Wage concessions are difficult to quantify, since their magnitude depends on many operating variables.

If a company's stock is undervalued - as many managers believe theirs is - a repurchase may offer the best payoff of all.

In general, the hedge funds were clobbered by the 1969 bear market, ending up in many cases with records that were worse than those put together by aggressive mutual funds denied the luxury of short sales.

The 1969 experience has been a rude awakening for many hedge-fund investors and has left some of them with strong reservations about the whole concept. For the first time in their relatively short history, the funds are not growing: in fact, some have suffered large withdrawals of capital, and a few have actually folded.

It's not just like it was a torn A.C.L.. It's a magnitude more difficult to recover from and repair. It can and has ended careers, without a doubt. However, I feel very comfortable with Carson as an athlete and the heart that he's got.

Carl Icahn, corporate raider by trade, is creative, a scrambler, and certainly not to be underestimated.