ThinkstockSaginaw County, which is more than an hour’s drive north of Detroit, and Genesee County, about the same distance away, cancelled bond offerings, supposedly because the collapse of Detroit and the fallout that crushed…
ThinkstockOne thing about advertising trouble at large websites is that it is impossible to hide. Ads for cheap mortgages show up everywhere. Financial sites run ads for chocolate cereal. If these trends are a…
ThinkstockLost in the frenzy of news coverage about the purchase of the Washington Post Company’s (NYSE: WPO) flagship by Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos is whether Amazon itself is doing well. There…
courtesy of Daimler Global MediaOn the front page of the General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) Chevy website is a list of all its models that won the recent 2013 J.D.Power Initial Quality award —…
Wikimedia CommonsCBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) has to be among the largest American corporations that believes “content is king.” It operates sports, news and entertainment divisions, and a fleet of cable networks. All spend lavishly…
ThinkstockGerman’s economy continues to sputter, although data from June showed a modest improvement over earlier months. Some experts claim this advance is a sign of recovery of the EU economy. It will take more…
ThinkstockThe point at which both consumers and experts start to panic about gasoline prices is when they top the psychological and economic barrier of $4 a gallon. A price of $3.99 is not nearly…
ThinkstockThe 2012 State of the Climate report released by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) indicates that “Conditions in the Arctic were a major story of 2012.” Ice in the region is melting at an…
By Steve Jurvetson CC-BY-2.0, via Wikimedia CommonsThe flagship of New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) and The Wall Street Journal each ran lengthy articles about how Jeff Bezos could transform the flagship of the…
JoeInQueens, via Wikimedia CommonsApple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), its stock and brand in trouble, continues to try to do whatever it can to keep its customers happy. The company says that some “counterfeit and third…
Courtesy BlackBerryOn the face of it, BlackBerry Ltd. (NASDAQ: BBBY) and Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) are in equally bad shape, having been marginalized by Samsung, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) and a small army of…
ThinkstockIn the calculus of baseball, like in most other businesses, intangibles are part of valuation. Forbes reports that the New York Yankees are worth $2.3 billion, the most valuable team in baseball. Alex “A-Rod”…
courtesy of Sony Corp.Daniel S. Loeb, head of Third Point LLC, got the answer he expected from Sony Corp.’s (NYSE: SNE) board. It will not spin out or sell its studio and entertainment businesses.…
ThinkstockWhat big city daily is not for sale, or has been sold already? The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) has not parted with its flagship. However, the company probably would get very little for it,…
Wikimedia CommonsCBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) has more to worry about than complaints that its shows cannot be viewed on Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) outlets in several cities, which include New York City…
ThinkstockIceland generally does well according to most socioeconomic measures. Its citizens tend to be healthy, well-paid and content. It’s no surprise that the Scandinavian country has the lowest rate of unemployment based on a…
TwitterIt did not take long for Pope Francis to rise to the top of Twitter followers among the world’s leaders. By at least one measure, he has passed even President Obama. The new pope has…
courtesy of General MotorsOne of the most extraordinary aspects of July U.S. car sales was the evenness of the advance among the largest firms. The exception to that was once-surging Kia and Hyundai, which…
courtesy Dell Inc.Michael Dell appears to have gotten what he wished for. The special committee of the Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) board, charged with vetting any arrangement to buy the company, has given the…
Brian Solis, via Wikimedia CommonsWhile most of the media coverage about Facebook Inc.’s (NASDAQ: FB) stock price has focused on whether it can reclaim the $38 IPO level, just as important is whether its…