationship between inflation and unemployment...Wal-Mart's new CEO...3M's innovation revival...The lone Fed dissenter...Technical advisers to Wall Street 2...The growing issue of 'fraudclosures' among banks...Gap reverses course on logo makeover...Economics and politics of ethanol...Interesting data on energy, real estate, and general economy...Is domestic economic stimulus working more for other countries?...World's largest bond manager is betting against US deflation...The man who makes the i-phones...Role of startups in new job creation...PG to open dry cleaning franchise!..Chinese college grads having trouble finding jobs...How Toyota lost its way...Post Katrina economic progress in New Orleans...Battling debt problems with more debt and money printing...Capex orgies at high profile b-schools...Economic situation may get worse, but opportunities will emerge...Where China hides its debt...Jump in temps not translating into full time jobs...The administration's growing alternative energy portfolio...Potential disaster brewing in FHA loans...Potential disaster brewing in FHA loans.

Summer 2010 potpourri (archives). Andy Grove on job creation...Can 50 million i-phone fans be wrong?...Predictive power of economic leading indicators...Overconfidence and decision-making...A multi-month simulation of Gulf spill dispersal pathway...Hurricane prospects and the Gulf oil concerns...Commandeering upstream logistics at Wal-Mart...Microsoft's IP challenges in Asia...The endangered future of offshore drilling...Another round of airline industry mergers...Should Uncle Sam buy stocks?...One source of the growing 'shadow inventory' in housing...Rethinking management at GE...Will the Fed hike rates soon?...Comparing Apple's gross margins to Dell's.

Fall 2009 potpourri (archives).  Target heads downmarket toward Wal-mart...Origins of Subway's $5 footlong...Growing influence of the dollar carry trade...Interesting recount of the Fall 2008 financial meltdown...Inside the auto bailout...Projecting unemployment trends a decade forward...Mr P opines on the current market situation...China buys the world (slide show)...Is getting laid off better than being retained?...China's innovation deficit...Refiguring retail operations for slow economic times...How Dr Pepper is competing against Big Soda...Focusing operations at Timken...Lower world industrial output and capacity utilization...Dell's extreme makeover...Pitfalls of clipping coupons...Examining elements of deflation...Trying to revive a factory in decline...Alternative beer goes mainstream...Current multinational company financial may not necessarily be good for the economy...The art of hyperinflation...Clutch time for GM...Which currency is most likely to spawn a crisis?...Overconfidence bias and the financial crisis...JetBlue's strategic operating decisions...Are we in a recession or a depression?...The growing industry of car sharing...The senseless recovery...Banks are shying away from lending...What must occur before we see sustainable economic recovery...Two sides of big government spending...Is the Dollar really doomed?...Mapping various investment styles...Arguing in favor of a double dip recession...Mr P explains the monetary system mechanism...The paradox of 'optimisim bias'...Remembering 9/11...Interesting data on oil & gas...Issues with China's economic structure.

Summer 2009 potpourri (archives).  Hotel ops at Marriott...How Microsoft is coping with increased competitive pressures...Printing money does not create wealth...Is Google's competitive advantage unsustainable?...Downsizing college sports programs...The 'China Price' is no longer so cheap...Surprise, surprise--problems with economic statistics such as GDP and productivity...Can you balance California's $24 billion budget shortfall?...A tale of two depressions...Do higher interest rates signal inflation?...How J&J's success persists...The skinny on Sysco (not Cisco)...Change in strategy for Mother Chip?...The CEO who's trying to keep Ford off death row...Why keeping large banks alive cheats small banks...The downside of industry regulation...GM is officially headed to bankruptcy court...We're trying to solve a debt problem with more debt...How excellent operators fall into a state of decline. 

Spring 2009 potpourri (archives). Maqs may be back...Managing worker fear of layoffs...At cargo shipper Maersk, slowing down saves money...Assessing your readiness to invest...Accounting rule changes won't solve current economic problems...Info on Business Week's 4th annual evaluation of the top undergraduate b-schools...Extreme lean manufacturing is in...Is the Fed really hyperinflating?...Customer service in a shrinking economy...Maintaining good customer experience at Amazon...Phasing out GM's Saturn brand...Small banks saying no thanks to bailout bucks...Is Exxon weaker than it looks?...Customer focus in retail store layout...Possible turnaround in shipping rates...Current monetary and fiscal policy will likely destroy the value of the currency...Tough times for Barbie...Subway dukes it out with Domino's...Silicon is leaving Silicon Valley...Multinational bank retrenchment...Lessons learned from the US Air crash in NYC...Overcapacity in semiconductor sector...How Hewlett Packard got its groove back...A brief picture history of railroads in the US...Burlington Northern and other railroad companies are making a comeback.