Archive for the ‘Accounts Payable’ Category

Don’t you love the “he’s paid enough” mentality?

A judge on Thursday ordered a former Kmart CEO to pay more than $10 million for misleading investors before the retail chain filed for bankruptcy protection in 2002.

However, the judge denied an SEC request that would have prevented Charles Conaway from serving as an officer or director at another public company.

“I feel the lessons learned, the hardships to him and his family, the disgorgement and the penalty, the damage to his reputation will be enough to deter any future securities violations by Mr. Conaway,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Pepe said.

His reputation will be enough to deter any further violations. Let’s remember than 10 to 15 years from now. If it’s not him, it will be someone he knows, wanna bet?

The five states where the housing crisis has taken the biggest toll will receive part of a $1.5 billion federal aid package intended to slow the tide of home foreclosures, the Obama administration announced Friday.

The money will be distributed to housing agencies in California, Nevada, Florida, Michigan, and Arizona – states where home prices have dropped more than 20 percent since the peak of the market, in a bid to help keep struggling homeowners in their houses.

Meanwhile, foreclosures will rise in five different states prompting further action by the Obama administration.

Greece has only days to explain its use of complex financial deals that it used to mask debt and just a month to prove that its drastic budget cuts go far enough to reassure markets and EU governments, who are reluctant to bail Athens out if it can’t pay its bills.

Greece’s troubles has plunged the 16 nations that use the euro into a crisis by breaking rules on debt and deficit that underpin Europe’s currency union amid worries that its problems could be even bigger because its public finance figures cannot be trusted.

More proof that robbing Peter to pay Paul never works. Especially when Peter is broke to begin with.

Toyota is off to one hell of a year isn’t it?

Toyota will recall 270,000 Prius hybrid vehicles over brake problems in the United States and Japan, a report said Friday, while the beleaguered auto giant launched an investigation into possible problems with the brakes in its luxury Lexus hybrid.

The recall would affect the new Prius hybrid model, and Toyota Motor Corp. would soon notify Japan’s transport ministry and the U.S. Department of Transportation of the recall, Japan’s top business newspaper, Nihon Keizai, said Friday.

What’s next?

First they have an issue with unexpected acceleration, now they have an issue with brakes which may cause unexpected non-stoppage.

Complaints in the U.S. and Japan about brake problems in Toyota’s popular Prius hybrid have swelled to about 180, adding to the string of quality troubles for the world’s biggest automaker.

The news Thursday of a significant number of new brake complaints comes as Toyota grapples with massive global recalls — linked to faulty gas pedals and floor mats that can jam accelerators — that are battering its image.

I’m sure this image battering was unexpected too.

Don’t most companies wait to address an issue until there is some sort of threat on the part of consumers? I’m pretty sure this isn’t isolated to Toyota.

Toyota came under fire from a top US official for its handling of a massive recall Tuesday as the giant Japanese carmaker scrambled to reassure customers on safety.

US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Toyota’s recall of millions of vehicles with defective pedals that can get stuck and cause unwanted acceleration came only after pressure from the US government.

“Since questions were first raised about possible safety defects, we have been pushing Toyota to take measures to protect consumers,” LaHood said in a statement.

This is going to cost Toyota billions.

Back in the early 1990’s I had a Toyota truck. I had this problem back then.

Toyota Motor Corp is facing a growing number lawsuits from consumers who complain their vehicles suddenly accelerate or may do so, and want the world’s largest automaker to pay for it.

Last week, Toyota stopped selling eight models in the United States and Canada, including its popular Camry and Corolla, because of possible unintended acceleration.

It’s about time they addressed this issue.

A group of thieves stole more than $9 million from ATMs in Atlanta and cities around the world after hackers broke into a computer at an Atlanta-based company.

The high-tech crooks broke into the computer at Atlanta’s RBS WorldPay in November and stole information on 100 customers’ ATM cards, according to the FBI. Then they cloned the cards, in effect creating duplicate ATM cards.

100 people had $9 million to steal? The information they took came from pretty well-off people. One hundred of my accounts would have netted them $459 bucks.

What happened to the daily ATM withdrawal limit on those cards anyway?

Maybe the government isn’t worried so much about the automakers as much as they are worried about the bondholders who stand to lose everything?

General Motors is likely to file for bankruptcy protection with government backing, giving bondholders a recovery of more than 25 cents on the dollar, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

There is a 70 percent probability that the restructuring plan for U.S. automakers will consist of a prepackaged bankruptcy financed by government loans to get GM and Chrysler through to 2009, Moody’s said in a report dated Dec. 15. Under that scenario, bondholders would be likely to lose less than 75 percent of their investment, Moody’s said.

I still don’t see why the American taxpayer should be burdened with any of this, isn’t there too much water in the bucket already?

As a DISH subscriber, I am getting really tired of this.

DISH Network and EchoStar said Friday they had filed a lawsuit against TiVo and asked a Delaware court to find that their new DVR software does not infringe a TiVo patent.

In January, the U.S. Court of Appeals said DISH, a satellite television provider, had infringed a TiVo patent in building digital video recorders, and upheld a lower court’s damage award against DISH of $74 million plus interest.

The more they fight, the more likely my bill is going to go up. If my bill goes up, I get angry. If I get angry, I switch providers. It’s that simple.

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