Exxon’s Deal: Gas Yes, Iraq No

With $41 billion XTO buyout, Rex Tillerson maps a path energy companies will likely follow in the decade to come.

HOUSTON — ExxonMobil‘s $41 billion buyout of XTO Energy caught the oilpatch off guard Monday morning. Over the weekend all eyes were on Iraq, where numerous international oil companies secured contracts to develop the world’s biggest untapped oil fields.

ExxonMobil ( XOM – news – people ), looking for avenues of growth, already has a tentative $25 billion deal to develop the first phase of the giant West Qurna field. But don’t expect the company to show interest in additional Iraqi acreage. In this most recent round, “We just decided not to bid,” Richard C. Vierbuchen, president of Exxon Mobil Upstream Ventures (West) Ltd., told The Associated Press over the weekend.

Iraq could someday produce more oil than Saudi Arabia; it’s natural that Exxon wants to be there.

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Angel Funding for Non-Profits

Is there such a thing as angel investors for non-profit organizations? The answer may be yes and no and it often depends upon how long your non-profit has been in business. Jean Scheid takes a look at where and how non-profits can obtain much needed financing.

Angel Investors Are Not Venture Capitalists

The first thing to consider when seeking funds for your non-profit is that angel investors are not venture capitalists. Venture capitalists consist of a group of individuals that lend money and want to see a good return on that investment in five to ten years. Venture capitalists usually want a stake in your business as well until the debt is paid in full.

Angel investors, on the other hand, are usually made up of one individual or a family trust that will invest in a business for partial ownership equity or convertible debt.

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CEO Transitions Between Generations are Challenging

Ted Turner took over his father’s billboard business and turned it into a multi-billion dollar empire. Bill Marriott took over his father’s role as CEO of Marriott. Herbert Fisk Johnson III is the seventh generation to lead SC Johnson & Son. With names like these, one would be led to believe that second generation CEOs are primed for success. Unfortunately, for many family-run organizations, statistics show a different story.

According to the USA Today, successfully passing the leadership of a company from one generation to the next is much more rare than expected.

Fewer than one in three companies survive through a second generation of leadership; the odds dive to one in 10 among those that reach a third generation, says Paul Karofsky, executive director emeritus of Northeastern University Center for Family Business who consults with family businesses as they transition between generations.

Succession planning is difficult for all organizations. Cre

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Bonus Backlash May Boost Wall Street Pay

A shift to stock grants and higher fixed salaries could more than make up for lighter cash handouts.


Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein

The politically charged atmosphere around banker compensation may result in an unintended consequence: Wall Streeters making far more money than the 2009 bonus season already indicates.

Fixed, or salaried, compensation has been rising across all ranks of bank employees as banks scramble to make bonus season look less rewarding. Higher fixed salaries can balance out flat to lower bonus payouts and help retain star deal makers and traders.

Banks are also shifting the mix of their bonuses away from cash into stock. On Thursday, Goldman Sachs ( GS – news – people ) announced alterations to its compensation policies along these lines.

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Obama Outlines Additional Stimulus Effort for Next Year

President Obama announced yesterday that he is currently working with Congressional leaders on a new economic stimulus package that will include tax cuts and new spending. Many of the initiatives outlined include incentives for businesses to create jobs, construction spending for roads and other infrastructure projects, and weatherizing rebates for homeowners. Consideration of the proposed legislation will not occur until early next year. As reported today in The New York Times:

The president’s new proposals include eliminating capital gains taxes on small business investment and creating “cash for caulkers” rebates for consumers who invest in home-weatherization projects — an idea modeled on the popular “cash for clunkers” program that increased auto sales over the summer.

Most of Mr. Obama’s pro

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Dollar steadies against euro

NEW YORK (Reuters) — The U.S. dollar was unchanged against the euro Thursday despite concern about euro zone deficits while Australia and New Zealand’s currencies soared as strong economic data hinted at further interest rate rises.

The yen fell after separate reports showed the U.S. trade deficit narrowed in October while the four-week moving average of U.S. jobless claims fell for a 14th straight week.

Those reports boosted hopes that the U.S. economy continued to improve and encouraged modest moves into stocks and other such relatively risky assets, which are often financed by borrowing the Japanese yen at low interest rates.

But the euro struggled as markets fretted about the weaker links in the euro zone economy, including Greece and Spain. Fitch dropped the former’s credit rating this week below the single-A bracket for the first time in 10 years while Standard & Poor’s cut Spain’s outlook to negative.

“Increased sovereign risk will see some headwinds associated with the euro,” said Omer Esiner, senior market analyst at Travelex Global Business Payments in Washington.

The euro was little changed at $1.4726.

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