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<channel><title><![CDATA[washingtonpost.com - Deals -- Allan Sloan on Wall Street and Investing (washingtonpost.com)]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/03/24/LI2005032400329.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><description><![CDATA[Allan Sloan is Newsweek's Wall Street editor.]]></description><language>en-us</language><ttl>15</ttl><image><title>washingtonpost.com</title><width>140</width><height>20</height><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com?nav=rss</link><url>http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/hp/image/wp_web.gif </url></image>
<item><title><![CDATA[ How to Borrow $700 Billion ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602957.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602957.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ Not that the folks at the Treasury and the White House are asking, but if I were in charge of the $700 billion bailout of the financial system -- and yes, it's a bailout, because it involves paying more for toxic assets than non-government buyers would pay -- I'd have the Treasury run out today and borrow $700 billion before the financial world comes to its senses. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[How]]></category><category><![CDATA[to]]></category><category><![CDATA[Borrow]]></category><category><![CDATA[$700]]></category><category><![CDATA[Billion]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Henry M. Paulson]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[U.S. Department of the Treasury]]></category><category><![CDATA[U.S. Federal Reserve]]></category><category><![CDATA[Wall Street]]></category><category><![CDATA[Washington, DC]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ How Keeping Short Rates Low Created a Fiasco ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/16/AR2008091603198.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/16/AR2008091603198.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ There's been so much financial turmoil this week that people have begun to forget last week's big story -- the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But before we go off chasing the late Lehman Brothers or AIG or Washington Mutual or the financial casualty du jour, let's briefly revisit Fannie and Freddie, because there's one simple truth that doesn't seem to be part of the national conversation. To wit: that the Fannie-Freddie fiasco is due, at least in part, to the Federal Reserve Board's cutting short-term rates to ridiculously low levels over the years. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[How]]></category><category><![CDATA[Keeping]]></category><category><![CDATA[Short]]></category><category><![CDATA[Rates]]></category><category><![CDATA[Low]]></category><category><![CDATA[Created]]></category><category><![CDATA[a]]></category><category><![CDATA[Fiasco]]></category><category><![CDATA[U.S. Federal Reserve]]></category><category><![CDATA[Alan Greenspan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Ben Bernanke]]></category><category><![CDATA[United States]]></category><category><![CDATA[Fannie Mae]]></category><category><![CDATA[Freddie Mac Holdings]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Lehman Brothers Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Washington Mutual Inc.]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Greenspan's Chattiness Is Drowning Out Bernanke's Fed ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/01/AR2008090102607.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/01/AR2008090102607.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ Watching Alan Greenspan in his new incarnation is a strange experience. Greenspan 1.0 served as Federal Reserve Board chairman for an entire generation, being oracular, talking in what we (and now he) called Fedspeak, rarely saying anything on the record outside of carefully choreographed public appearances. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Greenspan's]]></category><category><![CDATA[Chattiness]]></category><category><![CDATA[Is]]></category><category><![CDATA[Drowning]]></category><category><![CDATA[Out]]></category><category><![CDATA[Bernanke's]]></category><category><![CDATA[Fed]]></category><category><![CDATA[Alan Greenspan]]></category><category><![CDATA[U.S. Federal Reserve]]></category><category><![CDATA[Ben Bernanke]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Hubbard]]></category><category><![CDATA[Jackson Hole]]></category><category><![CDATA[Fannie Mae]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Freddie Mac Holdings]]></category><category><![CDATA[National Economic Council]]></category><category><![CDATA[Newsweek Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[U.S. Department of the Treasury]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ The 'Play and Pray' Solution ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/18/AR2008081802278.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/18/AR2008081802278.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ These are the dog days of summer, the height of our national vacation season. But instead of hitting the beach, people in Washington and on Wall Street are spending their days all atwitter with ideas of which new regulations and rules and controls we need to deal with our financial market meltdowns, the worst since the Great Depression almost 80 years ago.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713802619" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713802619" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[The]]></category><category><![CDATA['Play]]></category><category><![CDATA[and]]></category><category><![CDATA[Pray']]></category><category><![CDATA[Solution]]></category><category><![CDATA[Fannie Mae]]></category><category><![CDATA[U.S. Federal Reserve]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Freddie Mac Holdings]]></category><category><![CDATA[Wall Street]]></category><category><![CDATA[Washington, DC]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Sam Zell's Next Tax Game Could Be With the Cubs ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/01/AR2008080102971.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/01/AR2008080102971.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ The Chicago Cubs may not make it to the World Series this season, yet they could still end up as players in a classic event: the World Series of tax dodging. That's because I think the team's owner, Sam Zell's Tribune Co., is trying to unload the Cubs in a way likely to draw heat from tax authorities. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Sam]]></category><category><![CDATA[Zell's]]></category><category><![CDATA[Next]]></category><category><![CDATA[Tax]]></category><category><![CDATA[Game]]></category><category><![CDATA[Could]]></category><category><![CDATA[Be]]></category><category><![CDATA[With]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[Cubs]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sam Zell]]></category><category><![CDATA[Tribune Company]]></category><category><![CDATA[Chicago Cubs]]></category><category><![CDATA[Major League Baseball]]></category><category><![CDATA[National League (Baseball)]]></category><category><![CDATA[NL Central Division]]></category><category><![CDATA[Internal Revenue Service]]></category><category><![CDATA[Charles Rangel]]></category><category><![CDATA[Robert Willens]]></category><category><![CDATA[Cablevision Systems Corporation]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[John Rush]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Robert Willens LLC]]></category><category><![CDATA[The Television Food Network GP]]></category><category><![CDATA[Wrigley Field]]></category><category><![CDATA[New York]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Two Fed Myths That Need Debunking ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/21/AR2008072102491.