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It's Only Money

By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator

Dallas, TX – It's Friday so "It's Only Money," a review of the big and not-so-big stories of the week. I'm Maxine Shapiro with Marketplace Middays.

I knew this was going to happen. I mean, I didn't KNOW this was going to happen, but I'm not surprised. Three days ago, you couldn't find a positive sentiment among analyst brokers, or reporters for that matter. And wouldn't you know it - the market had three days on the upside. And this morning, every financial show is down playing this little rally as a hiccup in a down market. But when everyone spouts pessimism, including those often-too cheery-financial anchors, things sometimes act contrary. Now, I'm not picking the bottom here, but don't overlook that factor.

And I know, it's all over the news that WorldCom auditors found another $3 billion plus in accounting irregularities. But let's put this in perspective. We're letting the word "billion" roll off our tongue as if it were a game of Monopoly. This wasn't $3 million dollars - this was another $3 BILLION. Totally over $7 billion worth of fraud. And there may be more to come.

After twenty years of teaching people how to flirt, find the right colors to wear, get up in front of a crowd, or lose weight fast and easy, Fun-Ed is closing their doors for good. Now I'll have to find another school to learn how to make Spanish desserts.

And Martha, Martha, Martha...how could you do this to me? Just when I was about to do a piece on "maybe the answer to corporate corporation is the lack of women in executive power," you single-handedly blew that theory for me. Or did you? I mean, face it, you're not the normal woman in business. You've marketed yourself as perfect, trying to make the rest of us feel inferior because we couldn't, or even worse, had no desire to fold a napkin in the shape of a Picasso sculpture. And now rumor has that there are people willing to testify that you, the Messiah of Homemaking, allegedly lied about getting tipped off by your friend to get out of a stock that plummeted the next day. You know, you didn't ruin my theory. We do need more women running corporate America. Just not as perfect as you. For KERA Marketplace Middays, I'm Maxine Shapiro.

 

Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m. To contact Maxine Shapiro, please send emails to mshapiro@kera.org.