The financial press won't have Ken Lewis to kick around for much longer.
Bank of America's
Lewis is a controversial figure. Because Bank of America was one of the bailout's neediest recipients, critics point to its risk-stretching acquisitions. However, Bank of America, Citigroup
Shareholders apparently think so. The stock price has risen roughly sixfold since bottoming out at $2.53 in February. It's not every day when shares demonstrate that kind of gain and investors still cheer a CEO's departure.
Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.
-
Starbucks
(NASDAQ:SBUX) officially introduced its VIA instant coffee packets. Is this a new revenue stream, or more pain for its flagship in-store business? -
Microsoft
(NASDAQ:MSFT) isn't on the hook for government bailouts, but at least it's sensitive to executive compensation. Key executives -- including CEO Steve Ballmer -- will be making less this year than they did in 2008. - Newegg.com is going public. The consumer electronics retailer is bigger than you think, scoring $2.1 billion in retail revenue last year.
- It has been more than a year since TiVo
(NASDAQ:TIVO) announced a DVD queuing application for Research In Motion's(NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry phones. It finally became available this week. No, it won't stream your TiVo box remotely. Don't get greedy, BlackBerry fans.
Until next week, I remain,
Rick Munarriz