Postcards

Power Point: Prepare for the inevitable

"We have a chance of being hung with a softer rope."

-- Denny Fitzpatrick, chairman of the California New Car Dealers Association, in the New York Times today.  A government bailout of the Detroit automakers looks increasingly likely, but that's not necessarily good news for Fitzpatrick, a Chevrolet-Hummer dealer, and his brethren. The big three -- General Motors (GM) , Ford (F) , and Chrysler -- have told Congress that they MORE

CEO apologies and other true confessions

'Tis the season for confessions. First comes denial -- every mortal's classic response in a crisis. But in times like these, any leader worth his or her lofty position and pay recognizes mistakes soon enough. True confession is the mark of a confident leader. So, what's your biggest mistake?

In the past week alone, we've noticed a positive trend: leaders fessing up. "GM has made mistakes in the past," General Motors MORE

Power Point: Think before you cut

"The idea of a company that's earning money, not losing money--that's not, let's say 'industrially endangered'--to have just cutbacks so they can earn another $12 million or $20 million or $40 million in a year, where no one's counting, is really a horrible act when you think about it, on every level."

-- IAC (IACI) Chief Barry Diller at yesterday's Reuters Media Summit. During troubled times like these, Diller contends, companies MORE

Where will the bailouts end?

As the government commits more and more money to its multitudinous rescue efforts--of Bear Stearns, then AIG (AIG), then Citigroup (C) and its bank rivals, then Citigroup again, and now more money for Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE)--we wonder: Where, oh where, will these bailouts end? In Detroit, with General Motors (GM), Ford (F)and Chrysler securing their desperately needed billions? Alas, the road to shore up capitalism will MORE

Power Point: Do it better next time

"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently."

-- Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor (F). If only Mr. Ford could see this day when his company's stock has sunk to $1.26. That's a 26-year low. Ford's market cap is now a mere $2.9 billion.

The leaders of the Big Three American automakers--Ford, General Motors (GM) and Chrysler--appeared on Capitol Hill again today to appeal for $25 billion MORE

Wisdom of the ages

This morning I read about the Democrats' hush-hush plan to ease Senator Robert Byrd out of his powerful post as chairman of the Appropriations Committee. Byrd is 90. What's most interesting here is who would inherit his job: Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii. Inouye is 84.

Age is relative, as they say. We're living longer. Our minds stay stronger. And particularly these days, age may be an advantage.

Look around at who's MORE

Coopetition, frenemies and mergers in the making

This morning, I read about the potential merger of General Motors (GM) and Chrysler. Then I read about the benign rivalry of two divas of the blog world, Arianna Huffington and Tina Brown. Two stories that have nothing to do with each other? You would think. But actually, they do. They point to a new reality of the business world: Competition isn't what it used to be. Competition becomes coopetition. MORE

Power Point: Find your inner Porsche

"Mommy, did you tell Pattie how good at Porsches I am?"

- Lili Callaway, age 5, to her mom, Fortune's uber-connected car columnist Sue Zesiger Callaway, this afternoon in Laguna Beach, California. Here's a girl (Lili, not Sue) who is already defining power her own way: She certainly does know Porsches -- and Maseratis and Lamborghinis, which she is able to ID by style and country. Today, we've been racing around MORE

Power Point: Better not to know?

"It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning."

-- Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company (F). Ford was a prominent businessman during the 1929 run on the markets. Today, few people can say they truly understand what's going on. Even the titans of Wall Street — the MORE

Power Point: Companies don't stumble; people do

"The companies acquired the usual encumbrances of success--among them arrogance and bureaucracy--and they devised new ways to fail as well. Or, precisely, their executives did. Companies don't stumble; people do. As Peter Drucker has said: 'Every failure is a failure of a manager.'"

-- Carol Loomis, Fortune senior editor at large, wrote this in a legendary 1993 cover story, "Dinosaurs?," about General Motors (GM), Sears (SHLD), and IBM (IBM). The article MORE