The people have spoken! The results are in for the Best and Worst of 2006 and the big winners include Donald Trump (in two different categories), Paris Hilton (with more votes than any other nominee in any category), President Bush, YouTube (edging out Borat), and this past year's skyrocketing gasoline prices.

Donald Trump didn't need the recent brouhaha with Rosie O'Donnell in order to triumph as the Most Annoying Money Personality of the Year, garnering 44% of the votes in that category. He didn't stop there. His signature comb-over was a very clear favorite as Worst Signature Style, with a whopping 85% of the vote (nearly 69 thousand votes). Readers evidently did not love the 'doo.

ExxonMobil's Lee Raymond came out on top as the Most Overpaid CEO (some very lively debate about it in the comments) with 63% of that vote. Readers also voted "real estate bubble" as the Most Overused Buzzword of 2006 with 47% of the vote in that category, and Northwest Airlines's dumpster-diving tips for laid-off employees the Dumbest Moment in Business with 45% of votes.

Continue reading Best & Worst: The results are in! It's Trump and Paris and gas prices, oh my!

Best & Worst: The results are in! It's Trump and Paris and gas prices, oh my! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 28 Dec 2006 13:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Voting continues for the Best & Worst of 2006, and there is no closer race right now than between Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen's bumbling faux-journalist from Kazakhstan (as well as the motion picture named for him), and YouTube, everyone's favorite source for wacky foreign television commercials, drunken celebrity rants, and re-edited movie trailers, as the Up-and-Comer of 2006. Whether you think that Baron Cohen is brilliantly clever or just a cheap-shot artist, whether you believe YouTube offers hours of wholesome entertainment or is just an online version of America's Dumbest Home Videos, let your vote be counted.

The contest for Biggest Fall from Grace is not quite so close, but close enough that with a late surge, Mel Gibson could still overtake current frontrunner, President Bush. As some commenters have pointed out, Bush really didn't have far to fall as he'd already lost credibility before 2006. So if you think Gibson's arrest and drunken tirade have permanently harmed his career (despite the apparent popularity of Apocalypto), then lend your support to help him take the lead in this category.

Many of the close races are for second place. While Donald Trump leads in the Most Annoying Money Personality category, there is a virtual tie for the silver among Suze Orman, Jim Cramer, and Mark Cuban. In the Most Overpaid CEO contest, Barry Diller of IAC (NASDAQ:IACI) and Bob Nardelli of Home Depot (NYSE:HD) are battling for second place behind Lee Raymond of ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM). The Walton family has a slight edge over Martha Stewart for second place as the Tycoon We'd Send to the Poor House, and the Enron sentencing and the real estate market trail gas prices as the Money Story of the Year.

As we've learned from the past few national elections, every vote counts.

Voting for the Best & Worst of 2006 ends Christmas Eve, so don't wait too long. Results will be posted December 28.

For another view on Borat and YouTube, as well as many other of the nominees, also check out MarketWatch's Winners and Losers of 2006.

Best & Worst: YouTube and Borat headed for a photo finish? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 Dec 2006 11:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Voting has begun for the Best & Worst of 2006 and so far real estate mogul Donald Trump seems to be one of the early favorites. Trump has taken an early lead in the Most Annoying Money Personality category with 35% of the vote, and his hair has taken a commanding lead in the Worst Signature Style with 81% of the early vote.

Jim Cramer and Suze Orman aren't far behind Trump as the Most Annoying Money Personality, with 29% and 22% of the vote respectively. Mark Cuban trails with only 14%, but it's still anybody's game.

Despite Lee Raymond defenders leaving comments on his behalf, the former ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) chief has taken the lead as the Most Overpaid CEO with 44% of the vote. Bob Nardelli of Home Depot (NYSE:HD) follows with 25%, then Barry Diller of IAC (NASDAQ: IAC) with 20%, and Terry Semel of Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) bringing up the rear with 10%.

In the Worst Signature Style category, Simon Cowell's T-shirt (11%) and Steve Jobs's turtleneck (6%) are fighting for distant second place, while Warren Buffett's glasses are showing signs of being the dark horse with only 2% thus far.

The Up-and-Comer nominees are set to be profiled later today, with more nominees in more categories to be examined in the days ahead. But go ahead and vote for your favorites, or for the underdogs. Voting ends December 24.

As they are so fond of saying in Chicago, vote early and vote often.

Best & Worst: Trump takes the lead in early voting results originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 Dec 2006 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The 10 highest paid CEOs are amply rewarded -- earning an average of $58 million in the last year -- but they are not producing equally: three bargain CEOs created shareholder value on the cheap, three hogs added shareholder value but got paid too much to do so and four value destroyers were paid big bucks to lose shareholder value. Finding those bargain CEOs could be a great way to look for investment opportunities if you think that they can keep creating shareholder value at the same rate as they have in the past. (A map of the location of these CEOs is here.)

I calculate that in the last year, these 10 CEOs presided over the creation of $12 billion in stock market value -- their $58 million average CEO pay works out to 0.5% of that $12 billion in additional stock market value. But lest you get too excited, the average stock price of the 10 companies increased 12% while the S&P 500 rose 15%.

If CEOs were paid for value creation, I would expect all 10 of these companies to be contributing to that $12 billion in increased stock market value. But the reality is quite different -- four of the 10 destroyed shareholder value in the last year while the remaining six increased it. Who are the bargain CEOs, hogs, and value destroyers?

Continue reading Bargain CEOs, hogs and value destroyers

Bargain CEOs, hogs and value destroyers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 26 Oct 2006 12:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.