Postcards

Power Point: Be original

"We can't copy. If you want to copy somebody, you're going to be second at best, and always a step behind."

-- Doug McMillon, newly named president and CEO of Wal-Mart (WMT) International. He's succeeding Mike Duke, who is due to take Wal-Mart's helm as CEO Lee Scott retires.

When McMillon talked with Fortune's Geoff Colvin in "The Colvin Interview" last October about innovation and Wal-Mart's global growth prospects (click here MORE

Kullman steps in as DuPont CEO

by Jessica Shambora

When Ellen Kullman stepped into the CEO role at DuPont (DD) this month, she became the 13th female Fortune 500 CEO. That's a milestone. But Kullman's ascension passed with little fanfare. She addressed employees in a year-end video on DuPont's intranet site but has yet to address them as a group or to send out a company-wide email since the start of the year.

Why so quiet? Well, unlike MORE

Power Point: Escape the tiger

"It was like riding a tiger, not knowing how to get off without being eaten."

-- Satyam chairman B. Ramalinga Raju in a letter to his board of directors, as reported by CNNMoney.com. The head of India's fourth-largest software-services provider resigned Wednesday after confessing to inflating profits for years and concocting a fictitious cash balance of more than $1 billion. The company derives more than half of its revenues  from the MORE

Nike's former marketing boss gets back in the game

These days, it seems harder than ever to get back in the game. You know, you take a time-out from corporate America--to spend time with your family (really!) or simply to reinvigorate--and what do you get when you try to return? Serious skepticism about your experience and relevance because (hey, haven't you noticed?) the world changed radically while you were out.

So, it's interesting that Liz Dolan, Nike's (NKE) long-ago marketing MORE

Power Point: Have faith in financials

"We will end up with a bank, there is no doubt about that."

-- Wilbur Ross, Chairman and CEO of WL Ross & Co. to cnnMoney.com. A major player in private equity, Ross said that although the government rescue of the banking system had delayed his company's purchase of a bank, it was inevitable. Last year the supersmart investor bought H&R Block's (HRB) subprime mortgage servicing unit, and also acquired bond MORE

BlackRock's bright forecast for stocks

I stopped by BlackRock's (BLK) midtown Manhattan offices on my way to jury duty this morning. Bob Doll, the giant money management firm's vice chairman and chief investment officer for global equities, was giving his annual forecast. "I've been doing this for about 15 years," he told me before he stepped up to the podium.

"This must be your most dire forecast, Bob?" I asked.

"No," he said. "The headlines are going MORE

Power Point: Understand Jobs' job

"I think that people overstate that [Steve] Jobs designs every single product and every single piece of software. What [Jobs] has done is put the DNA in the company."

-- Daniel Ernst, analyst for Hudson Square Research, to CNNMoney.com in reaction to today's news that Jobs's alarming weight loss is likely due to a hormone imbalance. Actually, Apple's (AAPL) CEO explained his job to Fortune this way in March, 2008: "My MORE

Oprah gears up for her new venture

Long live Oprah Winfrey. Her TV syndication contract expires in 2011, but that doesn't mean she'll go off the air then. Oprah is right now busy preparing to launch her own TV network -- one of the more anticipated media projects of the year. (It's supposed to launch in late '09 or early next year.)

It's also one of the more secretive. But watch this space, and you'll learn a bit MORE