China Bank Stress Test: Looking For The Next Las Vegas
The Chinese government has taken the extraordinary action of testing some of its banks for the effects of property value drops of 50% to 60% in some regions. Previous tests assumed a 30% drop…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
The Obesity Index: The Cost of Obesity by State
Health care costs for treating obesity-related illness are as high as $149 billion per year, according to a report released by the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, a division of…
Media Digest 8/5/2010 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
Reuters: Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) has objected to giving the government advanced notice of its dealings with oil companies on major projects. Reuters: Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) will take on Facebook with a series of…
Why Gays’ Anger Toward Target, Best Buy Should Worry Shareholders
Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) and Best Buy Co (NYSE: BBY) tried to suck up to State Rep. Ron Emmer, a conservative Republican who has a good chance of becoming the next governor of their…
Smartphone Prices Plunge
The press from the new NPD survey has focused on the ascent of the Google NASDAQ: GOOG) Android operating system to first place in the April to June quarter based on US sales. Research…
As J&J Faces Crisis, Questions Arise About Board’s Role
This has been a year to forget for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). Unfortunately for shareholders, the company’s board appears ill-equipped to handle two serious problems that may tarnish the company’s reputation. In January,…
iPhone 4 vs. iPhone 3GS: What Apple Smartphone Users Really Think
The Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 4 launched in late June and was initially heralded as one of the most successful product releases in Apple’s history. But within days the firestorm over reception and antenna issues…
Valuable Freebies From Big Companies
By Douglas A. McIntyre You could get freebies every day if you wanted to. Go to any restaurant and chances are high you’ll be able to grab matches, toothpicks or mints free of charge.…
Today’s Best Market Rumors (8/4/2010)
Updated throughout the day Citigroup (NYSE: C) put up its Egg online bank business (FT) Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) will launch a tablet to compete with the Apple Inc (NASDAQ:…
The Twitter-24/7 Wall St. Market Watch (8/4/2010) Sirius XM And BP Top Kill
Twitter has, by most estimates, 100 million members, which makes it one of the largest social networks in the world. All major media companies are on Twitter and some have more than one million…
Toyota Financial Results: What Recall?
Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) reported earnings for the quarter ending June 30–its fiscal first quarter–and the numbers were sterling even though it has recalled nearly nine million of its vehicles. Revenue reached 4,872…
New Tablet Competition From Motorola And Verizon
It has to be frustrating to Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) to stand by and watch the success of the Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone and iPad which helps its major rival AT&T Inc.…
With Three-Quarters Of Oil Spill Dissapated, BP Liability May Fall
A new government study done for the NOAA shows that only 26% of the oil spilled into the Gulf by the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe still poses a threat to shorelines and wildlife. The balance…
Media Digest (8/4/2010) Reuters, WSJ, NYTime, FT, Bloomberg
MarketWatch: Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM) upped its full-year forecast Reuters: BP plc (NYSE: BP) began the “static kill” of its well in the Gulf. Reuters: Japan is worried because the yen is at a…
Barnes & Noble: The Titanic Goes On Sale
Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), a slightly younger brother to Blockbuster in the retail industry, has gone up for sale. The book store firm’s stock moved up 30% after hours to $16.10, more evidence…
Nvidia’s Bumbling CEO Has An Equally Inept Board
Jen-Hsun Huang, the co-founder, president and chief operating officer of Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA), is reportedly a perfectionist who has little patience for screw-ups by employees. Too bad he isn’t held to the same…
The Least Important Smartphone Launch Of 2010: The BlackBerry Torch
The clock has run down for Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) already. The Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android-based smartphones is made by a bevy of manufacturers. The Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone has taken so…
Pending Home Sales–Another Sign Of Housing Depression
There has not been a single positive piece of housing news in more than a month. That string continued today as the National Association of Realtors put out is June figures for pending home…
Today’s Best Market Rumors (8/3/2010)
Updated throughout the day. The Federal Reserve may make small moves to try to improve the economy (WSJ) Investment bank Houlihan Lokey refused to support the buyout of The Tribune Co. (WSJ) Genzyme has…
The Twitter-24/7 Wall St. Market Watch (8/3/2010): Amazon Trouble, P&G And Pfizer Earn
Twitter has, by most estimates, 100 million members, which makes it one of the largest social networks in the world. All major media companies are on Twitter and some have more than one million…