The employment contract for Duke Energy Corporation’s Chief Executive Officer was set to expire on April 3, 2009. In the renewed employment contract, the energy company CEO receives no salary and no cash bonus. Instead the executive receives stock grants from Duke Energy Corporation as compensation.

Duke Energy Corporation is following a trend in the new economy where small companies as well as major corporations are failing and falling into bankruptcy. By exchanging large cash bonuses for stock grants in an employment contract, a business finds a way to align employees interests with the company’s success and interests of its shareholders.

The employment contracts for many of the companies and corporations utilizing this practice of stock grants rather than cash bonuses can be found at the online legal document resource RealDealDocs.com website.

RealDealDocs.com is a division of Practice Technologies, Inc. the creators of SmartRules.com.
SmartRules provides step by step guides to local rules and civil procedure for state courts & federal courts throughout the country.

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The stock market has been a major concern to everyone who wears a suit and tie on a regular basis. Wall Streeters are often seen in photos with their head in hands, hunched over, looking devastated. However, for the past two weeks, U.S stocks have jumped up more than 2 percent. Analysts have said market prices relfected expectations of an Obama victory. And if Democrats get control over Congress, it may be easier for them to deal with the financial crisis.

In at least eight states, Obama is shown to be ahead of McCain won by Bush in 2004. That includes…Ohio and (believe it or not), Florida. According to Ian Edwards (an Ohio voter), he chose Obama this election.

“Very simple,” said Edwards, the chief exec of a small technology company. “Bad war. Bad economy. Bad reputation overseas.”

In Scottsdale Arizona, however, Jerry Fritsch chose McCain, stating that he has nephews in the U.S. Marine Corps. “I don’t want anybody who is going to screw with the Marine Corps heading up our main office.”

Meanwhile, Obama and his family voted in Chicago as onlookers took photos and cheered.

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So much for the hip-hip-hurrays on Wall Street. After it looked as if the economy was saved, things took a dramatic turn for the worse. Stocks fell fast and hard as brokers’ hopes and dreams were snatched away from them. A big drop in retail sales and a Federal Reserve report that said tight credit conditions are hurting businesses across the country definitely didn’t help the situation.

The word “recession” keeps popping up and as time passes, it really looks as if we are headed towards one. The Dow is down about 733 at the 8,577 level. Reported by the Federal Reserve in Wall Street’s little black book technically called their “beige book,” it had been discovered that the economy continued to slow in the early fall as financial and credit problems grew worse. Also, difficulties in obtaining loans have “choked growth in wide swaths of the economy.”

“Even though the banking sector may be returning to normal, the economy still isn’t. The economy continues to face a host of other problems,” said Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist at ChannelCapitalResearch.com. “We’re in for a tough ride.”

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Alas, the market is up and everyone on Wall Street applauded when the closing bell rang. After a week that scared the entire nation, things have turned around. The surge came as execs from leading banks were invited to join the Bush administration in Washington to work out a plan to get loans in order to save the economy from further destruction. Gaining more than 11 percent, the Dow reached its biggest one-day rallies since 1933.

In the early morning hours, stocks opened high and kept on going. The Dow was up more than 400 points within minutes and by lunch, it crossed back through the same 9,000 level it crashed below the following week.

“My screen is completely green, and I love that,” said John Lynch, chief market analyst for Evergreen Investments in Charlotte, N.C. “But I’m not doing any back flips yet. We still have many challenges up ahead.”

When the horns on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange finally blew, a wave of relief was felt by everyone. Hope is on its way!

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