John R. Brandt's Blog

How Scared Do You Have to Be...

...to buy an investment that pays 0%? I'm not sure, but the U.S. managed to auction $30 billion worth of short-term notes at that rate yesterday. Not surprisingly, analysts and economists are pretty sure that this eagerness (the Treasury could have sold 4x as much) on the part of investors to accept a simple guarantee that their money will be around in month's time (without interest!) signals a lack of confidence in the global economy. Said one: "...it’s not a good sign."

You think?

Great Example of an Acquiring Company Trying to Do the Right Thing...

... is Lance Inc., the snack-maker that gobbled up bankrupt Archway Cookies (closed suddenly on Oct. 3) in Ashland, OH and immediately pledged to start hiring back workers — and to give every full-time Archway worker a $1,500 Visa gift card, at a total cost upwards of $400,000, "because it was the right thing to do.”

How often do your read a story like that?

So I have to ask...

How much is a U.S. Senate seat worth? Apparently at least one person thought it was worth $500,000, allegedly offering Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich that much in exchange for the appointment of a mysterious "Candidate 5" for the office that Barack Obama is vacating for his move down the street (Blagojevich was arrested today and charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery).

That got me to wondering though: Are U.S. Senate seats worth more or less in bribes, depending on the state and its characteristics? I mean, Illinois is a big place, tons of voters and clout, you've got the whole Chicago Cubs-Wrigley Field thing going, a lot of opportunities for Federal funding, potential graft, etc. — I can imagine corrupt types finding Illinois a pretty lucrative and livable state to be The-Sleazy-Senator-From. But is it worth as much — strictly from a criminal, stuff-the-cash-in-your-pockets-and-freezer point of view — to be the Senator from Idaho? Or Maine? You've got the beautiful scenery, trees, snow, blah blah blah, but can you really earn in those places?

The FBI seems to have cast its vote: Special Agent Robert Grant said at the news conference announcing Blagojevich's arrest: "if [Illinois] isn't the most corrupt state in the United States, it is one hell of a competitor."

Cubs Fans can cheer at last: We're Number One!

Who'd a Thunk it?

So... Let me get this straight... Borrowing a bunch of money to buy newspapers wasn't such a good idea for Sam Zell?

Who could have predicted that?

(OK, OK, put your hands down. Nobody likes an I-told-you-so-er...)

Best Argument for a Pay Raise Ever...

...was attempted by Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain over the last few days, as he requested a multimillion-dollar bonus (perhaps as much as $10 million) for 2008: Sure, I had to sell the company to Bank of America. And, yes, it's true that shareholders collectively lost billions of dollars. But just think how much worse it could have been if I hadn't been here.

Thain's Board apparently responded: Uh, well, not much, really.

He didn't get the money. Officially he declined to accept a bonus, but... you know. Typically somebody has to actually offer you something before you can actually decline it. Then again, Wall Street makes up all kinds of alternate-universe rules.

In fairness, Thain really did do yeoman's service in cleaning up the messes left by his predecessors, and might even be worth the millions in extra cash he was seeking. But there are a lot of people in this country right now who worked hard and tried to do the right thing and still lost their jobs. None of them got to save their bonuses (or even their jobs) by saying: But it could have been even worse without me.

Even if they were right.