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/21/AR2008072102491.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ There are two things you may have heard about the Federal Reserve Board, both of which are wrong. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Two]]></category><category><![CDATA[Fed]]></category><category><![CDATA[Myths]]></category><category><![CDATA[That]]></category><category><![CDATA[Need]]></category><category><![CDATA[Debunking]]></category><category><![CDATA[U.S. Federal Reserve]]></category><category><![CDATA[United States]]></category><category><![CDATA[Fannie Mae]]></category><category><![CDATA[Freddie Mac Holdings]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ The Lurches of Lehman ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/23/AR2008062301972.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/23/AR2008062301972.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ Lehman Brothers, a firm with a storied past but an uncertain present, has turned into Wall Street's latest drama -- a modern-day financial version of "The Perils of Pauline," the famous damsel-in-distress flick. At this point in the Lurches of Lehman, we aren't certain whether chief executive Dick Fuld will become Wall Street's latest human sacrifice or whether the firm will survive or in what form. But even with the drama still ongoing, here are a few things to think about the Lehman mess. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[The]]></category><category><![CDATA[Lurches]]></category><category><![CDATA[of]]></category><category><![CDATA[Lehman]]></category><category><![CDATA[U.S. Federal Reserve]]></category><category><![CDATA[Richard Fuld]]></category><category><![CDATA[Wall Street]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Doris Burke]]></category><category><![CDATA[Manhattan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Roddy Boyd]]></category><category><![CDATA[Citigroup Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[JP Morgan Chase & Co.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Time Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Wachovia Corporation]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Smucker Adds Coffee to Its Breakfast Lineup -- And Does It Tax Free ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/09/AR2008060902740.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/09/AR2008060902740.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ It looks like a simple corporate transaction negotiated around a kitchen table. J.M. Smucker, the jelly and jam outfit, is buying the Folgers coffee business from Procter &amp; Gamble, creating a breakfast food combo. What could be more down-home? But when you look at the $3.3 billion transaction, announced last week, you see that it's complex and sophisticated -- and that it's anything but nutritious for us taxpayers.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713806037" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713806037" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Smucker]]></category><category><![CDATA[Adds]]></category><category><![CDATA[Coffee]]></category><category><![CDATA[to]]></category><category><![CDATA[Its]]></category><category><![CDATA[Breakfast]]></category><category><![CDATA[Lineup]]></category><category><![CDATA[--]]></category><category><![CDATA[And]]></category><category><![CDATA[Does]]></category><category><![CDATA[It]]></category><category><![CDATA[Tax]]></category><category><![CDATA[Free]]></category><category><![CDATA[Folgers Coffee]]></category><category><![CDATA[Orrville]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Cincinnati]]></category><category><![CDATA[Robert Willens]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Ohio]]></category><category><![CDATA[Pillsbury Crisco]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ The Buyout Boys Reload ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/17/AR2008051700174.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/17/AR2008051700174.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Sun, 18 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ On a spring day at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Key Biscayne, Fla., Michael Klein, Citigroup's chairman for institutional clients, took the stage at the bank's ninth annual private equity conference. In front of pension fund investors, hedge fund managers and private equity dealmakers, Klein flashed a series of newspaper headlines on the giant screens. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan and Katie Benner]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[The]]></category><category><![CDATA[Buyout]]></category><category><![CDATA[Boys]]></category><category><![CDATA[Reload]]></category><category><![CDATA[Michael Klein]]></category><category><![CDATA[David Rubenstein]]></category><category><![CDATA[Marty Fridson]]></category><category><![CDATA[Harrah's Entertainment Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[The Blackstone Group LP]]></category><category><![CDATA[Key Biscayne]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Charles Dickens]]></category><category><![CDATA[Citigroup Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Jim Coulter]]></category><category><![CDATA[Katie Benner]]></category><category><![CDATA[Prince Alwaleed bin Talal]]></category><category><![CDATA[The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. LLC]]></category><category><![CDATA[Tony James]]></category><category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category><category><![CDATA[Abu Dhabi Investment Authority]]></category><category><![CDATA[Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Cambridge Associates LLC]]></category><category><![CDATA[Chrysler Holding LLC]]></category><category><![CDATA[Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Drexel Burnham Lambert Group Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[KKR & Co. LP]]></category><category><![CDATA[The Carlyle Group LLC]]></category><category><![CDATA[Toys "R" Us Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[TPG Capital LP]]></category><category><![CDATA[United States]]></category><category><![CDATA[Middle East]]></category><category><![CDATA[Texas]]></category><category><![CDATA[Hilton Hotels Corporation]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ They Arb What They Arb ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051202404.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051202404.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ There are different kinds of investors in the world. One kind is a long-term, patient type who runs mutual funds for the average Joe. A second is a risk arbitrageur -- known on Wall Street as an "arb" -- who speculates on pending deals. When a proposed takeover surfaces and the target's stock price runs up, Mr. Patience tends to sell to the arbs, happy to take his profit and let the arbs bear the risk of whether the deal gets done and at what price. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[They]]></category><category><![CDATA[Arb]]></category><category><![CDATA[What]]></category><category><![CDATA[They]]></category><category><![CDATA[Arb]]></category><category><![CDATA[Bill Miller]]></category><category><![CDATA[Gordon Crawford]]></category><category><![CDATA[Microsoft Corporation]]></category><category><![CDATA[Yahoo! Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Jerry Yang]]></category><category><![CDATA[Steve Case]]></category><category><![CDATA[Wall Street]]></category><category><![CDATA[Bank of America Corporation]]></category><category><![CDATA[Capital Group Companies Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Citigroup Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Legg Mason Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ The Ethanol Cure's Side Effects ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/28/AR2008042802401.