I have to hand it to Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairwoman Sheila Bair: The former University of Massachusetts economics professor gets it right on key policy issues. She's right about ending the doctrine of too-big-to-fail, and now she's proposing an idea that I've been pushing with no effect for years. That is, to align the interests of the banks that bundle assets and sell them as securities -- so-called asset-backed securities -- with those of ABS investors.

Before getting into the details of her proposal, I should disclose that I'm not entirely objective in analyzing it. I worked with the FDIC back in the early 1980s to help build a system to manage the liquidation of the assets the FDIC gets when it helps find partners to absorb failed banks. And I have posted repeatedly about the idea of putting bankers' pay in escrow as a way to align the interests of those who create investments with those who buy them.

Though the earnings season is winding down, and the coming week includes the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., plenty of reports are still due out. And analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters don't seem to be expecting too many turkeys among this week's bunch.

Leading U.S. meat processor Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN), which has just named a new chief executive officer and a new chief operating officer, is expected to report fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $0.26 per share, up from $0.14 in the same period of last year. But revenue is expected to total $6.9 billion, or 4.3% less than a year ago. The full-year forecast is for a profit of $0.25 per share (-16.7) on $26.4 billion (-3.9%) in sales.

Firsthand reports from 24/7 Wall St. and social media information website Mashable say the the search function of eBay (EBAY) was down for several hours on Saturday. The search feature is critical to aiding shoppers in finding products, and navigating eBay without it is extremely difficult.

The eBay problem is another example of how server issues, software problems or attacks on a company's website by hackers can compromise or shut down a service. It is not clear what happened at eBay during the hours that its search feature was disabled, but as the holidays approach, what is clear is that an interruption of the service could cost the company -- and the firms that use its auction system to sell their products -- tens of millions of dollars.

While there's no place like home, sometimes you have to get out of your own backyard -- and that includes investing. Impressive growth in emerging economies such as China and India will boost investments that provide exposure to these markets, says the new Emerging Wealth report from consultancy Watson Wyatt. "We believe that emerging market economies will continue to grow strongly, due to a mix of rising productivity, economic and financial reforms and favorable demographics," says Craig Mercer, Watson Wyatt's senior investment consultant, in a prepared statement.

But investors who want to globalize their portfolios should also remember that with the aggressive returns some of these markets can offer come risks, including currency fluctuations and political instability. That said, investors can get in on the international action through index funds or other broad investments that can reduce the chance of any major downside.