On the Way Out

Author:: Cory Johnson
Publish date:: Sep 12, 1998 12:15 PM EDT

SAN FRANCISCO -- What a week. Four days were more than enough this time out.

Resignations seemed to be a theme. The most powerful, domineering, inspiring leaders of the free world were all rumored to be on their way out:

President Clinton

, Russian President

Boris Yeltsin

NationsBanc Montgomery Securities

CEO Thom Weisel. So if you were a little busy reading those reports, here a few stories you might have missed.

Who Said That? And Why?

People ask me why I don't write as often as columnist

Jim Cramer

. I tell them, people, only so many of us can fit into a phone booth and wear a cape. But seriously, folks, I just flew in from Krypton and boy are my arms...

No, really. Most of the time, Cramer writes all day about how he trades all day. But this particular missive is especially enjoyable because he's writing about what we

reporters

do all day: interview sources, try to evaluate their information and ascertain bent and bias. Cramer as a media critic is about as good as it gets.

Wrong! Rear Echelon Revelations: Ulterior Motives

(Sept. 8)

http://www.thestreet.com/premium/Commentary/wrongrear/31089_981998.html

Babewatch in the Balkans

This story about a war of schlock TV was not nominated for its nifty graphic -- though it might have been. But staff reporter Erin Arvedlund finds a media battle that

Steven Brill

hasn't yet uncovered. Turns out that two publicly traded companies -- headed by heir

Ronald Lauder

and B-movie king

Harry Evans Sloan

-- are dueling it out in Eastern Europe with garbage TV.

Hollywood in the Balkans

(Sept. 10)

http://www.thestreet.com/premium/Companies/topstories/30539_9101998.html

Why Clinton Matters

The great moral debate from Washington (now that's a laugh) is surely the subject of great debate across the nation this weekend. But what does it all mean for the financial markets? Most publications deal in platitudes: "The market was off today on Starr's report to Congress," followed the next day by, "The market was up today on Starr's report to Congress." Senior writer

Aaron Task

breaks it down here in concise and understandable fashion.

Starr Power

(Sept. 10)

http://www.thestreet.com/Markets/marketfeatures/31158_9101998.html

Shameless Self-Promotion

I don't usually put

my own

stories in this best-of column. But this piece got up on the site after the market closed Friday and in the world of West Coast finance, there was no bigger news this week than rumors of the departure of

NationsBanc Montgomery Securities

CEO Thom Weisel. This is a story Montgomery

does not

want out, but one that I thought was worth telling, even this early in the game. Surely, more fallout is yet to come, perhaps as soon as next week.

You can look for more of that coverage right

http://www.thestreet.com/premium/Commentary/siliconbabylon/31226_9111998.html

Intel COMS Job

This wasn't quite the tag-team effort that we plan in our morning meetings. But senior columnist

Herb Greenberg

and semiconductor reporter

Marcy Burstiner

combined for two compelling pieces that moved the market and helped dissect its maneuverings. Greenberg reported that

Intel

(

(INTC) - Get Report

INTC) was looking to acquire

3Com

(

(COMS)

COMS). 3Com stock went on a tear, and

CNBC

and

Dow Jones News Service

picked up the story. That's when Burstiner, from her perch in the corner of the West Coast Bureau's newsroom, broke down how Herb's scenario might work. Or not.

Herb on TheStreet: Why Intel Insiders May Be Inside 3Com

(9/10)

http://archive.thestreet.com/980910/commentary/herbonthestreet/31133_9101998.html

Silicon Valley: Intel's Bandwidth Dreams

(9/11)

http://www.thestreet.com/premium/Companies/siliconvalley/31184_9111998.html