American Voices: Notable Quotes From the Week in Business

Week in Review

May 26 (Bloomberg) -- A look back at some of the notable quotes from the week in business:

``I think investors can feel validated in that the legal system worked here. On a bigger picture, it will instill confidence back in the capital markets in America.''

-- Mark Ross, partner at Sichenzia Ross Friedman Ference, on the conviction of former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay and former Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling on fraud, conspiracy and other charges for lying to investors about the company's finances.

``Obviously I'm not real happy with this.''

-- Skilling, after being found guilty. Lay, 64, and Skilling, 52, face at least 25 years each in prison after being convicted of using off-the-books partnerships to disguise Enron's debts. Skilling faces additional jail time over his conviction for using inside information to sell Enron stock.

``This is a closed circle with executives and directors on the inside and stakeholders on the outside.''

-- Richard Metcalf, director of corporate affairs, Laborers International Union of North America, on Home Depot Inc. Shareholders said Chief Executive Officer Robert Nardelli was overpaid during the past 5 1/2 years, when the stock tumbled 15 percent.

``The market is pretty brutal today for a company not making money.''

-- Francis Gaskins, president of IPOdesktop.com, on shares of Vonage Holdings Corp. falling 13 percent on May 24 after the money-losing Internet phone company's $531.3 million initial public offering. It was the worst debut in six months.

``Local ownership has meant something through the years. Local newspapers tend to be more responsive to their communities.''

-- Lee Wilkins, a professor at the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia, on McClatchy Inc.'s sale of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News for $515 million to local investors led by former advertising executive Brian Tierney and Toll Brothers Inc. co-founder Bruce Toll.

``When an analyst at the world's largest broker raises his rating to a buy when a month ago he had it at sell and said it's likely to go bankrupt, that's going to create some attention.''

-- Burnham Securities Inc. analyst David Healy on the increase in General Motors Corp. shares this week because of reports that U.S. union workers are taking up the company's buyout and early retirement offers. Healy doesn't rate Detroit- based GM and owns some debt of its finance unit.

``You know that your life is crazy and not real, and there's a humor that goes with it.''

-- Johanna Tyburski, 29, who left Credit Suisse in March after six years, on the rising popularity of Web logs such as Leveraged Sell-Out and DealBreaker, among young bankers.

``This is the pinnacle, the final proof, the direct evidence of where this came from.''

-- Dr. Beatrice Hahn, a virologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, on the origin of the virus that causes AIDS in humans being traced to its origin in wild chimpanzees in southeastern Cameroon. Hahn led the seven-year study.