Early estimates of the economic impact of Hurricane Sandy put the total loss between $30 billion and $50 billion, making it one of the costliest storms in U.S. history. But forecasters acknowledge that their estimates are highly preliminary and the financial toll could rise as the extent of damage from the historic storm becomes more apparent. (CNBC)
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For John Selldorff, the best news of the day was that his employees were safe and the power was back on at his company’s factory in Fairfield, N.J. But all around the plant, electricity and phone service were still out – and the manager responsible for that part of the business couldn’t get out of his driveway because of a fallen tree. (The New York Times)
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Wall Street isn't going to let some pesky tropical storm get the best of it. After two days of closure, the markets reopened on Wednesday to solid, albeit, light, trading, with only a few technical glitches. Large equity orders that had stuffed up the pipes ran through the system relatively well considering the four-day-long break in trading. Treasuries and other fixed income products also made it through the gates relatively unscathed. (Fortune)
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Repeated cutbacks have dulled Wall Street's luster for some prospective Masters of the Universe, in the latest reflection of the gloom overhanging the finance industry. Many of the nation's top M.B.A. programs, including Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business, reported declines in the share of students who took jobs in finance this year. (Wall Street Journal)
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The standard to-do list might not be as innocuous as it seems. Here's how to fix yours – and actually get the important stuff done. (Inc.)
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An applicant's handshake may be crucial at a job interview. But a personality test can tell a company what's behind that handshake. Companies as varied as electronics retailer HHGregg Inc., rental-car agency Avis Budget Group Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp. all use personality tests to help assess job applicants for conscientiousness, extroversion or other traits that may be useful in forging a successful career – or, alternatively, derail one. (Wall Street Journal)
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Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on an affirmative action case that once again raised the contentious question of how best to create equal opportunity for all Americans. Interestingly enough, many on both sides of the debate over the University of Texas’s use of race in college admissions seemed to accept that the United States has been steadily growing towards greater equality over the past generation. (Washington Post)
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At 30, Chen Kuo had what many Chinese dream of: her own apartment and a well-paying job at a multinational corporation. But in mid-October, Ms. Chen boarded a midnight flight for Australia to begin a new life with no sure prospects. Like hundreds of thousands of Chinese who leave each year, she was driven by an overriding sense that she could do better outside China. (The New York Times)
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If you followed American media in recent years, you might have thought China was taking over the planet. Recent titles at the book store have included Becoming China's Bitch and When China Rules the World. But China always looks more impressive from afar than it does close up. (NPR)
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One of Milton Cofield’s goals in the classroom is to help his students relate the material he’s teaching to the real world. Cofield, the executive director of the undergraduate program at Tepper, says a typical lecture could include the "PowerPoints and lecturing that people hate," but he mixes up his lessons with the occasional dramatic reading from a Shakespeare play. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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In a typical year, Professor Edward Hess figures he teaches no more than 300 students in his courses on managing smaller enterprises and the challenges of business growth. About 120 of them are MBAs, while the remaining 180 are executive education students at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. (Poets & Quants)
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Preparing students for a future in business is the cornerstone of the National Black MBA Association Atlanta Chapter (NBMBAA). The scholarship luncheon will be held Friday, November 9. Distinguished Film Producer Will Packer is the keynote speaker.
