EU Car Sinkhole Gets Deeper
Wikimedia CommonsWhatever hope car companies had that economies in Europe might mend in 2013, which would help their fortunes, has disappeared. Sales figures for the region in November tumbled from a year earlier, and…
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Douglas A. McIntyre
Will Credit Suisse CEO Brady Dougan Be Gone Next Month? He Should Be
ThinkstockThere continue to be reports that Credit Suisse Group A.G. (NYSE: CS) CEO Brady Dougan will lose his job early next year, and he should. Reuters recently reported: Dougan might have played his last…
Media Digest (12/14/2012) Reuters, WSJ, FT, Bloomberg
thinkstockEuropean leaders say they will take additional steps to end the economic crisis in the region. (Reuters) Softbank puts an upper limit on what Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) may pay to buy the…
What’s Important in the Financial World (12/13/2012)
ThinkstockEurope’s Central Banking Authority Europe finally has a central banking authority, a move that many politicians and economists believe will help pull the region out of its financial crisis. It is hard to argue…
Verizon Instant Movie Failure
courtesy of Verizon WirelessOn the Redbox homepage, the DVD rental firm owned by Coinstar Inc. (NASDAQ: CSTR) has begun to promote a streaming movie service it plans to launch with Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:…
Good News on Foreclosures? — Realtytrac
ThinkstockForeclosures have nose dived. However, the states hardest hit by the real estate disaster remain in deep trouble — another reminder that all housing problems are local and need to be solved at the…
Media Digest (12/13/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NY Times
thinkstockThe Federal Reserve links bond buying to unemployment rates. (Reuters) The European Central Bank will have new authority over Europe’s banks. (Reuters) The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which said it would use…
Unfunded Teacher Pensions Grow, of Course
ThinkstockThe National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) issued its annual State Teacher Policy Yearbook, in which its claims “teacher pension systems in the United States have almost $325 billion in unfunded liabilities.” The conclusion…
Eight Outrageous CEO Perks
Thinkstock The outcry about overpaid CEOs has gone on for years as the financial press combs SEC statements for outlandish pay packages that sometime run into the tens of millions of dollars. Often lost…
What’s Important in the Financial World (12/12/2012)
courtesy of MicrosoftMore Outlets for Surface Tablet Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) has decided to let a number of retailers offer its Surface tablet, perhaps to offset sales that never reached any real volume. Microsoft…
Apple May Enter Market It Did Not Pioneer — TV
thinkstockIn all the markets in which Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has had success, the consumer electronics company has been a pioneer. If it moves into the television industry, it will lack that critical advantage,…
Overcoming the Newspaper Pay Wall Challenge
Courtesy of The Washington Post CompanyThe Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO) apparently wants to follow the New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT), The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times into the business of…
For Southwest and JetBlue, a Go-It-Alone Strategy
courtesy Boeing Co.Amidst the effort of US Airways Group Inc. (NYSE: LCC) to buy AMR, the parent of American Airlines, out of Chapter 11 and Delta Air Line Inc.’s (NYSE: DAL) purchase of 49%…
Media Digest (12/12/2012) Reuters, WSJ, NY Times, FT, Bloomberg
courtesy of YouTubeThe Federal Reserve probably will add to its bond-buying programs as the economy continues to sputter. (Reuters) India begins an investigation into Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s (NYSE: WMT) activity in the country, looking for…
Facebook the Best Place to Work, Followed by McKinsey & Company
Guillaume Paumier / Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-3.0Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) was the No. 1 company on the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Awards, a list of the 50 Best Places to Work for 2013. This is the…
Cyber Terrorists Threaten U.S. Banks
ThinkstockBy Adam Samson / FOXBusiness Developing: A group claiming to be aligned with Islamic terrorism that launched a massive attack against U.S. bank websites in the fall has threatened another round, set to start…
What’s Important in the Financial World (12/11/2012)
ThinkstockGerman Economy Stable The ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany improved a bit, which must be a relief for those who believe that Europe’s largest economy by gross domestic product continues to move…
How Many More Problems Before the Boeing 787 Dreamliner Is Grounded?
courtesy Boeing Co.The media is on the cusp of predictions about how many more flaws found by government agencies or large airlines it will take to ground the Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) 787 Dreamliner fleet.…
The Gmail Crash and Other Online Problems
Wikimedia CommonsGoogle Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) email product — Gmail — crashed for users across part of the world. That apparently caused the crash of a number of Google Chrome browsers as well. As the…
A Harsh World in Which the U.S. Is No. 2
ThinkstockIn among the quotes from John Maynard Keynes and Charles Dickens, the authors of the National Intelligence Council’s “Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds” make the relatively old observation that the United States could be passed…