Business Insight Zone

Consider these three current items . . .

1. From Bloomberg News: JPMorgan Buys WaMu Deposits; Regulators Seize Thrift

• Short version: JPMorgan buys loads of excellent assets from the failed Washington Mutual, expanding its U.S. retail footprint (it’s now the biggest retail bank in the country) while limiting its risk.
• Key quote: “We think we got this at a price that protects us, where if we were wrong, it still protects us.” — JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon
• Thesis supported: Jamie Dimon is smart.

2. From George Colony, CEO of Forrester Research: CIO best practices for thriving in a recession

• Short version: Smart CIOs and the CEOs they work for are using the current economic downturn to make their companies better and to make life harder for their competitors.
• Key quote: “Use a recession to make tough decisions.”
• Thesis supported: When the going gets tough . . .

3. From the Wall Street Journal: Buffett Drove Hard Bargain With Goldman

• Short version: The current Wall Street crisis drove the mighty Goldman Sachs, hat in hand, to the Oracle of Omaha. Fortunately, he had the odd $5 billion handy to invest.
• Key quote: “Mr. Trott had approached Mr. Buffett before with at least one offer to invest in Goldman. ‘They had sounded me out in the past, as everyone else had,’ Mr. Buffett says. The previous offer, he says, was ‘nothing I would say “yes” to.’ “
• Thesis supported: It’s good to be Warren Buffett.

The moral of this story: Go and do likewise.

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(Photo of gunpowder kegs in the Tower of London by Gaspa.)

Category: Economics, Executives, Finance & Real Estate