Emphasizing the deal represents the largest federal-state settlement in the nation’s history, President Obama nevertheless conceded, “No compensation, no amount of money, no measure of justice is enough to make it right for a family who’s had their piece of the American dream wrongly taken from them.” The President went on to say, “No action, no matter how meaningful, is going to by itself entirely heal the housing market. But this settlement is a start.”

Approximately $20 billion of the settlement will help about one million American homeowners reduce their debts or refinance their mortgages at lower rates.  Another $1.5 billion will go to 750,000 homeowners who suffered foreclosure between 2008 and 2011; their shares, however, represent little more than token consolation for their losses, because most of them will receive between $1500 and $2000.  Indicative of their deeply troubled housing markets, almost half of the settlement will go to Florida and California.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan told reporters, “The effect of this settlement will be catalytic,” adding he expects the infusion of capital into the housing market will spark more loan modifications through existing relief programs that authorize banks to reduce homeowners’ principals and interest rates when they owe more than their homes are worth.  Economists, however, were not so sanguine as Donovan, saying the mortgage relief will ease distress in the housing sector but will not significantly boost the entire economy, especially because banks will disburse the money over three years.

Reactions break-down along party lines.

Democratic lawmakers applaud the agreement as “a good start,” but they complain it does not go far enough, because it does not extend to loans held by the Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and private investors.  Although the government’s own mortgage lending agencies currently control roughly half of the nation’s mortgages, the settlement has no impact on them whatsoever.  Donovan touched on this issue, claiming, “We do believe there should be principal reduction at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” and adding, “We’ve been disappointed that this hasn’t happened thus far.”

Many of the most liberal Democrats also complain the agreement seems to reward the nation’s biggest banks for their malfeasance and poor management. Together, Bank of America and Wells-Fargo command more than 40 percent of the banking market.  Many frustrated, disappointed homeowners agree with Sarpol, a New York Times reader, who wrote, “Money in lieu of criminal charges for bank fraud is never a good idea. Two thousand dollars is a crumb considering the pain and suffering that was caused by the banks.”

Not surprisingly, the majority of Republican lawmakers object to the agreement on grounds that it represents another thoroughly unnecessary government give-away in a clearly improving economy, and it adds another to the long series of government’s economic interventions that distort and dilute the natural operations of “the free market” and the laws of supply and demand.

A strong Yen has combined with fierce competition from Korean television manufacturers to shrink Panasonic’s market share 10 per cent each year for the last five years.  Although Panasonic dominates the plasma-tv market, experts predict sales of plasma systems will decrease nearly 40 per cent in the next two years; and sales of liquid-crystal “plasma” sets will decrease nearly 10 per cent in that time, leaving Panasonic with approximately $100 billion in annual sales.

In the last three years, Panasonic’s television sales have generated approximately $134 billion in annual revenue, but retooling and restructuring will cost Sanyo and Panasonic nearly $7 billion in 2012 as the companies race to catch-up with advanced internet and 3-D technologies.  Panasonic has reported it will shed nearly 17,000 jobs by the end of March, 2012, and the manufacturing giant has mounted other aggressive restructuring and downsizing plans, but analysts remained concerned the company is doing too little too late.   Reporting the forecast losses, Reuters ominously noted, “Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the debt ratings of Panasonic and Sony last month and retained a negative outlook for both, citing their continued losses on TVs.”

Speaking recently at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Panasonic President Fumio Ohtsubo said his company has absolutely no plans to abandon its television business, and he put an optimistic spin on the company’s recovery initiatives: “At the core of our latest restructuring was to make our TV unit profitable,” Ohtsubo told reporters. “Panasonic’s TVs may one day be a case study of a recovery.”

The filing revealed some amazing details about Facebook’s popularity and reach: The mother of all social networks currently has more than 845 million members, who upload approximately 250 million photos every day, and who click “Like” at least 2.7 billion times daily, sending their preferences into a network of more than 100 billion connections, and sending valuable data to trend-hungry marketers and advertisers around the world.  For the sake of perspective, however, analysts note that Facebook’s 2011 revenue totaled barely 10 per cent of Google’s; and Google launched its own social network in June, immediately garnering several hundred thousand regular users.

