Commodities Drop, Rally in Dollar, Stocks Vindicate Bernanke
By Pham-Duy Nguyen
March 21 (Bloomberg) — The biggest commodity collapse in at least five decades may signal Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has revived confidence in U.S. financial firms. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index posted its first weekly gain in a month, and the dollar leapt from its lowest level since 1973 after the Fed stepped in March 16 to rescue Bear Stearns Cos., the fifth-largest U.S. securities firm, and expanded its role as lender of last resort to embrace the biggest dealers in Treasury notes. Investors who had poured money into gold, oil and corn, seeking a hedge against inflation and a weak dollar, sold commodities to raise cash or buy stocks. The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 commodities tumbled 8.3 percent this week, the most since at least 1956, after touching a record on Feb. 29. “Bernanke took care of the commodity bubble,” said Ron Goodis, the retail trading director at Equidex Brokerage Group Inc. in Closter, New Jersey. “Commodities are coming back to earth. The stock market looks OK, and Bernanke is starting to look a little better.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aGnGoiVO0304&refer=home
Starbucks ordered to pay back tips
By CHELSEA J. CARTER
A Superior Court judge on Thursday ordered Starbucks to pay its California baristas more than $100 million in back tips that the coffee chain paid to shift supervisors.
Saying baristas were entitled to $86 million in back tips plus interest, San Diego Superior Court Judge Patricia Cowett also issued an injunction preventing Starbucks’ shift supervisors from sharing in future tips.
Cowett said the practice was a violation of a state law prohibiting managers and supervisors from sharing in employee tips.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8VHGUVG1.htm
Proverbs 16:11 NASB – A just balance and scales belong to the LORD; All the weights of the bag are His concern.
Big business has had its own way for too long and this has frequently occurred at the expense of the rank and file. You and I can determine to operate our businesses with utmost integrity and to pay our employees a just and fair wage.
The key to longevity and good success is to find something you love doing and do it well.
Until next time, Jim
