| Now Hear This
Love em or hate em, one thing is undeniable about Fall Out Boy: Its songs are simply infectious. Raucous and radio-friendly as ever, the pop-punk heartthrobs have cranked out a solid disc of hooky, youthful anthems, amped-up riffs and energized drum kicks. They even snagged a cameo from hip-hop royalty, Jay Z.
Set against the backdrop of teen angst and bleeding emo hearts, Patrick Stumps distinctive vocals take the listener on a rock n roll roller coaster that dips and dives through 14 tracks, losing momentum only for the piano-laden ballad Golden.
The Carpal Tunnel of Love and Bang the Doldrums are evidence that the boys could lighten up on the incessant puns and wordplay that are a bit overplayed, having done much of the same on their previous album. Nevertheless, its a forgivable fault that in no way deters from the start-to-finish spin the disc deserves.
Raising the level of online conversation
Several readers have pointed out the inconsistency of the paper requiring that letters to the editor be signed, while comments to blogs and contributions to forums are allowed to be anonymous, or pseudonymous. Readers justifiably ask: Is that not a lowering of the newspaper's standards?It's a tricky issue that N&O editors still are sorting out. Their dilemma: the culture, as it were, of the blogosphere is freewheeling debate not constrained by calling-card niceties. The paper wants to be the go-to place in the Triangle for community discussion, and it wants lots of users on its Web site.But the standards of the newspaper are accountability and responsibility. A newspaper does not want to enter onto the public record information that is false, slanderous or plain odious. The News & Observer is a respected name in the community, and biker-bar brawling cheapens the brand."There's a feeling that on one side, if you make people use their names, it squelches dialogue," said David Feld, newsobserver.com editor.
Author: sophie.evans@legalweek.com
The jargon-heavy lexicon of offshore finance can baffle the casual observer, but the reasons why many investors choose to use the shelter provided by many leading offshore jurisdictions are often reassuringly simple. Yes, institutional and individual investors are, generally speaking, sophisticated clients. But the reason why they put their money in certain jurisdictions can often be summed up in two words: pack mentality. Decades ago, two wealthy Hong Kong entrepreneurs opted to use a British Virgin Islands (BVI) entity for a business venture, with much success: word got around and Hong Kong businessmen followed in their droves. Likewise, early hedge fund investors opted for the Cayman Islands as a domicile and the Caribbean offshore giant now plays home to more than 8,000 hedge funds — by far the largest number of any jurisdiction.
Finding value in US equities
In this final instalment of FP Investing's Buy & Sell roundtable on the U.S. equity market, hosted by Financial Post columnist Sonita Horvitch, the panellists talk about their investing picks and pans. Q: Johnson & Johnson appears to be a favourite at this roundtable. Time for the Beutel Goodman team to explain this. Clements: One of the reasons that Ehrun and I are attracted to Johnson & Johnson (JNJ/NYSE) is also one of the reasons that the stock has been down in the last little while. The company paid a lot of money for the consumer health business it bought from Pfizer. While this is dilutive to earnings per share in the near term, this purchase decreases Johnson & Johnson's exposure to the pure pharmaceutical area. .
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