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/28/AR2008042802401.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ Now that milk and gasoline can each cost $3.50 a gallon, filling up your grocery cart or sport-utility vehicle has become an exercise in pain. Most people just wince, pay and get along as best they can. But someone like me can't help but see these price spikes as a nasty side effect of America's ethanol program. How nasty? Think of the recent film starring Will Smith, "I Am Legend." ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[The]]></category><category><![CDATA[Ethanol]]></category><category><![CDATA[Cure's]]></category><category><![CDATA[Side]]></category><category><![CDATA[Effects]]></category><category><![CDATA[George W. Bush]]></category><category><![CDATA[United States]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Will Smith]]></category><category><![CDATA[Egypt]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Haiti]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mexico]]></category><category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category><category><![CDATA[Saudi Arabia]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Happy Tax Day, Homeowners! ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/14/AR2008041402662.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/14/AR2008041402662.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ I won't be getting an economic-stimulus tax rebate check, but I'm not complaining about it. Not only am I fortunate to make too much money to qualify for a rebate, but I'm getting something far more valuable than the maximum $1,200 my wife and I could have gotten. Thanks to a relatively little-noticed portion of the stimulus package, we'll be able to refinance our house more cheaply than we otherwise could, or presumably sell it for more.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713808371" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713808371" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Happy]]></category><category><![CDATA[Tax]]></category><category><![CDATA[Day,]]></category><category><![CDATA[Homeowners!]]></category><category><![CDATA[Federal Housing Administration]]></category><category><![CDATA[Keith Gumbinger]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Fannie Mae]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Freddie Mac Holdings]]></category><category><![CDATA[Washington, DC]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Dreams End With Collapse of Tinker Bell Market ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/31/AR2008033102355.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/31/AR2008033102355.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ What in the world is going on here? Why is Washington spending billions to bail out Wall Street titans while leaving struggling homeowners to fend for themselves? Why are the Federal Reserve and the Treasury acting as if they're afraid the world may come to an end, while the stock market seems much less concerned? And finally, what does all this mean to those of us who aren't financial professionals? ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Dreams]]></category><category><![CDATA[End]]></category><category><![CDATA[With]]></category><category><![CDATA[Collapse]]></category><category><![CDATA[of]]></category><category><![CDATA[Tinker]]></category><category><![CDATA[Bell]]></category><category><![CDATA[Market]]></category><category><![CDATA[U.S. Federal Reserve]]></category><category><![CDATA[Wall Street]]></category><category><![CDATA[Ben Bernanke]]></category><category><![CDATA[Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[JP Morgan Chase & Co.]]></category><category><![CDATA[United States]]></category><category><![CDATA[Fannie Mae]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Freddie Mac Holdings]]></category><category><![CDATA[The Federal Home Loan Banks]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Henry M. Paulson]]></category><category><![CDATA[Peter Pan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Timothy Geithner]]></category><category><![CDATA[Federal Reserve Bank of New York]]></category><category><![CDATA[New York]]></category><category><![CDATA[Washington, DC]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Social Insecurity, Sooner Than You Think ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/17/AR2008031702702.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/17/AR2008031702702.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ One of Washington's rites of spring is almost upon us. It's the wonks' version of the Cherry Blossom Festival: the release of the annual Social Security trustees' report showing the health of our nation's biggest social program. Each year, the report touches off a debate, mostly misguided, about Social Security's financial status. Given the political environment this year, you can expect more heat than usual when the report comes out. But you're unlikely to see much light. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Social]]></category><category><![CDATA[Insecurity,]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sooner]]></category><category><![CDATA[Than]]></category><category><![CDATA[You]]></category><category><![CDATA[Think]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Tax-Exempt Funds Yield a Surprise ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/10/AR2008031002719.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/10/AR2008031002719.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ It's amazing what you can find when you pay attention to detail. For instance, you might discover, as I did, that you can get a higher yield on a tax-exempt money market mutual fund than on a taxable Treasury fund. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Tax-Exempt]]></category><category><![CDATA[Funds]]></category><category><![CDATA[Yield]]></category><category><![CDATA[a]]></category><category><![CDATA[Surprise]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Christopher W. Alwine]]></category><category><![CDATA[U.S. Federal Reserve]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ When the Bulls Stopped Running ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/03/AR2008030303145.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/03/AR2008030303145.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 04 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ Although you won't find it listed on your calendar, we're approaching the anniversary of an epochal event. No, it has nothing to do with the NCAA basketball tournament. It's a different kind of March Madness: the end of the bull market that lasted for a generation and changed the way that Americans think about stocks.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713813681" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713813681" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[When]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[Bulls]]></category><category><![CDATA[Stopped]]></category><category><![CDATA[Running]]></category><category><![CDATA[Roger Ibbotson]]></category><category><![CDATA[United States]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Ibbotson Associates Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Philadelphia]]></category><category><![CDATA[Ted Aronson]]></category><category><![CDATA[National Collegiate Athletic Association]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Self-Portrait of a Turnaround Artist ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/18/AR2008021802007.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/18/AR2008021802007.