“What does saying ‘sorry’ mean when it’s tossed around with the frequency of a Justin Bieber scandal?†asks Andrew Ross Sorkin in the DealBook column. Almost every day, some prominent figure â€" a chief executive, a politician, an athlete â€" is apologizing for something â€" to say nothing of the average person. Are we in the midst of an apology crisis? To hear Dov Seidman talk about it, the answer is an emphatic yes. And in fact, Mr. Seidman is so sure that our mea culpas have become meaningless that he called for an “apology cease-fire†in front of several dozen chief executives and politicians at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“‘Sorry’ is in a sorry state,†Mr. Seidman writes in an essay. “The transparent ‘get me out of this mess’ declarations we are witnessing are bereft of credibility. They are motivated by strategic plotting, not soul-searching.†For an apology to mean something, five essential characteristics must be met and internalized, which Mr. Seidman lays out in his essay.
Beginning on Tuesday, Mr. Sorkin and Mr. Seidman are starting “Apology Watch†on the DealBook website (nytimes.com/dealbook). And this is where you, our readers, come in. Help us track new apologies and, more important, follow up on what companies, institutions and individuals have done post-apology, by leaving a comment on the website and on Twitter using the hashtag #ApologyWatch.
CLOSING ARGUMENTS IN FORMER SAC MANAGER’S TRIAL DRAW A CROWD  | Everyone, it seems, wanted to hear the closing arguments on Monday in the insider trading trial against Mathew Martoma, a former portfolio manager at SAC Capital Advisors. The courtroom was packed, with nearly two dozen spectators forced to stand against the wall, Alexandra Stevenson writes in DealBook.
The prosecutor said Mr. Martoma pursued a “canary in a coal mine†to give him an “illegal sneak preview†of the results of a clinical Alzheimer’s drug trial. To find this canary, the prosecutor said, Mr. Martoma fostered relationships with two doctors involved in the drug trial, giving him an inside look at the trial’s negative results before they were announced publicly. This advance knowledge allowed SAC to avoid losses and make profits totaling $275 million, the prosecutor said. The defense countered by saying that the government’s case against Mr. Martoma was “fatally flawed†and hinged on a doctor with a faulty memory. The jury is expected to begin deliberating on Tuesday.
IN DETROIT, IT’S ‘US VERSUS THEM’  | Detroit’s bankruptcy has unnerved the city’s creditors, to say nothing of how it has affected the city’s everyday denizens. Now, it seems, the city’s bankruptcy is turning into a battle of Wall Street versus Main Street, at least in the eyes of these creditors, Mary Williams Walsh writes in DealBook. And to bondholders, bond insurers and other financial institutions, this clash only grew worse last week, when the city circulated plans to emerge from bankruptcy and filed a lawsuit on Friday.
In the lawsuit, which seeks to nullify complex financial contracts that once helped finance Detroit’s pension system, the city said the deal was done “at the prompting of investment banks that would profit handsomely from the transaction.†As for the city’s plan to resolve its bankruptcy, banks, bond insurers and other corporate creditors think they are being asked to share a disproportionate amount of pain under the plan. Under the plan, pensioners would receive up to 50 cents on the dollar for their claims, while unsecured creditors, like general-obligation municipal bondholders, would only end up with 20 cents on the dollar.
STOCKS SLUMP, HEARTS SINK  | Disappointing economic data released on Monday drove Wall Street to its worst day of the year, rekindling fears that the economy was in worse shape than everyone thought. The benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index ended the day down 2.3 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 2.1 percent, while the Nasdaq composite index ended down 2.6 percent.
TAKE NOTE, JAMIE DIMON  | Antony P. Jenkins, the chief executive of Barclays, turned down his bonus for 2013. “It would not be right†to take one, he said.
THE MOST PHOTOGRAPHED WALL STREET TRADER Â |Â His name is Peter Tuchman, and he has been photographed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange since 1985. He has great hair.
ON THE AGENDA  | Two regional Federal Reserve presidents are giving speeches â€" Jeffrey M. Lacker, president of the Richmond Fed, delivers a speech on the economic outlook at 8:30 a.m. and Charles L. Evans, president of the Chicago Fed, takes the podium in Detroit at 12:30 p.m. Factory order figures for December are out at 10 a.m. The House’s Housing and Insurance subcommittee holds a hearing at 10 a.m. on “The Federal Insurance Office’s Report on Modernizing Insurance Regulation.†Andy Dunn, chief executive and co-founder of the apparel company Bonobos, is on Bloomberg TV at 4:15 p.m. Tony Gallippi, the chief executive of BitPay, is on CNBC at 5 p.m. Happy birthday, Facebook, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
BERNANKE DOES NOT LIKE FREE TIME  | To celebrate finishing his tenure at the helm of the Federal Reserve, Ben S. Bernanke took the weekend off. Then, he went back to work â€" on Monday, Mr. Bernanke joined the Brookings Institution as an economic studies fellow.
