CEO Hall of Shame(ful) Quotes

Conde Nast Portfolio's "I Said What?!" retrospective on "nine unforgettable statements by bank chief executives who would strike them from the record if they could."

Guess who said: "The mortgage market is going to be a great market in this country for a long time. We've got population growth. We've got people who are always going to want to live in homes that they own. It's going to be a great market."

charlottemom

Extreme Foreclosure

Per the Charlotte Observer, ABC-TV's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will surprise a Charlotte family with a renovation.

I hope they heed this cautionary tale from MSNBC where three years after Extreme Makeover, the home has become the latest victim of the foreclosure crisis when the family used it as collateral for a $450,000 loan.

I'm also waiting for the episode where Extreme Makeover buys a vacant, foreclosed property in disrepair and refurbishes it and returns it to its former owner.

-charlottemom

Charlotte - Best Showing in National Housing Report

In the AP story, Charlotte, N.C., posted the smallest drop at 0.2 percent. Until April, the North Carolina city had been the last metro still showing price gains.

That was the good news in Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city index, which dropped by 15.8 percent in May compared with a year ago. It was a record decline since its inception in 2000. The 10-city index plunged 16.9 percent, its biggest decline in its 21-year history.

Charlotte PUMAs Show Their Claws

The self-styled PUMA (Party Unity My Ass) members from "Charlotte Front and Center" greeted Democratic Party Chairman Dean when he visited the Queen City. The Charlotte Observer said: Clinton backers blast Dean in Charlotte . The PUMAs issued their version of the story.

The Real Truth: This is old news and no one cares. The Democratic Primaries are over. Hillary supporters need to get over it and get over themselves.

Fox News Intimates that Edwards was Caught Doing Something

Found this on Fox's website and I'm still trying to figure it out. All I know is that Fox wants me to think that Sen. Edwards was caught with his mistress in a Beverly Hills Hotel. You tell me what to make of this. My head hurts.

Update: Campaign Tracker's take on this story hitting the news cycles now.

-charlottemom

R.I.P. Randy Pausch

From AP, Randy Pausch, the Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist whose "Last Lecture" about facing terminal pancreatic cancer became an Internet sensation and a best-selling book, died Friday. He was 47.

If you haven't seen Pausch's "Last Lecture, " it's about an hour and is quite moving and yes, inspiring. See it here.

-charlottemom

The Case of WB and the Counterfeit Bills

This ditty from Orlando, FL's local TV 6 about an Wachovia bank branch distributing counterfeit bills is making its way around the blogosphere.

This juicy, little tale has it all -- corporate rivalry, financial intrigue, a wronged, soon-to-be-married couple. My favorite part: Ulises Garcia was withdrawing (what turned out to be counterfeit) cash from a Wachovia Bank and depositing it into a Bank of America account to pay his bills online.

Wachovia -- The Good and Bad News

The Bad News....in a nutshell...it was another terrible quarter, more employees laid off, etc.

The Good News...no one cares about the bad news. Wachovia stock rocketed up 27% to close at 16.79!

Huge reversal! Can I come out of the bunker now...is the coast clear? Some lonely party-pooper said this something's not right. Guess he didn't get an invitation to the Bull Market Party.

-charlottemom

I Want My Starbucks!

Java addicts already know that Starbucks will be closing hundreds of stores across America. In North Carolina, the following stores will be closed:

WILKINSON BLVD 3220 WILKINSON BLVD CHARLOTTE NC
NORTHLAKE COMMONS 9335 CENTER LAKE DR CHARLOTTE NC
PIEDMONT TOWN CTR 4620 PIEDMONT ROW DR CHARLOTTE NC
WORTHINGTON 1520 OVERLAND PARK LN CHARLOTTE NC
PROVIDENCE RD & SHARON AMITY RD 2921 PROVIDENCE RD CHARLOTTE NC

Now, we read that Starbucks-heads are rallying to save their stores. By all means, if the corner coffee shop is your cause (or your employer), then join pitchfork protests and become a Starbucks activist (i.e. a volunteer street work organizer for their overextended marketing strategy). In a world with no shortage of issues to advocate on behalf of -- high gas prices, government accountability, mortgage fraud, war, human suffering -- this seems laughable in its smallness.

Tropical Storm Cristobal Visits Carolinas

Tropical Storm Cristobal, the first tropical storm to menace the Southeast seaboard this hurricane season, sent outer bands of intermittent rain lashing the eastern Carolinas late Saturday as forecasters predicted it could dump several inches in some areas of drought-stricken North Carolina coast.

Hope Carolinians stay safe and that this passes relatively quietly.

-charlottmom

Tar Heel State 17th Fattest in 2008

Calorielab.com has published its obesity ranking of U.S. states. North Carolina isn't in the top tier, although the Southern region seems to always make a strong showing. Mississippi wins the Gold, with West Virgina and Alabama getting the Silver and Bronze. At seventeen, North Carolina falls between Texas and Ohio.