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ You expect corporate crisis mavens like Steve Miller, veteran of a dozen turnarounds, to focus on only one thing at a time. But now, as his career winds down, Miller, 66, is doing two things simultaneously: talking about what he's learned in 30 years of troubleshooting while also trying to show he's a human being, not a calculator with legs. This narrative tension, as we English majors call it, is why I'm writing about Miller's autobiography, "The Turnaround Kid: What I Learned Rescuing America's Most Troubled Companies"(Collins, $25.95, 272 pages), due out in April. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Self-Portrait]]></category><category><![CDATA[of]]></category><category><![CDATA[a]]></category><category><![CDATA[Turnaround]]></category><category><![CDATA[Artist]]></category><category><![CDATA[Delphi Corporation]]></category><category><![CDATA[Steve Miller]]></category><category><![CDATA[United Auto Workers]]></category><category><![CDATA[Chrysler Holding LLC]]></category><category><![CDATA[Detroit]]></category><category><![CDATA[Lee Iacocca]]></category><category><![CDATA[Microsoft PowerPoint]]></category><category><![CDATA[Oregon]]></category><category><![CDATA[Federal-Mogul Corporation]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[General Motors Corporation]]></category><category><![CDATA[Reliance Group]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Michael D'Antonio]]></category><category><![CDATA[Olympia]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Little Reason To Shout Yahoo! ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020403132.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020403132.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ Most of the talk about Microsoft's hostile offer for Yahoo has focused on whether the deal could tip the scales in the battle for Internet dominance. Today, I'd like to steer the conversation to something a little more basic that almost everyone has overlooked: the numbers. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Little]]></category><category><![CDATA[Reason]]></category><category><![CDATA[To]]></category><category><![CDATA[Shout]]></category><category><![CDATA[Yahoo!]]></category><category><![CDATA[Microsoft Corporation]]></category><category><![CDATA[Yahoo! Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Joe Rosenberg]]></category><category><![CDATA[AOL LLC]]></category><category><![CDATA[Time Warner Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Wall Street]]></category><category><![CDATA[Barron's Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Fannie Mae]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Freddie Mac Holdings]]></category><category><![CDATA[Google Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Xerox Corporation]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[China]]></category><category><![CDATA[Eastern Europe]]></category><category><![CDATA[India]]></category><category><![CDATA[Jim Lockhart]]></category><category><![CDATA[Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight]]></category><category><![CDATA[Washington, DC]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Four Wall Street Titans Flunk Investing 101 ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/21/AR2008012101887.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/21/AR2008012101887.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ The one thing Wall Street knows how to do is raise money. The proof: Even with financial markets threatening to melt down worldwide, four of the Street's biggest firms have attracted a total of $50 billion of investor cash to help cover losses on subprime- mortgage-related carnage past and on carnage yet to come. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Four]]></category><category><![CDATA[Wall]]></category><category><![CDATA[Street]]></category><category><![CDATA[Titans]]></category><category><![CDATA[Flunk]]></category><category><![CDATA[Investing]]></category><category><![CDATA[101]]></category><category><![CDATA[Wall Street]]></category><category><![CDATA[Citigroup Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Morgan Stanley]]></category><category><![CDATA[Abu Dhabi]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Time Warner Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Conference USA]]></category><category><![CDATA[Marshall Thundering Herd]]></category><category><![CDATA[Singapore]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Tax Breaks Sweeten Countrywide Purchase ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/14/AR2008011402584.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/14/AR2008011402584.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ Guess who's helping Bank of America pay for its $4.1 billion purchase of Countrywide Financial? Answer: The taxpayers of the United States.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713815662" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713815662" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Tax]]></category><category><![CDATA[Breaks]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sweeten]]></category><category><![CDATA[Countrywide]]></category><category><![CDATA[Purchase]]></category><category><![CDATA[Bank of America Corporation]]></category><category><![CDATA[Countrywide Financial Corporation]]></category><category><![CDATA[Robert Willens]]></category><category><![CDATA[North Carolina National Bank]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[FirstRepublic Bank of Dallas]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Lehman Brothers Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[NCNB Corp.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Robert Willens LLC]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sam Zell]]></category><category><![CDATA[The Coca-Cola Company]]></category><category><![CDATA[Tribune Company]]></category><category><![CDATA[Means Committee]]></category><category><![CDATA[United States]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Borrower Beware ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/07/AR2008010703102.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/07/AR2008010703102.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ Do you want to know how to make 50 percent a year by putting your money into things that return only 15 percent? Welcome to the wonderful world of leverage, which is Wall Street speak for "using borrowed money." Leverage is the secret sauce that lets buyout firms (which now call themselves "private-equity houses") and hedge funds and smart traders make huge returns on their investments -- when they get it right, of course. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Borrower]]></category><category><![CDATA[Beware]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ '07: Buyouts and Bailouts ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/31/AR2007123102163.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/31/AR2007123102163.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ When I sat down for my annual review of what I've written over the past year, something jumped out at me. Usually, I write about widely diversified subjects. But in 2007, I devoted an inordinate number of columns to the shenanigans of leveraged buyout firms and the attempts by the world's central banks to rescue financial markets. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA['07:]]></category><category><![CDATA[Buyouts]]></category><category><![CDATA[and]]></category><category><![CDATA[Bailouts]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ The Fed's Thaw ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/24/AR2007122401833.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/24/AR2007122401833.