Lots of odds and ends in the news today, as we wrap up a rocky week on Wall Street. Just hours after losing its triple A credit rating from Moody's, bond insurer Financial Guaranty Insurance or FGIC asked the New York State Insurance Department for permission to split into two companies - one to insure safer muni bonds and another to handle riskier structured finance bonds. I spoke with bond strategist Marilyn Cohen of Envision Capital about the FGIC situation earlier today. She thinks fellow bond insurers Ambac and MBIA will likely cave to public pressure to split their businesses as well.
In other news, another sign of recessionary pressures on the economy as the latest University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index showed a sharp plunge. Susie Gharib asks the head of the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment, Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Jim Owens about his economic outlook. The good news is, he sees a soft landing for the U.S. economy later this year. We also bring you Paul Kangas' Market Monitor interview with Jim Stack, the head of Investech Research.
Last night's commentator urged employers not to overlook their 30-and-40 something year old employees as they struggle to attract young employees and hold on to older more experienced workers. I thought I'd devote part of today's blog entry to another workplace issue: Celebrating birthdays in the workplace.
I got to thinking about it because it's the big boss' birthday. I wasn't sure how to handle it, so, I put in a call to workplace issues expert John Challenger of the outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Grey & Christmas. Challenger says when it comes to the boss' birthday, there's "a fine line between brown-nosing your boss and giving him or her some well deserved recognition on their birthday."
He suggests starting with your boss' personality. Ask yourself, do they like celebrations? If so, then by all means have cake and celebrate as a group. But if that person doesn't like a lot of show and would just as soon not make a big deal of the birthday or their age, then maybe something small and subtle would be more appropriate. But beware, Challenger says when it comes to celebrating the boss, there's always that element of "will my co-workers think I'm brown nosing?" So if you want to do something individually, he suggests doing it in a small way. Leaving a big present like a bottle of champagne or fine wine on their desk with your name written in big letters on the gift tag sends a signal to your colleagues and your boss that you're sucking up. That said, Rodney there's nothing on your desk. But happy birthday, anyway.
