Kraft boss bumps Pepsi chief as top U.S. woman exec

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Kraft Foods boss Irene Rosenfeld is the most powerful woman in U.S. business, Fortune magazine said on Thursday, bumping PepsiCo Inc chief Indra Nooyi into second spot after five years on top.

The 14th annual ranking was determined by the size and importance of the woman's business in the global economy, the health and direction of the business, the arc of the woman's career and her social and cultural relevance.

"Rosenfeld made a big show of power this year with her decision to split Kraft into two companies, a reversal of her previous strategy of expanding through acquisitions," Fortune magazine said of the Kraft chief executive, who led a hostile $18 billion takeover of Britain's Cadbury last year.

"On Nooyi's watch, PepsiCo has forged further into nutrition-focused products," Fortune said. "But Nooyi has been criticized for taking her eye off the core North American soda business, which has lost share to Coke."

Nooyi was the only woman in the top 10 most powerful to be among the top 10 highest paid, coming in at No. 9 after earning $14 million last year. The highest paid woman was Oracle President Safra Catz with $42 million.

Just a week after being appointed chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co, Meg Whitman -- who was chief executive of eBay Inc until 2008 and last year ran a failed bid to become governor of California -- returned to the ranking of the top 50 most powerful business women at No. 9.

"While her ascent to the role is a sure sign of her power, it remains to be seen if she can fix the computer maker and bring order to its dysfunctional board," Fortune said.

Whitman filled a top 10 vacancy left by the firing over the phone last month of Yahoo Inc Chief Executive Carol Bartz, who has now dropped off the Fortune list.

PUSH FOR WOMEN IN BOARDROOMS

Media mogul Oprah Winfrey fell 10 spots to No. 16 with Fortune saying her influence had waned after hosting the final season of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in May. Johnson & Johnson Vice Chairman, Executive Committee, Sherilyn McCoy, filled that top 10 opening, coming in at the 10th spot.

Otherwise the top of the list was largely unchanged from 2010.

Archer Daniels Midland Chief Executive Patricia Woertz came in at No. 3, followed by DuPont Chief Executive Ellen Kullman, Wellpoint Chief Executive Angela Braly and Avon Products Chief Executive Andrea Jung.

Rounding out the top 10 was IBM Senior Vice President Ginni Rometty at No. 7, followed by Xerox Chief Executive Ursula Burns.

While women represent about half of the United States' white-collar workers, they are a rarity in the upper echelons of business, with female chief executives running just 3 percent of companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index.

More companies have been focusing recently on increasing their female board representation as more and more research has shown that companies with women directors or even just more diverse boards tend to do better than those with executive teams made up entirely of men.

Some countries such as Norway and Spain have introduced quotas requiring a minimum level of female board representation.

A former British trade minister wants FTSE 100 companies to have 25 percent women on boards by 2015 and EU internal market commissioner Michel Barnier has put gender diversity for bank boards on his radar in the wake of the financial crisis.

Credit -yahoonews

What is Marketing

What is marketing?

... 1. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: ' I am very rich. Marry me! ' - That's Direct Marketing'

... 2. You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says: ' He's very rich. 'Marry him.' -That's Advertising'

... 3. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and get her telephone number. The next day, you call and say: ' Hi, I'm very rich. 'Marry me - That's Telemarketing'

... 4. You're at a party and see gorgeous girl. You get up and straighten your tie, you walk up to her and pour her a drink, you open the door (of the car)for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her ride and then say:'By the way, I'm rich. Will you 'Marry Me?' - That's Public Relations'

... 5. You're at a party and see gorgeous girl. She walks up to you and says:'You are very rich! 'Can you marry ! Me?' - That's Brand Recognition'


6. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: 'I am very rich. Marry me!' She gives you a nice hard slap on your face. - ' That's Customer Feedback '

7. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: 'I am very rich. Marry me!' And she introduces you to her husband. - 'That's demand and supply gap'


8. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say anything, another person come and tell her: 'I'm rich. Will you marry me?' and she goes with him - 'That's competition eating into your market share'

9. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and before you say: 'I'm rich, Marry me!' your wife arrives. - ' That's restriction for entering new markets'

JUST FOR LAUGH

Global Growth at Risk

U.S. stocks were thrashed Thursday, with the major indexes taking their hardest single-day hit in five weeks, amid widespread selling of stocks and commodities on escalated fears about the global economy.

