U.S. Postal Service Loses $740 Million
courtesy of USPSPeople ought to get used to the fact that farmers cannot get mail more than twice a week, city dwellers should go without Saturday delivery, hundreds of post offices should be closed,…
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Douglas A. McIntyre
The Weakness of Taking Companies Private: The Story of J.C. Penney, BlackBerry, Et Al.
courtesy Dell Inc.The notion of taking companies private is probably as old as the one of taking them public. The first generally takes money from outside shareholders. The other seizes assets back, usually at…
J.C. Penney Question Too Obvious to Ask: What Can CEO Do?
Courtesy J.C. Penney Co. Inc.; photo by Chris RupertAs a fight between major J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) owner Bill Ackman and the balance of the firm’s board rages, the question too obvious…
As Detroit Hurts Bond Sales, Strong Analysis of Other Debt Questioned
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…
The Return of Cheap Ads to Online Media
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…
Question for Jeff Bezos: How Is Amazon Doing?
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…
The Zero Percent Car Loan Will Cripple Industry
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 —…
CBS Bets Content Is King With Steven Spielberg’s “Extant”
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…
Germany Issues Data on Exports, Manufacturing
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…
Gas Prices Get Scary Again as Some State Prices Top $4
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…
Arctic Melting Is Good for Business
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…
The Real Challenge for Bezos: Do People Want to Read the Post?
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…
Apple to Replace USB Power Adapters
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…
Nokia Recovers as BlackBerry Falls
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…
Does the Loss of Rodriguez Hurt the Yankees’ $2.3 Billion Value?
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”…
Sony Rejects Loeb Plan to Spin Out Studio
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.…
As Newspapers Sell Out, The New York Times Is Last Man Standing
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,…
Time Warner Cable Has Big Advantage over CBS
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…
Iceland Leads Global Employment, Chad at the Bottom
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…
Pope Francis Becomes Global Twitter Star Among World Leaders
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…