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Company earnings will average 10% annual growth through 2013, facilitating hiring and investment, says JPMorgan Chase

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In 2003, Leif Thomsen earned more than $10 million as his company originated more than $3 billion. This year his firm closed more than $5 billion. But with two young children and lots of travel, Thomsen has stepped back from the business.

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Los Angeles, CA, United States (AHN) – NASCAR driver Robby Gordon claims he was used and abused by the people who make Extenze — claiming he put their logo on a car he owned … but instead of paying him, they gave him the shaft, according to TMZ.

Gordon claims the company behind the sex pills agreed to fork over a ton of cash if Robby — who owns a race car team — would splash the logo on a car operated by his driver Kevin Conway at NASCAR events in October and November.

But when Kevin was in danger of falling out of the prestigious top 35 ranked cars — Robby asked the Extenze people if he could personally drive the Extenze car instead.

In his lawsuit, filed Friday in L.A. County Superior Court, Gordon claims the Extenze people initially agreed to the deal … so he made the switch.

It was only after the races, Gordon claims, that Extenze refused to pay him citing breach of contract because he got in the driver’s seat instead of Kevin.

Now, Gordon wants Extenze to pay him at least $690,000 to, ahem, straighten things out.

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Tokyo, Japan (AHN) – Here’s a story to drive you bananas; at the Toyoka Chuo Seika fruit factory, unripened bananas imported from the Philippines are subjected to 24 to 30 days of Mozart’s classical music resulting in what the company calls sweeter, fuller bananas.

Specifically, bananas enjoy Mozart’s String Quartet 17 and Piano Concerto 5 in D major, among other works, as they ripen in the company’s fruit factory.

It has been theorized that Mozart’s music is rich in “ink noise” or “1/f noise” which is a high frequency sound above 8,000 Hz, said to have relaxing and rejuvenating effects on humans.

Since the debut of the “Mozart bananas,” last July, sales have been up compared to last year’s “non-Mozart listening bananas,” selling locally for about $3.50 a bunch.

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NY, NY, United States (AHN) – According to a report Tuesday by the New York Times, baseball agent Scott Boras’ company allegedly handed out thousands of dollars in loans to the families of prospects from the Dominican Republic.

The Times report said the loans could mean that Boras or his company may have broke Major League Baseball Players Association rules.

The Times said that Boras issued a statement that acknowledged his company had “aided” players and families in the past, but he did not address whether loans were made.A

According to the report, loans of more than $500 per year made by agents to players and their families are forbidden unless the reason for the loan is revealed to the union.

A spokesman for the players’ association declined to comment in the report.

“This is a serious issue that raises concerns about the business practices of agents who have played a prominent role in the game,” a spokesman for Major League Baseball said in a written statement to The Times.

Domingo Ramos told The Times that the company typically represented a few top Dominican prospects each year and made loans to a majority of them. The money was usually used for food, housing and other needs, he said.

Ramos is a former big league player who works for Boras’ company.

“Sometimes we get it back, sometimes we don’t,” Ramos told The Times. “Sometimes, it’s tough to get it back. It’s as simple as that.”

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Sixteen Chinese workers sub-contracted to build cellphone company Cell C’s high-speed 4G network have been detained in Durban for allegedly having invalid work permits.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – There was a lot of interest there, reportedly, but J-WOWW’s clothing line has shut down before it could even start. Her clothing company’s name, Filthy Couture, was infringing on an existing copyright.

It’s hard to believe that another company out there already staked the claim to the name Filthy Couture, but RadarOnline.com reports Jenni Farley was forced to either choose a new company name or shut down her company.

There was such strong interest in the “Jersey Shore” cast member’s new line that her website actually crashed. The “high-end” clothing with “hand-silicon painted, with Swarovski crystals and European lace” was in strong demand, and actually received money for several orders. However, that money will now have to be returned.

“She could have given her line a new name but instead just let it go. She’s no longer designing clothes for her line and I’m not sure if she’ll ever do it again,” a source told RadarOnline.

So, while her clothing line may never be seen, she’s still trying to be an entrepreneur. The “Jersey Shore” diva is selling her secret to her Jerseylicious bronze skin; she will be in Nashville this Halloween weekend to launch her new product, Black Bronzer.

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Washington, D,C., United States (AHN) – Financial analysts told a special congressional panel Thursday that corporate executives should have their pay tied more closely to the investment risks of their companies.

Congress is investigating claims that excessive executive compensation contributed to the housing crisis and recession that started in December 2007.