“The Z-factor”

Mark Zuckerberg, the controversial twenty-something who launched Facebook from his Harvard dorm room, will hold about one third of the company’s stock, but he will wield 57 per cent of the voting power.  The IPO launches Zuckerberg into the very top tier among the world’s wealthiest people, but his prominence carries a huge downside risk.  Zuckerberg’s critical engagement in every facet of the company’s operation has significant consequences for the offering, the documents for which list his death as one of the leading risks to the company’s continued evolution and growth.  The filing includes the statement, “In the event that Mr. Zuckerberg controls our company at the time of his death, control may be transferred to a person or entity that he designates as his successor.”  The filing also indicates the critical role Sheryl Sandberg plays at Facebook; she serves as the company’s chief operating officer, and the risk assessments indicate she is as essential to the company’s financial health as Zuckerberg is to its technical well-being.

A few unresolved issues

Late in 2011, Facebook reached an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission the terms of which require the site to tighten its privacy controls.  The site now sets users’ privacy filters for maximum security, and users may adjust their settings to relax the constraints.  Despite its new safeguards, Facebook officials expect more privacy inquires, and they also expect federal investigations into patent disputes, regulatory issues, and the site’s vulnerability to large-scale hacking.

Coach Paterno goes into the record books with more wins than any other coach in college football history—a total of 409, and he led the Nittany Lions to two national championships and five undefeated seasons, including one team that went thirty straight games without a loss.  Paterno also stands-out as the only coach to win all five premier “bowl” games—Rose, Orange, Fiesta, and Sugar, and Cotton.  As several speakers at Thursday’s memorial commented, however, Paterno was even more distinguished by the fact that he and his teams went forty-four successful seasons without an NCAA investigation into any kind of violation or irregularity; no other active coach can match that claim.

Paterno and his family were fixtures in the community around the University, frequently welcoming students and distinguished visitors into their home.  In their memorial remarks, several of Paterno’s former all-Americans made it clear the Paternos kept their door open, describing late-night visits to the coach’s house; several alumni described Paterno as the father they never had.  Just as importantly, students and faculty from the Paterno Undergraduate Fellows Program praised the Coach for his dedication to the classics and humanities.  Consistent with Paterno’s values and ethics, the unique undergraduate Fellows program allows all interested students to enroll and then earn honors, distinction, and Fellowships on the strength of their hard work, community service, and scholarship. Several speakers also praised and thanked Joe and Sue Paterno for their $4 million donation to the university for construction of the library which bears their name.

Alluding to but never explicitly mentioning widespread corruption in college athletics, many of Thursday’s memorial speakers spoke about Coach Paterno’s “Great Experiment”: Paterno insisted his teams would achieve “success with honor,” and he also insisted his players would persist in and graduate from college—a rare and controversial premise when Paterno assumed the head coaching position in 1966.  Until recently, the NCAA  had no standards for graduation rates among college scholarship athletes, and some elite schools graduated fewer than one in five of their “blue chip” players.  Pundits credit Paterno with leading the initiative to end exploitation of college athletes.

“The 800 pound gorilla in the room.”

All but one of Thursday’s speakers scrupulously avoided mention of the sexual-abuse scandal which has rocked the Penn State football program and campus community since late October, 2011.  The scandal ultimately cost Paterno hand the University President their jobs.  Although Paterno was just weeks from retirement, university trustees fired Paterno on November 5, 2011, alleging he had failed to take proper measures when a former graduate assistant came forward with charges defensive coach Jerry Sandusky had molested boys in a campus-sponsored youth sports program.

