CRIME DOESN'T PAY - BUT IT SURE DOES COST
"I am not saying that we are opposed to a sale, but what I am saying is we are opposed to a steal of the company."
- Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan CEO Bill Doyle digs in his heels over BHP Billiton Ltd.'s hostile takeover bid, which he considers - at $39-billion (U.S.) - to be opportunistic low-balling.
GETTING OUT OF THE KITCHEN
"While the joy of winning for clients is immense, for me the disappointment of each interim drawdown over the years has taken a cumulative toll that I cannot continue to sustain."
- Hedge-fund giant Stanley Druckenmiller tells clients that quitting the business and shutting down his Duquesne Capital - a $12-billion (U.S.) fund that has never had a losing year in its 30-year history, but is believed to be down for 2010.
NINJAS IN THE OUTFIELD
"We will fight with gloves and spikes."
- Hideki Tsuruoka, head of Mizuno Corp.'s baseball division, talks tough on the Japanese sports-equipment maker's battle for market share in the U.S. baseball market, saying , "The company who rules the U.S. market can rule world markets."
THE GEEKS SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH
"This was a really difficult thing for us to do because we appreciate what Father Strand is trying to accomplish with his mission. But at the end of the day, it's bad precedent to let some groups violate our trademark while pursuing others."
- Best Buy Co. explains why the electronics retailer sent a cease-and-desist warning to Wisconsin priest Luke Strand, over his Volkswagen Beetle emblazoned with a "God Squad" logo that mimics the Bugs its Geek Squad computer-repair staff drive.
AND THEN THEY'LL CHANGE THEIR NAME TO 'ZOODAN'
"It's very innovative. That's our thinking. It's unique. It's the Ministry of Housing thinking you have to be unique to attract the people."
- Daniel Wani, undersecretary of Southern Sudan's Ministry of Housing and Physical Planning, explains why the impoverished, war-torn region's government will seek $10-billion from investors to redesign several of its cities in the shape of animals. (Juba, for example, is slated to look like a rhinoceros.)
David Parkinson