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 25 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ The Federal Reserve Board's clout isn't what it was during Alan Greenspan's glory days. Back then, the Fed looked and acted all-powerful (even though it wasn't). Now it's visibly failing to unfreeze key debt markets in which giant institutions lend to each other. Those markets have frozen out of fear: No one knows what hidden time bombs are on other firms' balance sheets, or even on their own. The Fed hasn't been able to thaw the markets with interest rate cuts or by using its discount window, through which it lends directly to institutions, and it has been reduced to trying to bribe and cajole big players into borrowing its money as a substitute for borrowing from each other. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[The]]></category><category><![CDATA[Fed's]]></category><category><![CDATA[Thaw]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Recession Predictions and Investment Decisions ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/10/AR2007121001589.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/10/AR2007121001589.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ Everyone and his brother seems to be talking about recession these days. It dominates every public investment discussion and is the topic 24/7 on cable TV. But let me tell you a little secret: When it comes to investing, the question of whether we're in a recession (or are heading for one) just doesn't matter.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713817459" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713817459" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Recession]]></category><category><![CDATA[Predictions]]></category><category><![CDATA[and]]></category><category><![CDATA[Investment]]></category><category><![CDATA[Decisions]]></category><category><![CDATA[National Bureau of Economic Research]]></category><category><![CDATA[Bob Hall]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Alan Greenspan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Ben Bernanke]]></category><category><![CDATA[Stanford University]]></category><category><![CDATA[United States]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ A Newly Opened Investment Tax Gift ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/26/AR2007112602174.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/26/AR2007112602174.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ Thanksgiving has just passed; the year-end holidays are around the corner. So in the spirit of the season, I've got a gift for you. Sort of. It's not spiritual or religious, and doesn't even involve food. It's about money. To be specific, it's a way that average investors may one day be able to defer taxes on interest and dividends unless Washington closes a newly opened loophole. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[A]]></category><category><![CDATA[Newly]]></category><category><![CDATA[Opened]]></category><category><![CDATA[Investment]]></category><category><![CDATA[Tax]]></category><category><![CDATA[Gift]]></category><category><![CDATA[Barclays plc]]></category><category><![CDATA[Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[David Hariton]]></category><category><![CDATA[Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Lehman Brothers Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Andrew DeSouza]]></category><category><![CDATA[Robert Willens]]></category><category><![CDATA[U.S. Department of the Treasury]]></category><category><![CDATA[U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means]]></category><category><![CDATA[Washington, DC]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ No Payback for Chiefs When Profit Evaporates ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/12/AR2007111201696.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/12/AR2007111201696.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ Even if you flame out on Wall Street, you still get to keep the money. That's one of the lessons we learn from the fall of Chuck Prince and Stan O'Neal, who have bitten the dust because Citigroup and Merrill Lynch had to take billions of dollars in losses on securities that were overvalued on their books. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[No]]></category><category><![CDATA[Payback]]></category><category><![CDATA[for]]></category><category><![CDATA[Chiefs]]></category><category><![CDATA[When]]></category><category><![CDATA[Profit]]></category><category><![CDATA[Evaporates]]></category><category><![CDATA[Stan O'Neal]]></category><category><![CDATA[Charles Prince]]></category><category><![CDATA[Citigroup Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Wall Street]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Bailing Out the Big Fish ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/29/AR2007102902021.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/29/AR2007102902021.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 30 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ Why on earth should we protect banks from their mistakes? ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Bailing]]></category><category><![CDATA[Out]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[Big]]></category><category><![CDATA[Fish]]></category><category><![CDATA[Henry M. Paulson]]></category><category><![CDATA[Citigroup Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[New Jersey]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Investment Grades and the Easy AAA ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/22/AR2007102202109.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/22/AR2007102202109.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ It's amazing how easy it is to get lazy and comfortable and accept things as they seem to be instead of trying to see them as they are. That's true, I'm sorry to say, even for someone like me who urges eternal vigilance and makes a living writing about financial fiascos.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713819776" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713819776" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Investment]]></category><category><![CDATA[Grades]]></category><category><![CDATA[and]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[Easy]]></category><category><![CDATA[AAA]]></category><category><![CDATA[General Electric Company]]></category><category><![CDATA[Berkshire Hathaway Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Goldman Sachs Group Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[The Charlotte Observer]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Charlotte]]></category><category><![CDATA[Doris Burke]]></category><category><![CDATA[Wall Street]]></category><category><![CDATA[United States]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ An Unsavory Slice of Subprime ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/15/AR2007101501435.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/15/AR2007101501435.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ It's getting hard to wrap your brain around subprime mortgages, Wall Street's fancy name for junk home loans. There's so much subprime stuff floating around -- more than $1.5 trillion of loans, maybe $200 billion of losses, thousands of families facing foreclosure, umpteen politicians yapping -- that it's like the federal budget: It's just too big to be understandable. