An obvious reason is that the Bank of America-Merrill merger was not a marriage made in heaven. In fact, it almost bankrupted Bank of America. Had it not rescued Merrill, the bank would not have had to sell its stake in the mainland bank in the first place.

Despite the embarrassment, a local Merrill officer was quick to point out that the sale was more a private placement than a capital market deal. 'We are one big family,' he said. 'We'll call [Bank of America chairman] Ken Lewis and do it next time.'

Casino king knows best

When it comes to hosting an annual general meeting, casino king Stanley Ho Hung-sun is known for going the extra mile to make sure things run smoothly.

Two years ago, his staff took Polaroid snapshots of every shareholder entering Shun Tak Holdings' annual meeting. Yesterday, at the first AGM of his SJM Holdings, Mr Ho (above) asked shareholders not to photograph or video the meeting. However, we couldn't help noticing he had his own video crew and photographer on hand to record proceedings.

The company claimed it was common practice. Not surprisingly, everything ran smoothly as the 50 or so shareholders, who raised no questions, headed straight for the dim sum table once the official chin-wagging was over.

Busy director gets back seat

Independent non-executive director Abraham Razack turned up five minutes late for the start of the SJM annual meeting and was relegated to a back-row seat along with the likes of Lai See instead of being at the head table for the 30-minute gathering.

Maybe he's just too busy these days. Mr Razack holds 13 independent non-executive directorships that include MTR Corp and NWS Holdings, which ranks him second behind Gordon Kwong Che-keung, who holds 15.

Lesson in smart investing

Congratulations to Tom Group for the latest example of selling high and buying low.

Li Ka-shing's media flagship yesterday announced it had bought out partner Singapore Press Holdings' 35 per cent stake in its outdoor media company for HK$60 million. Just three years ago, Tom sold that same 35 per cent stake for HK$202.8 million.

Tom Group said it would be in a better position to develop its mainland outdoor media business and execute its business strategies more smoothly after the transaction.

We bet it will.

Honed up for PCCW case

During the Court of Appeal hearing on PCCW, Mr Justice Anthony Rogers was widely credited for his deep understanding of business. He became an expert in dealing with complicated listed company issues when he was in private practice from 1976 to 1993.

During those years, he advised Century City International Holdings chairman Lo Yuk-sui.

Readers may recall Mr Lo made his name by embarking on aggressive acquisitions that targeted Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels and China Motor Bus in the 1980s.

Booming in downturn

If there is one profession that is booming during the economic downturn, it is that of the economist.

Earlier this week, we wrote about how some members of a Beijing audience paid 58,000 yuan (HK$65,894) to listen to Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman.

Yesterday, mainland internet portal Hexun carried a report about how much the country's best-known economists were charging for giving a seminar. For example, Larry Lang Hsien-pang, a chair professor of finance at Chinese University of Hong Kong, said he charged 150,000 yuan for a seminar, which the publication noted was about double his going rate just a few months ago.

Other well-known economists, such as former Morgan Stanley economist Andy Xie and the author of Currency Wars, Song Hongbing, charge more than 100,000 yuan per seminar.

It's a more profitable business model than a hedge fund, although you could argue that they both thrive on market volatility.