Microsoft to Hire New CEO by Year-End:

Microsoft to Hire New CEO by Year’s End:

Microsoft has being working to find a successor to current CEO Steve Ballmer since he announced his intention to retire in late August. Founder and current Chairman Bill Gates has already denied interest in the position. The company is currently narrowing the list of candidates. The short list includes Ford CEO Alan Mulally, former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, and former microsfot executive now with Pivotal, Paul Maritz. Ebay chief John Donahoe has removed himself from contention. The next CEO will be the tech giant’s third in its 38 year history following Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.

Obama to meet with GOP

Obama to meet with GOP:

House Republicans are set to hold talks with president Obama today in an attempt to strike a deal on the federal debt ceiling and budget. Yesterday, the possibility of short term increase for the debt limit was floated in the hopes more time would lead to more productive talks and eventually a broader compromise. Any conversation between the two parties is progress, but these meetings will have to go very well for a resolution to be reached by next week's deadline. 

The Long Term Effects of Birth Control

Here are a few of the highlights from this working paper:

• Individuals’ access to contraceptives increased their children’s college completion, labor force participation, wages, and family incomes decades later.
• Mothers in states permitting the sale of the Pill are less likely to report their children were unwanted or ill-timed—an outcome strongly associated with subsequent developmental issues and diminished lifetime human capital and earnings.
• Greater access to family planning programs results in a statistically significant 2 percent increase in family income.
• Children born just after family planning programs began were more likely to complete at least 12, 13, and 16 years of education
• Children conceived in areas with greater legal or financial access to family planning went on to live in higher-earning households as adults than did children conceived in the same areas whose mothers had less access to family planning.
• Both increasing legal access and increasing financial access to the Pill are associated with a 2 to 3 percent increase in family income. Scaling these estimates by a guess at the share of children benefiting from them implies much larger effects, perhaps around a 20 to 30 percent gain in family incomes for the children of directly benefiting families.
• Children conceived in areas with greater financial access to contraception were 2 to 7 percent more likely to attain 16 or more years of education.

In summary, Birth Control is good for the economy, and families.

Samsung unveils smartphone with curved screen

Samsung unveils phone with curved screen

The new Samsung Galaxy Round is the first mobile phone with a concave display. The phone doesn’t have many new unique features apart from its shape. Most analysts have dismissed curved screens as marketing gimmicks that add little value to the product. However, other see the design as progress towards unbreakable and flexible handheld devices.

Update: Deal Rejected! Jos. A. Bank makes $2.3B bid for Men’s Warehouse:

Men's Warehouse Rejects $2.3B Takeover Bid by Jos. A. Bank

Men's Warehouse didn't like the way the deal looked and rejected the unsolicited $2.3B offer calling it highly opportunistic, but felt the 36% premium undervalued the company. They also agreed with my earlier assessment that a merger of these two companies would lead to little outside competition so a deal would likely draw significant antitrust scrutiny.  

Men's Wearhouse is the larger company and has about twice as many stores as Jos. A. Bank. Men's Wearhouse has reported 13 consecutive quarters of growth in same store sales (within its core stores), while Jos. A. Bank had a three quarter losing streak. With Men's Wearhouse's stock price having dropped recently, Jos. A. Bank's bid makes a lot of sense, and so does Men's Wearhouse's outright rejection. 

Jos. A. Bank makes $2.3B bid for Men’s Warehouse:

In a deal that would corner the market for ridiculous markup followed by buy one get three suits and an iPad free deals, Jos. A Bank Clothiers has offered to buy larger rival Men’s Wearhouse for $2.3B. Jos. A. Bank bid $48 per share, which is a 36% premium over Men’s Wearhouse closing price yesterday of $35.24. Jos. A. Bank believes this deal would enable it to leverage core competences and create synergies. If the deal were to go through the company would lack an obvious competitor, so I wonder if there will be a further investigation on the behalf of consumers.

I’ve mentioned how Men’s Wearhouse recently ousted its founded George Zimmer, and blamed slumping sales on superstitions brides who didn’t want to get married in unlucky 2013. Given their strategy of marking up cheap products then selling multiple at once, I wonder if Jos. A. Bank is also getting troubled retailer J.C. Penney in the deal. 

