Bank of America (BAC) is in the midst of a frantic search for a CEO to succeed Ken Lewis, who is stepping down before the end of the year.

In an article on Bank of America's murky succession plan, USA Today buries this newsworthy factoid seven paragraphs down. From the "You can't make this stuff up" department:

BofA Chairman Walter Massey, who is leading the search, is currently on vacation on a ship and will not be reachable until Nov. 23, according to Morehouse College, where Massey is president emeritus.

E*Trade Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: ETFC) reported Wednesday morning that its chairman and CEO, Donald Layton, will step down at the end of the year. He will retain all of his current responsibilities through the end of 2009, by which time E*Trade hopes to have named a successor.

In a warm and fuzzy press release, Layton summed up his tenure at E*Trade: "It was an exciting but very challenging time as E*TRADE dealt successfully with the severe financial distress of the last two years. Now that our major recapitalization is complete and the online brokerage business is growing again, I have accomplished what was needed for me to end my time as CEO on schedule. I wish to thank everyone involved -- it was a great team effort."

Stephen Friedman, chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, stepped down from his post late Thursday. The 71-year-old came under fire when a regulatory filing revealed that he upped his stake in Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) during late 2008, when the bank holding company was under the New York Fed's supervision.

"Today, although I have been in compliance with the rules, my public service motivated continuation on the Reserve Bank Board is being mischaracterized as improper," wrote Friedman in his letter of resignation. "The Federal Reserve System has important work to do and does not need this distraction."

I first heard the news that Starbucks legend Howard Schultz would once again become CEO of the company via Twitter, and the tidings are accompanied by a generous measure of skepticism: Rick Turoczy asks, "I wonder if this means I'll still get crap coffee 90% of the time?" Baristas and buzz-mongers on Starbucks Gossip seem giddy ("Uncle Howie to the rescue!!!"), although even in the land of the faithful there is some suspicion, calling the decision "smoke and mirrors" and calling exiting CEO Jim Donald a "scapegoat." I call it a classic move for a company whose stock is tumbling: bring back whatever charisma we can yank from the back of the closet.

As Chairman, Howard Schultz was certainly still involved with company and its strategy. But the stock had been plunging throughout 2007 -- and has only tumbled further in 2008 with a downgrade from Bear Stearns. As I wrote in that post, the company's coffee quality was a predictor of its stock price, tumbling from its peak under Schultz previous reign. At one point, the baristas were pulling shots in high-quality, old-fashioned manual machines that coffee connoisseurs agree make far-superior espresso to that made in the newer, idiot-proof automatic models. Drip coffee was routinely thrown away if it was burnt. Now? I have to sweeten my lattes to disguise the taste of inferiority.

Bringing back an old chief executive -- and making a scapegoat (whether expressly in the press release, or just between the lines as is the usual way) of the Jimmy-come-lately CEO -- is a well-worn trick for a once-popular company whose stock is spinning every downward. It only rarely works, and Schultz will have to do a lot more than close stores to bring me back. To get me? You'll have to not only liven up the management team, but also your core product. I want good coffee back.

Investors, other than me, seem as pleased as the baristas -- they have given the stock a nearly-9% boost from its close at $18.38, up $1.65 to $20.03 as of 8 p.m. EST.

It is no coincidence the Fed changed its language last week from concerns about inflation picking up to a neutral stance on prices. From looking at the chart below, when the downward slope of the economic leading indicators has been this steep, it has meant a meaningful slowdown is on the horizon.

Mr. Bernanke is very aware of this chart. The question is how proactive he wants to be. Greenspan never would have stopped raising rates when Bernanke did -- a very bold move for the relatively new Fed Chairman. A bolder move would be to lower rates at the next meeting and forgo a recession.

Ever wish you could charge your rent to your employer? That would make for a nice day for many of us come "the rent is due" time. This is apparently what News Corp. (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A) chairman, Rupert Murdoch, does with his New York $50,000/month apartment on Fifth Avenue. The rather bodacious chairman, though, is going to pay the rent back to News Corp.

While his other posh flat was being renovated, the media mogul was living in a Park Avenue apartment owned by Trump Properties with his wife, apparently needing thousands and thousands of square feet to live in. Nothing new here -- standard behavior for CEOs with golden pay packages. Still, that generally does not include charging the rent to the books of your employer.

As a News Cop. shareholder, would you be enraged to find that expenses like these were being directly charged to the books of a company where you had an ownership stake? It should. Corporate governance takes yet another beating in what continues to be company leaders squandering loads of cash and equivalents without notifying shareholders in the process. Sigh.

Murdoch's decision did not sit well with corporate-governance watchdogs, and Fortune magazine has learned that Murdoch has quietly decided to pay back the money. Aw shucks, how nice of him.

Just when it seems like the dot-com bubble is building again, comes new proof that we really are in a different phase of Internet growth entirely -- while some of the old-era Internet bubble stocks continue to fade into the background.

Today it was news that Scott McNealy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, is stepping down as CEO while his company's losses deepen, that drove home that point. Once the king of Internet servers, selling pricey equipment to all those dot-com start-ups flush with venture capital backing, Sun's fall has been dramatic and lasting. From $65 in 2000, the stock has basically traded near $5 or lower for the past three years and apparently investors are ready for change. 

The stock climbed 8% after the close on news old Scott was stepping down. But if you check out its 10-year chart, you'll see Sun is basically the definition of an Internet bubble stock.

So what does this news mean for Microsoft? It is a symbolic victory, since McNealy was Microsoft's arch rival and chief critic for years. And, if a new CEO can bring change at the company, there's the chance for more competitive pressure to come.