Monday April 20 2015  The  following accounting  teams presented at the Inaugural Student Research Symposium April 18, 2015. Aun Rimal and Erica Rodriguez Revisions to the External Audit Report Alejandro Leal, Jennifer Reeves, and Emmalee Horton Certifications for Accountants Luis Martinez, Joe Dupuy, and K'la Irvin Audit Reporting Changes Easing the Transition Luisa Adames, Cecilia…

Thursday April  16 2015 MF Global Investors will be paid 74% of what they are owed. We covered this in Ethics class, how is it that Jon Corzine is running around loose and still in the investment business when 26% of the clients got zilch?

Tuesday April 14 2015 Greece is out of money and cannot pay both pensions and the IMF. A letter in the WSJ yesterday noted that some  30% of all Greeks work for their own government.  Greece has been in default about half its existence since its creation in 1832.  If this happens it will be difficult…

Weekend April  12, 2015 Radio Shack emerges from Bankruptcy Court as a new convenience store. The idea is to avoid higher end products and focus on headphones, connectors of all sorts and batteries.  Such low priced items can have a high mark up. And they will partner with Sprint.  While the analyst here in the…

Weekend April 12, 2015 Money Games The nations should consult and agree on international monetary changes which affect each other. They should outlaw practices which are agreed to be harmful to world prosperity, and they should assist each other to overcome short-term exchange difficulties. Agreement leading to formation of the International Monetary Fund Bretton Woods,…

Wed April 8, 2015 And there's more! Auto companies, banks, and others are being investigated over corruption, read pay offs, in settling corporate tax disputes. Again South America is famous for pay offs to eliminate bothersome problems, not like paying taxes. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act forbids this but hey life goes on south of the border. 

Wed April 8, 2015 Just a few years ago, the perennial country for the next century, Brazil, appeared poised to finally become just that.  Whoa, Back to the Future as the biggest corruption scandal yet unfolds. Perhaps it will have a bit different outcome this time. South America is notorious for bribery and corruption. this time nine…

Thursday April 2 201   Sears used to sell clothes and appliances, these days it is selling itself.   CEO Ed Lampert is great at buying back stock and and spinning off divisions, after sucking out all the cash. Now the firm is selling its real estate to an REIT. All this corporate finance shuffling…

onday March 9, 2015 Hedge funds lightened up their long positions in crude oil.  The XES energy service ETF is down nearly 2% in early going. 

Weekend March 8, 2015 Very few of our accounting students take the CPA exam upon completing graduate school. Which of course means few pass.  I attended an interesting session on group activity at the conference in Las Vegas. One administrator was studying the difference between commuter and resident students at his community college. The residential…