On Friday, Ford Motor Co is poised to report its biggest annual profit in 13 years after an accounting change that signals the No. 2 U.S. automaker’s belief it can remain profitable.

The company will post a one-time gain of about $13 billion after it eliminates a tax reserve created in late 2006. This will push net income of the company to more than $20 billion, its best annual profit since 1998, when it earned more than $22 billion during the SUV boom.

“The quarter will shed light on the sustainability of, or potential for improvement in, North America automotive pretax profits,” Barclays Capital analyst Brian Johnson said in a research note.

Sick Days:

We will no longer accept a doctor statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.

Personal Days:

Each employee will receive 104 personal days a year. They are called Saturday and Sunday.

Restroom Use:

Entirely too much time is being spent in the restroom. There is now a strict 3-minute time limit in the stalls. At the end of 3 minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet pater roll will retract, the stall door will open and a picture will be taken. After your second offence, your picture will be posted on the company bulletin board under the “Chronic Offender” category.

On Thursday, Asian markets rose as investors grew more comfortable with riskier assets like stocks after the release of surprisingly strong U.S. housing figures and a pledge by the International Monetary Fund to help stave off a financial crisis.

The dollar fell against the euro and the yen and benchmark oil rose above $101 per barrel.

Investors were becoming more comfortable with taking on risk despite multiple headwinds, according to analysts.

“Evidence that markets are becoming increasingly resilient to bad news emerged from the muted reaction to sharp downgrades in growth forecasts by the World Bank,” Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong said in a research note.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished up 0.8 percent at 12,578.95 while Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 1.1 percent to 1,308.04. The Nasdaq composite index rose 1.5 percent to 2,769.71.

Australian underwear manufacturer Pacific Brands recently disclosed that it is in preliminary talks with U.S. private equity giant KKR & Co after it received a buyout approach that a newspaper said could be worth $614 million, sending its shares up 15 percent.

Pacific Brands said it was evaluating the unsolicited offer for its entire issued capital.

“There is no certainty that these discussions will lead to any agreement being reached between the parties,” Pacific Brands said in a statement to the Australian stock exchange.

KKR had approached Pacific Brands, maker of Bonds underwear, Berlei bras, and Sheridan sheets, with a buyout approach before Christmas that could be worth about A$600 million ($614 million), according to the Australian Financial Review.

“KKR does not comment on any discussions in which it may be engaged,” a spokesman said.

On Saturday, German magazine Der Spiegel reported the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is losing confidence in ability of Greece to clean up its public finances and work off its mountain of debt.

The news weekly, citing an internal IMF memo, said IMF considers the present readjustment program of Greece as insufficient and is of the view that new measures would have to be taken if the country is to avoid default and meet targets agreed with creditors.

Der Spiegel, in its edition says the IMF had strong criticism for sluggish structural adjustment of Athens, especially regarding tax collection and state asset sales.

MF Global unloaded securities worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Goldman Sachs in the days leading up to its collapse, according to two former MF Global employees with direct knowledge of the transactions.

One of the sources said, MF Global did not immediately receive payment from its clearing firm and lender, JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N).

The ex-employees said the sale of securities to Goldman occurred on October 27, just days before MF Global Holdings Ltd (MFGLQ.PK) filed for bankruptcy on October 31. The former employees said it is unclear what type of assets Goldman bought from MF Global, but the securities were worth hundreds of millions of dollars.