Nike Chairman Phil Knight, however, spoke directly to the point, saying, “It turns out he gave full disclosure to his superiors, information that went up the chain to the head of the campus police and the president of the school.  The matter was in the hands of a world-class university and a president with an outstanding national reputation. Whatever the details of the investigation are, this much is clear to me: if there is a villain in this tragedy, it lies in that investigation, not in Joe Paterno.”  Knight went on to rebuke the trustees, recounting Paterno’s accomplishments, contributions, and unwavering integrity, finally demanding, “”Who is the real trustee at Penn State University?”  As Knight finished his question, the standing-room-only assembly of more than 12,000 mourners accorded Knight by far the longest and loudest of several standing ovations during the ceremony.

Concluding the ceremony, Jay Paterno, the Coach’s son and a former Nittany Lion quarterback coach, reassured his audience that his father died with a clear conscience.  Jay Paterno stressed, “Among the things he accomplished in his life, it was the games he won that counted the least,” Jay, one of the Coach’s five children, “His impact reached to men who worked for him, to Penn State students, to people he never met. One mourner told me Wednesday: ‘Your family’s not very good at math. Your father has millions of children and grandchildren.’ ”

Downgrade weighs heavily on investor’s minds.

Moreover, Standard and Poor’s downgrade of the United States’ credit rating continued weighing heavily on Wall Street investors’ minds, inspiring them to flee to safety.  Demand for U.S. Treasury securities and gold remained exceptionally high, and all precious metals continued trading at record high rates as worried traders shared S&P’s skepticism about politicians’ ability to keep the promises they made as they reached a tentative agreement on raising the United States’ debt ceiling.  On Friday, Standard and Poor’s credit raters complained, ““The political brinksmanship of recent months highlights what we see as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed.”  On Monday, David Beers, S&P’s chief sovereign rater reiterated, “We don’t anticipate a scenario at the moment in which the U.S. would quickly return to AAA.”  Although several major nations have restored their ratings to AAA from AA+, the average time of recovery has been nine years.  Beers also reminded traders and analysts that S&P has put the United States on a two-year “negative watch,” signifying their recognition of a 33% chance they will downgrade America’s rating even further.

New York stocks have given-up more than 18% of their value since they peaked barely three months ago, hitting a three-year high on Aprtil 29^th.

Department of Corrections officials released the former director of the Inter4national Monetary Fund within minutes of the judge’s order; and, flanked by his attorney and his wife, DSK exited through a dense crowd of reporters, swiftly entering his waiting limousine.  Immediately after the courtroom fireworks, Kenneth Thompson, the chambermaid’s lawyer, spoke angrily to the press, stressing the “victim” and her daughter were devastated by news of the Justice’s decision.  He went on to decry the decision as an affront to civil right and women’s rights, growling, “A woman who has made some mistakes in her past nevertheless can be a rape victim.”  Thompson systematically reviewed the forensic evidence supporting the alleged victim’s claim of a sexual assault, repeating several times, “he tore her pantyhose,” and “the pictures show her bruised vagina.”

Before his arrest, Dominque Strauss-Kahn was the leading contender for the French Socialist Party’s Presidential nomination, and many French leaders decried his arrest and confinement as a “rush to judgment.”  Now, feminist leaders are expressing concern about the decision’s impact on treatment of women.  A prominent southern California criminal attorney worried, “We do not want a pathetic episode of “Seducers Gone Wild’ to turn into a landmark defeat for women’s rights.”

Whitey Bulger, inspiration for Martin Scorsese’s film The Deaprted, was transported from Los Angeles to Boston, where he was arraigned on multiple counts of murder, racketeering, drug-trafficking, and money laundering.  He had served as a federal informant until his 1995 disappearance, allegedly fleeing when a sketchy FBI agent warned him of an impeding arrest on new federal charges.  Before Wednesday’s positive identification and arrest, Bulger and Grieg last “officially” had been seen in London in 2002.

Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who was Governor of Massachusetts at the height of Bulger’s career, said in a printed statement to the press, “I hope the capture of Whitey Bulger brings some measure of relief to the families of his numerous victims. It brings to a close a sad and sordid chapter in recent Massachusetts history.”