Obama To Nominate Yellen as Fed Chief

Obama To Nominate Yellen as Fed Chief

President Obama intends to officially nominate Janet Yellen to be the Chairperson of the Federal Reserve at 3pm today. Yellen, 67, would be promoted from her current post as vice chairwoman which she has held since 2010 to be the first woman to lead the Federal Reserve. She still has to be confirmed by congresses, but after Lawrence Summers dropped out of contention it is expected that Yellen will receive bipartisan support. I (and everyone else quite frankly) wrote about how Summers withdrawal in September would likely lead to a nomination of Yellen, so this move does not come as much of a surprise.

At 3:00 today, the nomination will be official, so I encourage you to go back and check out this post from last month providing an overview of the six things you need to know about Janet Yellen, the next chairperson of the Federal Reserve.

Ford Announces Large-Scale Manufacturing Expansion:

Ford Announces Large-Scale Manufacturing Expansion:

In 1913, Henry Ford invented the moving assembly line. In 2013, Ford Motors is overhauling its manufacturing capabilities to improve global flexibility. The plan calls for adding eight assembly plans, six drivetrain plants, and use of 3-D printing and virtual simulation. Ford estimates that 90% of its plants will be using a three-shift model by 2017, increasing production time by 30%. Ford plans to increase its sales from 6 million cars per year in 2013, to 8 million cars per years in 2017.

Tweeter Changes Stock Symbol To Save Idiots From Themselves

Tweeter is a bankrupt electronics retailer. Twitter is a microblogging social media platform that I get most of my page views from. In this blog post on Twitter’s IPO filing, I mentioned that Tweeter (stock symbol TWTRQ) jumped nearly 2,000% on news that Twitter (Stock symbol TWTR) was seeking to raise $1B in capital by selling shares to the public. Natural selection was thwarted on Friday as trading of Tweeter was halted by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority due to the apparent mix up. Apparently Tweeter is placing no bets there is such a thing as an “intelligent investor” and changed its ticker symbol to THEGQ. I expect it will have to change again if GQ Magazine every decides to go public.  

New Counterfeit Proof $100 Bill Released Today

New $100 Bill Released Today

One thing the shutdown won’t stop is the release of a new $100 bill today. The new bill has an army of new high-tech features designed to defend against counterfeiting. The Federal Reserve has not been affected by the shutdown will be making deliveries to banks across the country today in armored trucks filled with the new notes.

Over a decade of innovation has gone into the development of these bills, and production problems have delayed their release by about two and a half years.

The bill will still depict Benjamin Franklin and Independence Hall on the back. If you look closely, there is a disappearing Liberty Bell in an ink well and a bright blue 3D security ribbon with moving images on it. But shhhhh, don’t tell the counterfeiters.

There is currently $900B worth of $100 bills in circulation that will be gradually phased out. The average lifespan of a $100 bill is about 15 years, compared to that of a $1 bill, which is about 6 years.  

Yes, we are releasing a new $100 bill today, but not tracking the spread of influenza.

How the shutdown is affecting Americans

What does a dead eagle in a New York woman’s freezer have to do with the shutdown?

Wendi Pencille tends to injured birds in her upstate New York home. When a bald eagle dies, she ships the federally protected remains to a special eagle repository in Denver that then delivers feathers and carcasses to Native American tribes for their sacred ceremonies. The federal bird shippers (yes, there are such things) are furloughed, so the dead bird is chilling in her freezer.

The EPA is partially shutdown, so toxic waste is left to fester until it becomes threatening to human life. Only when it has the potential to kill someone, is the EPA allowed to do their job.

The Labor Department’s monthly jobs report was due out last Friday, but has been delayed indefinitely leading traders and economists to seek other sources for measures of economic growth.

It’s officially flu season, but we don’t know anything about the spread of the virus yet since the CDC has been forced to take a vacation. Things like salmonella, E. coli, listeria, shigella, campylobacter, and other things with terrifying names are all running around unchecked. Oh, the FDA is also largely furloughed too, creating quite a dangerous combination. Sushi anyone?

A private jet crashed at a Santa Monica Airport, killing four recently. It’s grizzly and charred remains are being preserved so the National Transportation Safety Board Investigators can take a look at it when they are allowed to return to work. I’m sure this cold crime scene will be very revealing.

These are just some examples of how the shutdown is affecting people around the country. If it hasn’t directly affected you yet, maybe you should think twice before heading out for your weekly sushi date…