Business | The latest news and commentary on the economy, the markets, and business

Energy
‘Fracking’ Titan Chesapeake Energy in Stock Swoon Amid Cash Crunch

Sean Gardner / Reuters file
By Sam Gustin

Chesapeake Energy’s stock price dropped to the lowest level since March 2009 on Tuesday, after a major credit ratings agency downgraded the nation’s second-largest natural gas producer on news that the company will take a $4 billion loan — higher than the $3 billion previously announced — to pay off an existing credit line. It’s the latest worrisome development for cash-strapped Chesapeake, which has been battered in recent weeks by revelations about its opaque business methods and the controversial financial dealings of its charismatic CEO Aubrey McClendon.

Federal Reserve
Is the Fed to Blame for JPMorgan’s $2 Billion Blowup?
By Christopher Matthews

There is a small chorus of voices that is blaming neither government inaction nor banker recklessness for JPMorgan's loss, but the policies of the Federal Reserve. These critics are arguing that excessive intervention by the central bank has distorted financial markets and forced big banks resort to risky moves in order to maintain profits.

Wall Street & Markets
Why We Need More Female Traders On Wall Street
By Gary Belsky

The resignation of JPMorgan Chase exec Ina Drew in the wake of the banking giant’s recent $2 billion trading loss is troubling news for many reasons, but one of the most important rarely gets mentioned: Trading operations need more women, not fewer. There’s good reason to think women are much better-suited for the business than men.
Taxes

Facebook Co-Founder Gives Up U.S. Citizenship — Is He Ungrateful, or Heroic?

Careers & Workplace

Declining Employee Loyalty: A Casualty of the New Workplace

Europe

European Voters Have Rejected Austerity—So What Happens Next?

Facebook Insiders Are Cashing Out Their Stakes Before IPO

NEW YORK (AP) — Insiders and early Facebook investors are taking advantage of increasing investor demand and selling more of their stock in the company’s initial public offering, the company said Wednesday.

Facebook said in a regulatory filing that 84 million shares, worth up to $3.2 billion, are being added to what’s shaping up to be the decade’s hottest IPO.

+Small Business Tip of the Day | 4 hours ago

How to Keep Business Projects on Track

By Paul Shread

We’ve all been there. Business projects that start out full of excitement and promise lose focus and energy until it seems like they’re a long way from that goal that once seemed so promising.

+Facebook | 4 hours ago

Facebook IPO: What You Need To Know Now

By Nancy Miller

David Paul Morris / Bloomberg via Getty Images

[The article was updated at 12:20 pm on 5/16/12.]

Prom night is almost here for Facebook and its suitors. Here’s a program to the biggest high technology initial public offering ever, and what you should know:

+Management Tip of the Day | 6 hours ago

Keep Gen-Xers Engaged

By Harvard Business Review

Generation X may be a smaller population than Baby Boomers or Millennials, but it wields great influence in today’s organizations. People in this generation are the all-important bench strength for aging leadership. To keep them around, here’s how to keep them engaged.

+Legal | 6 hours ago

Judge Comes Down Hard on Publishers, Apple in E-book Case

By Jeff Roberts

In a strongly worded opinion, US District Judge Denise Cote rejected requests by Apple and five book publishers to throw out a class action suit that accuses them of price-fixing.

Citing ongoing state, federal and international antitrust investigations, Cote turned down arguments that Apple and the publishers had acted independently when they changed the pricing model for e-books. (For more details on the case, see “Everything you need to know about the DOJ lawsuit in one post.”)

+Wall Street & Markets | 1 day ago

FBI Launches JPMorgan Probe as Dimon Keeps $23M Pay Package

By Sam Gustin

The FBI has opened a probe of JPMorgan’s $2 billion botched trade, which has wiped out nearly $20 billion in shareholder equity and renewed calls for more aggressive regulation of Wall Street. News of the federal probe, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, came as CEO Jamie Dimon faced tough questions Wednesday at the bank’s annual meeting in Tampa, but nevertheless received shareholder support for his $23 million annual pay package. Shareholders also defeated a motion that would have split up the roles of CEO and Chairman. Dimon occupies both positions.

+Real Estate | 1 day ago

Report: Housing Market Recovery Has Officially Begun

By Christopher Matthews

A new, fifty-page analysis from The Demand Institute suggests that home prices will begin to rise later this year.

+Small Business Tip of the Day | 1 day ago

Customer Complaints Can Help Your Company

By Paul Shread

Here’s something most small business owners have probably never considered: Customer complaints don’t have to be considered a problem. In fact, they can be a tremendous source of goodwill and business opportunity.

+Europe | 1 day ago

Germany Does Heavy Lifting; Eurozone Avoids Recession

By Associated Press

LONDON — Europe dodged a bullet Tuesday after the economy of the 17 countries that use the euro narrowly avoided a recession in the first quarter of the year despite a raging debt crisis that’s raising the specter of the breakup of the currency union.

There was one reason why the eurozone avoided an overall recession — officially defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, was behind the better-than-expected performance as strong export figures helped it grow by 0.5 percent — equal to the U.S.’s economic performance.

+Management Tip of the Day | 1 day ago

Stop Getting Bad Advice

By Harvard Business Review

People love to give advice. While it’s useful to hear what others think, sometimes they give off-target or foolish guidance. Here are a few ways to increase your odds of getting good input: