Easy Money >>> FOREX

Working Wounded: Full Disclosure Too Many Businesses Aren’t Straight With Their Employees, and the Government Is No Better By BOB ROSNER

Feb. 7, 2007 - It’s almost impossible to live the last few weeks in the United States without hearing the number 21,500 a lot. For all the Rip van Winkles out there, this is the number of new troops that we’re being told will be sent to Baghdad.

To me, the troop announcement really illustrates the dangers of partial disclosure — both in the political realm and in business. It should teach everyone in the business trenches about the importance of telling the truth right from the start.

The reality of the new Iraq offensive is not about 21,500 additional soldiers, because for every soldier on the battlefield, there are additional support troops required to back them up. From transporting fuel to maintaining barracks to staffing hospitals — troop numbers are only part of the story.

Estimates here vary. Some people believe that these additional troops will require only 15,000 additional support troops. Others argue the number will be closer to 28,000. Either way, the real number is pushing 40 large (maybe I’ve been watching too much of “The Sopranos,” but I just love replacing thousand with the word “large” when referring to money).

It’s easy to talk about the irresponsibility of government when it comes to these number lapses. But many corporations, and many of us, are every bit as guilty of a serious lack of disclosure.

Sarbanes-Oxley has forced corporations to be more truthful. But it’s not enough (and before you start e-mailing me your complaints about SOX, don’t blame government when WorldCom, Tyco and numerous other scofflaws are responsible. And if you decide to write to me saying we should lighten up on government regulation of corporations, please explain how corporations can be trusted in light of the backdating options scandal that is currently engulfing hundreds of businesses.)

Sure, SOX burns a lot of time and money to comply with, but the integrity of the financial markets is worth a bit of hassle to maintain, don’t you think?

Every time I’m doing research for a talk, I always hear management complaining about the lack of loyalty and trust in today’s work force. Ironically, I often hear the same thing from employees about management. To me this is not an unrelated issue. I believe that corporations hire smart people and then seem surprised when these smart people are alienated by the games that many corporations try to play with them.

So what is the solution here? We all need to learn how to rip the Band-Aid off quickly when it comes to bad news — get everything on the table and get it over with. Sure, it will be a bit more painful, but at least you’ll be done with the damage and won’t have to deal with it over and over again.

To the government: Tell us the real number of troops involved.

And to business: Tell us the real cost of the new benefit change, or whatever painful corporate announcement that is in the offing.

Just tell us the truth, because unlike the famous Jack Nicholson line, we can handle the truth better than a bunch of spin and smoke and mirrors.

Quote of the Week

“When a man sells 11 ounces for 12, he makes a compact with the devil, and sells himself for the value of an ounce.” — Henry Ward Beecher

Book Excerpt of the Week

From: “What Leaders Really Do” by John Kotter (Harvard Business School Press, 1999)

“When managers today produce successful change of any significance in organizations, regardless of the specific approach, the process is time consuming and highly complex, never a one-two-three, hit-and-run affair.”

Blog Ballot Results

Here are the results from a recent Working Wounded Blog/ABCNEWS.com online ballot:

How in touch are you?

Stuck in the ’80s, 1.8 percent
Embarrassed to say how stuck I am, 15 percent
Stuck in the ’90s, 15.9 percent
I’m up to date, 67.2 percent

Bob Rosner is a best-selling author, an internationally syndicated columnist, popular speaker, and a recent addition to the community of bloggers. He welcomes your comments at bob@workingwounded.com.

This work is the opinion of the columnist and in no way reflects the opinion of ABC News.

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - The euro zone current account slipped into deficit in February after six consecutive months of surpluses.

The current account was 5.3 bln eur in deficit in February in seasonally adjusted terms, after a surplus of 3.5 bln in January, the European Central Bank said.

The January surplus was revised from a provisional estimate of 2.7 bln eur.

Over the 12 months to February, the current account was in deficit by a total of 3.3 bln eur, equivalent to around 0.1 pct of GDP, the ECB said.

In February, deficits of 6.6 bln eur in current transfers and 5.1 bln in the income account outweighed surpluses of 3.8 bln eur in services and 2.6 bln in goods trade, the ECB said.

The income account covers investment income flows and wages paid to workers by employers based in a different economy. Current transfers cover transfers between governments and workers’ remittances.

In unadjusted terms the current account was 7.2 bln eur in deficit in February, after a deficit of 4.5 bln eur in January.

steve.whitehouse@thomson.com

sw/hjp

COPYRIGHT

Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.

The following are stock buybacks announced over the past 30 days.

