Cross-posted from Harvard Business Online Now that we are into the fourth quarter of 2009, many companies are deep into their budgeting process for 2010. Unfortunately for some of us, this budget process started many months ago and will continue for many more, well past the start of the new year. As one manager said, “We start budgeting around the middle of the year and finish around the same time the following year.” If this dynamic sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

The name of the informant who tipped off authorities to one of the largest insider trading cases in history has surfaced. According to The New York Times , Roomy Khan, a former employee of the Galleon Group hedge fund, ratted out her former boss, Raj Rajaratnam, after authorities learned of illegal trades Khan was making.


 
 Mutual fund manager Ameriprise Financial Inc. on Wednesday reported a third-quarter profit, reversing a year-ago loss, as sales grew. Minneapolis-based Ameriprise provides financial planning, asset management and insurance services.

nytimes.com : C.R. England, a nationwide trucking company, needed an administrative assistant for its bustling driver training school here. Responsibilities included data entry, assembling paperwork and making copies


 
 Fidelity Investments, jumping on growing demand from investors for higher returns and diversification through international stock trading, is making it easier for independent advisers, brokers and direct retail investors to access overseas markets in U.S. dollars or local currencies.


 
 Russia dropped a $22.5 billion lawsuit Thursday against Bank of New York Mellon after the company agreed to pay $14 million to settle a decade-old money-laundering case involving one of its former executives. The agreement, announced in a joint statement, was expected after Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said in September that Russia had reached a settlement with the bank under which it would receive no less than $14 million for court costs — the amount of a non-prosecution fee that the bank paid in the United States. Kudrin said the government would also receive a $4 billion discounted loan from the bank, which he insisted was not related to the lawsuit.


 
 Stock futures are pointing toward a modest decline at Thursday’s opening that would extend a late sell-off a day earlier. Overseas markets were tumbling following the U.S. market’s late-session dip Wednesday, and as uncertainty mounted about Chinese stimulus measures aimed at pumping up that country’s economy