| Disney clears executives in Pixar probe
Walt Disney Co. cleared Pixar's Steve Jobs of wrongdoing after a probe revealed his animated-movie studio backdated stock-options grants before selling itself to Disney. No one currently associated with Disney "engaged in any intentional or deliberate acts of misconduct," Chairman John Pepper said Friday. Jobs became a director of Disney after the $8.06 billion transaction last May. Jobs did not receive the options grants. They were given to John Lasseter, Ed Catmull and other executives. Lasseter and Catmull took on important roles at Disney after the acquisition. Disney's statement absolved Jobs less than three months after Apple Inc. did the same in a probe of its own options grants.
Wal-mart drops bank plans
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. scrapped plans to open its own bank, ending a two-year controversy that roiled financial-services companies that feared direct competition from the world's largest retailer.
Crescent Real Estate Sells Hotels to Walton for $620 Million
April 8 (Bloomberg) -- Crescent Real Estate Equities Co., a real-estate investment trust founded by Richard Rainwater, and its partners agreed to sell properties including the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa for $620 million to Walton TCC Hotel Investors, just days after Walton terminated its offer. Crescent's share of the gross purchase price will be $580 million, the Fort Worth, Texas-based company said in a statement distributed by Business Wire yesterday. The sale includes the Sonoma Golf Club and Ventana Inn & Spa in California, the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort & Spa and Denver Marriott hotel in Colorado. Walton on April 2 canceled an agreement to buy the properties for $625 million, without giving a reason. The parties ``reinstated and amended the original purchase agreement'' on April 6, and the acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter, according to yesterday's statement.
Cruising to Retirement
IF MILLIONS OF US ARE GOING TO LIVE to be 85 or 100 or even older -- distinct possibilities in these times of rapid advances in medicine -- we're going need to do some fancy footwork in the financial-planning department, right? Well, no, actually. For many folks, there's a remarkably simple and effective way to invest for the long term: Plunk your money in a "life-cycle" mutual fund. These funds, which first appeared in 1994 and are now offered by some 30 fund complexes, offer exposure to stocks, bonds and cash equivalents -- and they automatically switch to less risky ... .
Portfolio Analyst/Associate Portfolio Manager - Select Holdings
This position is responsible for providing analysis and implementation support for all Select Holdings portfolios managed by Russell Investment Services (RIS). This position supports the Portfolio Manager (PM) and Select Holdings Team with all aspects of investment management, portfolio implementation, analysis, and client reporting function .
DR CONGO: Minerals Flow Abroad, Misery Remains
WASHINGTON, Jul 5 (IPS) - International companies and local elites in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are pocketing revenues from copper and cobalt production instead of sharing it with local communities or spending it to reduce poverty, a watchdog group charged Wednesday.
A new report by the London-based Global Witness says that despite being one of the richest copper- and cobalt-producing areas in the world, the province of Katanga in southeastern DRC remains severely poor and the population has little or no infrastructure or public services.
"The profits are serving to line the pockets of a small but powerful elite -- politicians and businessmen who are exploiting the local population and subverting natural riches for their own private ends," says the report, whose authors based their findings on field research in November and December last year.
Fortress windfall warms managers to benefits of transparency
Hedge funds have become Wall Street darlings following the spectacular initial public offering last month of Fortress Investment Group, a New York hedge fund and private equity manager with USD29.9 under management. The float of 8.5 per cent of the company's equity was off to the races with an 89 per cent price ump on the first day of trading. After being priced at USD18.50 apiece, shares opened at USD35 and traded as high as USD37, making it the best showing for a US IPO since November last year, when commodities exchange operator Nymex Holding doubled its stock price on the first day of trading. The share offering put a USD7.4bn market capitalisation on Fortress, which manages a third of its assets in hedge funds and the remaining two-thirds primarily in private equity.
Brown turning Britain into an also-ran
Gordon Brown has wrecked Britain's chances of becoming a serious player in the online gambling market, industry executives warned last night. They claim the Chancellor's shock announcement of a 15 per cent gaming duty for betting websites in his Budget last week will prevent companies from moving their operations to Britain from low-tax or tax-free countries such as Gibraltar, Malta or the Channel Islands. Executives from Ladbrokes, Partygaming and others had previously made clear to Government that a tax of between 2 per cent and 3 per cent would be acceptable - and could attract them back to the UK. Ladbrokes said: "We self-regulate and are regulated and licensed in Gibraltar. Ideally we would like to have been licensed and regulated here in the UK and would gladly have returned to face a tax of 2 per cent, but I think most operators will now remain offshore." The news is a blow to plans by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport whose Gambling Act was designed to boost betting in the UK.
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