Time Warner Cable Keeps CBS on the Air
Wikimedia CommonsThe battle of the wills, and money, continued during the night as Time Warner Cable Inc. (NYSE: TWC) nearly took CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) off the air by blacking out its programs on…
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Douglas A. McIntyre
German Consumer Mood Improves — GfK
ThinkstockThe mood of Germans, the PMI and business outlook of companies, and the gross domestic product (GDP) continue to defy the balance of Europe, and even the very modest improvements of similar indices in…
Why Brickyard 400 Winner Newman Is Only $423,033 Richer
ThinkstockRyan Newman won only $423,033 for his victory at the Brickyard 400. That would seem to be a low number since it is considered the second major race on the NASCAR circuit, behind the…
Honeywell’s 787 Problems Are Really Boeing’s
Courtesy Boeing Co.The blame for fires and potential mechanical failures on a large portion of the Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) fleet has been put at the feet, for the time being, of Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE:…
Amazon to Add 5,000 Workers, as Worry About Costs Rises
ThinkstockAmazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), which announced a loss in its most recent quarter, will add 5,000 new workers, as CEO Jeff Bezos dares Wall Street to desert him. It will not. As has been…
If Americans Are Driving Less, Who Buys All Those Cars?
courtesy of General MotorsOne reason car sales have risen so far might be that more Americans drive than in the past. A recent study says that is not true. Driving by Americans peaked in…
Apple Supplier Labor Practices Attacked Again
JoeInQueens, via Wikimedia CommonsApple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) cannot inspect its suppliers in China often enough, or warn them about their future with the big U.S. consumer electronics firm enough to keep the occasional supplier…
Omnicom and Publicis: 70% of Mergers Fail
ThinkstockBain & Company released research in 2004 that showed that 70% of all mergers failed to create shareholder value. A closer look at the Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) tie up with Publicis Groupe fits the…
Publicis Groupe and Omnicom Merge: Ego Prevails
thinkstockIn an industry in which consolidation has gone on since the “Mad Men” age, a mammoth one has just taken place. Publicis Groupe and Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) will combined, and according to most experts,…
GM, Ford and the Resurrestion of the Car Ad
Courtesy Volkswagen AGThroughout the recession and the Chapter 11 filings that nearly destroyed General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) and Chrysler, the ad industry lost one of its most important categories. Even Ford Motor Co.…
How Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer Will Spend His Summer Vacation
Microsoft Sweden, via Wikimedia CommonsA billionaire should be able to take a few weeks off in the summer, particularly one who works as religiously as Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer. His net worth…
Will Electronic Arts Buy Zynga?
courtesy of ZyngaZynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA) is a company with a new CEO, but without a future. Everyone agrees with that, except Zynga. That leaves with game company’s board with the dilemma, which is, if…
What Will Facebook Do with Its Cash?
courtesy of Facebook Inc.It is enough money to buy up most of the residential property on Museum Mile, a northern part of New York’s Fifth Avenue, or every Ford ever built? That won’t happen,…
Jeff Bezos Proves Earnings Reports Don’t Count for Amazon
ThinkstockWall Street’s first reaction to the Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) earnings release was that its extraordinary revenue increase of 22% was as astonishingly great as it was unexpected. The second was that Amazon continues…
Starbucks Menu Risk as Food Sales Overwhelm Coffee
courtesy of StarbucksStarbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) continues to surge, as its recent earnings report showed. At about the same time it released the good numbers, it announced a partnership with Danone to sell ready-to-eat parfait Greek…
CBO Argues for an End to Federal Cuts
ThinkstockThe Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports that it is this simple: the cancellation of the automatic spending reductions specified by the Budget Control Act of 2011, or sequestration as it is commonly called, would…
Samsung’s Earnings Problems in a Paragraph
courtesy of SamsungSamsung announced its earnings for the fiscal second quarter of the year. Revenue was up 9% to 57.46 trillion won quarter over previous quarter. Operating income also rose 9% to 5.93 trillion…
How Much Does It Cost to Own a McDonald’s Franchise?
courtesy of McDonald'sFor people who want to get into the food franchise business, and want to do so on a budget, the best choice is a deal with Papa John’s International Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA),…
Spain Unemployment Remains More Than 26%
ThinkstockTo the naked eye, new data from Spain’s National Statistics Institute appears positive. The unemployment rate in the second quarter was 26.3%, down from 27.2% in the first three months of the year. However,…
Facebook’s Biggest Weakness — Mobile Ads
Brian Solis, via Wikimedia CommonsThe best news to come from the most recent Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) earnings report rests on its successful move into mobile advertising. Large audiences of virtually all major sites have…