Friday was a horrible day for investors in Groupon.  The stock tumbled 6 percent on news that the company would restate it earnings after underestimating customer refunds, which led its auditor to declare the company had a material weakness in its internal controls. That kind of news is never welcome, and Groupon’s management has a […]

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Hartford Financial CEO Liam McGee on Wednesday announced plans to break up the company, largely along the lines recommended by hedge-fund activist John Paulson, whose funds own about 8.5% of the insurer.   It looks like McGee never put up a serious effort to counter Paulson’s recommendation to separate Hartford’s property and casualty insurance business, despite […]

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The public resignation letter by Greg Smith, a Goldman executive, is lighting up the blogosphere.  It’s certainly not the way Jake Siewert imagined spending his first day on the job as head of communications. As a candid, personal confession from a Goldman insider, the letter is very damaging.  It counters the notion that Goldman has […]

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I attended a panel Wednesday night at The Columbia Journalism School that asked whether the financial press failed the public by overlooking issues that led to the financial crisis.  (The event was co-sponsored by Public Business Media and the Columbia Journalism Review.) The genesis of the event was an article by Dean Starkman, a former […]

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