Well, that's it... I officially returned from maternity leave on Monday 2nd June 2008, and on Wednesday 18 June 2008, I was informed that there was no job for me there. This did not come as a full surprise, since my close colleagues had been told the same thing in May, when our company was about to be taken over by another one.
The challenge, though, is that when you have been out of the market for 10 months, you hardly remember what you used to do at your desk, and you struggle to answer work-related questions, even from the most benign interviewers. The situation I ended up in was really not what I had in mind when I became pregnant. Of course, if my company had filed for bankruptcy, instead of being acquired, then things would have been worse because there would not have been any desk or payslip to go back to after the maternity leave.
Ironically, with our elder son starting school in September 2008, I was planning to return to work on a part-time basis, to do the school-runs, take him to speech therapy, and possibly to sports or music activities. "Part-time is a particular popular option for women returning from maternity leave" according to http://www.flexibility.co.uk and I understand why. If you leave your child in the care of a childminder, however kind and gifted, every afternoon of his first school years, will you not blame yourself if he soon develops behavioural problems or academic delay?
So, let's look around: accepting that I will not be able to cover trading market hours, but only around 10am-3pm at best, with no work travel involved, this does not really leave many options. I can only seriously consider some form of freelance activity, where I decide how much time I can dedicate to work and when. There is an interesting chart on page 7 of the EU paper http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2006/96/en/1/ef0696en.pdf about working time and work-life balance. Instead of looking strictly at the time spent in paid activities, the researchers also looked at the time spent on household chores, childcare, etc. Enlightening!
Showing posts with label bear stearns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bear stearns. Show all posts
Thursday, 19 June 2008
Friday, 13 June 2008
Friday 13 June 2008
"Is Lehman the next Bear Stearns?", all the media ask. Hmm... I wonder whether they are trading as much as they used to. For, from what I understand, reduction in trading volumes because of counterparty risk concerns was the last "red flag" at Bear, before the Fed and JP Morgan came to the rescue. Now, Lehman is replacing some of its top executives: I am not convinced such measures bring much when the slide is already slippery.
In the freight sector, I am intrigued by the launch of new derivatives based on the Baltic Dry Index. Somehow it reminds me of the CBOT evolution: from farmers or orange-growers and their customers to purely-financial punters. Remember "Trading Places"? In freight, are these instruments new toys with which to burn one's fingers?Kemira Oyj, a Finnish chemicals group that counts paper companies among its main customers, has just announced that it would raise its prices by as much as 25% to try and offset higher raw material and energy costs. A week ago, it received a €100 million loan from the EIB to support its R&D activities. Sounds positive doesn't it? Perhaps, but not enough in Moody's eyes: they lower the group's short-term rating, which had been on review for downgrade since 17 March 2008, to Not-Prime, from P-3. Unfortunate timing, but presumably correct decision, as financial difficulties among customers are likely to hinder price-raising efforts (37% of 2007 revenues from Pulp & Paper produts and 22% from Coatings, plus 25% from Water treatment products, which, in turn, are frequently used in the paper industry).
This follows Moody's downgrades two days ago of Sappi, the South African paper company (to Ba2/stable corporate family and debt ratings), and of the French coated fine paper company Lecta SA (to B1/stable corporate family and B3/stable debt ratings).
M-Real will not sell its Reflex mill to Arjowiggins. The companies had envisaged the deal in October 2007, but the European Commission, in its capacity of M&A spoilsport, decided last week that the transaction could only take place if Arjowiggins sold off Reflex's carbonless and digital imaging activities. Anyone else interested in Reflex?
In the freight sector, I am intrigued by the launch of new derivatives based on the Baltic Dry Index. Somehow it reminds me of the CBOT evolution: from farmers or orange-growers and their customers to purely-financial punters. Remember "Trading Places"? In freight, are these instruments new toys with which to burn one's fingers?Kemira Oyj, a Finnish chemicals group that counts paper companies among its main customers, has just announced that it would raise its prices by as much as 25% to try and offset higher raw material and energy costs. A week ago, it received a €100 million loan from the EIB to support its R&D activities. Sounds positive doesn't it? Perhaps, but not enough in Moody's eyes: they lower the group's short-term rating, which had been on review for downgrade since 17 March 2008, to Not-Prime, from P-3. Unfortunate timing, but presumably correct decision, as financial difficulties among customers are likely to hinder price-raising efforts (37% of 2007 revenues from Pulp & Paper produts and 22% from Coatings, plus 25% from Water treatment products, which, in turn, are frequently used in the paper industry).
This follows Moody's downgrades two days ago of Sappi, the South African paper company (to Ba2/stable corporate family and debt ratings), and of the French coated fine paper company Lecta SA (to B1/stable corporate family and B3/stable debt ratings).
M-Real will not sell its Reflex mill to Arjowiggins. The companies had envisaged the deal in October 2007, but the European Commission, in its capacity of M&A spoilsport, decided last week that the transaction could only take place if Arjowiggins sold off Reflex's carbonless and digital imaging activities. Anyone else interested in Reflex?
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