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After the September 11th attacks in 2001, US financial markets were closed for a week. Such a closure was unprecedented, as markets operate on the premise that investors must always be able to transact - the core principle of any marketplace. The implied liquidity that investors get from open market...

As I stood in line this past Sunday at Wegmans, amidst the usual sea of candy bars, energy shots, and chewing gum, I was faced with a dilemma. As I stared down my favorite pack of gum, I couldn't decide whether to buy or leave it alone. Luckily, my phone's calculator helped my answer the question as...

Over the better part of 30 years I have seen plenty of ups and downs in the financial markets, but nothing compares to the bedlam - the pure panic - that gripped Wall Street and much of the rest of America twenty five years ago today. It was October 19, 1987, and when the New York Stock Exchange ope...

Yesterday we learned that the bankrupt Eastman Kodak Company has reached agreement with the court-appointed "1114" retiree group (named after a bankruptcy code clause covering retiree benefits) to terminate health care benefits for all retirees effective December 31st of this year. No, this wasn't a...

"I like it, but it's just too expensive." I've heard that phrase often this summer, almost exclusively when discussing Apple's stock price. When it comes to investing, many of us get too enamored with the number of shares that we own, instead of the total dollar value of our investment. Think of...

I have attached the text of this morning's memo to Kodak employees from CEO Antonio Perez. I'll point out one thing that the memo says and one thing that it doesn't. First, note that at the start of the 6th paragraph, Mr. Perez mentions that he "will take a direct oversight role" in operating wha...

In June of last year the full-page color ads in the Democrat & Chronicle started appearing. "GET MOTIVATED" screamed the headline, and the ads went on to list top-shelf speakers like Rudolph Giuliani, Colin Powell, Terry Bradshaw, Erin Brockovich, and Bill Cosby. The full-day motivational session, p...

My assistant, Marge Geyer, and I have been on the phone the last few days trying to arrange phone service for an elderly client who has entered an adult care facility. She's nearly 100 years old, and for the last 60+ years has lived in the same home and had the same phone number. With today's hotly...

A week ago today we were expecting to hear the results of the court-ordered sale of Eastman Kodak's 1,100 digital imaging patents. On Monday August 13th, the winning bids were to have been announced. Over the preceding weekend the Wall Street Journal had reported a disappointing bidding process that...

My journey examining Europe began with Greece which seems wholly appropriate given its historical precedence. It started simply enough with the addition of their real assets and their real liabilities. It ended simply enough with the realization that the numbers did not add up. There was no prejudic...