YELLEN SWORN IN  | See photos of Monday’s ceremony here.
IT MAY NEVER STOP SNOWING Â |Â Seriously.
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Nestlé Considering Sale of Frozen Food Unit  | Nestlé, which recently sold its frozen pasta unit to the buyout firm Brynwood Partners, is said to be considering a sale of its Davigel frozen food business for about $400 million, Reuters reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. REUTERS
Lenovo’s Shares Fall on Deal Concerns  | After a four-day holiday for the Lunar New Year, Lenovo’s shares fell more than 16 percent on Tuesday, as investors speculated that the company might be preparing its third deal in three weeks, The Financial Times reports. FINANCIAL TIMES
Tribune Completes $170 Million Purchase of Gracenote  | The Tribune Company, based in Chicago, announced it had completed its $170 million deal with Sony for Gracenote, which maintains music and video databases, ReCode writes. The purchase was announced in December. RECODE
Liberty Global and Discovery Weighing Formula One Stake  | Liberty Global and Discovery Communications have approached the private equity firm CVC Capital about purchasing a 49 percent stake in Formula One, Reuters writes. REUTERS
Tax Gain Bolsters UBS Profit  | The Swiss bank reported higher than expected earnings of $1 billion for the fourth quarter as a far-reaching overhaul started to pay off. It also benefited from a tax gain. DealBook »
Bank of America Cuts Bonus Pool for Some Traders  | Bank of America is said to have cut the bonus pool for interest-rate traders at the bank by at least 15 percent, Bloomberg News reports, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. BLOOMBERG NEWS
European Banks Look to Expand Internationally  | European banks are once again targeting acquisitions abroad, The Wall Street Journal reports. The renewed search for deals indicates the growing confidence in the region’s economy after several years of distress. WALL STREET JOURNAL
The Banking Bonus Game  | While executives at banks continue to be rewarded with large bonus payouts, low performers and junior bankers may not be so lucky, The Financial Times writes. FINANCIAL TIMES
Danish Prime Minister Rebuilds After Goldman Dispute  | Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the Danish prime minister, is putting together a new cabinet after six ministers quit in protest over her decision to allow Goldman Sachs to buy a stake in the state-owned energy company, Bloomberg News writes. BLOOMBERG NEWS
Tax Expert Sees Abuse in a Stream of Private Equity Fees  | A law professor argues that monitoring fees - payments that companies make to their private equity owners in exchange for what regulatory filings call consulting and advisory services - resemble dividends. DealBook »
S.E.C. Investigating Illiquid Asset Valuations  | The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into how hedge funds and other alternative investment funds value their illiquid assets, The Wall Street Journal reports. WALL STREET JOURNAL
La Quinta Said to Plan Debt Refinancing  | La Quinta Holdings, a lodging chain owned by the Blackstone Group, is said to be making plans to refinance about $2.1 billion of debt in advance of its initial public offering in March, Bloomberg News reports, citing an unidentified person familiar with the situation. BLOOMBERG NEWS
Lotte Shopping Receives I.P.O. Approval  | The Lotte Shopping Company, South Korea’s largest shopping mall owner, has gained approval from the Singapore Exchange for a $1 billion initial public offering, The Wall Street Journal writes. WALL STREET JOURNAL
Jawbone Seeking More Cash  | Jawbone, a privately held company known for its health-tracking bracelets, is looking to raise several million dollars in new funding, adding to the more than $100 million in debt and equity the company raised last fall, Quartz reports. QUARTZ
DataRank Raises $1.4 Million  | DataRank, a start-up that helps companies perform analysis on their brands, has raised $1.4 million in seed funding, led by New Road Ventures, TechCrunch writes. TECHCRUNCH
Investment Firm Set to Expand  | The investment firm 500 Startups has added two venture partners and announced that 28 companies will participate in its eighth 500 Startups Accelerator class, which is aimed at helping start-ups expand their businesses, TechCrunch reports. TECHCRUNCH
Yahoo Sued Over Buffett’s Billion Dollar N.C.A.A. Bet  | Quicken Loans, with backing from Warren E. Buffett, announced in mid-January that it would award $1 billion to anyone who picked a perfect N.C.A.A. tournament bracket. Now, a sweepstakes company based in Dallas claims that Yahoo owes it $4.4 million for canceling its own contest, Fortune reports. FORTUNE
The Tale of the 401(k) Â |Â Bloomberg Businessweek tracked down Richard Stanger, one of the primary authors of the section of a 1978 tax law called 401(k), who discusses what is now one of the most recognizable retirement plans. BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK
Treasury Secretary Urges Debt Ceiling Fix  | Speaking at the Bipartisan Policy Center on Monday, Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew said “time is short†to fix the debt ceiling, which was suspended in October until Feb. 7, The Wall Street Journal reports. WALL STREET JOURNAL