Now, for the sake of State pride, let's hit the gym and lay off the chips so we can drop the Tarheel state even further down the list.

-charlottemom

Are You That Guy?

A bit of Friday levity. Are you that annoying guy?

-charlottemom

"Don't Tase Me Bro" - Charlotte Edition

Looks like Charlotte is attaining its goal of becoming a leading national city. A Charlotte police officer has been added to the growing roster of U.S. law enforcement officials suspended for improper use of a taser stun gun. Although I'm not sure how CMPD would define improper, seeing that "unlike some police departments, CMPD does not limit how many times an officer can shock a suspect." In this case, the teenage died of cardiac arrest.

Is the media over-reporting the dangers of these stun guns, or are they really dangerous or really misused, or both?

-charlottemom

Is Wachovia an Orphan Now?

Hmmm....I don't see Wachovia on this list of stocks that are protected by the SEC from short-sellers. See what Mish thinks about this.

- charlottemom

Update: Yes. Poor Wachovia is raided by the state security regulators.

Your Astrology Sign's Trading Potential

How can anyone possibly trade in these financial markets? Well, maybe your trading potential is set in the stars. Read this (unintentionally) humorous take on astrological trading signs to see how you fare.

- charlottemom

"Die or Give Up Trying" - Vets Edition

Before we get to Universal Healthcare (snicker, snicker), how about fixing these mistakes. It boggles the mind that Lockheed Martin was paid to set up the program to manage disabled vets medical care and then after snafu after snafu (and 8,763 dead vets) was paid $18.74 million for its work on the backlog.

-charlottemom

Your Blog Age is a State of Mind

Spoofing John McCain's internet illiteracy on YouTube and honoring the Olive Riley, the world's oldest blogger who just recently pasted away. Olive Riley started blogging at the age of 107 and posted more than 70 entries before she died in an Australian nursing home last weekend.

If You Need to Know the Price, You Can't Afford It - NC Edition

Is North Carolina's debt spending on auto-pilot? Associated Press lets the cat out of the bag by reporting that "NC debt keeps rising without voter approval."

I especially like the part about NC treasurer, Richard Moore conducting a study on how much he could allocate for the state's "special indebtedness" kitty. That's better than inconveniencing its residents with voting and all.

Devlins from Charlotte to Toronto

Why is it that everywhere you look in America, foreigners seem to be poaching our best assets? In that vein, Charlotte's former Bobcats announcer, Matt Devlin moves to the Toronto Raptors.


Best of luck to Matt, Erin and the boys. We'll miss them.

Watching the DOW on Bastille Day

Happy Bastille Day!

Lots of drama in the markets. Will BAC become a teenager today? WB become a pre-teen?

In honor of the French Revolution, I'll be knitting and watching CNBC while the financial kings get beheaded at Wall Street's guillotine.

-charlottemom

Wachovia's Steel and His "Steely" Performance at Duke

The Wall Street Journal sez Wachovia's, "Mr. Steel could get compensation valued at about $38 million during his first year as chief executive. His package includes a $1.1 million salary, a $10 million signing bonus of restricted shares tied to a rising share price, plus a target annual bonus and long-term incentive grant valued at $21 million.".

How "steely" was his performance at the helm (of the Chair of Trustees) of Duke when it faced its biggest PR challenge in recent memory? Yes, I'm talking about the Lacrosse Scandal. The Durham in Wonderland blog provides a different perspective on Steele from the otherwise glowing coverage by Charlotte media.

Also check out the roundup of Duke Magazine's Lacrosse: The Latest Round for Alumni letters on the media, faculty and the administration's role in the scandal.

- charlottemom

Recent Headlines with a Charlotte twist

Bloomberg sez, "IndyMac Seized by U.S. Regulators; Schumer Blamed for Failure", Charlottemom sez, "Make any and all of your bank deposits fall under the FDIC insured deposit amount of $100,000. And yes, that includes Wachovia and Bank of America.

Wired Magazine denounces agribusiness and Green Daily ponders, "Organic food: It does a body good, but is it green?" and notes that "organic plants take more space and more resources than their non-organic counterparts. Even worse, they then require refrigerated trucks to transport their products to market, further deepening a rather large carbon footprint. " Charlottemom sez, check out locally-grown markets, such as Tailgate in Charlotte's Southend. And you avoid overly-packaged, expensively-priced foodstuffs found in organic supermarkets.

Flattening the World for Charlotte, NC

Welcome to QCWorld --

Charlottemom blogging here from the QC - the Queen City (aka Charlotte, NC) giving a decidedly QC perspective on macro political, economic and cultural events.

After traveling the internet blogosphere world and commenting (see my shot Blogroll) on national trends and happenings, I'm establishing a virtual home and repository for my musings.

Thanks for visiting and as they say (in my transplanted, "Yankee" accent), y'all come back now ya hear!

-charlottemom