Incentives and the timing of takeovers

I reader brought this cookl article to my attention:From the NY Times:"...8 of the 20 largest deals in the last four years have taken place in November and December, according to Thomson Financial. How to account for this? ....The urge to merge may be influenced by bonuses for all involved in the deal, especially the bankers. Corporate America’s biggest cheerleaders and boosters need to get paid

Cost of Nymex trading seat falls as screen trading surges

Don't think electronic market is changing the market landscape? Think again! case in point, the price of a seat on the NYMEX fell by a staggering 75%!Cost of Nymex trading seat falls as screen trading surges: "THE cost to lease one of the 816 seats on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the world's largest energy market, has plunged 75 percent as electronic trading overtakes the traditional

The mergers continue

The mergers continue! The last few months have been very busy for the takeover (err- Market for corporate control market). And today is no different:Bank of New York to Buy Mellon for .5 Billion - Mergers, Acquisitions, Venture Capital, Hedge Funds -- DealBook - New York Times: "Bank of New York plans to acquire Mellon Financial of Pittsburgh in a $16.5 billion stock transaction that would

Accounting Snags Push Dresser to Restate - - CFO.com

Some local ties to this one. Dresser is a major employer in the Olean NY area.Accounting Snags Push Dresser to Restate - - CFO.com: "Dresser Inc. said it will restate its financial statements for 2001 through 2003 based on a host of accounting errors. In May, the industrial engineering company had warned that it would restate its 2004 annual filing, its 2004 and 2005 quarterly financial

Study says index fund investors pay more with broker - Nov. 30, 2006

While not exactly ground breaking (I am sure every finance professor in the country has been saying this for years), it is an interesting article and good for introductory investment classes etc.From CNN: Study says index fund investors pay more with broker - Nov. 30, 2006: "Investors who rely on a broker to recommend an index mutual fund could be paying a whole lot more that they have to,