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[An]]></category><category><![CDATA[Unsavory]]></category><category><![CDATA[Slice]]></category><category><![CDATA[of]]></category><category><![CDATA[Subprime]]></category><category><![CDATA[California]]></category><category><![CDATA[Deutsche Bank AG]]></category><category><![CDATA[Goldman Sachs Group Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Tyson Foods Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Nicolas Weill]]></category><category><![CDATA[Wall Street]]></category><category><![CDATA[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]]></category><category><![CDATA[Florida]]></category><category><![CDATA[3M Company]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Long Beach Mortgage Company]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Doris Burke]]></category><category><![CDATA[Vickie Tillman]]></category><category><![CDATA[U.S. Department of the Treasury]]></category><category><![CDATA[New York]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Michaels Drove, Inspired Forbes Writers ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/08/AR2007100801565.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/08/AR2007100801565.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 09 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ I've finally gotten the last word in my 28-year joust with my former boss, James Walker Michaels, but not the way I wanted to. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Michaels]]></category><category><![CDATA[Drove,]]></category><category><![CDATA[Inspired]]></category><category><![CDATA[Forbes]]></category><category><![CDATA[Writers]]></category><category><![CDATA[Malcolm Forbes]]></category><category><![CDATA[Jim Michaels]]></category><category><![CDATA[Norman Pearlstine]]></category><category><![CDATA[BusinessWeek Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Detroit Free Press Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Forbes Media LLC]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[The New York Times Company]]></category><category><![CDATA[The Wall Street Journal]]></category><category><![CDATA[Time Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[James Walker Michaels]]></category><category><![CDATA[New York]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Penalizing the Prudent ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/01/AR2007100101633.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/01/AR2007100101633.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 02 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ One of the core principles of the U.S. medical profession is the Hippocratic oath, the most famous part of which is "Do no harm." It's too bad that the governors of the Federal Reserve Board don't have to take such a pledge when they assume office, because their recent interest rate cut has done a lot of harm to those of us who've managed our finances prudently. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Penalizing]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[Prudent]]></category><category><![CDATA[Countrywide Financial Corporation]]></category><category><![CDATA[Ben Bernanke]]></category><category><![CDATA[United States]]></category><category><![CDATA[U.S. Federal Reserve]]></category><category><![CDATA[Bank of America Corporation]]></category><category><![CDATA[Chrysler Holding LLC]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Hippocrates of Cos]]></category><category><![CDATA[Wall Street]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Dow Jones's Gem of a Stock Swap ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/24/AR2007092401605.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/24/AR2007092401605.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ Rupert Murdoch's takeover of Dow Jones, owner of the Wall Street Journal, has gotten O.J.-like coverage by us business-news types. Yet here I am, writing about it yet another time. Why? Because I'm interested in one little-noticed detail -- the way selected Dow Jones shareholders will be able to defer taxes on their gains by getting $60 a share worth of News Corp. stock rather than cash.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713822348" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713822348" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Dow]]></category><category><![CDATA[Jones's]]></category><category><![CDATA[Gem]]></category><category><![CDATA[of]]></category><category><![CDATA[a]]></category><category><![CDATA[Stock]]></category><category><![CDATA[Swap]]></category><category><![CDATA[Dow Jones & Co. Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[News Corporation Ltd.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Unilever NV]]></category><category><![CDATA[FORTUNE Magazine]]></category><category><![CDATA[Lehman Brothers Inc.]]></category><category><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Robert Willens]]></category><category><![CDATA[U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ The Long and Short of Private-Equity Taxes ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/17/AR2007091701589.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/17/AR2007091701589.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 18 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ One of the problems with trying to have a rational discussion about taxes is that so many people want to believe what's convenient rather than what's accurate. Believing, after all, requires so much less effort than thinking. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[The]]></category><category><![CDATA[Long]]></category><category><![CDATA[and]]></category><category><![CDATA[Short]]></category><category><![CDATA[of]]></category><category><![CDATA[Private-Equity]]></category><category><![CDATA[Taxes]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ A Little Clarity From the Subprime Chaos ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/10/AR2007091002121.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/10/AR2007091002121.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 11 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ There have been plenty of people talking about the big lessons we should learn from the subprime debacle that has been messing up markets this summer. So today, I'd like to depart from form and talk about two small lessons instead. One of them involves takeovers; the other involves investments. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[A]]></category><category><![CDATA[Little]]></category><category><![CDATA[Clarity]]></category><category><![CDATA[From]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[Subprime]]></category><category><![CDATA[Chaos]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Sleight-of-Hand Math for the Budget Deficit ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/03/AR2007090300880.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/03/AR2007090300880.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 04 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ Don't believe the hype: The deficit is much bigger than you think. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Sleight-of-Hand]]></category><category><![CDATA[Math]]></category><category><![CDATA[for]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[Budget]]></category><category><![CDATA[Deficit]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ A Safety Net for the Whales ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/20/AR2007082001539.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/20/AR2007082001539.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 21 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ Wall Street loves to talk about letting financial markets weed out the weak. But when the Street itself gets in trouble, it sticks out its little tin cup, asking for help. And gets it.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713827335" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713827335" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[A]]></category><category><![CDATA[Safety]]></category><category><![CDATA[Net]]></category><category><![CDATA[for]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[Whales]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ The Journal, in the Family but Out of Control ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/06/AR2007080601198.