bankers

RIM eyes hiring investment bankers: First step to a sale?

Research In Motion is reportedly prepping to hire bankers to explore strategic alternatives.

According to Bloomberg, RIM is looking for an adviser to explore options, which typically include a sale or restructuring.

Analysts have been speculating on RIM's breakup value for months, but the hang-up is often the same. RIM needs to steady its smartphone lineup and demonstrate the staying power of its next-gen operating system before buyers become interested.

For instance, Northern Securities analyst Sameet Kanade recently said in a research note that no buyer will emerge until RIM steadies the ship. In the meantime, Kanade gave RIM … Read more

Digital activists release more banker data

Online activists are at it again. Supporters of the Occupy Wall Street protests today released more personal information on bankers, including the man at the helm of the financial institution whose downfall ranks as the largest bank failure in the U.S.

Information was posted to the Web about Kerry Killinger who was removed as CEO of Washington Mutual shortly before it collapsed in 2008. He was reportedly awarded more than $25 million in compensation that year, including a $15 million severance payment. A lawsuit filed by the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Company this year accuses Killinger of leading … Read more

AT&T may divest $8B in assets to close T-Mobile deal

AT&T's deal to buy T-Mobile USA could end up being even costlier than originally thought.

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the telecommunications giant has hired bankers to advise it on the potential sale of customers and spectrum--assets that may be worth $8 billion or more.

It's no huge surprise that AT&T will need to make concessions. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson has said as much. But this is the first time there has been a value placed on the trade-offs it will have to make to get the deal done.

The … Read more

Financial friend

Specialized financial calculators can be incredibly useful, helping you calculate everything from how long it will take to pay off your credit card to how much money you can expect to have when you retire. MyPersonal Banker is a collection of more than 30 such calculators. Although the program works, there are other options that are easier to use.

When we installed MyPersonal Banker the program prompted us to register before we continued. We had a choice between that and a 45-second waiting period each time we opened the program. We opted to wait and see what MyPersonal Banker had … Read more

That's amore!

WordBanker English-Italian allows users to practice their Italian vocabulary using several different formats. Although the program is not the most intuitive we've ever seen, it's fairly easy to use and is a great way to improve your Italian vocabulary.

The program's interface is not particularly attractive and can sometimes be hard to navigate. Each function opens a separate window within the program, and it's hard to know at first if closing the window is going to take you back to the main menu or close the program completely. Continued use of the program helps with this. … Read more

French vocabulary builder

WordBanker English-French allows users to practice their French vocabulary using several different formats. Although the program is not the most intuitive we've ever seen, it's fairly easy to use and is a great way to improve your French vocabulary.

The Wall Street gold-diggers site is a joke, right?

They are surely Mistresses of the Universe.

Two writers and a lawyer created the site Dabagirls.com. Yes. Dating a Banker Anonymous.

The site purports to be a support group for all the forlorn women who have been unlucky enough to share their thread count with a Wall Street banker. But is it merely a fun wheeze to make oodles of cash from a little satirical jape or two?

According to the site's soulful opening lines: "Dating A Banker Anonymous is a safe place where women can come together--free from the scrutiny of feminists--and share their tearful tales … Read more

Search for your home with your smartphone

It sure is hard to keep your home these days, and it's not a good time to sell it, either. But if you just want to look around, checking the market, it has never been more convenient.

Recently, I blogged about how you can search for a new home on your iPhone, but now, if you own a BlackBerry or any other smartphone, you can do that, too.

Coldwell Banker, the company that released the iPhone-optimized home-hunting Web site, announced recently its new Web sites designed specifically for BlackBerry and other smartphone users.

BlackBerry owners can just go to … Read more

Search for homes with your iPhone

Coldwell Banker Real Estate is out with a new version of its Web site customized for iPhone users.

The new version shares the same domain as the company's traditional site but automatically recognizes iPhone end users to serve up the iPhone interface. iPhone users just need to go to www.coldwellbanker.com from their iPhone, without having to download or install any special software. The new site offers a very well-laid-out look and feel, along with convenient navigation on the iPhone's screen, especially the property listings search and home value estimator.

You can now search for homes on … Read more

Microsoft and Yahoo, sans investment bankers

Keeping tabs on Microsoft's efforts to win Yahoo, Matt Karnitschnig of the Wall Street Journal reported Friday on some interesting events.

As reported Thursday in News.com, the "radio silence" between the two companies has taken a shift and the parties have held informal merger discussions.

An interesting note in Karnitschnig's report is that the talks Monday in the Valley were held with only senior executives of the companies and no investment bankers from either side.

And while it's not unusual for executives to chat informally about "what if" merger scenarios without bankers … Read more