Dollar skidding, plane fare soaring --- it's not likely I'll be having dinner in Paris any time soon.

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Citi’s Big Day Which is to say Vikram Pandit’s big day, as the bank hastens to put the final touches on the details of his coming-out party, set to take place in front of shareholders at Citigroup’s New York City headquarters. Needless to say, no small amount is at stake. Especially with the mainstream press gleefully taking potshots at the CEO in recent weeks – which is all very droll, considering that they’re generally throwing stones inside glass houses (really, has anyone noticed the sorry state of the media industry lately?). But we digress in favor of getting to the good stuff: here’s exactly what everyone expects will be revealed by the end of today.

Thompson Bows Out If timing is everything, bad timing is...well, nothing. But buying a coveted asset when its value is at its peak is something anyone might do. (After all, no one can tell a peak’s a peak until it’s over, right?) Clearly, the decision to give Wachovia’s CEO Kennedy Thompson the boot had a lot less to do with his leadership skills than the bank’s fears of something slightly more menacing.

The Bomb Heard Round The World? Wall Street is buzzing over yet another incident of a top private-equity exec somehow finding his foot, again, in his mouth. Given that this someone isn’t innocent of doing this in the past (it’s probably fair to say many times now) we suspect maybe he just likes the taste of his foot.

And Now, A Word From The Back Office... Signaling the rash of job cuts stalking the financial community is beginning to singe even the most devout workers – you know, the ones who got up early, kept their heads down, never fussed, put their backs uncomplainingly to the grind (not to mention refraining from brown-nosing, water-cooler gossip and all office-politicking, and are beginning now to think the better of it) – this open letter from one fallen Bartleby stands as an ominous warning of what happens to those who come to Wall Street with stars in their eyes.

Clear Channel: What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been From DealJournal: “It’s long. Interminable. Complicated. No, it’s not the race for the Democratic nomination. It’s the slog that is the Clear Channel litigation.” A few highlights from this increasingly bizarre parallel universe.

Wherefore The Bubble? When it comes to energy and food prices, economists are increasingly answering with one voice: quite possibly, there is none. What to do when a global market used to blaming inflation on the (occasionally guilty) speculator loses rights to its favorite whipping boy?

Deal Of A Lifetime: Healthy Returns How my first venture deal helped effect an industry sea change — and validate a transformative investment strategy.

Arguably the most recognizable charity, the American Cancer Society certainly knows how to segment their market.

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One of the monumental battles between two Wall Street egos -- that of Edward Henry Harriman, head of the Union Pacific Railroad and J.P. Morgan, the banking tycoon and owner of practically the rest of America’s railroad empire -- came to a head this week in 1901.

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The VIX is falling, something that could be bullish for markets if confirmation ensues.

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There will come a time when that question is as archaic as “Shall we take the flivver or the carriage?”

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At the beginning of this week, the Girl Scouts of Greater New York held their annual gala at the Grand Hyatt to raise funds for Girl Scout troops to train young girls and women to become future leaders.

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