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/06/AR2007080601198.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 07 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ If you care about business news, you know by now that Rupert Murdoch has won control of the Wall Street Journal. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[The]]></category><category><![CDATA[Journal,]]></category><category><![CDATA[in]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[Family]]></category><category><![CDATA[but]]></category><category><![CDATA[Out]]></category><category><![CDATA[of]]></category><category><![CDATA[Control]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ These Days, the Dow's Big Swing Don't Mean a Thing ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/30/AR2007073001588.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/30/AR2007073001588.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 31 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ You've got to love the stock market. Just about 10 days ago -- on July 19, to be exact -- the Dow Jones industrials closed above 14,000 for the first (and so far only) time, and the financial world was full of happy chatter. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[These]]></category><category><![CDATA[Days,]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[Dow's]]></category><category><![CDATA[Big]]></category><category><![CDATA[Swing]]></category><category><![CDATA[Don't]]></category><category><![CDATA[Mean]]></category><category><![CDATA[a]]></category><category><![CDATA[Thing]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Blackstone, Sugar Daddies and a Sweet Deal ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/23/AR2007072301423.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/23/AR2007072301423.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 24 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ We'd all love to find an Uncle Sugar to fork over the dough we need to pay the income taxes we owe Uncle Sam. For most of us, alas, finding such a sugar daddy (or mommy) is only a fantasy. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Blackstone,]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sugar]]></category><category><![CDATA[Daddies]]></category><category><![CDATA[and]]></category><category><![CDATA[a]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sweet]]></category><category><![CDATA[Deal]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Wall Street Journal's Net Worth Isn't in Profits ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/04/AR2007060401853.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/04/AR2007060401853.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 05 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ If all you care about is reported profit, you wouldn't want any part of owning the Wall Street Journal. The paper, for all its cachet and influence, is at best marginally profitable; the profits of its parent, Dow Jones, come primarily from electronic data distribution. But the Journal, financial laggard though it may be, is the primary reason that Rupert Murdoch and possibly other players are willing to pay $5 billion or more for Dow Jones.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713830928" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713830928" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Wall]]></category><category><![CDATA[Street]]></category><category><![CDATA[Journal's]]></category><category><![CDATA[Net]]></category><category><![CDATA[Worth]]></category><category><![CDATA[Isn't]]></category><category><![CDATA[in]]></category><category><![CDATA[Profits]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Aflac Looks Smart on Pay ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/28/AR2007052801055.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/28/AR2007052801055.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 29 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ When the public face of your company is a duck, you can't afford to foul up your reputation. (Yes, you can groan now.) Take Aflac Insurance, best known for its ubiquitous quacking commercials. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Aflac]]></category><category><![CDATA[Looks]]></category><category><![CDATA[Smart]]></category><category><![CDATA[on]]></category><category><![CDATA[Pay]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Daimler Pays to Have Chrysler Towed Away ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/14/AR2007051401315.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/14/AR2007051401315.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 15 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ It seems only fitting that DaimlerChrysler is dumping its stricken Chrysler subsidiary onto a firm called Cerberus Capital Management, which is named for the mythical three-headed dog that guarded the gates of hell. That's because when it comes to deals from hell, Daimler-Benz's purchase of Chrysler ranks close to the top of the list. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Daimler]]></category><category><![CDATA[Pays]]></category><category><![CDATA[to]]></category><category><![CDATA[Have]]></category><category><![CDATA[Chrysler]]></category><category><![CDATA[Towed]]></category><category><![CDATA[Away]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ A Clash of Values ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/01/AR2007050101841.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/01/AR2007050101841.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Wed, 02 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ There's a real difference between journalistic giants and stock market pygmies. That's the lesson of Monday's $5 billion hostile offer by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. for Dow Jones, owner of the nation's leading business newspaper, the Wall Street Journal. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[A]]></category><category><![CDATA[Clash]]></category><category><![CDATA[of]]></category><category><![CDATA[Values]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Tribune Deal Makes Zell Ace of Tax Dodgers ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/30/AR2007043001553.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/30/AR2007043001553.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 01 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ Whenever you see a deal involving Los Angeles's Chandler family, you usually see a tax dodge. And sure enough, the pending sale of Tribune Co., the big media firm in which the Chandlers are the largest shareholders, exploits a loophole so gaping that we taxpayers can only pray that someone closes it quickly. But it's not the Chandlers, media magnates (L.A. Times, Newsday, the Baltimore Sun), whose shenanigans I've tracked for 15 years, who are dodging taxes here. It's Sam Zell, the Chicago real-estate mogul who's buying control of Tribune.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713834546" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713834546" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Tribune]]></category><category><![CDATA[Deal]]></category><category><![CDATA[Makes]]></category><category><![CDATA[Zell]]></category><category><![CDATA[Ace]]></category><category><![CDATA[of]]></category><category><![CDATA[Tax]]></category><category><![CDATA[Dodgers]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ GM's High-Performance Pension Machine ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/09/AR2007040901262.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/09/AR2007040901262.