With the stock market up by around 20 percent since its September lows, and in the spirit of good cheer that should surround us at Christmas, I thought I’d set out some more ideas for “Bear Food,” companies that look likely to take a tumble in 2002 and beyond.

Marley was stoned to begin with. There was no doubt about that. E.B. Scrooge gazed thoughtfully across the Gulfstream V at his recumbent form as it sped towards the ScrooMar.com Christmas and New Year junket in Bora Bora.

As Argentina teeters on the brink of default, it’s worth looking at other possible defaulters in the world debt markets, and what nasty things their default might do to the world economy. As usual in this column, it’s not a pretty sight.

The collapse of Enron and a recent visit to Washington of DaimlerChrysler Chief Executive Officer Juergen Schrempp raises a very interesting question: What is the cost to society of avoidable incompetence by business and political leaders?

In the light of Enron Corp.’s difficulties, which last week brought into question its survival without a trip through Chapter 11 bankruptcy, I thought it worthwhile to examine corporate failure in general and Enron’s case in particular to see what are the possible danger signals.

The late 1990’s were a period of “get rich quick” economics, as dot-com billionaires jostled with stock option centi-millionaires for the icons of conspicuous consumption. The 2000’s will be very different; not necessarily a decade of depression, but a decade of Soames Forsyte economics, in which the Forsyte Saga anti-hero’s prudent virtues, sober habits and […]

Enron’s announced Thursday that it was restating its financial results back to 1997 because of losses in limited partnerships involving its chief financial officer. These deals netted CFO Andrew Fastow $30 million and was in many ways the culmination of an extraordinary saga.

A new book, Daniel Pink’s “Free Agent Nation,” advances what is a well-accepted thesis that Americans are increasingly turning to self-employment and micro-entrepreneurship, and that this adds to human happiness. I would dispute the latter. For reasons of security, lifestyle, finance, and, on balance personal fulfillment, I would, all in all, rather work for General […]

The champagne flowed at Lockheed Martin last Friday when they won the $200 billion Joint Strike Fighter project, which could keep the cash flowing until 2040.

My esteemed colleague at United Press International, Ian Campbell, wrote in a recent “GlobalView” column that he believed oil prices would trend down over the next several months, dropping to about $17 a barrel.