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Tom Horton's role in the merger of American AIrlines with U.S. Airways. Tom Horton was the chairman of American Airlines, and helped execute the merger, which was very favorable to shareholders.

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Jenkins talks to an American, Bob Dudley, who leads BP. Dudley sees opportuntiies for young people to joining BP as engineers because of its large investments in the U.S. He also sees potential for oil on the eastern Atlantic seaboard of the U.S.

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Judge Carl Barbier's ruling on Jan. 14, 2015 against BP which increases its exposure to a maximum penalty of $13.7 billion under the Clean Air Act. Judge Barbier's decision was that BP was liable for 3.19 million barrels of crude that spilled into the Gulf of Mexico in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon rig disaster. Judge Barbier's ruling said that BP acted recklessly in the events leading to the rig explosion an oil spill, giving the company exposure to the maximum penalty of $4300 per barrel. BP asked for a smaller penalty of $3000 per barrel.

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Estimates of net income JP Morgan has gained from the acquisition of Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual since 2008 are about $16 billion. This acts as a offset against the $13 billion legal settlement with the Justice Department. Eavis and Protess point out that JP Morgan Chase acted in its own interest to buy these to firms at a bargain price in 2008, even as it was working with regulators in this arrangement. For this reason the Justice Department settlement is not seen as unfair to JP Morgan.

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German authorites are looking into the possibility that higher up management knew about the emissions cheating and whether management had permitted it to take place. A search warrant was issued by a judge in Munich in March 2017 that makes it possible for investigators to take documents and other evidence on mobile phones of senior management, including Mr. Muller and Mr. Stadler, two very senior executives who head VW and Audi. Almost 2 years after the story first came to light the investigation continues and the probe deepens into who knew what at the highest levels of management.

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This WSJ editorial points out that justice and accountability have not been well served in the U.S. Justice Department's settlement with Credit Suisse in May 2014.

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What will the E-Book do to bookstoreslike Barnes & Noble? This is a question that investors like Burkle, who owns 20% of Barnes & Noble, and Mr. Riggio who owns 31%, are facing. Apple's IPad is expected to sell 5.5 million units in 2010, Amazon's Kindle 3 million, and Barnes and Noble's Nook 1 million units. Barnes & Noble invested early on in a handheld device called the Rocket eBook reader with its investment in NuvoMedia in 1998. But pulled out of the eBook business in 2003. The problem at the time was the lack of enough titles to arouse reader interest and the high prices-$20 per eBook vs $25 for a hardbook. This move proved costly when Amazon launched its Kindle in 2007. Amazon now has 70-80% of the eBook buisness, with Sony, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble competing for the remaining share. Riggio bought the first store for Barnes & Noble on New York's Fifth Avenue in 1971. He promoted superstores with huge selections (over 100,000 titles) and built up a chain of 719 stores in ensuing decades. Now he faces a new reality in the arithmetic of eBooks which could remake this business. Apple set a new method for pricing eBooks that affects booksellers. Publishers and Apple set up a model that gives the publisher 70% of the eBook digital price. EBook sellers act as agents in this approach, and they get 30%. Best sellers sell for $9.99 but other books can be $12.99 or $14.99. Now the digital bookseller gets 30% of $12.99. And as it hasn't paid anything its more advantageous and profitable. This works for publishers and digital booksellers but Barnes and Noble was used to getting much more than $3.90 when it sold a $25 hardcover book. If eBook sales climb to become a quarter or more of total book sales by 2012 then it will lead to a decline in sales revenues for Barnes & Noble. With eBooks costing half of the hardcover prices in brick and mortar retailers the trend is irreversible. To address this trend Barnes & Noble has hired a digital expert Mr Lynch as CEO, and the strategy is to combine the retail presence and customer physical contact in brick-and-mortar stores with eBook retailing, to come up with an answer to this tidal wave of change in book retailing. ...

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United with subsidiaries United Airlines and Continental Airlines had $6.8 billion in liquidity as of June 30, 2014. American Airlines after the merger with US Airways has $9.4 billion unrestricted cash by July 2014. Mr. Parker, the CEO of American, plans to prepay $2.8 billion in debt and aircraft lease payments, place $600 million more than required into pension contributions, and start a dividend and share buyback. Airline consolidation into 4 major carriers, cutting unpofitable hubs and routes, filling planes to capacity, and charging for better seating, snacks and other amenities, are leading to record profits for the U.S. airline industry.

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Extraordinary returns of 8-15 times the original investment for investors in AMR (American Airlines) shares following the merger with U.S. Airways.