Poison Pill

In a September 11th story in The Baltimore Sun entitled “Putnam doubles stake in clothier,” by Andrea Walker, the reporter explores the reaction from Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, a men’s clothing chain, after Putnam Investments doubled its stock ownership to 10%. Executives at the clothing company established a stockholder rights plan, which some have called a “poison pill.” “It's a myth that companies only adopt them when they think someone is going to take them over,” says Donald Margotta, Associate Professor of Business Finance and Insurance at Northeastern University.

To read the full story, go here:
http://www.paradigmshiftpr.com/putnamdouble.htm

Paying More To Be The First

Fareena Sultan, associate professor of marketing at Northeastern University, gives her thoughts on Apple’s recent price cut on their iPhones in an September 5th story in The Associated Press entitled, Many iPhone Owners Relish Being First,” by May Wong. She believes that timing and presentation can make a big difference in the success of the release of a new product. “The hullabaloo arose over Apple's price-slashing only because it came a few months sooner than expected, said Professor Sultan. “If they said the product is not cool or not worth the money, then other people — who are even more risk averse — will wait or not want to buy it."

To read the full story, go here:
http://www.paradigmshiftpr.com/manyiphone.htm

Planning For The Worst

Harlan Platt, professor of finance and insurance at Northeastern University, believes that being pessimistic is a good trait to have when running your own business because it helps prepare for natural disasters. In a September 5th article in Smallbiz.com entitled, “Planning for the Worst Saves Time, Trouble,” by Diana Ransom, Professor Platt believes that whatever affects the company, can affect the community. “Often, a small business is so linked to the community it serves that it's particularly vulnerable to changes in local economic conditions,” says Harlan Platt. “For example, when customers get into trouble [small businesses] get into trouble," he says.

To read the full article, go here:
http://www.paradigmshiftpr.com/planningfor.htm

Argentina Experiences

Elite Traveler features an article on experiences and places within Argentina. Echelon, a company that provides elite travel experiences, has an art-themed Argentinian experience.

To read more about it, go here:
http://www.paradigmshiftpr.com/images/elitetraveler20070910_0136_fg.png

CPA Shortage?

Boston Business Journal features a story on the difficulty public accounting firms are having in finding new talent. To handle this situation, firms are having to seek alternate methods in finding new CPA's such as going through recruiting firms. Doug Farrington, a managing director in the Boston office of UHY Advisors says, "We have no choice but to deal with recruiters because candidates often are going straight to them instead of straight to the firms." There are several factors that are causing this shortage. Students that were once considering going into accounting when they are in school are opting for a finance degree instead. There is also a surge in demand for accountants to handle the programs to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley within public companies.

To read the full story, go here:
http://www.paradigmshiftpr.com/areafirms.htm