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Chart of the Day
Mary Altaffer/AP
A day after the shocking announcement of Lululemon CEO Christine Day’s resignation, investors continue to cut and run.
As if it were wearing a pair of its see-through pants, Lululemon’s tumble has been laid bare for all to see. Under CEO Christine Day, high-end yoga apparel maker Lululemon was a huge success story, with its stock growing steadily over the past five years. Then on June 11, to the shock of investors and the business world, Day said she would be stepping down as CEO, without naming a replacement or giving a detailed explanation for her departure.
First LIBOR, Now Currency Exchanges
Bankers rig exchange rates.
And the reasons clients continue to trust big banks are? Bloomberg News reports that some of the biggest banks globally have been manipulating benchmark foreign-exchange rates to profit from moves they subsequently make for clients. The $4.7 trillion-a-day foreign-exchange market (FX market) is one of the least regulated. The rigging of these rates affects the value of trillions of dollars in funds, including pensions and savings accounts.
It’s All Greek to Him
Lucas Jackson/Reuters
Five years ago, Chobani didn’t exist. Now it’s a billion-dollar business. How the son of a small-town shepherd made good.
The Great Chocolate Fix?
Denis Balibouse/Reuters
Why American confectioners don’t need a conspiracy to set prices.
The Cost of Hope: $20 Billion
Mario Tama/Getty
New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg says nearly $20 billion could protect the city from climate change. But can he—and his successor—walk the walk? David Freedlander reports.
Warning that the city faces dire consequences in the face of global climate change, New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg laid out a far-reaching plan Tuesday to confront rising sea levels and a warming planet.The plan, called “A Stronger and More Resilient New York,” comes in response to Hurricane Sandy, last year’s massive storm that rendered large swaths of the region uninhabitable and left 43 New Yorkers dead.Speaking at Brooklyn’s Navy Yard, a World War II–era shipyard retrofitted as a green-technology manufacturing center, Bloomberg said, “Today this building that once turned out battleships now helps lead us in another battle—a battle that may well define our future for generations to come: the battle against climate change.
Asleep on the Job: Banker’s Million Dollar Mistake
There really is a price to pay for tired employees. A German bank employee accidently transferred $295 million from a customer’s account when he fell asleep at the computer.
by Katrina Bishop A German bank employee accidentally transferred 222,222,222.222 euros ($295 million) from a customer's account when he fell asleep at his computer.The bank clerk had been attempting to transfer just 62.40 euros ($82.80) for the customer, a pensioner, when he dozed off with a finger on his keyboard's "2" key.The clerk's boss was fired for failing to notice the mistake, made in April last year, but a labor court in Germany ruled on Tuesday that the dismissal was unfair.
Sales of Orwell's ‘1984’ Spike
AP Photo
Thanks to NSA surveillance scandal.
It’s 29 years late, but has Big Brother finally arrived? Readers are flocking to buy George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, which describes a totalitarian surveillance state, since news of the National Security Administration scandal broke. The book has landed on Amazon’s list of “Movers and Shakers,” and sales of the novel have increased thousands of percent. “Throwing out such a broad net of surveillance is exactly the kind of threat Orwell feared,” Orwell biographer Michael Shelden told NPR. President Obama even referenced the novel, naming Big Brother, when he defended the program last Friday.
Why Wall Street Still Loves Booz Allen
Jeffrey MacMillan/Washington Post, via Getty; Andrew Burton/Getty
The consulting firm that employed leaker Edward Snowden still has the support of investors. Daniel Gross on why this isn’t surprising.
How much does it cost you if one of your employees goes rogue and screws over your business client? If you’re Booz Allen Hamilton, the government contractor that employed leaker Edward Snowden, about $60 million.On Monday, investors in Booz Allen, which is publicly traded, had their first opportunity to react to the bombshell news that broke over the weekend. And the reaction was something close to a shrug. The stock closed at $17.54, down about 2.
Google Buys Mapping Startup Waze
Paul Sakuma/AP
Reportedly for $1.3B.
Google further solidified its mapping dominance today with the purchase of Waze, an Israeli mapping startup. Waze uses satellite signals from members’ smartphones to create real-time maps with traffic information and faster routes. “Imagine if you could see real-time traffic updates from friends and fellow travelers ahead of you, calling out 'fender bender...totally stuck in left lane!’ and showing faster routes that others are taking,” wrote Google Geo Vice President Brian McClendon. Waze, which will remain based in Israel, has 47 million users. Google reportedly paid $1.3 billion for the company.
McConnell Sells Booz Stock
Michael Reynolds/EPA, via Landov; inset: AP
Mike McConnell has moved seamlessly from senior positions in the U.S. national-security apparatus to senior positions at Booz Allen Hamilton, the consulting firm that employed leaker Edward Snowden. This year McConnell has been cashing in his stock in the company.
Edward Snowden’s decision to leak sensitive government information has shed new light on the highly profitable relationship between America’s national-security apparatus and Washington, D.C.–area contractors who get paid handsomely to assist the government. Data lying in plain sight can show just how lucrative this relationship can be for top security officials.Snowden was a low-level employee of Booz Allen Hamilton, a contractor that derives most of its revenue from the government.
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Meet the World's Fastest Super Computer
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10 Essential Zombie Movies You've Never Seen
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International Business Times
Italy’s Overcrowded Prisons: A Growing Tragedy Of Epic Proportions
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Huffington Post Politics
Republican: I Oppose Abortion Because Male Fetuses Masturbate
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International Business Times
China's National Men's Soccer Team Loses Game, And National Respect
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Mental Floss
12 Old Words that Survived by Getting Fossilized in Idioms
Markets React to Fed Tapering
With news of potential Fed tapering, Julie Hyman joins In the Loop with Betty Liu on Bloomberg News to give analysis of market reaction.
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James D. Hamilton and Menzie Chinn
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Mark Thoma – Economist’s View
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Barry Ritholtz – The Big Picture
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Tyler Cowen/Alex Tabarrok – Marginal Revolution
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Greg Mankiw
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Peter Boone, Simon Johnson, and James Kwak
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Brad De Long
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Nouriel Roubini
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Calculated Risk
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Dealbreaker
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Eddy Elfenbein — Crossing Wall Street
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Zero Hedge
Business
Daniel Gross
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The Fed’s Spring Awakening
The Federal Reserve says the economy is getting better. So why are investors so miserable?... More
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Happy Days are Here Again
The prophets of American economic decline revise their thinking. More
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Owning a Piece of the Sun
Save the planet, turn a profit.... More
Asymmetrical Information
Megan McArdle
Building a Better Clinical Trial System
Companies don't publish all their results. How can we get more information into the public domain?
Latest from The Daily Beast
James Gandolfini’s Finest Roles
An appreciation of the finest performances of acting giant James Gandolfini, who has passed away at 51.



