Princess Catherine greets the crowd outside Harvard University

Harvard Business Review's Best CEOs List

Harvard Business Review has published its Best-Performing CEOs in the World 2012 list.Number one on the list is the late Steve Jobs of Apple Computer.The top living CEO is Jeff Bezos of Amazon.
The list is based on three metrics:industry-adjusted shareholder returns;country-adjusted shareholder returns;and increase in market capitalisation over entire tenure.It is drawn from 3143 CEOs in 37 countries,and is the only global ranking of CEOs over their entire tenure.
Under Jeff Bezos,Amazon delivered industry-adjusted shareholder returns of 12,266%,and saw Amazon's value increase by 111 billion dollars.Meg Whitman of Hewlett-Packard is the top woman CEO,coming in at number nine on the list.The only other woman on it is China's Dong Mingzhou of Gree Electric Appliances.
Yun Jong-Yong,formerly of Samsung Electronics,is number three;while Roger Agnelli,formerly of Brazilian miner Vale,is number four.Hyundai's Chung Mong-Koo is number six,and India's Y.C. Deveshwar of ITC consumer goods is number seven.
On average,the CEOs delivered total shareholder returns of 1,385% and increased market value by 40.2 billion dollars.This was the third annual edition of the list.
To recap the top four,they were:1.Steve Jobs,Apple;2.Jeff Bezos,Amazon;3.Yun Jong-Yun,Samsung;4.Roger Agnelli,Vale.
Apple Computer(AAPL),Amazon(AMZN)

European Outlook:Fear and Dealing With Fear

A recent stock market uptick was essentially a bear market rally,said Michael Woolfolk,PhD,Senior Currency Strategist and Managing Director at Bank Of New York Mellon.Until we get a resolution to the Greek exit question,the market will continue to be defensive.With the Greek election on the 17th,there is likely to be further turmoil in Europe.There's quite a bit of movement from the periphery into the core.The concern is,what's gonna happen to the periphery?The next step is,the fear factor is so great,they start to move out of Germany.The status of the U.S. dollar is unique in the global financial system.The move to cash will be overwhelmingly U.S. dollars.How far are government officials prepared to go in financing the periphery?You're already starting to see some cracks in the willingness of Europe to take care of its own,Dr.Woolfolk observed.Larry Summers,former U.S. Treasury Secretary and President Emeritus of Harvard University,thinks the situation in Europe is very difficult.The single currency is brittle.The risk is in lack of confidence and self-fulfilling fear.A central bank wants to bend over backwards to be reassuring that liquidity is there.It's a kind of bargain between the different actors.The overwhelming imperative is to instill more confidence than exists today,current Harvard professor Larry Summers counseled. Bank of New York Mellon(BK)

Asia Executive:ASEAN Region Looking Robust This Year

The ASEAN Region-the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its environs-is growing 5-5.5% this year,according to Stuart Dean,President,ASEAN Region at General Electric.We grew 30% there last year,and we expect double digit growth again this year.
All the businesses had a good year in 2011,and it looks similar this year.GE Aviation had a strong year,and we're gonna be pretty big this year as well.
I think the China landing is likely to be soft.For the next 4-5 years,ASEAN is likely to see growth of 5-6%.There's a lot more opportunity to sell locomotives in ASEAN.The living standards increase,and infrastructure plays a big part in that,Mr.Dean explained.
Stuart Dean has a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Duke University,as well as an MBA from Harvard University.ASEAN has 10 members,including Indonesia,Malaysia,Singapore and Vietnam.
General Electric(GE)