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Central Texas is a fixture on national lists as one of the best places to live, work, start a business or retire. The region, according to its press clippings, is attractive whether you are young and single, gay or straight, or a retired couple. But not necessarily if you are black. (Austin American-Statesman)
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For the device-dependent, the most frightening thing about a blackout is having to unplug: no e-mail, no texts, no social media, no Words With Friends. On Tuesday morning, about 780,000 Con Ed customers in New York City, including 250,000 in Manhattan, did not have electricity, according to the utility company. By 5 p.m., news reports indicated that lower Manhattan could face up to four days without power. (Bloomberg/Businessweek)
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After dominating the larger tablet market it popularized, Apple has turned its attention to the slightly smaller screen. The 7.9-inch iPad Mini has Apple's attention to style and detail behind it, but it certainly isn't the only slate of this stature that's worth considering, especially with the Mini's stepped-down processor and screen resolution. (CNET)
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Once upon a time, it was "Here's the remote." Now it is "Here is my TiVo, Netflix (NFLX), and Xfinity – I hope it works out for you." If the chatter surrounding the mythical, eventual release of the true Apple TV (AAPL) is any indicator, consumers are dying for a bit of simplicity with their streaming video options. When will they get it? Not any time soon, says a chorus of online media makers, ranging from content creators to set-top box makers. (Fortune)
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Even with 13,000 employees and 70,000 customers, Infor's CEO Charles Phillips is running a huge corporation like a startup. Here's how he aligns staff and stays agile. (Fast Company)
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One of the big problems for fashion retailers is that their salespeople are idle whenever their business, which is mostly local, is slow. Meanwhile customers – often too busy or too uncertain of what to buy for themselves – could really use the help of personal stylists. Put these two needs together and add an online platform, and you get Triple Thread, which launches today. It's a push-based commerce platform that basically connects qualified customers with independent boutiques. (Upstart Business Journal)
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In the economy-focused presidential campaign, the two candidates and their teams have scarcely mentioned what economists describe as not just one of the labor market’s most pressing problems, but the entire country’s: long-term unemployment. (The New York Times)
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The number of Americans moving has started to increase from a record low, promising a lift to the labor-market recovery as well as housing and consumer spending. An estimated 12 percent of U.S. residents moved in the year ended March 2012, up from a 63-year low of 11.6 percent the prior year, according to an analysis of unpublished Census Bureau data by the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington-based research organization. About 1.7 percent moved from one state to another, the most in five years, the data show. (Bloomberg)
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Consumer confidence in October rose to its highest level in four years, boosted by improvements in the job market. The closely watched index, which measures how Americans feel about the economy, edged higher to a reading of 72.2 from a downwardly revised 68.4 in September, according to The Conference Board, a business research firm. (CNN/Money)
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n general, wind-driven rain and water that comes into your home through the roof, windows, doors or holes in the walls is covered by homeowners insurance. But water from the bottom up – such as the overflow of a body of water or damages caused by a storm surge – is not covered. (MarketWatch)
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As many Americans recover from the superstorm Sandy, which left more than 8 million without power and has caused an estimated $50 billion in damages so far, they now face another threat, say consumer advocates: storm-related scams. (MarketWatch)
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After five years in investment banking, Matt Wolf decided he'd had enough. While the 35-year-old vice president enjoyed his close-knit team of colleagues at Morgan Stanley in Manhattan, he had reached a breaking point: Too many takeout-fueled late nights, too many canceled trips with his wife and too many judgmental looks at social gatherings. His pay – still generous, but lower than he had expected before the financial crisis – was no longer worth the sacrifices. (Wall Street Journal)
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If you are among the Star Wars faithful, it’s hard to put a dollar value on 35 years of lightsabers, Ewoks, and windpipe-crushing applications of The Force. Apparently, it’s worth just north of $4 billion, which is what Disney is paying for Lucasfilm, the studio that is the home to George Lucas and all his Star Wars pals. Yes, there is also Indiana Jones and his swashbuckling cohort, videogames and special effects, but in a call with investors Disney CFO Jay Rasulo made it clear that when Disney did its math it was the value of the Star Wars franchise that was the main calculation. (Wired)
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Most everyone has an opinion on who will win the presidential election next Tuesday, but in all the prognostication one question has gone mostly overlooked: What if no one wins? (CNBC)
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Prominent voices within the financial sector are increasingly insisting on one point: We have ended "too big to fail." The idea is simple: through a combination of legislation (the Dodd-Frank legislation of 2010) and supportive regulation (particularly regarding how big banks would be handled in the event of "liquidation"), very large financial institutions are no longer perceived by investors to be too big to fail. (The New York Times)
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You've gotten feedback from your manager as well as word of rumblings within your team: You're seen as a micromanager who tends to get into the weeds – and stay there. You produce great results but senior management sees you as an operational manager and questions your ability to let go and operate at a strategic level. Wait a minute, you think. Who are they trying to kid? Delegation sounds great on paper, but you're responsible for some major projects, and management expects flawless execution. How can they have it both ways? (Harvard Business Review)
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Without risk, there can be no success – but how do you know which risks are worth pursuing? How do Hollywood and Silicon Valley evaluate the ROI of a risk differently? Troy Carter, Derrick Ashong, Franklin Leonard, Cindy Gallop, Tiffany Shlain, and readers discuss as our salon series continues. (Fast Company)
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In the couple of decades since the internet began to expand from academic to widespread public use, there have been three main ways of thinking about its relationship with the physical realm. The first, which reached its peak in the late 1990s, emphasised how the digital world would reshape the real one. People everywhere would have access to the same electronic libraries of information, news and comment. (The Economist)
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