The 10-Point: My Guide to The WSJ Date: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 07:59:02 -0500 From: Gerard Baker, WSJ Reply-To: [email protected] To: [email protected] The 10-Point. Gerard Baker Editor in Chief of The Wall Street Journal Good morning, A New Face at the Pentagon The White House is a step closer to choosing the next defense secretary. We report that President Barack Obama is poised to nominate Ashton Carter, a former top Pentagon official known more as a technocrat than a military strategist, for the role. The move comes after Chuck Hagel was forced to step down last month following complaints from officials that he was disengaged from national-security debates and the withdrawal from consideration of Michele Flournoy, thought to be the president’s first pick. The choice of Mr. Ashton, 60, signals more continuity than change in administration defense policy. Selecting him would allow a former deputy secretary who understands the inner workings of the Pentagon to begin working on an agenda quickly. If chosen and confirmed, Mr. Carter would face a host of challenges in Mr. Obama’s final years as president, including combating Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, ending the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan and overseeing a shrinking Pentagon budget. Slick Work The growing threat of Islamic State was key to an oil-export deal struck by the Iraqi government and Kurdistan yesterday. The agreement signals an end to a long political impasse between Baghdad and the country’s northern region that has nearly bankrupted both sides and impeded their ability to fight off the extremists. We note that the move also advances Baghdad’s efforts to improve relations with the country’s Kurdish minority. The deal outlines the amount of oil that can be produced by each region and, we find, ensures that exports flow through Iraq’s national oil company—a win for the central government, which has long sought to exercise more control over Kurdish oil exports and revenue. In return, Kurdistan will keep nearly a fifth of Iraq’s budget expenditure. While good news for Iraqi unity and the fight against Islamic State, we note that the deal is likely to add to the downward tailspin in the oil market by augmenting the already ample supply. Activist on Board A long list of companies have chosen to open their doors to activist investors recently, rather than get caught up in a bruising public fight. Our story looks at how Bank of New York Mellon has now joined the trend. The 230-year-old bank gave Nelson Peltz’s $10 billion investment firm a seat on its board, potentially setting itself up for years of acrimony within the boardroom. Trian Fund Management LP co-founder Ed Garden is the latest addition to BNY Mellon’s now-14-member board—five months after the firm took a 2.6% stake in the bank and began privately pushing for cost cuts and other measures. Activist investors typically take stakes in companies and then agitate for changes such as asset sales or stock buybacks to bolster share prices. To see a ranking of financial advisers and law firms working on or against activist investors’ public campaigns, take a look at our Activism Scorecard graphic. If I Could Turn Back Time Do you ever wonder where all those hours went at the office? In her Work & Family column, Sue Shellenbarger explores how new data-mining tools are helping employers answer that question. The causes of worker overload have long been suspected—email and meetings—but software that analyzes employees’ email headers and online calendars can help pinpoint which work groups impose the most on employees’ time. For example, VoloMetrix allows managers to see confidential weekly “dashboards” showing how much time staff spent on email or in meetings. Some common time-wasting habits include copying too many people into emails, the overuse of “reply all,” replying to an email when it isn’t really necessary and inviting too many people to meetings. But some habits are hard to break. “There is a lot of pride among senior executives in how grueling their lives are,” said a VoloMetrix executive. TOP STORIES U.S. Detroit Hit by Power Outage as Infrastructure Is Blamed Body Cameras Put New Pressure on Police WORLD Somali Militants Al-Shabaab Kill 36 in Kenya Border Attack John Kerry Pledges to Fight Islamic State ‘For as Long as it Takes’ BUSINESS Christie’s CEO Murphy Steps Down GM, Chrysler, Honda U.S. Sales Rise in November MARKETS Bank of Russia Intervention Has Little Effect on Sinking Ruble Pimco Slows Rush of Cash Out the Door TODAYS VIDEO HP Stream 11 Review: A $200 Laptop That’s Worth It That Was Painless The Journal’s Joanna Stern puts Microsoft and HP’s new $200 Windows PC up against Acer’s $200 Chromebook 11. NUMBER OF THE DAY 550 The number of police killings between 2007 and 2012 that aren’t included in official records kept by the Federal Bureau of Investigation or, in a few dozen cases, not attributed to the agency involved. An analysis by The Wall Street Journal of the latest data from 105 of the country’s largest police agencies found that it is nearly impossible to determine how many people are killed by the police each year. QUOTE OF THE DAY It’s much more of a celebrity society than it used to be...Supreme Court justices now are on television, they’re in the newspapers, blah, blah, blah. Justice Antonin Scalia, whose barbed wit entertains audiences during Supreme Court arguments, on being portrayed as a fictionalized character in theatrical works. TODAYS QUESTION Going back to our earlier story, what do you think causes the biggest waste of time at work? Send thoughts and insights to 10point@wsj. —Compiled by Kathleen Chaykowski READER RESPONSE In response to yesterday’s question about witnessing holiday-period family meltdowns, Sarah Werner of Colorado offered this story: “We’ve mellowed over the years, but the best/worst family meltdown in my memory was on my wedding day. ‘You gotta get over here! Mom fell and Dad’s yelling!’ was a frantic phone call from my brother. I arrived at my parents’ house less than an hour before the wedding to find Mom in tears, cradling her left arm. ‘My dress is dirty!’ she sobbed. While trying to push an angel-topped wooden stick into the garden, the stick broke and Mom had tumbled to the ground. ‘This is all your fault!’ thundered my father to me (because my wedding had inspired Mom to improve the garden). ‘Everybody shut up and calm down!’ was my sister’s command. We all calmed down, I got married and after the ceremony my mother went to the emergency room. ‘I’ve waited too long for this day,’ she explained her delay in seeking treatment.” This daily briefing is named The 10-Point after the nickname conferred by the editors of The Wall Street Journal on the lead column of the legendary Whats News digest of top stories. Technically, 10-point referred to the size of the typeface. The type is smaller now but the name lives on. 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Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 13:32:04 +0000