Loren C. Steffy's Blog, page 18

Offshore safety still isn’t making the grade

  Friday’s column, available on houstonchronicle.com: Offshore drilling safety still isn’t making the grade. Saturday marks the third anniversary of the worst offshore oil disaster in U.S. history, and many of the improvements that have been made continue to focus on response to disaster than on prevention. For far too long, offshore safety has been  Read More

In Astros, Rockets cable standoff, blame starts with owners

Wednesday’s column, available on houstonchronicle.com: The gatherings of basketball fans at T.K. Bitterman’s in Montrose were thinner than usual this season. The bar’s owner, Kent Marshall, wasn’t able to show Rockets games because they weren’t available on DirecTV this year. “They’ve kind of drifted away,” he said of the regular customers who used to come  Read More

Chesapeake resorts to stop-gap leadership move

Programming note: I’m taking a little time off, so the blog is likely to be rather quiet for the next week and a half. Wednesday’s column, available on houstonchronicle.com: When a company issues a release at 4:55 p.m. on Good Friday, it’s not good news. That’s the timing Chesapeake Energy chose to tell investors it  Read More

Why Bitcoin will never be a real currency

Given the speculation bubble that seems to be developing, bitcoin is looking more and more like a new twist on Internet gambling.

Safety shortcomings sting Chevron CEO in wallet

For the first time since 2010's Deepwater Horizon disaster, we see the board of a major oil company holding executives accountable for safety.

Taller tax bills loom for Houston office towers

While the higher appraisals still won't catch up to the market value for most prime properties, it will narrow the gap that's existed for several years.

Security defined by a cat with a mohawk

Would companies have more luck preventing cyber attacks if they invested in better system security rather than paying hackers to trick their own employees with pictures of wild-haired cats?

Poll: Dell’s legacy lost?

No matter which bid prevails, it will pay investors less for their stock than it was worth when Michael Dell returned as chief executive in early 2007 to the company that bears his name.

Why I was rooting for Cyprus to keep the euro

The European and Cypriot leaders hammering out the bailout had much bigger concerns, and questions remain about whether the Cyprus euro will have different value than other euros, but I'm glad that the coins themselves will continue to carry the image of the Kyrenia ship.

Ethanol law has become a mandate to nowhere

The problem with the ethanol mandate: It was a policy for a different era.