Infact

Information begins with facts, which can be assembled to identify trends. Put it all together to derive knowledge. Presenting Chief Executive's INfact.

1. Sum spent by Time Warner buying back shares since August 2005 | $22.5 billion
2. Price change of Time Warner stock in that period | -12%
3. Loss for United Airlines in second quarter, 2008 | $2.7 billion
4. Amount by which this exceeds the combined losses of Delta, American and Continental for the same period | $25 million
5. American Consumer Satisfaction Index score for the seven largest U.S. airlines in 2008 | 68.5%
6. Average if the score for Southwest Airlines was excluded | 58
7. Percent of white-collar workers who have considered quitting over bureaucratic hassles | 42
8. Number of FDIC-insured banks that have failed so far in 2008 | 16
9. Number of banks that failed from 2004-2007 | 6
10. Cost per motorist to U.S. drivers for driving on deteriorated roads in 2007 due to tire wear, damage to shock absorbers and wheel alignment and extra fuel consumption | $222
11. Rank of New Mexico, at $432 million, among states with most punishing roads |1
12. Percentages of corporate executive compensation packages that specify a performance bonus and noncompete agreements, respectively | 80, 65
13. Estimated percentage change since last year's in U.S. sales of golf carts for purposes other than golf | +215
14. Number of Americans hurt by golf cart accidents every month, up 132% since 1990 | 1,000
15. Percentage of iPhone users who carry another phone | 33%
16. Rank of Texas as the nation's best state for doing business | 1
17. Ratio of the rate of economic growth of Texas relative to the rest of the U.S. | 2:1
18. Number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Texas, the most of any state | 58
19. Percent of workers in Texas who work in corrections | 16.9
20. Number of cities more expensive than New York City in 2008 | 21
21. In 2007 | 14
22. Percentage by which Moscow, the most expensive city in the world, is more expensive than New York, the most expensive in the U.S. | 42
23. Number of billionaires living in Moscow, the most of any city in the world | 74
24. Percent of CEOs who believe that China will be the nation creating the most jobs in the future | 53
25. Date that the SEC announced that a new interactive database of corporate filings, the Interactive Data Electronic Applications (IDEA), will replace EDGAR | August 19, 2008
26. Percent of cell telephone calls in North America and Europe deemed to have unacceptable voice quality | 20
27. Rank of Aflac among U.S. companies to approve "Say on Pay" (giving investors a nonbinding vote in executive pay) | 1
28. Number of financial institutions, including Citigroup, Wachovia, Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo, that have rejected Say on Pay | 8
29. Change in revenues for Wynn Resorts' Las Vegas gaming operations in 2nd Qtr 2008 compared to a year earlier | -70%
30. Change in gambling revenues in Macao for the same period | +100%
31. NBC's projected ad revenue from the 2008 Summer Olympics | $1 billion
32. Median 2007 total compensation for S&P 500 CEOs in the energy sector | +36%
33. For CEOs in the financial sector | -19%
34. Change in U.S. productivity (outpour per hour worked in private nonfarm businesses) in 2nd Qtr 2008 from a year earlier | +2.8%
35. Rank of "greater use of part-time workers" as the explanation for the increase | 1
36. Ratio of golf courses to four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. | 8:1
37. Number of Vanguard customers who made "hardship withdrawals" from retirement accounts in 2007 | 47,197
38. Number in 2003 | 29,253
39. Estimated cost for carbon cap-and-trade emission allowances, per ton, in 2015 | $22-$35
40. Payment, adjusted for inflation, that the producers of the quiz show "The $64,000 Question" would have to pay a winning contestant in 2008 | $487,111
41. The fair price of a barrel of oil, according to Osama bin Laden in 1998 | $144
42. Date on which oil reached $144 per barrel | July 2, 2008 

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    John Kador can be contacted at jkador@jkador.com