Does Steve Jobs have to disclose about his health

Graham and Dodd Investor writes:

In SEC filings, top executives of corporations have to disclose their employment history for the past five years, in order for shareholders to judge their suitability for the posts that they hold. Perhaps a similar requirement should extend to certain other aspects of their lives.

This issue came to the forefront in connection with the pancreatic condition of Steve Jobs at Apple. Considering that one man represented the heart and soul of the company, his health was a serious concern for shareholders. Outlines, but probably not sufficient details, of his condition were disclosed on an ad hoc basis.

Should Mr Steve Jobs (or Apple) disclose his health conditions? YES. It is critical information for investors to make informed decisions. At the least, most people believe it is.

Should investors expect he will? Of course, NOT. He has a right not to disclose his privacy, and I believe such disclosure should not be imposed on anyone by any authority (after all, investors can 'own' Apple Inc. but NOT Steve Jobs). And - who do you think he is? He is STEVE JOBS. If you're a rational investor, you should never expect he will make full disclosure on anything (just for the sake of investors, in particular).

So, you have a choice. - You are prudent and choose not to invest in the company that has serious lack of disclosure on material information (and does not seem to think it is an issue), or you take certain (or huge, depending on your perception) risk on the company that has the incredible CEO and attractive products. You just cannot have it both ways.

Graham and Dodd Investor: What Should Top Executives of Corporations Have to Disclose About Their Personal Lives?

The ECB lent €442.2bn

This is interesting. The European Central Bank lent €442.2bn ($622bn) for 12 months to approx 1,100 banks at the ECB's current key rate of 1%.

What banks would do with this borrowed money? Of course, they will be buying government bonds. If they buy 10-year government bonds of Italy, for instance, they can get 350bp for 'free'.

Isn't this quantitative easing (or, queasing)? Yes. Isn't this same as the central bank buying government bonds? Very close.

What's the difference? The ECB still can claim they are more prudent than its peers (in a sense, they really are), while doing the same thing.

ECB Lends Record 442 Billion Euros for 12 Months

WYSWYG - Iran's Election

It is curious that American people nowadays sometimes seem to be far more "U.S. centric" than in the past. Some people have gone too far to attribute the results of the election in Lebanon to Mr Obama's speech, and the same people are now screaming at the "stolen election" in Iran.

So many people seem to have difficulty in appreciating the facts that there should be so many things for Iranian voters to worry about, other than things Americans worry about, and that the conflict with the U.S. or other countries could be of little importance for them.

Palestinian people could vote for Hamas, even if it might entail a war with Israel. Iranian people could vote for Mr Ahmadinejad, even if the world is very unhappy with it. (Of course, there might have been fraud, but the results you do not like do not necessarily prove that there was one, nor does it mean the results would have been different).

One more note: Mr Ahmadinejad is reported to have won 62.6 percent of the vote in this election. In 2005, he won 61.69% of the vote when he fought against Mr Rafsanjani (in the runoff).

What you see is What you get.

The Iranian People Speak