Then, buttressing its argument that Casey’s apparently bizarre behavior during the thirty-one days she was missing, the defense called Lee Anthony to the stand, opening the door to his bitter complaints that he knew nothing of Casey’s pregnancy until just days before Caylee was born, and he systematically was excluded from many emotional family discussions.  The defense hopes Lee’s testimony will reinfo0rce its contention that the Anthony family, severely dysfunctional by every standard measure, perfected its skills with maintaining the illusion of “normal” by lying and concealing unpleasant facts. Although similar questions and issues arose during pre-trial depositions, Lee evaded answering pointed questions in his earlier testimony, saying he didn’t think his involvement with family affairs was important.

Casey’s troubled brother also provided the segue into the defense’s final witness of the day, testifying that the mysterious stains in the trunk of the family’s Saturn had been there all of the time he had driven the car—at least two years before it was handed-down to Casey.  Finally, the defense called the first police officer to investigate events at the family home.  He testified that he examined the car and found no odor of decomposition or other suspicious signs around the vehicle.

Because Judge Belvin Perry wants to move the trial along for the sake of continuity and expense, testimony continues Saturday, when the defense will keep up its campaign to discredit the prosecution’s expert witnesses.

According to arresting officers, Mladic was hiding more or less in plain sight, secreted in a farmhouse belonging to one of his cousins.  Wearing no disguise, but bearded, looking gaunt and haggard, he carried forged identity documents.  As dawn broke over Lazarevo, a village approximately sixty miles from Sarajevo, police quickly and quietly took Mladic into custody, whisking him away before word of the capture could spread.

There were conflicting reports about Mladic’s extradition as family members reported he already had been transpoirted to The Hague, where the international war crimes tribunal will try him.  The Serbian government denied the family’s reports, saying only extradition procedures were underway.

Serbian President Boris Tadic formally declared, “On behalf of the Republic of Serbia I can announce the arrest of Ratko Mladic. The extradition process is under way.” Putting the arrest in perspective, Tadic commented, “This removes a heavy burden from Serbia and closes a page of our unfortunate history.”  Just hours later, top European Union officials arrived  in Belgrade for continuing talks on Serbia’s membership in the continental community of nations.  Those talks would have included stern reminders the EU could not admit Serbia while Mladic remained at-large.

On her arrival in the Serbian capital, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told the press, “”It’s of course a very important day for international justice and for the rule of law,” but she and her colleagues stressed Serbia must complete other reforms before it gains admission to the EU.

Many Serbs, unfortunately, still regard Mladic as a hero, remembering and revering his initiative to build and guide a mighty Serbian military machine during the late eighties and early nineties.  Mladic’s accusers, however, maintain he used his military machine to carry-out a program of “ethnic cleansing” comparable with the Holocaust.

The old standard IBM ranked fourth, and Apple Computer rose up the list with a bullet, moving from number 20 to number 8.  By sharp contrast, Nokia took a dive, losing more than $10 billion in value primarily because of competition from the Cupertino clan and their domination of smartphone sales with iPhone.  Facebook broke into the list for the first time, valued at $3.7 billion—a sharp contrast with previous Goldman-Sachs estimates that the social networking machine was worth approximately $50 billion.  Analysts say the discrepancy originates in Facebook’s failure, so far, to generate huge revenues despite its overwhelming popularity.

BrandFinance calculates global brands’ values according to a complex set of financial and business criteria, which include cash on hand and stock prices but which also factor-in market shares, product innovations, brand loyalty, and value-added public services.  Google, for example, gained value by providing online services for relief efforts in New Zealand and Japan.  Microsoft gained value for introduction and upgrade of Bing and positive reviews for Windows 7.

In a statement released with the Top 500 rankings, BrandFinance CEO David Haigh observed,  “Over the last couple of years, we have found that, across many leading companies, senior management are increasingly using brand valuation dashboards to monitor the health of their brands throughout the year in order to make better informed strategic marketing decisions.”