They also are trying to determine how government can intervene to prevent the bad decisions of executives from dragging down the rest of the economy.

“Risk is not a factor in compensation,” Rose Marie Orens, a senior partner at Compensation Advisory Partners consulting firm in New York, told the congressional panel.

Currently, most executives are paid a percentage of a company’s earnings, which can reach into the tens of millions of dollars per year at some large corporations.

However, they do not risk losing their own money when they make decisions that hurt a company or its customers.

The pay system also encourages them to invest money in ways designed to earn a quick profit, according to witnesses before the Congressional Troubled Asset Relief Program Oversight Panel.

An example mentioned during the hearing involved Countrywide Financial Corp., a company that provides mortgages to homebuyers.

Its executives loosened credit terms to allow more people to qualify for home loans. When their personal finances failed, they were unable to pay back the mortgages.

As a result, many of them lost their homes through foreclosure, which contributed to the recession.

Investment firms Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers were accused of making similar bad decisions to make credit easily available to customers.

The corporate executives made more money for themselves by extending the easy credit, but they also dragged down the nation’s economy.

“Has any executive of Bear Stearns lost their health care and had to go to an emergency room to get it,” asked Damon Silvers, a member of the congressional panel.

“Not to my knowledge,” said Kevin Murphy, finance chairman at the University of Southern California Business School.

The Bush administration appointed a “special master” to develop recommendations on how corporate executives are paid.

The recommendations from Kenneth Feinberg, the special master, include requiring corporate executives to accept a base pay that is consistent with salaries of other management employees.

Any incentive compensation they receive would be only in the form of corporate shares.

They would be forbidden by the Securities and Exchange Commission from selling the shares for a period of years.

A delay of years before they could sell stock would discourage them from trying to win quick profits for their companies that reflect bad business decisions, Feinberg said.

In addition, their retirement benefits – sometimes called “golden parachutes” – would be more limited.

Feinberg also recommended a bigger role for the Securities and Exchange Commission in monitoring executive pay, which now is determined almost exclusively by the corporations.

“I don’t think we approve anyone’s pay package – maybe one or two people – over $10 million,” Feinberg said Thursday before the congressional panel.

Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.), a member of the panel, said he liked the idea of limiting incentives for executives to company stock rather than cash.

He implied it would make them invest more wisely.

“If the market goes down, they should take the hit,” Kaufman said.

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A court has denied bail to alleged company hijacker Sandi Majali, while the mental state of some of his co-accused is being investigated.

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Boston, MA, United States (AHN) – Two investors of Genzyme Corp. are suing the biotechnology company for rejecting an $18.5 billion takeover offer from Sanofi Aventis.

According to Bloomberg, the investors have filed a lawsuit in a Boston court accusing Genzyme of depriving investors the right to “to receive maximum value for their shares.”

Sanofi began a hostile takeover of the Massachusetts-based company early this month. The French pharmaceutical giant made a non-binding offer in July to acquire all of Genzyme’s outstanding shares of common stock for $69 per share.

Genzyme chief executive officer and board chairman Henri Termeer had deemed the price too low and called the offer “opportunistic.”

Termeer had sought a better offer, citing Genzyme’s plans to reduce costs and raise production, and the firm’s outlook for its multiple sclerosis drug, alemtuzumab, as well as for Cerezyme, which is for patients with Gaucher disease, and Fabrazyme for those suffering Fabry disease.

Genzyme’s board last week unanimously rejected the latest proposal from Sanofi because the bid is “based on identical financial terms to two previous unsolicited proposals.”

“The offer fails to compensate shareholders for the value of Genzyme’s existing business, which delivered compound annual revenue growth of 23 percent from 2002-2009,” the board added. “The offer price does not adequately compensate Genzyme’s shareholders for the strategic importance and financial benefit to Sanofi-Aventis of a potential transaction with Genzyme.”

The board urged shareholders not to take action, saying a program had been initiated to inform them of “intrinsic value of the company.”

Sanofi insists the amount represents a premium of 38 percent over Genzyme’s unaffected share price of $49.86 on July 1. The drug maker also said discussions with shareholders who own more than 50 percent of Genzyme revealed that shareholders were “frustrated” with the biotech firm’s “persistent refusal to have meaningful discussions.”

Genzyme is one of the world’s largest biotech companies. Founded in Boston in 1981, it specializes in producing drugs for rare genetic disorders, transplant and immune diseases, and cancer.

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