Showing posts with label Alternative "Facts". Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alternative "Facts". Show all posts

Sunday 2 April 2017

The Excitement is Palpable -- New Sign-In Experience Coming to GMail

Elated Crowds Cheer the News
AA was elated when he read the announcement from the good folks at Gmail--whose parent by the way sponsors free BlogSpot--that soon Gmail will have a "cleaner, simpler look" and my sign-in experience will be faster.

Not since the announcement of  Windows 10 or the new IPhone has there been such excitement at bayt AA.  What's even more joyous is that AA can simply wait for the change to occur.  No need to stand in line at the Apple Store.

It's not only a win for AA but for America. A win that I'd point out has occurred a scant 12 weeks into the new Administration.  

Tuesday 7 February 2017

Simple Math Stumps US Corporations - SEC Rides to the Rescue

Our Corporations Isn't Learning
As you'll recall, Section 953b of the Dodd Frank Act requires corporations listed in the USA to publish a ratio of the total compensation of the CEO to the median compensation of all other employees (excluding the CEO).

Self-proclaimed "captains of industry" objected to the onerous requirement of providing this ratio, but their pleas were ignored --though implementation was delayed till 2017.

Now with a kindler gentler administration in the White House and control of both the House and Senate in the hands of the GOP, they are getting a second hearing.

February 6 Acting SEC Commissioner Michael Piwowar:

The Commission adopted the pay ratio disclosure rule in August 2015 to implement Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The rule requires a public company to disclose the ratio of the median of the annual total compensation of all employees to the annual total compensation of the chief executive officer.
Based on comments received during the rulemaking process, the Commission delayed compliance for companies until their first fiscal year beginning on or after January 1, 2017. Issuers are now actively engaged in the implementation and testing of systems and controls designed to collect and process the information necessary for compliance. However, it is my understanding that some issuers have begun to encounter unanticipated compliance difficulties that may hinder them in meeting the reporting deadline.
I encourage commenters and the staff to expedite their review in light of these unique circumstances.
Boldface above courtesy of AA.

Yes, this is indeed an almost insurmountable task. 

  1. One has to figure out the total compensation of the CEO.  Oh, wait.  That's already done for the annual Proxy Statement. 
  2. Then one has to figure out the median salary.  That's even more tricky because it involves two really "hard" steps.  
  3. Big corporations have operations all over the world and pay their employees in a myriad of currencies.  How possibly could they figure out the US equivalent of Paris-based Jacques' salary or Frankfurt-based Heinrich's?  Oh, wait.  Corporations routinely convert local currency transactions into US dollars for their annual financial reports, including salaries paid to foreign workers.  Corporations also routinely keep detailed employee by employee payroll records for tax, pension, and other purposes so no new records have to be created.  What probably would be required is to add a column to figure out the US dollar equivalent salary for each employee.  
  4. But, as no doubt many a beleaguered corporation will point out, then they have to figure out the median salary.  What's a median? An extremely challenging task.  One lists all salaries and then picks out the one that is smack in the middle.  This is the sort of things that computers were made to do.  Microsoft's Excel has a preprogrammed "median" function so this is definitely not rocket science.
  5. So the corporation would have to consolidate US dollar-equivalent lists of salaries prepared by various operating units (foreign and domestic) and then sort them by amount and pick out the median.  Another automated process.
On its face, it sure looks like this objection is motivated by a desire to avoid providing this information because it's likely to raise uncomfortable questions about CEO compensation.

But, let's accept the manifest absurdity of this argument and assume for a moment the objection is true.  After all, we have a new Treasury Secretary who swears he can't fill out government ethics forms and other members of the Administration see things that never happened (3.5 million people at the Mall for the Inauguration, 3.5 million illegal voters, etc). 

On that score Mr. Piwowar "understands" that some corporations are having a problem.  It's not clear if there have been many complaints from companies, whether he is seeing things, heard about it from KellyAnne, or read about it on Breitbart.

Rule 953b was finalized 5 August 2015

That means that some US listed corporations have been unable to establish a system to calculate this ratio in the 17 months since then and believe that they will be unable to complete it in the additional 11 months remaining during this year (assuming most corporations have a December fiscal year end).

If this is the case, then 3 troubling questions.
  1. In an era where complex calculations are at the base of product development and production, should a consumer purchase a product from a company that acknowledges its inability to do simple maths?
  2. In an era where proper pricing of products, operations and risk management depend on the ability to perform complex calculations, should an investor buy the stock or bonds of a company that admits that simple mathematical procedures exceed its competence?
  3. Should the average citizen and our government be worried that our self-proclaimed math-challenged corporations are clearly not equipped to compete with foreign corporations?
The SEC is taking comments on implementation of this rule.  Let your voice be heard.

Saturday 4 February 2017

The Bowling Green Massacre - Never Forget & Contribute Now



Regular readers of this blog know that our primary focus is financial, but there are times when other issues assume such paramount importance that silence is impossible.   Such is the case with the Bowling Green Massacre.

The Cowardly Bomb Attack

It wasn't that long ago that the idyllic atmosphere of Bowling Green, Kentucky was shattered (quite literally) by a cowardly bombing by terrorists.

But the damage wasn't only to property.  

An Anguished Cry.  Why?  
And yet in this time of anguish, a simple but powerful memorial to the untold number of victims.  And I'd note one conducted by the residents of blue state New York City for the fallen in red state Kentucky--a typical American response to threats.


Citizens across the nation express their solidarity. 




AA is Bowling Green and sincerely hopes you are too.

Americans are known for their charitable instincts.  And it didn't take long before a fund was established.  Below is a link to their website.

We all still carry the vivid memories of what horrors occurred at Bowling Green, but some still relive those moments everyday as they work to rebuild a community torn apart.



Friday 3 February 2017

Wall Street Titan "Trips Up Again" or Did He?

Abu Arqala Reports, But You Decide

According to The Columbus Dispatch:
President Donald Trump's nominee for U.S. treasury secretary was untruthful with the Senate during the confirmation process, documents uncovered by The Dispatch show.  Steve Mnuchin, former chairman and chief executive officer of OneWest Bank, known for its aggressive foreclosure practices, flatly denied in testimony before the Senate Finance Committee that OneWest used "robo-signing" on mortgage documents.  But records show the bank utilized the questionable practice in Ohio.
"Untruthful" presumes that Secretary Mnuchin deliberately misled the Senate.   

That's a rather damning indictment of Mr. Mnuchin who the "World's Greatest Deliberative Body"--at least according to their own assessment--recently confirmed as Secretary of Treasury after what was no-doubt grueling examination of his qualifications, behavior, and ethics.

But are there other explanations? 

Of course there are! 
  1. Mr. Mnuchin was not familiar with the term "robo signing" and believe it referred to robots. So he answered sincerely that not a single robot signed a document.  An admirable stance for a member of an Administration that has pledged to create jobs for Americans. 
  2. "Robo-signing" by humans did occur, but even though he was Chairman and CEO, Mr. Mnuchin was so out of touch that he really didn't know what was going on at One West.  Luckily, a firm grasp of reality is not a prerequisite for a cabinet post in the current Administration.  
  3. According to The Columbus Dispatch's "facts" robo-signing did take place, but according to Mr. Mnuchin's "facts", it did not.  In such a case, the simple answer is teach our children both sets of "facts" and let them make up their own minds.