Postcards

Power Point: Krawcheck says "Less is better"

"'More' is not the answer here. 'Better' is the answer here. 'Much less' is the answer here."

-- Sallie Krawcheck, former CFO of Citigroup (C), discussing the need for simplicity in financial disclosures in a video interview with CNNMoney anchor Poppy Harlow. Krawcheck gets personal here: Six weeks ago she refinanced her home and encountered "mind-boggling" paperwork, she says. The financial-services industry, she notes, "had high returns on complexity for years." MORE

Meredith Whitney's Goldman Sachs call

She still has her mojo.

A lot of people were surprised, even confounded, when analyst Meredith Whitney, the bear of all bears, stuck her neck out early yesterday and put forth the Street's highest estimates for Goldman Sachs' (GS) second-quarter profits. Whitney predicted that Goldman would report $4.65 a share. The consensus estimate was $3.48. Goldman announced this morning that it earned $4.93.

And you'd think the stock would pop on that MORE

Power Point: Seacrest tweets and scores

"Lots of conversations going on behind the scenes but I fully expect you will see the whole team next year."

American Idol host Ryan Seacrest on his Twitter page today, amidst reports that he sealed a deal with CKX (CKXE), the parent company of Idol producer 19 Entertainment, worth $45 million over three years. No salary caps in this biz. The deal reportedly triples Seacrest's annual pay for hosting the top-rated MORE

Meredith Whitney turns bullish on Goldman

All eyes are on Goldman Sachs (GS), which announces earnings tomorrow. What goosed the stock...and then the banking sector and then the entire market today? Meredith Whitney's upgrade.

It mattered--and helped send Goldman up nearly 5% to $149--because the famously bearish financial-services analyst, who helped bring down Citigroup and the banking sector two years ago, has been negative ever since. She announced her upgrade of Goldman at 2:24 a.m. At least MORE

Nora Ephron's Best Advice

If you read only the on-line version of Fortune's "Best Advice I Ever Got"--our recent cover package that's on newsstands until Monday--you missed Nora Ephron. You know her quirky, intelligent wit from her best-selling books and movies like When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle. Here's "My Two Cents"--10 Best Advice tips, actually--from the director, screenwriter and novelist whom I've long admired and come to know:

Never put tomatoes in the MORE

Power Point: Bigger isn't always better

"I don't think you're going to have those anymore. Bigness isn't that great an asset anymore."

-- Tom Freston, former Viacom (VIAB) CEO, in a Reuters story about the waning influence of media moguls. These titans are being upstaged by the darlings of digital, like Facebook's Marc Zuckerberg and Twitter's Evan Williams. Old and new media alike are gathered this week at the Allen & Co. media summit in Sun Valley, MORE

What is Microsoft? CEO Ballmer seeks an answer

Google (GOOG) is barging into the business of computer operating systems—via Chrome, due next year. Microsoft (MSFT) is vigorously defending its turf--via Windows 7, its new operating system due in October. Simultaneously, Microsoft is striking at the heart of Google, via Bing. "We should have been earlier in search," said CEO Steve Ballmer two weeks ago in France when asked to name his greatest regrets over the years.

We may be MORE

Power Point: Google strikes at the core

"Just like Henry Ford drove down car prices and ripped the heart out of the automobile industry, Google is trying to force Microsoft to cut its prices and eat the heart out of Microsoft's revenues."

- Gartner analyst Tom Austin, on Google's (GOOG) drive to steal customers from the heart of Microsoft's (MSFT)--its Windows operating system. "Bring it on!" said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer two weeks ago in France, where I MORE

Guest Post: Starbucks goes to Rwanda

Last week, Rica Rwigamba attended a meeting with Starbucks (SBUX) CEO Howard Schultz at the U.S. embassy in Rwanda. Rica lives in Kigali, Rwanda's capital, where she is co-owner and director of New Dawn Associates, a "responsible tourism" and event management company. Rica is also a participant in the 2009 Fortune-U.S. State Department Global Women Leaders Mentoring Partnership, an extension of the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit. Through this mentoring MORE

Power Point: Look at the man in the mirror

"If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make a change."

-- Michael Jackson's lyrics from "The Man in the Mirror." The song rang out as the King of Pop's casket was carried out of the Staples Center in Los Angeles Tuesday. The 20,000 seat arena was filled to capacity as fans witnessed tributes from Smokey Robinson, Brooke Shields, Al Sharpton and others MORE