Rock stocks take a well-timed beating
After a solid run last year and a good start to 2006, mining and mineral stocks took a beating on Wall Street last week. That included Denver-based Newmont Mining, which closed Friday down 8.1 percent for the week at $54.80.
However, a handful of savvy Newmont executives locked in profits before the sectorwide decline.
Wayne Murdy, chairman and chief executive, sold 5,147 shares at $60.39 earlier this month, according to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Bruce Hansen, senior vice president, also sold 1,527 shares at $60.39.
At least eight other Newmont executives sold shares for at least $60 a piece this month, according to securities filings.
Despite the transactions, all of the executives retain large holdings in the company.
School of hard moguls and business ethics
At this weekend’s Race & Case competition put on by The University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business, strong downhill skills are almost as important as solid business ethics.
On Friday, teams of graduate students from 12 MBA programs – including DU, Yale University and George Washington University – competed in the third annual event, presenting their solution to a business ethics problem to a panel of business leaders.
The contest was expected to really heat up on the slopes of Vail Mountain Saturday, where the same teams battled it out in a NASTAR ski/snowboard race that accounted for 40 percent of the total point score.
“There is a reason why we host this,” said Randy Browne, president of the Graduate Business Student Association at Daniels, which was ranked the fourth best ethical business college by the Wall Street Journal.
“We always do very well on the ski portion, but we also do well on the ethics portion.”
Crested Butte boasts ex-presidential chum
Fans of Jimmy Carter raised a cool $1.7 million in Crested Butte recently to support the Carter Center’s work to advance peace and health worldwide.
In the process, they set a record for “most spent on any item made by a head of state.”
John Moores, a California entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist and owner of the San Diego Padres, and his wife Becky plunked down $1 million for a cabinet handcrafted by the former president.
Georgia optometrist Carlton Hicks, an old friend of the Carters, first invited Jimmy and Rosalynn to ski with him at his family’s Crested Butte second home in 1988.
The Carters have been plugged into the western Colorado town ever since.
Rosalynn was asked that year to join the board of the resort’s physically challenged ski program, and has been on it ever since.
In 1993, Crested Butte activists decided to throw a fundraiser for the Carters’ charities.
This year, well-heeled supporters bid on such things as a yacht trip, an Indonesian dagger and a print of the Carter Center’s Japanese garden, as painted by Jimmy.
Sandwich scion takes a bite out of his elders
If Quiznos spokesinfant Baby Bob is truly headed for unemployment, at least he’s going out with a bang.
The Denver sandwich chain announced last week that the talking baby will be promoting VH1’s upcoming special, “100 Greatest Teen Stars.”
The gig includes TV spots, Internet ads and a website where visitors can vote whether their favorite teen stars’ careers are “Toasty Hot” or “Gone Cold.”
Quiznos recently split with Siltanen & Partners, the California ad agency behind the Baby Bob ads.
The company has retained rights to use Bob in future campaigns, but company officials have yet to say whether they plan to continue the Bob campaign.
Wherefore art thou so many, Romeo?
The odds are against young single men finding romance on Valentine’s Day. There are 120 single men in their 20s in the U.S. for every 100 single women, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. For Hispanics, that ratio is 153 men per 100 women; for Asians, 132 men per 100 women. Black men in their 20s have the best odds, with 92 men per 100 women.
The pickings are much broader for men age 65 or older, where the ratio is 33 men for every 100 women.
Among the senior set, Asian men have the best odds, while Hispanic men have the worst.
