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EchoStar's in the news this morning, and yes, there's a lawsuit involved, but also an adjective that's rarely spotted in the business pages these days. The New York Times noted that even if the company's chairman fails in his latest high-profile acquisition, he'll still end up looking smart. When was the last time a journo credited an exec with being brainy? Outrageous, maybe, outlandish, outplayed -- usually just plain out. Chairman Charles Ergen, however, is in, and playing well. Pinch us.

Ergen's isn't the only name bandied about in a morning of personality-driven business coverage. The Washington Post fronts its business section with a profile of Enron's ex-CFO Andrew Fastow and his elevation to Houston celebrity, or is it curiosity? Le Post's look at Fastow finds him looking especially dopey, a perception that the prison duds he's expected to eventually don won't change. As for his former employer, the Wall Street Journal reports that Enron's practice of stashing its debt behind off-balance-sheet transactions was a longtime habit, while the Los Angeles Times questions whether a grand jury will find the company's cagey dealings to be criminal.

Newsweek looks at Douglas Faneuil, the onetime assistant to Merrill Lynch's stockbroker to the stars, a roster that most famously includes Martha Stewart. Faneuil is expected to counter Stewart's version of events leading up to her sale of 4,000 shares of ImClone stock. Running a photo of Faneuil that appeared in fashion magazine W, Newsweek cheekily writes, "People get the informers they deserve.... If Faneuil's testimony seals Stewart's fate, at least she'll have been done in by someone with taste." As for ImClone's Sam Waksal, the Wall Street Journal went page one on Friday with an examination of his less-than-meritorious work ethic before ImClone. The Journal's account is the product of dogged reporting and in no way qualifies as celeb journalism. But with the many smiling photos of Sam and Martha burned into Unspun's news consciousness, any article about him seems to turn our lowbrow thoughts to, say, Us Weekly.

Unlike the others, EchoStar's Ergen is still employed and playing well, according to the New York Times. But that doesn't mean he'll win the battle to acquire GM's Hughes Electronics division, which includes DirecTV. EchoStar is the nation's No. 2 satellite-TV company, DirecTV is No. 1, and the feds reviewing the merger don't like what they see. If the deal isn't dead, reports the Times, its chances are slim. Ergen's strength is his effort to keep DirecTV tied up and out of the hands of competitors, most notably arch-rival Rupert Murdoch and News Corp.

The Wall Street Journal appears to have the early word on yet another wily Ergen tactic: litigation. In this case, Ergen is horning in on a lawsuit filed by Canal Plus, the cable-TV operation of Vivendi Universal, against NDS, a unit of News Corp., for allegedly counterfeiting the smart cards that let consumers get free satellite TV. But here's the rub: Vivendi has been trying to coax News Corp. into buying Telepiu, Vivendi's Italian pay-TV group, by agreeing to drop Canal Plus' lawsuit against NDS. According to the Journal, EchoStar hopes to jump in as a party to the lawsuit before Canal Plus puts it on hold. Ah, business strategy. Remember that? - Deborah Asbrand

Silent Partner
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20428-2002Sep29.html

Did Enron Trading Ploys Cross Line?
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-enron30sep30,0,4844998.story

Enron's 'SPE' Transactions Raise Questions on Roles of Executives
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1033333267709915353,00.html
(Paid subscription required.)

Look Who's Talking
http://www.msnbc.com/news/814572.asp

Four Prestigious Labs Ousted Waksal for Questionable Work
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1033076483640238993,00.html
(Paid subscription required.)

Wanna feel lonely? Deeply, defiantly, Eleanor Rigby lonely? Try entering a room full of reporters and announcing that you're not excited by the ouster of Hakuo Yanagisawa.

Japan's financial services minister was yanked out of the cabinet this weekend, and my-oh-my, are the media cheering. "Reshuffle Opens Way for Japan Reforms" crows a BBC headline, reflecting the general sentiment. Good riddance is the theme as reporters describe Yanagisawa as an "obstacle" (Reuters) to changes needed to lift Japan out of its banking crisis. Consider, for instance, the Independent's assessment of the problem: "It is generally accepted that the banks need to undergo painful reforms, and ... it was hoped the Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, would start that process. He has not been able to, however, because of the staunch refusal of Mr Yanagisawa to support a government bailout of the banks."

Read slowly enough, and hologram-like, you can actually see the idea of "painful reforms" shift into the concept of "bailout." Do plans for reform include anything other than taking the Japanese people's money and directing it toward banks that made at least $353 billion (BCC) worth of bad loans? We found no mention in today's news. And why did Yanagisawa oppose a bailout? Was he stubborn, stupid, or excessively old-fashioned? Read the AP's account, and you may conclude he was simply too bashful, "shying" away from reforms. Credit the Financial Times for bothering to articulate Yanagisawa's alternative view: that banks could reduce their losses in the next few years through operating profits. If that seems a bit far-fetched, so, too, does the media's ready assurance that a bailout will resolve Japan's economic woes. Reuters dubs a potential bailout "controversial" but does not explain why a reasonable person might resist breaking open the government piggy bank.

Yanagisawa's sayonara may turn out be good for Japan, but tucked into the coverage of his ouster, we found two reasons to sit out this party. One was a caution from an economist, who told CNN, "[A] year and a half ago, people were very enthusiastic about Yanagisawa getting the job." Another was a reminder in a Bloomberg report that Japan knows from bailouts -- it spent the late 1990s feeding $76 billion into broken banks. - Lori Patel

Japan PM to reshape cabinet
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2284444.stm

Japanese finance minister to quit
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/story.jsp?story=337638

Pro-Reform Takenaka Japan Bank Regulator
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Business/reuters20020930_7.html

Japanese minister faces dismissal (Financial Times)
http://tinyurl.com/1pfn

Reshuffle opens way for Japan reforms
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2287751.stm

Japan's PM Reshuffles Cabinet
http://wire.ap.org/APnews/?SITE=NCASH&FRONTID=HOME

Japan Economic Team Sows Confusion at G-7 Gathering
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1033311392687352353,00.html
(Paid subscription required.)

Japan's financial services minister out
http://asia.cnn.com/2002/BUSINESS/asia/09/30/japan.reshuffle/

Japan bank plan stirs talk
http://money.cnn.com/2002/09/28/news/economy/group_japan.reut/

A Lone Voice for Regulation at the F.C.C.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/30/business/30COPP.html

Getting Laid Off Hurts Worse When Employer Is Bankrupt
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1033335183303074553,00.html
(Paid subscription required.)

It's Not Time or Newsweek, by Design
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/30/national/30LETT.html

Top Silicon Valley companies cut back on R&D (Financial Times)
http://tinyurl.com/1pad

Probe of Tyco Is Expanded To Include Its Auditor PwC
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB103333684988087833,00.html
(Paid subscription required.)

Boeing workers ratify contract
http://money.cnn.com/2002/09/29/news/companies/boeing_strike.ap/

U.S. West Coast ports employers extend lockout
http://www.forbes.com/work/newswire/2002/09/30/rtr735313.html

Executive Stays as Rosie Goes
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/30/business/media/30BREW.html

Disney Picks Paris Veteran to Run Parks
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-disney30sep30001434,0,6002725.story

California Deal Shines Light on Oracle's Revenue Accounting
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/bayarea/business/4180351.htm

Top Silicon Valley companies cut back on R&D (Financial Times)
http://tinyurl.com/1pi4

Celebrity Analysts Hit 'Bubble Scrapheap' (Financial Times)
http://tinyurl.com/1pi5

Copyedited by Jim Duffy (jimduffy86@yahoo.com).

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