I have a confession. Sometimes when I am traveling and unable to sleep, I turn on the TV and channel surf. In those early morning hours, very little holds my attention, not even a Seinfeld rerun. Instead, I end up watching a sermon on a religious channel.

Two recent and apparently unrelated events are further evidence of a tectonic shift under way in financial news.

Storm clouds are starting to form over the world of private equity, and with the Democrats now in control of Congress, many of whom were elected on populist platforms, it may not be long before subpoenas begin to fly and calls for increased regulation of private equity become part of a headline.

The first rule of medicine is to do no harm. That should also be the first rule of financial communications.

Four-year-olds and many companies have one thing in common: They often struggle to admit wrongdoing.

The other day, a midsize company reported earnings that were significantly higher than the year-ago quarter, as well as several other positive operating metrics.

If you read the sports pages of a newspaper, you know that there are two ways to find out how your team fared in its last game.

The regulatory requirements for an annual meeting of a publicly traded company are minimal and with no trouble can be wrapped up in under an hour. There are some companies that dread these required events and try hard to set speed records from opening to closing.

This is the time of year when mailboxes get stuffed with company annual reports.

How could anyone in his right mind oppose former Securities & Exchange Commission chairman Arthur Levitt, former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, and former chairman of Vanguard Funds John Bogle in their efforts to enforce Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley for all companies no matter their size?