(Interested in learning more about buybacks and why they’re important? Check out http://www.thestreet.com/funds/investingbasics/10269276.html)

COMPANY SYMBOL AMOUNT NOTES
3/02/2007
Appalachian Bancshares APAB $2.5 mlln over 1 year
Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd CP 5.5 mln shares in 2007
3/01/2007
American International Group, Inc. AIG $8 bln expands current plan
Arch Capital Group ACGL $1 bln over 2 years
Clifton Savings Bancorp CSBK 615,000 shares prior plan complete
Constellation Brands STZ $500 mln
OmniVision Technologies Inc. OVTI $100 mln
Thermo Fisher Scientific TMO $300 mln prior plan complete
Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates VSEA $100 mln adds to prior plan
Verizon Communications VZ 100 mln shares prior plan terminated
2/28/2007
Computer Task Group CTGX 1 mln shares adds to prior plan
Endurance Specialty Holdings ENH 2 mln shares over 2 years
Liberty Media Corporation LCAPA $1 bln
Papa John’s International, Inc. PZZA $50 mln adds to prior plan
UTEK Corporation UTK $4 mln over 12 months
Waters Corporation WAT $500 mln prior plan complete
2/27/2007
CBS Corp. CBS $1.5 bln
CSF Bancorp CITZ 600,000 shares adds to prior plan
Citizens Communications CZN $250 mln over 12 months
DirecTV Group DTV $1 bln prior plan complete
Dreamworks Animation DWA $150 mln over 18 months
Federated Department Stores FD $4 bln adds to prior plan
Illumina ILMN $75 mln over 6 months
2/26/2007
Affiliated Managers Group AMG 3 mln shares
Cardinal Financial Corporation CFNL 1 mln sharesn 4% of outstanding
Innospec Inc. IOSP $5 mln through May 2007
MDS Inc. MDZ $431.3 mln dutch auction tender offer
Xilinx XLNX $1.5 bln adds to prior plan
XL Capital Ltd. XL $1 bln includes prior plan
2/23/2007
Lam Research Corp. LRCX $750 mln adds to prior plan
Lincoln National Corp. LNC $2 bln adds to prior plan
MFB Corp. MFBC 5% of outstanding 66,000 shares
PMI Group PMI $150 mln adds to prior plan
2/22/2007
Covance Inc. CVD 3 mln shares adds to prior plan
CIBER CBR $10 mln
Eastern Insurance Holdings EIHI 5% of outstanding
Hartford Financial Group HBOS 300,000 shares prior plan complete
Heritage Financial Group HBOS 300,000 shares prior plan complete
KLA-Tencor Corp. KLAC 10 mln shares adds to prior plan
Lamar Advertising LAMR $500 mln adds to prior plan
M&T Bank Corp. MTB 5 mln shares 4.6% of outstanding
RC2 Corp. RCRC $75 mln over 1 year
Tractor Supply Co. TSCO $200 mln over 3 years
2/21/2007
Anglo American PLC AAUK $3 bln
Annapolis Bancorp ANNB 5% of outstanding 200,000 shares
Eastman Chemical Co. EMN $300 mln replaces prior plan
LandAmerica Financial Group LFG 1.5 mln shares 8.5% of outstanding
Medco Health Solutions MHS $3 bln adds to prior plan
2/20/2007
American Tower Corporation AMT $1.5 bln over 1 year
A.O. Smith Corp. AOS 1 mln shares
Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc. BBW $25 mln over 1 year
Carter’s Inc. CRI $100 mln
Kraft Foods Inc. KFT $5 bln over 2 years
Rx Processing Corp. RXPC 15 mln shares
Sealy Corporation ZZ $100 mln
2/19/2007
Service Corporation International SCI $164 mln adds to prior plan
2/16/2007
Honeywell HON $3 bln adds to prior plan
Hubbell Inc. HUBA $200 mln upon completion of prior plan
Rogers Corporation ROG $50 mln
2/15/2007
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. ABG 1.3 mln shares
Avaya Inc. AV $500 mln over 2 years
Caterpillar Inc. CAT $7.5 bln over 5 years
Estee Lauder Cos. EL 20 mln shares adds to prior plan
Idexx Laboratories IDXX 2 mln shares adds to prior plan
Preformed Line Products Company PLPC 200,000 shares 3.7% of outstanding
Sterling Bancorp STL 800,000 shares adds to prior plan
T. Rowe Price Group TROW 15 mln shares adds to prior plan
Xerox Corp. XRX $500 mln adds to prior plan
2/14/2007
Archer Daniels Midland Company ADM $400 mln
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. BNI 30 mln shares adds to prior plan
CSX Corporation CSX $2 bln through 2008
Diebold, Inc. DBD 2 mln shares adds to prior plan
NutriSystem Inc. NTRI $200 mln expires 8/07
2/13/2007
Blonder Tongue Laboratories Inc. BDR 100,000 shares adds to prior plan
Centennial Bank Holdings CBHI 924,490 shares adds to prior plan
CBIZ Inc. CBZ 5 mln shares 66.6 mln shares outstanding
Keithley Instruments Inc. KEI 2 mln shares replaces prior plan
Rockwell Collins COL $500 mln replaces prior plan
2/12/2007
3M Co. MMM $7 bln over 2 years
