Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee put an amendment in the recently passed so called “Economic Recovery Legislation” that could very negatively affect the banking system’s ability to effectively address today’s credit issues.  This could have the very opposite effect of the stated intention of the final action taken by Congress.

The amendment was put in the bill at the last minute without any debate.  It states that financial institutions who received $500 million or more in TARP money will not be allowed to pay “bonuses” to any of the top 25 earners in a company that exceeds one third of one’s total compensation, including benefits.  And the legislation is retroactive for companies receiving TARP funds last fall.  It turns out that the administration was opposed to the amendment but it was left in and President Obama signed the bill.  It is unclear if …

There is plenty of blame to go around to many different segments and players in those segments that has gotten us to the near crisis state in which we now find ourselves.

I, for one, applaud the Fed and the Treasury department for the quick and decisive actions they are now taking and took over the last week.  They helped avoid massive chaos in world wide financial markets.  Opening the Federal Reserve discount window to the dealers was a good idea (obviously a little late for Bear Stearns) but I should expect and maybe even demand added regulation and oversight to follow for those new recipients of this privilege.

I hear a lot of talk about what now needs to be done and that is good.  We certainly need to find a way to help get the retail real estate market pricing stabilized and can expect a number of old and new ideas and proposals …

A key ingredient to making wise investment decisions is often totally overlooked-What kind of board of directors does a particular company have and can they be dependened on to absolutely look after the shareholders best interest?

Boards and board members have gone through significant changes since the Enron days and the intense focus on corporate governance addressed through legislation and regulation.  At first many enlightened people believed that Sarbanes Oxley and the SEC and stock exchange rules were over kill and too big a burden placed one the many, many good companies as a result of the bad behavior by a few.  And there is some legitimate credibility to that thinking.  But if you look at how new governance scrutiny and guidelines have changed the focus and engagement in the board room, as well as the actual make up of the membership there is a lot to be said about the …