Can Old Media Beat New Media in Ad War?
ThinkstockThe conventional wisdom is that old media online content gets trumped every time by new media properties, at least when it comes to ad revenue. This does not have to be the case, based…
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Douglas A. McIntyre
A Case for Keeping J.C. Penney’s CEO
courtesy J.C. Penney Co. Inc.Based on all the quarterly earnings results of J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (NYSE: JCP) since bumbler Ron Johnson took over as chief executive officer, he should have been fired long…
A Sharp Improvement in Foreclosures, but Not Everyhwere
ThinkstockThe rate of home foreclosures improved considerably in 2012. Enough, in fact, that the data confirms that the housing markets have begun a sharp recovery. However, taken in the context of which states have…
What’s Important in the Financial World (2/28/2013)
ThinkstockBoeing and Japan Japan’s airline industry has more to lose than that of any other nation as delays in fixing the Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) 787 Dreamliner continue. All Nippon Airways (ANA) in particular…
Media Digest (2/28/2013) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
courtesy of AOL, IncIndia increases government spending and raises taxes on the wealthy as a means to improve growth. (Reuters) Groupon Inc. (NASDAQ: GRPN) shares are pounded after a poor forecast. (Reuters) Apple Inc.…
Google and the “Icarus Effect”
courtesy of Google Inc.by Jon Friedman Google’s stockholders should be thrilled these days. Or shouldn’t they? The good news is that their beloved stock (NASDAQ: GOOG) recently smashed through the impressive $800 threshold for…
The Secret to Happiness? Wealth, Says New Poll
ThinkstockMoney does buy happiness. Perhaps the relief from anxiety about emergency funds or retirement money is part of it. Or the very rich believe that they can pay off their mortgages, if they have…
Messy Election Results Raise Italy’s Borrowing Costs
ThinkstockAs would be expected, the fiasco caused by national elections in Italy have raised borrowing costs. Bickering over which party should control the government could go on for weeks. New national elections may have…
Market for Big City Dailies Is About to Get Crowded
ThinkstockThe number of big city dailies on the market for sale is about to rise sharply. These papers are viewed by many analysts as dinosaurs, and ones that will never make money. The losses…
Bidding on Clearwire Gets Messy
ThinkstockBroadband infrastructure company Clearwire Corp. (NASDAQ: CLWR) is so pressed for money that it will apparently borrow funds from Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S), which has offered to buy it. New Sprint controlling shareholder…
What’s Important in the Financial World (2/27/2013)
ThinkstockThe Secret to Happiness Money does buy happiness. Perhaps the relief from anxiety about emergency funds or retirement money is part of it. Or the very rich believe that they can pay off their…
Housing Markets With Double-Digit Growth
ThinkstockNearly every important set of data from the government and private sector analysts shows that the housing market has begun to recover. The housing recovery picked up steam in recent months. Home sales jumped…
Consumer Reports Cheats on Car Awards
ThinkstockThe Consumer Reports ratings of cars and light trucks gets almost as much publicity as those from J.D. Power. The nonprofit has announced its best and worst cars for 2013. The most notable result…
Is the Banking Industry About to Cut Another 100,000 Jobs?
Wikimedia CommonsJ.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) announced it will cut 4,000 part-time jobs and another 13,000 contract positions in its mortgage business. The bank blamed weaknesses in the mortgage market and new…
Online Gambling, a Multibillion Dollar Tax Windfall
ThinkstockBy many estimates, New Jersey’s new law that allows online gambling will help troubled Atlantic City. It also will bring the state as much as $30 million a year. That does not seem like…
Media Digest (2/27/2013) Reuters, WSJ, NYT, FT, Bloomberg
thinkstockItaly’s political problems may hurt the chances of the European Central Bank to battle the European Union’s financial problems. (Reuters) China’s PMI likely fell in February, a possible sign the world’s economy has slowed.…
Deutsche Börse and CME Group Walk Away From Merger Talks
ThinkstockDeutsche Börse and CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) talked about a merger of the two big exchanges, and then apparently they did not. The consolidation of the sector has left some exchanges feeling small…
Gasoline Prices Creep Up Again
ThinkstockGasoline prices have risen again. Yesterday, according to AAA Fuel Gauge, the price of a gallon of regular nationwide cost $3.782, compared to $3.777 the day before and $3.347 a month ago. So $4…
Yahoo! Workers Ordered to Report for Duty
ThinkstockFor some reason, investors and the rest of the world are fascinated by the decision of Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) management to halt the ability of people to work from remote offices. Now, all…
What’s Important in the Financial World (2/26/2013)
ThinkstockYahoo! Bans Telecommuting For some reason, investors and the rest of the world are fascinated by the decision of Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) management to halt the ability of people to work from remote…