Letter via The Australian In summary then: a few nice words about his predecessor and then a flash of steel from the new Rio firefighter boss: We must treat the company's money like it is our own and act like owners of our businesses, not managers As opposed to blowing it on ill-timed or overpriced acquisitions. Anyway that's about all you're likely to hear from Walsh until annual results on Valentines Day. But if you can't wait here are some things analysts at Commonwealth Bank in Sydney think Walsh should do: The template for what RIO needs to do next already exists - in our view, RIO should follow the example set by Paul Anderson and Chip Goodyear when they cleaned up BHP. Exit from low-returning assets: BHP first made the decision to shut down Newcastle, and then completely exited Steel. RIO should close many of its smelters and then exit completely from aluminium, perhaps via a Bluescope- or OneSteel-style process. Sell non-core businesses: BHP sold over 25 non-core assets from 1998-2000, RIO doesn't have quite as long a list - but assets like diamonds, North Parkes, Borates, Salt, Rossing, ERA, and Grasberg could all be divested with no impact on earnings. Aggressive focus on cost reductions: After a decade of high commodity prices and cost growth running at >10% pa, there is plenty of scope for cost reductions. RIO needs to aggressively drive costs back out of its businesses. Writedowns where necessary - We don't think there's much more to be done. The announced writedowns have significantly cleared the decks. Focus on capital efficiency, including more capital returns. Get rid of the progressive dividend policy and work out how to unlock value in the franking credits - RIO is generating USD4b-5b pa of franking credits, but only paying out $300m-400m. Related links: Rio chief quits after $14bn writedown - FT.com Oh, Rio, Rio.... - FT Alphaville New Rio chief challenges miner stereotype - FT.com The Rio Tinto domino - FT Alphaville