After falling almost 528 points during the session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA -3.51%  finished with a drop of 391.01 points, or 3.5%, at 10,733.83.

The battering left the Dow nearly 14 points above its lowest close for the year and represented its steepest drop since Aug. 18.

All 30 of the blue-chip index’s components lost ground, with United Technologies Corp. UTX +0.16%  hardest hit, its shares tumbling 8.8%.

The negative sentiment taking hold among investors is “driven by the bank runs in Europe, and some of the European banks are rumored to be looking in the Middle East for capital; it’s like a replay of 2008 for some of the U.S. banks,” said Charlie Smith, chief investment officer at Fort Pitt Capital.

“When you talk about bank recapitalizing and going to places like Dubai to do it, everything echoes back to 2008 except economic fundamentals,” said Lazard’s Hogan.

U.S. stocks were part of a global stock selloff as investors also reacted to the Federal Reserve’s statement late Wednesday. The central bank warned of risks to the economic outlook and unveiled a bond-swap program, seen as something that would have minimal sway in revitalizing growth.

“The Fed cannot engender growth; the Fed cannot engender risk-taking. What it can do is buffer declines, but let’s see a real decline,” said Smith at Fort Pitt Capital, pointing out that the S&P 500 is down 5.8% for the year to date, on a total return basis. “Let’s talk when we make it 18% or 20%. The Fed is going to hold their fire until they see the whites of people’s panicked eyes.” 

Credit -marketwatch

LV Island Maison

Japanese visit from Waseda University

Recently, the Japanese students from Waseda came over to our University for an excursion and we brought them around school.

They were really nice people, super out-going, definitely no awkward moments throughout the entire tour around school.


They have wonderful personalities and are definitely easy to talk to. Even though English is not their strong language, I must say that they speak really, really great English. I was really, really impressed with the level of their English command.


Below is a picture of the wonderful and superb professor from Japan. He is really an awesome guy and he is even an advisor to the government ! How cool is that !!!





We had a lot of fun throughout the tour and some asked me about investments, the modules we taking in Banking and stuff like that. I thought it was really enjoyable talking to them about banking and finance in a casual manner.


I always thought those issues are abit heavy and dry but surprisingly it was an awesome experience talking to them about these topics.


Later on, 4 teams made presentations on valuations about 4 various companies, namely Kikkoman, TOTO, Konami and Ferrotec.


I must say I was really, really impressed. They presented on valuation, something I learnt in my Equity Securities class and that topic is really difficult and yet they were able to present it wonderfully and the best part is that they presented in English.


My god ! If I were asked to present equity securities in Japanese, I will for sure fail terribly.


They all have really left a deep impression on me because of their outgoing personalities and their passion for learning.


Its through them that I see that we really have to see learning as an enjoyable thing and not to take it for granted. They are working so hard over at Waseda University, learning such a difficult topic in English and so we should not complain about learning here in Singapore.


No doubt its tough but I think its definitely a wonderful opportunity to be able to study and learn about new things in school!


They definitely motivated me a whole lot and for them, I will study even harder :)

Stark steps down from European Central Bank

The European Central Bank on Friday said Juergen Stark, a member of the Executive Board and the Governing Council, will step down, leaving his post by the end of the year for "personal reasons." 




Earlier Friday, news reports said Stark would step down due to disagreements over the ECB's bond-buying program. Stark was reportedly opposed to the reactiviation of bond purchases through the ECB's Securities Market Program last month. In a news release, the ECB said Stark would remain in his current position until a successor is appointed, which would be by the end of the year. 



Stark's term was set to expire in May 2014. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet thanked Stark "wholeheartedly for his outstanding contribution to European unity over many years," the ECB said. 




News of Stark's resignation put added pressure on the euro and European and U.S. equities, analysts said.