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 10 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ There hasn't been much good news out of General Motors in recent years, but you'll be glad to know that at least one part of GM's U.S. operation is finally fixed: its pension funds. GM may be having a hard time turning around its auto business and getting its financial statements straight, but it's kicked butt in pensionland. In fact, GM's funds have done so well that the company has switched about $20 billion in pension assets to lower-risk bonds from higher-risk stocks. It's the equivalent of taking chips off the table after you've gotten ahead of the game. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[GM's]]></category><category><![CDATA[High-Performance]]></category><category><![CDATA[Pension]]></category><category><![CDATA[Machine]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Ahoy, Blackstone, and Ready the Harpoons ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/02/AR2007040201592.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/02/AR2007040201592.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 03 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ If you're wondering why people like me keep writing about Blackstone Group, the big private-equity player, there's a simple answer: The whale that comes to the surface gets harpooned. And whales don't get much bigger than Blackstone, which lately seems to be bidding on every asset in sight. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Ahoy,]]></category><category><![CDATA[Blackstone,]]></category><category><![CDATA[and]]></category><category><![CDATA[Ready]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[Harpoons]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Glimpses Into Blackstone's Magic ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601732.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601732.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 27 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ What a letdown. Blackstone Group, the giant "private" equity firm, finally filed its going-public documents last week -- but left out what Wall Street's financial voyeurs most wanted to see: how much of the firm is owned by co-founders Steve Schwarzman and Pete Peterson, what their stakes might be worth and how much they and their partners have been paying themselves. It was like watching "Sex and the City" on basic cable: The good stuff's gone missing. Bummer. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Glimpses]]></category><category><![CDATA[Into]]></category><category><![CDATA[Blackstone's]]></category><category><![CDATA[Magic]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Private Equity, Public Opportunity ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/19/AR2007031901547.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/19/AR2007031901547.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ You've got to be kidding me. That may be the only appropriate response to the news that the kings of "private" equity, Blackstone Group, may soon take their own company public.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713837384" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713837384" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Private]]></category><category><![CDATA[Equity,]]></category><category><![CDATA[Public]]></category><category><![CDATA[Opportunity]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ 'Forever' Stamps Save Time, Not Money ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/12/AR2007031201428.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/12/AR2007031201428.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 13 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ Okay, you're sitting around dealing with Big Financial Questions. Where's the stock market going? Will your 401(k) be fat enough for you to retire on caviar rather than cat food? How are you going to pay your kids' college tuition? Forget all that small stuff. Your new Big Economic Challenge for 2007 comes down to this: Should you speculate in U.S. postage stamps? ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA['Forever']]></category><category><![CDATA[Stamps]]></category><category><![CDATA[Save]]></category><category><![CDATA[Time,]]></category><category><![CDATA[Not]]></category><category><![CDATA[Money]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ The Week the Trend Became Your Enemy ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/05/AR2007030501364.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/05/AR2007030501364.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 06 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ When I write about the stock market, I usually tell you to ignore the short-term noise and concentrate on the long-term picture. Today, however, I'd like to depart from form and talk with you about what we can learn from the past week's sharp declines in worldwide stock prices. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[The]]></category><category><![CDATA[Week]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[Trend]]></category><category><![CDATA[Became]]></category><category><![CDATA[Your]]></category><category><![CDATA[Enemy]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ From One Case Study to Another ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/26/AR2007022601229.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/26/AR2007022601229.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 27 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ In its brief but glorious life, JetBlue Airways has become a business school case study. Business junkies everywhere have praised the customer service, new planes and clever marketing that turned JetBlue from a concept into the nation's eighth-largest airline in only eight years. But now that JetBlue has bungled its way into a Valentine's Day customer massacre and become the butt of late-night comics' jokes, there are two more lessons it has to teach us: First, if you're going to screw up, don't do it in the nation's biggest media market during a slow news week. Second, airlines are an unforgiving, financially dreadful business that have been net money losers for 60 years. ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[From]]></category><category><![CDATA[One]]></category><category><![CDATA[Case]]></category><category><![CDATA[Study]]></category><category><![CDATA[to]]></category><category><![CDATA[Another]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
<item><title><![CDATA[ Yummy Tax Toppings Sweeten the Sale ]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/12/AR2007021201336.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/12/AR2007021201336.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns</guid><pubDate>Tue, 13 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EST</pubDate><description><![CDATA[ It's hard to turn on a TV this time of year without seeing an ad showing smiling people who've supposedly just learned they'll be getting income-tax refunds thanks to a tax service or software program.<br clear="all"/><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713839394" target="_blank"><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/wpni.rss/opinion/columns;pos=ad9;tile=9;ad=rss;sz=479x40;ord=41713839394" border="0" vspace="5"></a> ]]></description><dc:creator><![CDATA[Allan Sloan]]></dc:creator><category><![CDATA[Yummy]]></category><category><![CDATA[Tax]]></category><category><![CDATA[Toppings]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sweeten]]></category><category><![CDATA[the]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sale]]></category><category><![CDATA[]]></category></item>
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