Loren C. Steffy's Blog, page 57

Dr Pepper goes from `Dublin' to dumber

With the legal settlement that ends Dublin Dr Pepper, the iconic soft drink brand has lost some of its mystique.

A solution for Toilet Phone Syndrome?

I've sort of lost track of how many cell phones my family has drowned over the years. My son killed one in a glass of Dr Pepper, I myself lost one in a bizarre canoe accident involving my wife and alligators, another son dunked his in a swimming pool and my daughter lost one in [...]

Ex-SEC attorney fined in Stanford case

Spencer Barasch, the former head of enforcement for the Securities and Exchange Commission's Fort Worth office agreed to pay a $50,000 fine to settle claims he inappropriately represented fallen billionaire Allen Stanford. Under the settlement with the Justice Department, Barasch didn't admit to the allegations but agreed to the fine to resolve the case, Reuters [...]

Transocean shuffles executives as stock lags

Transocean, the world's largest offshore rig owner, has a new chief financial officer, who's actually an old chief financial officer. On Monday, Gregory Cauthen returned to the job he left more than a year ago. Cauthen replaced his successor, Ricardo Rosa, who resigned last week. Rosa will officially retire from the company in April. In [...]

SEC to consider several Stanford-related actions

At their meeting Thursday, members of the Securities and Exchange Commission will consider several legal actions related to the Stanford Financial case. In a closed-door session, commissioners are scheduled to vote on a settlement involving Spencer Barasch, the former head of enforcement for the SEC's Fort Worth office,  Reuters reported. Barasch is expected to settle [...]

Secret ingredient in Hostess bankruptcy: pension costs

Hostess Brands' bankruptcy filing in New York today reveals a troublesome ingredient, one that has become a big problem for many companies that have seen their labor forces shrink as technology improves productivity. The Twinkie-maker's biggest unsecured creditors are pension plans, to which it owes more than $950 million. It also has about $2 billion [...]

No preservatives likely to save Twinkies maker from bankruptcy

After years of churning out packaged baked goods that could likely survive a nuclear holocaust, Hostess Brands is preparing a Chapter 11 filling — er, filing — that could come as soon as this week, the Wall Street Journal reports. Hostess, which for years has made nutritionally bankrupt snacks like Twinkies and Ding Dongs, has [...]

Does it matter if the U.S. exports gasoline?

U.S. gasoline exports shouldn't be an excuse for scuttling the Keystone pipeline

BP blasted by Norway's regulator over offshore fire

Norway's offshore safety regulator, investigating a fire last summer on BP's Valhall platform, found "serious breaches" of regulations and ordered the oil company to overhaul is safety practices by Feb. 1. The fire, on July 13, stemmed from an overheated crane engine that caused a fire in the vent stack of the platform's compressors, Dow [...]

Loren Steffy's next book is now available for pre-order

I'm happy to announce that you can now pre-order my next book, "The Man Who Thought Like a Ship."

Unlike "Drowning in Oil," this book isn't about business. It's the story of my father, J. Richard Steffy,first person ever to reconstruct an ancient ship from its sunken fragments. It's the story of an electrician from a small land-locked town who, well into his forties, decided to pursue his lifelong dream and wound up created a new field of study.

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Thought-Rachal-...

Barnes & Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-m...

Books-A-Million:
http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Man-Wh...