Speak Softly and Carry a Stock Pick

A poll of 135 senior executives at public companies found that 66 percent do not believe the policy change will result in any significant degree of advancement for those affected. The poll was conducted the week of July 7 by Christian & Timbers, an executive search firm.

Steve Mader, CEO of Christian & Timbers, stated that "Although the door is opening for more opportunity at the entry and mid-level of companies, it is clear there is still a glass ceiling for minorities, women, gays, and lesbians."

Kodak Takes Expansive View with $500 Million Acquisition
The Eastman Kodak Co., eager as always to diversify away from its core (and increasingly obsolescent) film business, has inked a deal to buy PracticeWorks, a provider of software-based information technology systems and related services for dentists, orthodontists, and maxillofacial surgeons, for $500 million in cash.

The deal, announced on Monday by PracticeWorks, would have Kodak pay $21.50 for each share of PracticeWorks common stock and $7.33 for each share of the firm's Series B preferred stock.

PracticeWorks had been quoted on Nasdaq at $17.68 prior to the announcement, making the acquisition a 21.6 percent premium for holders of the common stock.

On Track? Board Members Can't Say for Sure
In the wake of scandals stemming from fraudulent financial reporting at some of the country's largest companies, more than 85 percent of corporate board members surveyed express serious reservations about the methodologies and tools used by management to track performance, according to the results of a study of more than 150 board members.

The study, underwritten by Hyperion and published Monday by the Business Performance Management Forum, was conducted from May 8 to June 30. It found that fully two-thirds of board members are uncomfortable with the accuracy of their company's financial business forecasts, and that nearly one-third aren't confident they have all the information they need to ensure the disclosure of appropriate information to investors and other parties.

Among the survey's other findings:

• Barely 20 percent of the respondents to the survey say their company has already allocated funds specifically to address Sarbanes-Oxley;
  
• Perhaps as a result, only 40 percent expect immediate compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley;
  
• More than 60 percent of the respondents say one crucial piece of analysis they don't get, but need, is performance data measured against that of key competitors;
  
• Nearly 40 percent of companies don't measure operational indicators regularly.
  
  

That Was the Recession That Was
John Lonski, writing for Moody's Investors Service, points to evidence that the U.S. economic recession may have ended almost two years ago.

The official arbiter of these matters — the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) — declared that the latest recession commenced in March 2001 and ended that same November, writes Lonski. In other words, it lasted all of nine months.

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