Can New Google Maps Make Money?
courtesy of Google Inc.Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has updated its Google Maps product, which is among the most popular products the company distributes. The problem with Google Maps is that, like Android and several…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Media Digest: Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
ThinkstockJamie Dimon picks many of the current directors of the J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) board. (Reuters) Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) releases a streaming music service. (Reuters) JANA Partners take large stakes…
Consumer Gold Jewelery Demand Rises, but Overall Off 13% in Q1
ThinkstockThe demand for gold jewelry, bars and coins rose sharply in the first quarter of 2013. However, overall demand was dented as investors fled ETFs, probably on concerns of a sharp drop in price,…
J.D. Power Rates Worst Airline Customer Satisfaction, U.S. Airways at Bottom
Courtesy EADS/AirbusJ.D. Power & Associates 2013 released its North America Airline Satisfaction Study. U.S. Airways Group Inc. (NYSE: LCC) was at the bottom of the list. United, of United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL)…
Apple Cash May Grow Despite Investor Return Program
courtesy of Apple Inc.By Isaac Shapiro, Economic Policy Institute Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) exceptionally large cash reserve led it to recently announce that it would expand the amount of funds to be returned to its…
Falling Oil Prices Lead to Lower Gasoline Prices
ThinkstockOne of the ironies of the current economic situation is that slow economies around the world have pushed the price of oil lower, and consequently with it, the future price of gasoline. The bad…
Good News for Airlines Overshadowed by Focus on Baggage Fees
ThinkstockLosses among U.S. airlines improved in the fourth quarter. That news mostly got buried because of astonishingly high baggage fees. But the focus on those fees misses the main point. Due to mergers and…
HSBC Will Cut Jobs
ThinkstockThe brutal drive toward operating efficiency that many large companies adopted during the recession continues, despite what most economists call a recovery. Cost cuts are not any more evident than at banks, which for…
German Recession May Have Already Started
ThinkstockThe German Federal Statistics Bureau (Destatis) reported that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) barely grew in the first quarter. If the balance of the world’s developed economies is any use as a bellwether,…
California Budget Progress Tops CBO U.S. Spending Improvement
ThinkstockThe U.S. budget deficit as forecast by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) may drop to $643 billion in fiscal 2013, which would be a substantial improvement from earlier predictions. However, a more impressive turnaround…
Windows 8 Hardly Hurts Ballmer’s CEO Job Security at Microsoft
courtesy of MicrosoftIt is very easy to say that problems with Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows 8 are the last straw for investors and the firm’s board as the future of CEO Steve Ballmer…
What Is Important: Oil Prices Fall and Gas Prices to Follow, Baggage Fees $3.5 Billion
ThinkstockFalling Oil, Gas Prices One of the ironies of the current economic situation is that slow economies around the world have pushed the price of oil lower, and consequently with it, the future price…
Media Digest: Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
courtesy of NetflixData show that economic activity in Germany slowed sharply in the first quarter while France fell into recession. (Reuters) Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) starts to deliver the 787 Dreamliner again. (Reuters) Amazon.com…
EU Recession Worsens
ThinkstockEurostat, the statistics arm of the European Commission, reported that, in the first quarter, the recession in Europe worsened, and there are absolutely no reason to think the situation will improve. Eurostat reported on…
Daniel Loeb Calls for a Breakup of Sony
courtesy of Sony Corp.Someone has finally called for Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) to rid itself of the one division it owns that has no relationship to consumer electronics. The company’s movie studio is a…
More Boeing 787 Dreamliners to Resume Flights
courtesy Boeing Co.Boeing Co.’s (NYSE: BA) recovery continues from the battery fire debacle that involved its 787 Dreamliner. Several airlines that fly the plane have put it back into service now that it appears…
EU to Focus on Impact of Energy Consumption
ThinkstockThe European Union wants to know more about energy consumption, particularly as its affects individuals who live within the region. Energy costs have risen relentlessly for most of the past several years, so these…
Sony and Boeing: What Is New in the Financial World
ThinkstockA Call for a Sony Breakup Someone has finally called for Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) to rid itself of the one division it owns that has no relationship to consumer electronics. The company’s movie…
Gartner Says Samsung and Apple Sales Up Despite Smartphone Slowdown Danger
courtesy of SamsungFirst-quarter cellphone sales may have been good for Samsung and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), but the numbers were brutal for their smaller competitors. As a matter of fact, most of the industry…
IEA: U.S. Will Lead Oil Supply Recovery
ThinkstockThe world’s reliance on oil supply from OPEC and other large producing nations from Russia to several in Africa will end soon, as they are supplemented by U.S. output. That, in turn, means oil…