Administaff Inc. ASF 1 mln shares adds to prior plan
Advent Software ADVS 2.25 mln shares adds to prior plan
Anixter International Inc. AXE $100 mln prior plan complete
2/9/2007
ConocoPhillips COP $3 bln adds to prior plan
Nelnet NNI 10 mln shares including prior plan
Ohio Valley Banc Corp. OVBC 175,000 shares over 1 year
Saifun Semiconductors Ltd. SFUN 1.5 mln shares 4.8% of outstanding
2/8/2007
Alliant Energy Corp. LNT $200 mln adds to prior plan
Black & Decker BDK 3 mln shares adds to prior plan
Broadcom Corp. BRCM $1 bln over 12-18 months
Express Scripts ESRX $1 bln if no Caremark merger
Global Cash Access Holdings GCA $50 mln
Juniper Networks JNPR $1 bln adds to prior plan
Perrigo Co. PRGO $60 mln over 2 years
Smith & Nephew SNN $1.5 bln over 2 years
UPS UPS $2 bln including prior plan
2/7/2007
Corporate Executive Board EXBD $200 mln adds to prior plan
Equifax EFX $250 mln adds to prior plan
Hooker Furniture HOFT $20 mln including prior plan
Pioneer Natural Resources Co. PXD $300 mln prior plan complete
Rockwell Automation ROK $1 bln
2/6/2007
BHP Billiton Ltd. BHP $10 bln
Gartner Inc. IT $200 mln replaces prior plan
LSB Financial Corp. LSBI 100,000 shares
Pulaski Financial Corp. PULB 5% of outstanding prior plan complete
2/5/2007
Avocent Corp. AVCT 2 mln shares adds to prior plan
Bank Mutual BKMU 3 mln shares adds to prior plan
Federal Agriculture Mortgage Corp. AGM 1 mln shares prior plan complete
Hewitt Associates HEW $750 mln over 24 months
Providence Service Corp. PRSC 1 mln shares
Simpson Manufacturing SSD $50 mln through 2007
2/2/2007
Commerce Bancshares CBSH 2.84 mln shares adds to prior plan
Noble NE 10 mln shares adds to prior plan
Temple-Inland TIN 5 mln shares adds to prior plan
TJX Cos. TJX $1 bln adds to prior plan
2/1/2007
Bemis BMS 3 mln shares adds to prior plan
Hanesbrands Inc. HBI 10 mln shares
Lehman Brothers Holdings LEH $822 mln adds to prior plan
MBIA MBI $1 bln adds to prior plan
St. Paul travelers STA $3 bln replaces prior plan
Wesco International WCC $400 mln
1/31/2007
Cardinal Health CAH $1.5 bln adds to prior plan
FirstEnergy FE 16 mln shares 330 mln shares outstanding
Fiserv FISV 10 mln shares prior plan complete
Griffin Land & Nurseries GRIF 150,000 shares over 12 months
Labor Ready LRW $75 mln adds to prior plan
McGraw-Hill Cos. MHP 45 mln shares 12.7% of outstanding
NuCO2 NOCO $50 mln through 2007
Sonic SONC $89.3 mln adds to prior plan
1/30/2007
Atlas America ATLS 1.95 mln shares dutch auction tender offer
Concur Technologies CNQR 2 mln shares over 2 years
Leadis Technology LDIS 2.5 mln shares through 2007
Entergy Etr $1.5 bln
National Instruments NATI 1.5 mln shares adds to prior plan
Union Pacific UNP 20 mln shares over 3 years
1/29/2007
Brocade Communications Systems BRCD $200 mln
First Financial Holdings FFCH 600,000 shares 5% of outstanding
Gymboree GYMB $50 mln over 1 year
Marathon Oil Corp. MRO $500 mln adds to prior plan
U.S. Express Enterprises XPRSA $15 mln over 1 year
1/26/2007
Sturm, Ruger & Co. RGR $20 mln
BankUnited Financial Corp. BKUNA 600,000 shares adds to prior plan
Capital One Financial Corp. COF $3 bln
CIT Group CIT $500 mln adds to prior plan
National City Corp. NCC 75 mln shares dutch auction tender offer
Parker Hannifin PH 5.3 mln shares adds to prior plan
St. Jude Medical STJ $1 bln
Symantec SYMC $1 bln prior plan complete
Tempur-Pedic TPX $100 mln
1/24/2007
Associated Banc-Corp ASBC 5% of outstanding adds to prior plan
Bank of America BAC 200 mln shares adds to prior plan
Cypress Semiconductor CY $300 mln
East West Bancorp EWBC $30 mln
eBay EBAY $2 bln adds to prior plan
FreightCar America RAIL $50 mln
MB Financial Inc. MBFI 1 mln shares over 12 months
Rome Bancorp ROME 423,000 shares over 12 months
Charles Schwab SCHW $500 mln adds to prior plan
Varian VARI $100 mln prior plan complete
Willow Financial Bancorp WFBC 5% of outstanding over 2 years
1/23/2007
CKE Restaurants CKR $50 mln adds to prior plan
Integrated Device Technology IDT $200 mln prior plan complete
Provident Financial Holdings PROV 5% of outstanding prior plan complete
Southcoast Financial Corp. SOCB 547,194 shares 10% of outstanding
1/22/2007
Canadian Natural Resources CNQ 5% of outstanding over 12 months
Citizens South Banking Corp. CSBC 400,000 shares adds to prior plan
Eaton Corp. ETN 10 mln shares replaces prior plan
Plumas Bancorp PLBC 250,000 shares 5% of outstanding
Source: The Online Investor